source file: m1444.txt
Date: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 21:33:07 -0500

Subject: Re: VFX vs. SY77/SY99

From: "jloffink" <jloffink@pdq.net>

> From: "Paul H. Erlich" <PErlich@Acadian-Asset.com>
> 
> The VFX-SD has something like 100 basic waveforms, and while some are
> sample-based, some are purely synthetic (you've got all your standard
> waveforms here). The Yamaha's synthetic waveforms are interesting but
> could hardly be said to represent more of a "synthesis from scratch"
> philosophy than the VFX.

Paul, you must be confusing the SY77/SY99 with some other Yamaha SY synths.
 Not all of them were FM based, some were wavetable only like the VFX.  Any
wavetable synth is timbrally quantized.  They're limited to filtering and
mixing of the prerecorded timbres, while FM synthesis creates harmonically
rich spectra by frequency modulation of sine or more complex waves.

John Loffink
jloffink@pdq.net