Unofficial Yamaha S80 Manual

Federico Mena Quintero

federico@gnu.org
Unofficial Yamaha S80 Manual
by Federico Mena Quintero

Copyright © 2002 Federico Mena Quintero

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. You may
obtain a copy of the GNU Free Documentation License from the Free Software Foundation by visiting their Web site (http://www.fsf.org) or by
writing to:

The Free Software Foundation, Inc.,

59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
Boston, MA 02111-1307,
USA

Many of the names used by companies to distinguish their products and services are claimed as trademarks. Where those names appear in this
book, the names have been printed in caps or initial caps.

Revision History
Revision 0.0 2002/07/04
Initial version with the book’s basic skeleton, preface, voice basics, and the carrying appendix.
Revision 0.1 2002/07/11
Added “layer” and “Leslie” to the glossary. Added a chapter for the Hammond B3 sound, by Jay Martini. Split the book into parts. Rev
Table of Contents
Preface .......................................................................................................................................................iv
1. Contributing to This Book ............................................................................................................iv
2. Book Internals ...............................................................................................................................iv
I. Using the S80 ..........................................................................................................................................v
1. Basic Playing Modes......................................................................................................................1
1.1. Voice Mode Basics ............................................................................................................1
II. Useful Sounds for the S80 ....................................................................................................................1
2. Hammond B3 Sound ......................................................................................................................2
2.1. Background........................................................................................................................2
2.2. Creating the Basic Sound ..................................................................................................2
2.3. Making the Final Sound ....................................................................................................4
A. Carrying the S80 ...................................................................................................................................7
Glossary ......................................................................................................................................................9

iii
Preface
The Yamaha S80 synthesizer is a fantastic piece of music hardware with a terrible user interface and an
even more terrible and cryptic manual. This book is an effort to create a user’s guide for the S80 that is
complete and easy to understand.

1. Contributing to This Book

This book is a volunteer effort, so all contributions are welcome. The main discussion place for this book
is the S80 mailing list hosted at http://www.ampfea.org. Please visit the S80 mailing list page
(http://www.ampfea.org/mailman/listinfo/s80-list) for subscription information and for the mailing list
archives.

2. Book Internals
This book is written in the DocBook/XML markup language. You may find the following web pages
useful if you want to hack DocBook:

• Norman Walsh’s DocBook page (http://nwalsh.com/docbook/index.html). This is the basic

DocBook resource page. Norman Walsh is heavily involved in the DocBook standardization process
and he is the author of the main tools for processing DocBook markup and converting it to HTML or
other formats.
• DocBook: The Definitive Guide (http://www.docbook.org). An O’Reilly book, also available
online, with a complete reference of the DocBook markup language.
• GNOME Documentation Project (http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gdp/). The main author of
this book is heavily involved in the GNOME Project (http://www.gnome.org), which uses DocBook
for its documentation system. The GNOME Documentation Project page contains a lot of useful
information about writing documents and user manuals.

iv
I. Using the S80
Chapter 1. Basic Playing Modes
The S80 has two basic modes in which you can play music, Voice mode and Performance mode. You can
access these modes by hitting the [VOICE] and [PERFORM] buttons, respectively.

Note: FIXME: insert picture of the [VOICE] and [PERFORM] buttons.

Voice mode gives you the whole palette of ready-made sounds or instruments that come with the S80.
Here is where you can select a piano, guitar, or weird synthesizer sound. You can also edit voices so that
you can make an organ sound more percussive, for example. You can also create a completely new sound
from scratch.

Normally you would use Voice mode when exploring the S80’s available instruments. By tweaking the
modulation wheel and the control knobs and sliders you can get a good idea of how you can modify a
particular voice to make it suitable for the music you want to play.

However, when actually playing music live, you will want to switch from one instrument to another very
quickly. You may also want the keyboard to be split in several parts; for example, you may want the
lower register to have an electric bass sound and the upper register to have a piano sound. This is not
what the Voice mode is designed for. To play music live you would first go to Performance mode, set up
the instruments that you need, and then use them from there.

