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Electone is the trademark used for electronic organs produced by Yamaha. With the exception of the top end performance models, most Electones are based on the design of the spinet electronic organ. Current models are completely digital and contain a variety of sounds, effects, and accompaniments, on top of the ability to store programming data onto memory devices. [1] [2] [3]
After Hammond pioneered the electronic organ in the 1930s, other manufacturers began to market their own versions of the instrument. By the end of the 1950s, familiar brand names of home organs in addition to Hammond included Conn, Kimball, Lowrey, and others, while companies such as Allen and Rodgers manufactured large electronic organs designed for church and other public settings.
What would later become the Yamaha Electone emerged as a prototype concept in 1958, then named "E-T". The Electone series finally made its commercial debut in 1959 with the D-1, a home instrument. By 1980, with the market waning sharply, and some manufacturers ceasing production, the Electone line embraced digital technology. This allowed Electone's survival as the traditional home electronic organ market dried up. The product name "Electone", coined from the word "Electronic" and "Tone", would become so popular in Japan that in later years, it would become a way to refer to electronic organs in general in the country.
Electones built until 1983 were often similar in specifications to a small theatre organ, with a main flute group analogous to the Tibia Clausa, strings (usually at 8' and 4'), and multiple reeds at 16' and 8' pitches.
Starting with the D-3, Electones featured theatre organ-style color coding for the tone levers, which followed as: white for flutes and diapasons, red for reeds (brass and woodwinds), yellow for string voices (including piano and guitar), and green for percussion voices.
Unlike theatre organs however, the tone levers could be individually made louder, similar to a drawbar organ, and had 3 click positions, although they could be adjusted between them.
By the 1980s, many of the most famous names had ceased home production, but the Electone had successfully transitioned into the modern world of digital synthesizers [ citation needed ].
The FE, and FX lines introduced in 1983, marked a transition from Theater organ styled instruments, with push buttons being used for selecting sounds, instead of tone levers, which would be carried over to future models and lines afterwards.
It would come to compete with new products from Moog Music, Wersi, and later Kurzweil. Electones were to be found not only in homes, especially in Japan and elsewhere in the East Asia, but also in bands and other solo and group public performances.[ citation needed ]
Yamaha began exporting Electones to the United States starting with the D-2B in 1967.
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In 2004, Yamaha launched the STAGEA series. [3] This series uses all AWM (Advanced Wave Memory) voices and features over 180 digital effects, built-in registration menus, VA (Virtual Acoustic) voices, and a Style-File compatible expanded rhythm and accompaniment section. AWM is the proprietary sound sampling technology of Yamaha.
Models in this series are:
ELS-01: The standard model
ELS-01C: The custom model, carrying the ability to use the VA voices, Pitch and Tempo Bends, After touch on the pedal keyboard, horizontal touch and after pitch, along with other features, and lastly,
ELS-01X: The professional model - taking the ELS-01C, it adds 61-note keyboards, a 25-note pedal board and XLR external audio jacks.
The STAGEA ELS-01 series was officially distributed only in Asian countries.
In 2006, Yamaha added the ELB-01 model to the lineup. [11] This is a students' model, with 245 AWM voices and 133 accompaniment rhythms, but without voice or rhythm editing capabilities.
In 2008, Yamaha added The D-Deck (DDK-7 in some markets), which is the portable version of the ELS-01 with a more compact body, 61 keys on the lower keyboard and an optional pedalboard. The D-Deck comes with all the features of the ELS-01, with the additions also of Organ Flute voices and a second expression pedal. [12]
In 2009, the STAGEA typeU series was launched, with only hardware differences between them and their original counterparts. The typeU version omitted the floppy drive UD-FD01 and the Smart-Media card slot.
In April 2014, Yamaha launched the STAGEA ELS-02 series. This series features Super Articulation voices, on top of over 900 AWM sounds, 96 VA voices, pedalboard polyphony, effects, and 566 accompaniment rhythms. The ELS-01, ELS-01C and ELS-01X can also be upgraded to the current series by the use of a "Vitalize" unit. [13]
The STAGEA ELS-02 series currently has three models: [14]
ELS-02: The standard model, with 506 AWM voices including Super Articulation voices, 506 accompaniment rhythms, and hundreds of audio effects.
ELS-02C: The custom model. Other than all the features of the ELS-02, it has an additional 60 AWM voices, VA voices, Organ Flutes voices (with digital drawbars), a second expression pedal, horizontal keyboard touch, and pedal board aftertouch.
ELS-02X: The professional model, which contains all the features of the ELS-02C but with both keyboards expanded to 61 keys and the pedalboard expanded to 25 full pedals.
Unlike the first STAGEA series, the STAGEA ELS-02 series is distributed in both Asia and Mexico. [15]
In May 2016, the ELB-02 model was launched as a revamp of the ELB-01 model with more voices and rhythms added as well as the "after touch" feature on the upper and lower keyboards.
ELC-02: In 2016, Yamaha launched the STAGEA ELC-02. This model is a replacement for the STAGEA D-Deck (DDK-7), this model contains most of the features of the ELS-02 such as Super Articulation voices. Unlike the previous D-Deck model, the ELC-02 does not contain a 61 note lower keyboard instead a standard 49 note keyboard resides in its place. Existing owners of the D-Deck can upgrade the main unit to the ELC-02 and use their current stand, expression pedals and speakers as is.
