Boy Meets Synth

I do love a good stringer. Ive worked on a Yamaha SK20 and a Roland RS-09 and RS-101 . This time it’s a Korg Delta DL-50 Strings Synthesizer, a lovely machine from 1979. It came out as part of Korg’s series of three Greek letter-named polyphonic machines. There was the Sigma and Lambda, both of which were largely preset machines, and then the Delta, which arguably offered the most control (until the Trident came out in 1980 and blew it out of the water). The Delta is fully polyphonic, no mean feat then or now. Before you get too excited though, it’s basically just a glorified organ. It uses three divide-down oscillators to create all the notes (plus one more for high C). So yes, you can hold down all the keys at the same time but you’re limited to a square wave. A very nice square wave, it should be noted, but just that one waveform nonetheless. The sound is further divided into synth and string sections, the former of which is pushed through a variable filter (low or bandpass), ...

Although I love my Yamaha SK20 , as a string machine it honestly leaves a little to be desired. Sure, it has some nice strings but it’s more of an all-around 70s synth than a satisfyingly smooth stringer. For that, I needed a Solina. And because I’m just a humble junior high school English teacher I settled for a Roland RS-09. There are plenty of string machines that will do more than the RS-09 but where this thing excels is the ensemble effect. Four (count them! Four!) bucket brigade circuits work together to create a glorious, heavenly whirlpool of phasing sound. There are two speeds, slow and less slow, and they’re both luxurious. I could hold down a chord and listen to the cycling BBD magic all day. And if that wasn’t enough, the RS-09 has an external in so you can add a touch of heaven to any signal you want. You may remember that this is not my first dance with a Roland RS synth. While this one didn’t stink like my RS-101 it did have a number of other problems lurking belo...

What is it with me and stinky stringers? After my debacle with a moldy Roland RS-101 you’d think I would have learned my lesson. But nope, here I am with another moldy string machine, this time a Yamaha SK20. Don’t worry if you’re afraid of more heartbreak though. This one has a happy ending. Released in 1980, the SK20 was part of a series of “symphonic ensembles,” machines that combined organ, string, and regular synthesizer functions. The SK20 was on the lower end of the range, lacking the solo (monophonic) synth of the SK30, but still fairly robust with five octaves and seven notes of polyphony. With its half-matte black metal front, rosewood grain end panels and wooden base, and yellow and gray buttons and sliders, it looks very of its time, when instruments were made to look like furniture and 33 pounds (15 kg) was considered light and compact . Although similar in appearance to the M-appended entries in the CS series, the SK units are less synthesizers than string machin...

I got it in my head that I needed a string machine. You know, one of those divide-down polyphonic synths from the ‘70s that have basically only one sound: strings that don’t sound like strings but sound like a string machine which is entirely the reason you want one. After spending a few weeks scouring Yahoo Auctions I found a Roland RS-101 for less than $100. That seems to be the magic amount for me. I’ll buy pretty much anything if it’s less than $100. I didn’t have the space for it but I bought it anyway, and when it arrived and I opened its built-in case, I regretted it immediately. I knew it was going to have problems. I mean, it was less than $100 for a synthesizer from 1975. I was expecting the rust spots, the dead keys, the missing sheet music stand. I was expecting it to be well-used. But I didn’t expect it to stink. In the mid-1970s, synthesizer polyphony was highly sought after. There were monophonic (and even duophonic) synths but not much with the kind of polyphony...