Performance mode allows you to combine instruments into the keyboard in several ways. You can split
the keyboard in several sections so that each section plays a different instrument. You can also layer
instruments together so that they will sound simultaneously when you play — this lets you create rich
sounds, for example, by layering string and brass instruments together.

Tip: If you get extremely good at using performances and playing with them, you can fire the rest of
your band’s members and save yourself innumerable rehearsals and arguments.

1.1. Voice Mode Basics

Press the [VOICE] button to go to Voice mode.

1
 II. Useful Sounds for the S80
Once you are comfortable with playing the S80 and using its basic features, you will want to create
sounds of your own. The S80 comes with many pre-made voices or instruments, but sometimes you just
need a different sound. This part of the book has step-by-step instructions on how to create interesting
sounds for your S80.
Chapter 2. Hammond B3 Sound
This chapter describes how to create a sound similar to that of the legendary Hammond B3 organ.

2.1. Background
The Hammond B3 is an electronic drawbar organ. This means that you push or pull several bars that
control which harmonics are played when you hit the keys, so you can make different sounds by
changing the configuration of the bars. Each key on the B3 can have a maximum of 9 harmonics, each
with a different volume. These 9 are found on the S80 between elements #079-087, starting with the
name “D16” going all the way up to “D1”.

When people talk about Hammond drawbar registrations, or configurations of how far the drawbars are
pulled out, they may use something like this: 88 8000 000. These indicate how far the drawbars are to be
pulled; in that configuration, one pulls out the first three drawbars (16, 5 1/3, 8) all the way, as the
maximum volume on a Hammond is 8, and the other six are left alone or fully pushed in.

2.1.1. Strategy

Our strategy for creating the sound will be as follows. The S80 comes with pre-sampled waveforms of
the Hammond’s different harmonics, the 16, 5 1/3, 8, and others mentioned above. We can make an
element of a voice be one of these waveforms. A voice has a maximum of four elements, so we cannot fit
all of the nine drawbars’ harmonics in a single voice. However, we can layer two voices together in a
performance to get more available elements — two voices for eight elements, three voices for 12
elements, and so on.

The particular drawbar registration that we will create in this chapter uses 6 harmonics plus one extra
waveform to round out the sound, so we need 7 elements. This means we can fit everything in two
voices, one with four elements and another one with three. We will finally layer the two voices together
in a performance so that they sound simultaneously when we play.

2.2. Creating the Basic Sound

First we will select an empty voice so that we can create the Hammond B3 sound from scratch.

1. Find a new empty voice. To do this, press the [VOICE] button, and then switch to a voice you may
want to erase. Erase or initialize this voice by pressing the [JOB] button, [ENTER], and
[INC/YES].

2
 Chapter 2. Hammond B3 Sound

2. Press [EDIT-COMPARE] to start editing the newly-cleared voice.

Then, we will select four waveforms for the different elements of the voice. Remember that the
88 8000 000 registration has three harmonics to it, namely (16, 5 1/3, 8). We will set the first three
elements of the voice to just these harmonics, and then the fourth element to a percussion organ
waveform to make it all sound better.

1. Turn Knob C to show 079[Or:D16 ] — remember that you can use the DATA Knob to fine-tune
the value. This selects waveform number 079 for the first element of the voice.
2. Turn Knob A so that the cursor is on the 2 of EL12--. This selects the second element of the voice.
3. Turn Knob C to show 080[Or:D 5 1/3]. This makes the second element use waveform number
080.

4. Turn Knob A so that the cursor is on the 3 of EL123-. This selects the third element of the voice.
5. Turn Knob C to show 081[Or:D8 ]. This makes the third element use waveform number 081.
6. Let us add a percusion organ waveform for the fourth element. Turn Knob A so that the cursor is on
the 4 of EL1234. This selects the fourth element of the voice.
7. Turn Knob C to show 096[Or:Perc- ]. This makes the fourth element use waveform number
096.

