Models
35 models
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Yamaha DX7
Six-operator FM digital synthesizer
Synthesizer · Japan
Yamaha's landmark six-operator FM digital synthesizer, introduced in May 1983.
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Korg MS-20
Patchable semi-modular monophonic analog synthesizer
Synthesizer · Japan
The Korg MS-20, released in 1978, is a patchable semi-modular monophonic analog synthesizer with two oscillators and a distinctive dual filter capable of aggressive resonance. Its hands-on patch bay and external signal processor made it a hugely influential and enduring instrument.
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Akai S1000
1988 16-bit professional stereo digital sampler
Sampler · Japan
The Akai S1000, released in 1988, is a rackmount 16-bit stereo digital sampler that set a professional standard for sampling in the late 1980s and 1990s, with high audio quality, flexible editing, and wide library support.
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Akai MPC
Electronic musical instrument
Synthesizer · Japan
The Akai MPC (MIDI Production Center) is a family of sampler-sequencers, first released in 1988, that combined sampling, drum-pad performance, and sequencing in one unit. Developed with Roger Linn, the MPC became a central tool of hip-hop and electronic production and remains an industry standard.
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Yamaha DX1
DX Series FM digital synthesizer
Synthesizer · Japan
A Yamaha DX Series FM digital synthesizer introduced in 1983 and part of the original DX Series lineup discussed in Yamaha's official synth history.
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Yamaha CS-80
Flagship CS Series polyphonic analog synthesizer
Synthesizer · Japan
The flagship Yamaha CS Series polyphonic analog synthesizer; Yamaha's official history says it debuted in 1977 with eight-note polyphony.
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Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus
120-watt solid-state stereo combo amplifier
Amplifier · Japan
The Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus, introduced in 1975, is a 120-watt solid-state guitar combo amplifier with two 12-inch speakers and Roland's signature built-in stereo chorus. Widely regarded as a benchmark for clean guitar tone, it has remained in continuous production for decades.
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Yamaha DX5
DX Series FM digital synthesizer
Japan
A Yamaha DX Series FM digital synthesizer introduced in 1985 and discussed in Yamaha's official synth history.
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Yamaha CS-5
Compact monophonic analog synthesizer
Japan
A compact Yamaha CS Series monophonic analog synthesizer introduced in 1978.
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Yamaha GS-1
Digital keyboard with FM tone generation
Synthesizer · Japan
A Yamaha digital keyboard released in 1981 with FM tone generation and touch-sensitive control.
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Yamaha CS-20M
CS Series analog synthesizer
Japan
A Yamaha CS Series synthesizer released in 1979 with digital technology for storing sounds.
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Yamaha CS6x
Synthesizer from Yamaha
Synthesizer · Japan
The Yamaha CS6x is a sample-based synthesizer from around 2000 combining AWM2 sample playback with virtual-analog-style control and effects, aimed at performers wanting hands-on sound shaping.
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Yamaha CS-70M
CS Series analog synthesizer
Japan
A Yamaha CS Series synthesizer introduced in 1981 with auto-tune and a built-in sequencer.
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Korg MS-10
Musical synthesizer
Synthesizer · Japan
The Korg MS-10, released in 1978, is a compact patchable monophonic analog synthesizer with a single oscillator and Korg's characterful filter. Part of the semi-modular MS series, it offers a small patch bay for routing and remains popular for gritty bass and effects.
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Korg BX-3
Dual-manual drawbar organ
Organ · Japan
The two-manual version of Korg's CX-3 clonewheel organ, with two 61-note waterfall keyboards and two sets of nine drawbars that can be combined into an 18-drawbar palette in EX mode. It uses Korg's REMS tonewheel modeling and provides per-manual vibrato, chorus, and percussion with an expression pedal. First produced in 1979 and reissued as an all-digital instrument in 2003.
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Korg CX-3
Single-manual drawbar organ
Organ · Japan
A single-manual clonewheel organ from Korg with nine drawbars, designed to recreate the sound of an electromechanical tonewheel organ and rotary speaker. Introduced in 1979 as a compact alternative to heavy console organs, it was reissued in 2001 as an all-digital instrument using Korg's REMS modeling with a 61-note waterfall keyboard.
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Akai S900
1986 12-bit professional digital sampler
Sampler · Japan
The Akai S900, released in 1986, is a rackmount 12-bit digital sampler that brought professional sampling to a wider market. Its characterful lo-fi sound and MIDI control made it a studio standard of the late 1980s.
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Akai S3000XL
The Akai S3000XL is a sampler with 32 polyphonic voices, and 2 MB of built-in RAM.
