Legowelt

During Legowelt’s Studio Tour for Future Music Magazine, at 4:52 Legowelt says that this is a “two operator FM synthesizer with sliders, it’s basically a keyboard…it’s not really a synthesizer”.

According to Legowelt's official website, this is a piece of gear which he owns or owned at some point. The page is filled with audio demos and pictures by Legowelt himself. "In the realm of obscure early 80s keyboard synths we have attained a HOLY GRAIL. Many hifi brands had synth or keyboard ranges, Technics, Phillips, but also HIFI VHS videorecorder consortium JVC had a keyboard line…

ENTER THE JVC KB700

The wonderment already begins with just looking at the machine. Creamy white, more buttons and blinking lights then you can handle, retro COMPUTER FONTS, stylishly embossed speakers -pure bliss for any synth keyboard dork

The most striking feature is this black plastic glass lid. Functioning as a sheet music stand once opened, it also gives you access to all kinds of buttons and parameters."

"An ‘Advanced Wave Memory Vector synthesizer’ from 1990, though, we can already suspect that we can leave out the word ‘advanced’…all the way." Off Legowelt's official website, featuring exclusive pictures, audio demos, a sample pack and some information about the keyboard.

The Yamaha PSS480 is a 2 operator digital FM keyboard synth ‘music station’ from 1988 sort of similar to the PSS380 (which I used to have and was given away as the 1st prize in the 2016 drawing competition). It seems a littlebit more advanced then the 380, the 480 having memory for own programmed patches, quite advanced MIDI implementation, polyphonic (!!!) portamento and some more sequencing capabilities. The sound is a littebit less rough and more delicate…thats probably because it uses a different FM chip (the YM7129 OPK2). It doesn’t have sliders like the 380 but programming is still very easy with just a few function buttons and using up and down keys under the LED display to alter the parameter values. A cool thing is that there are lots of ‘secret’ sound programming functions that you can access via MIDI (with the CTRL PSS480 programmer for example). Overal its quite a useful warm sounding snazzy little keyboard synth that can bring a smile to any lover of FM synthesis…excellent for vaporous digital artefact ambient.

Here are some demos/improvs with some Chinese cheap MOoeR shimverb pedal and chorus pedal connected to the PSS480 through a Signature edition Soundcraft mixer…the PSS480 really sparkles with some chorus effect over it:

On his official website, Legowelt highlights his use of the Casio MT-540, a late '80s home keyboard known for its warm preset sounds and raw drum tones. This versatile instrument includes features like MIDI and an "ambient atmosphere sound generator," which creates endless soundscapes such as sea, forest, and rain. The keyboard's unique "Sound Effect" buttons, made from vibrant turquoise rubber with diagonal stripes, add an intriguing visual and functional touch.