Now let us set intensity levels for each of the elements. The level range on a Hammond is determined by
how far you pull the drawbars, which have levels 0-8. The level range on the S80 is 0-127. We will pick
100 to be the maximum value for our elements, and thus use the following drawbar-to-level mapping:
1 = 12, 2 = 25, 3 = 37, 4 = 50, 5 = 63, 6 = 75, 7 = 87, 8 = 100. Since the first three drawbars are all at
level 8, we have to set the levels of our elements to 100.

1. Turn Knob A counterclockwise (ccw) so that the cursor is under 1 on EL1234. This selects the first
element of the voice.
2. Turn PAGE Knob one click clockwise (cw). This selects the FIXME page.
3. Turn Knob B to set the level for element 1 at 100.
4. Turn Knob A cw so that line is under 2 on EL1234.
5. Turn Knob B to set the level for element 2 at 100.
6. Turn Knob A cw so that line is under 3 on EL1234.
7. Turn Knob B to set the level for element 3 at 100.
8. We will also set the level of our percussion organ element to 100. Turn Knob A cw so that line is
under 4 on EL1234.
9. Turn Knob B to set the level for element 4 at 100.

Finally, we will save this voice under a new name.

1. Turn Knob A ccw all the way so that the cursor is under a C.

3
 Chapter 2. Hammond B3 Sound

2. Using Knob 2 and the PAGE Knob you can name this voice. When you are done, press [STORE],
[ENTER], and [INC/YES] to save the voice. You can use a name like Hamm1 to indicate that this is
the first part of a Hammond sound.

2.2.1. Remaining Work

The sound that you will get from this may not have much of a high end, but it is a drawbar registration
that Keith Emerson and Jon Lord use, and they are Hammond organ gods. To address the high end
problem, we will create another voice and layer it with the one we just created.

Note: This voice has no effects similar to those of a Leslie speaker, which is very popular with
Hammond organs. Instead, the author of this chapter uses a Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere
pedal for the tube warmth and a great Leslie simulator — the S80 does not need to be your final
sound output, but you can plug other hardware to its outputs to modify the sound!

2.3. Making the Final Sound

The sound described in the previous section has a shortcoming in that it does not have much of a high
end — the sound lacks brilliance. Also, as a single voice in the S80 has a limitation of four elements, we
cannot simulate Hammond registrations that use more than four drawbars. The solution is to create more
than one voice, giving up to four drawbar waveforms to each voice, and then layering them together to
get the full, rich sound. This section will guide you through creating another voice for the other
drawbars’ harmonics; these will make our Hammond B3 sound much better.

We will modify the 88 8000 000 registration to be 88 8530 001, while still using the percussion organ
waveform that adds punch to the sound. We will edit the voice that we created in the last section so that it
represents the four leftmost drawbars, e.g. the 88 85. Then we will a new voice for the “30 001” bit and
put the percussion organ waveform back in it. When the two voices are in place, we will layer them
together in a performance.

Let us edit the Hamm1 voice described in the last section to make its fourth element be the waveform for
the fourth drawbar’s harmonic.

1. Select the voice that we created in the last section and press [EDIT-COMPARE] to edit the voice.
2. Turn Knob A so that the cursor is on the 4 of EL1234. This selects the fourth element of the voice.
3. Turn Knob C to change 096 to 082[Or:D4 ]. This makes the fourth element use waveform
number 082, which is the next harmonic we need.
4. Turn the PAGE Knob cw one click to select the FIXME page.

4
 Chapter 2. Hammond B3 Sound

5. Turn Knob B to change the level from 100 to 63. Remember our mapping of drawbar levels to S80
levels from above? This is where the 63 comes from — the drawbar level of 5 from the registration
maps to 63 in the S80.
6. Save the modified voice by pressing [STORE], [ENTER], and [INC/YES]. You can change its
name before saving it if you wish.