Sampler · Japan
The Akai S3000XL is a rackmount professional digital sampler in Akai's S3000 series, offering high-quality 16-bit sampling, extensive editing, and broad compatibility for studio production.
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Casio MT-40
Electronic keyboard
Electronic keyboard · Japan
The Casio MT-40 is a small consumer Casiotone keyboard from the early 1980s. Though a budget home instrument, its preset rhythm and bass patterns became foundational to Jamaican dancehall through the 'Sleng Teng' riddim.
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Akai AX60
Analogue synthesizer
Synthesizer · Japan
The Akai AX60, released in 1986, is a six-voice polyphonic analog synthesizer with a slider-based interface that could interface with Akai's samplers, offering warm analog sounds with MIDI control.
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Yamaha GX-1
Concert-model Electone with polyphonic synthesizer technology
Japan
A large Yamaha concert-model Electone with eight-note polyphonic synthesizer technology, introduced in 1975 and discussed in Yamaha's official synthesizer history.
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Akai SG01v
Sound module model
Synthesizer · Japan
The Akai SG01v is a General MIDI-compatible sound module released in 1995, providing a library of sampled instrument sounds for playback from a MIDI sequencer or controller.
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Yamaha RX11
Yamaha's answer to the LinnDrum
Drum machine · Japan
The RX11 sampled acoustic drums at twelve bits with individual outputs and MIDI, and its dry, clean voices sit under a great deal of mid-1980s pop that wanted the Linn sound without the Linn.
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Roland TR-505
Cheap sampled drums with a real sequencer
Drum machine · Japan
The 505 put PCM samples and the TR sequencer into a plastic box at a price that made it a first drum machine for a generation, and it turns up on more early house and hip-hop demos than its reputation suggests.
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Boss DR-55 Dr. Rhythm
A programmable drum machine the size of a paperback
Drum machine · Japan
The DR-55 had four analogue voices and a sixteen-step grid programmed one instrument at a time, ran on a nine-volt battery, and cost almost nothing. For many players in 1980 it was the first machine they could actually program.
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Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm
The first programmable Roland rhythm machine
Drum machine · Japan
The CR-78 kept the preset patterns of a rhythm box but let a player write four of their own and store them, which is the moment the drum machine stopped being an accompaniment appliance. Its soft, woody analogue voices open records by Blondie, Phil Collins, and Ultravox.
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Yamaha RX5
Sampled drums a programmer could reshape
Drum machine · Japan
The RX5 gave each voice envelope, pitch, and filter editing plus cartridge expansion, which made it less a box of drums than a small percussion synthesizer.
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Korg DDD-1
Sampled drums with cartridge expansion
Drum machine · Japan
The DDD-1 combined sampled voices with ROM cartridges that added more, plus per-voice outputs and tuning — a machine built for a studio that wanted to change its drum sounds without changing machines.
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Roland TR-626
The 505's larger successor
Drum machine · Japan
The 626 widened the 505's sample set to thirty voices with Latin percussion included, and kept the same step-and-tap sequencer. It became a staple of home studios in the late 1980s.
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Casio RZ-1
A cheap machine that could sample
Drum machine · Japan
The RZ-1 offered four seconds of sampling alongside its stock voices at a consumer price, which made user-sampled drums reachable years before that was normal.
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Boss DR-110 Dr. Rhythm Graphic
The last of the analogue Dr. Rhythms
Drum machine · Japan
The DR-110 added an LCD grid that showed the pattern as you wrote it — the first drum machine many people saw their rhythm on — and was the last Boss box with analogue voices before samples took over.
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Roland R-8 Human Rhythm Composer
Feel parameters on every hit
Drum machine · Japan
The R-8 let a programmer set nuance, velocity, decay, and tuning per step, and shipped a "human feel" function that varied them deliberately — an early, explicit attempt to answer the complaint that machines do not breathe.
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Korg KR-55 Rhythm 55
Analogue preset rhythms with a warm voice
Drum machine · Japan
The KR-55 is a preset box rather than a programmable machine, but its analogue voices are soft and full enough that it is sampled and played straight far more than its category suggests.
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Roland Octapad PAD-8
The 1985 pad controller that named a category
Electronic drums · Japan
The original Octapad was eight rubber pads and a MIDI socket, and it made "octapad" a generic word for a percussion controller. It is still the reason a drummer's auxiliary pad set is called that.
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Roland TD-10
The first V-Drums
Electronic drums · Japan
The TD-10 introduced mesh heads and physical-modelling drum synthesis in 1997, and it is the moment electronic drums stopped being pads that triggered samples and started being instruments a drummer could play dynamically.