Next, we will create another voice with the remaining 30 001 part of the registration. We will also add
the percussion organ waveform that we removed from the other voice.

1. Find another empty voice, or clear an existing one as described in the first procedure from this
chapter. Press the [EDIT-COMPARE] button to start editing it.
2. Turn Knob C to show 083[Or:D2 2/3 ] — remember that you can use the DATA Knob to
fine-tune the value. This selects waveform number 083 for the first element of the voice.
3. Turn Knob A so that the cursor is on the 2 of EL12--. This selects the second element of the voice.
4. Turn Knob C to show 087[Or:D1 ]. This makes the second element use waveform number 087.
5. Turn Knob A so that the cursor is on the 3 of EL123-. This selects the third element of the voice.
6. Turn Knob C to show 096[Or:Perc- ]. This makes the third element use waveform number 096,
thus restoring the percussion organ that we removed from the previous voice.

Now let us set the appropriate levels for these elements and save the new voice.

1. Turn Knob A ccw so that the cursor is under 1 on EL123*. This selects the first element of the
voice.
2. Turn PAGE Knob one click clockwise (cw). This selects the FIXME page.
3. Turn Knob B to set the level for element 1 at 37. This comes from our mapping of Hammond levels
to S80 levels.
4. Turn Knob A cw so that line is under 2 on EL123*.
5. Turn Knob B to set the level for element 2 at 12.
6. Turn Knob A cw so that line is under 3 on EL123*.
7. Turn Knob B to set the level for element 3 at 100.
8. Save this voice under a new name as described above. You can use a name like Hamm2 to indicate
that this is the second part of a Hammond sound.

Finally, we will create a performance that layers the Hamm1 and Hamm2 voices we just defined. When we
use this performance, both voices will play simultaneously, thus creating the sound for our six drawbars
plus the percussion organ waveform.

1. Press the [PERFORM] button and find an empty performance or one that you may want to erase.
Initialize this performance by pressing the [JOB] button, [ENTER], and [INC/YES].
2. Press [EDIT-COMPARE] to start editing the newly-cleared performance.

5
 Chapter 2. Hammond B3 Sound

3. Turn Knob A until you see Part01 at the bottom left corner of the S80’s display. This selects the
first voice that we will put inside the performance.
4. Use Knob B and Knob C to find the bank and voice where our Hamm1 voice resides.
5. Turn Knob A cw until you see Part02. This selects the second voice that we will put inside the
performance.
6. Use the Knob B and Knob C to find the bank and voice where our Hamm2 voice resides.
7. Turn the PAGE Knob 6 clicks cw until you see LYR MODE at the top left corner of the display.
8. Turn Knob 1 until Layer off turns to Layer on. This enables layering for Part02.
9. Turn Knob A ccw until Part02 turns back to Part01.
10. Turn Knob 1 to make sure that Layer on appears. This enables layering for Part01.
11. Turn Knob A ccw all the way and use Knob 2 and the PAGE Knob to give a name to this
performance. You can use a name like HammondB3.
12. Save the performance by pressing [STORE], [ENTER], and [INC/YES].

This finishes the process. You can use the new HammondB3 performance for a good vintage organ sound.

You can experiment with other Hammond drawbar registrations by changing the voices’ elements to
other harmonics, as well as modifying their respective levels.

6
Appendix A. Carrying the S80
The S80 is a heavy beast. It weighs in at about 24 Kg, or 53 lb for those using archaic measuring
systems, and that does not include cables, stand, bench, headphones or amplifiers or speakers, or any of
the other things you actually need to play the thing.

This appendix assumes that you have already gone through the initial pain of carrying the S80 in its
cardboard box, which makes the whole package so unwieldy as to make you want to throw it out the
window, if you were only able to actually get the damn thing up there. But you should resist the
temptation — the S80 is sturdy, but it is not likely to survive a fall from a building.

Unless you have a couple of carriers to haul around the S80 in its box, which will protect it nicely, you’ll
want to throw the box away and carry the S80 in some other fashion. 1 If you are brave and poor you can
carry it around with no protection. Pass one of your forearms under the keyboard, use your other hand to
grab it from behind, and use your third hand to open doors while you take it to places. The first time you
do this you will break a dripping sweat, curse the S80 and its mother and its grandmother, and you will
wonder if you should be playing the piccolo instead. After a few weeks of carrying it around regularly,
your arms will grow strong, your third hand will be very skilled in fumbling with keys to open doors, and
you’ll think that people who are out of shape don’t need to go to gyms and they just need to get a
synthesizer with weighted piano action.

Some time after you purchase your S80 you will have money again, so you can buy food and a soft case
for it with a large, comfortable carrying handle and a sturdy strap. You will have to learn different skills
this time so that your shoulders will do most of the carrying rather than your arms, and you can dispense
with your third hand because now your arms are free to battle doors and other obstacles.

A soft carrying case, however, will not help you out when you have to take your S80 on an airplane.
Baggage handling will completely kill your instrument unless you have a hard carrying case. This is even
bulkier and heavier and dreadful than the original cardboard box where your S80 came in, but it is
absolutely necessary for air travel. Get a hard case with a heavily padded interior, and hire two strong
men to carry the whole behemoth for you. If you can’t get them, politely ask your other band members to
help you out. Your drummer is already used to carrying around his mess and is likely to be the strongest
member of the band — make him do something useful.

Here are some tips for when you have to carry your S80:

• If you have a keyboard stand that folds into a flat contraption, you may be tempted to put it on top of
your bare S80 and carry both of them at the same time. Do not do this. The S80 has a slippery surface
and the keyboard stand will slip, taking out one of the S80’s knobs with it. It did not quite happen to
me like that, but it managed to damage a knob so that it no longer snaps in its center position.
• When stashing the S80 in the trunk of your car along with your backpack and other items, be careful
when you take the smaller items out. Backpack straps love to get caught in the S80’s knobs and key
rims, and you could inadvertently tug them out if you are not careful.

7
 Appendix A. Carrying the S80

Notes
1. Better still, don’t throw the box away. Keep it in your fantastically tidy and organized junk room or
attic. You will find it useful some day.

8
Glossary
element

One of the maximum four waveforms that form a voice.

See Also: voice.

layer

A performance mode in which two or more voices sound simultaneously when you press a key.
See Also: performance, voice.

Leslie

A speaker cabinet designed by Don Leslie, who also invented less useful things like 3D movies and
missile guidance systems. A Leslie speaker system splits the sound into low and high frequencies,
sending the low frequencies to a woofer speaker and the high ones to a tweeter speaker. Each
speaker points at a horn to direct the sound, and the horns are connected to a motors that make them
rotate. The sound gets thrown around in circles, giving a tremolo effect because of the Doppler
effect. The Leslie effect is very difficult to duplicate on a synthesizer as a Leslie is actually a
physical system that depends on the cabinet’s shape and the room in which it is placed — you would
need to be physically present in a room with an actual Leslie speaker to experience the full effect.

part

A voice when it is being used inside a performance.

performance

A programmed combination of voices. Performances can be splits, which divide the keyboard in
two regions, FIXME.
See Also: part, voice.

split

Performance type in which the keyboard is divided in two sections. Each section usually plays one
instrument. For example, the keyboard can be split to play an electric bass sound on the lower
register and a piano sound on the upper register.
See Also: performance.

9
voice

Roughly, an instrument definition. Each voice is composed of up to four elements, where each
element is a waveform plus a number of effects. A common effect is to make elements fade in or out
depending on key velocity. For example, you could make an instrument that sounds like a soft pad
when you press the keys lightly, and sounds like a strong bell when you press the keys harder.
See Also: element, part.

10