In 2022, Yamaha launched a new Electone, the ELA-1. This model is not part of the STAGEA series, and is currently sold in China and Malaysia. This Electone shares the architecture of the Yamaha PSR SX600 portable keyboard and features 3 keyboards (upper, lower and bass pedals).
The International Electone Festival (IEF)/International Electone Concours (IEC) is an Electone Organ competition organized by Yamaha which has its beginnings in the 1960s. The first edition of the competition initiated in 1964 as a Japanese national contest to promote and market the Electone as a viable creative and professional musical outlet, and featured both the solo performer and the Electone instrument with no other accompaniment present - a format that lasts till this day. The first purposefully branded international edition complete with a broader roster of contestants representing countries such as USA, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, as well as European, Asian and South American countries, is noted as being held in October of 1971. However, as earlier as 1969 [16] and 1970, [17] a small number of international entrants were invited to compete at the 'Electone Concours Grand Prix' event against a predominantly Japanese contingent of competitors in Tokyo. The IEF finals from these early editions were then held in Japan every year until 1984 when it was held in Los Angeles to mirror the city's Olympic Games hosting duties. Afterwards, Yamaha began holding subsequent IEF finals in other cities around the world including Hamburg, Toronto, Paris, Hong Kong, Mexico and Singapore before returning to Japan.
Notable musicians who were invited to be part of the adjudication panel included Jerry Goldsmith, Raymond Lefèvre and Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.[ citation needed ] Participants in the IEF finals had to be at least 16 years of age and competed for medal awards and cash prizes. On almost every occasion, there was one "Grand Prize" recipient who would receive a gold medal and cash prize which in its last years totalled $10,000US. Before 1982, a selection of participants were also presented with special Winner's prizes and the number of recipients of this award varied from year to year. After 1982, "Most Outstanding Performance" awards were presented to two (or in some instances three or four) participants who would receive a silver medal and cash prize, and "Outstanding Performance" awards were usually presented to three participants who would receive a bronze medal and cash prize. On rare occasions at IEF finals, a special President's award may also have been presented to one performer. Known as the "Kawakami Prize" it was named after renowned Yamaha Music Corporation President Genichi Kawakami and consisted of a special bronze medal and cash prize very similar to the "Outstanding Performance" award. By the mid to late 1990s Yamaha ceased to sponsor the event as the broader international competition it once was, keeping it a solely Japanese and Asian region contest by the turn of the new millennium. This change, which reflected the company's decision to decrease its global Electone market to these territories exclusively, continues to this day as the Yamaha Electone Concours . [18] [19]
International Electone Festival Finals
| Anniversary | Year | City, Country | Venue, Instrument model(s) | Grand Prix award | Most Outstanding Award | Outstanding Award | Special Jury or 'Kawakami' Prize | Finalist (Country) - Selection | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8th | 1971 | Nemu-no-sato, Japan | EX-42, E-3, E-3R, E-5, D-7, D-2B | *Tomoko Watanabe (Japan) - Hoedown, *Leslie Strand (U.S.A) - ? | *Keiko Ohta (Japan) - ? *Yaeko Sakamoto (Japan) - Tarkus, *Daniel Hetu (Canada) - Fidor Fador More, *Kurumi Shibihara (Japan) - Introduction, *Haruo Inoue (Venezuela) - ? | N/A | *Hesiquio Ramos (Mexico) - West Side Story, | *Yoshitaka Yasumoto (Japan) - Love Duet, *Noriyasu Inoue (Japan) - Black Magic Woman, *Aiko Hirano (Japan) - Light My Fire, *Kunio Ohta (Japan) - フォレスト・フラワー, Setsuko Shimizu (Japan) - いそしぎ, *Kaisaku Ashizawa (Japan) - 大漁うたいこみの調, *Yumiko Tashibana (Japan) - Love Story, *Sumiko Ohashi (Japan) - Naomi's Dream, *Noriko Honda (Japan) - You'd Be So Nice To Come To, *Malcolm Ross (Australia) - Scarborough Fair, *Tilly Lam (Hong Kong) - Spy Operation, *Andiono Arie (Indonesia) - Ode To Billy Joe, *Asbjorn Valaker (Norway) - Going Out Of My Head, *Kazuko Kamasuto (Japan) - 枯葉, *Antonio Cuyugan (Philippines) - Cry Me A River, *Helen Lowe (South Africa) - African Kuvella, *Dorothy Wang (Singapore) - Graduation, *Ming Cheng Huang (Taiwan) - My Funny Valentine, *Raht Ketusingha (Thailand) - Promise Promise | |
| 9th | 1972 | Nemu-no-sato, Japan | EX-42, E-3, E-5 | *Claude Dupras (Canada) - Raindrops, *Rocco Ferrante Jr (U.S.) - Yesterday and Night, *Tomoyo Miyama (Japan) - Rhapsody | *Akira ("Masa") Matsuda (Japan) - The Closed World, *Mutsuko Okumura (Japan) - In Berlin, *唯井 明代 Shibahara (Japan) - C Sharp Minor Waltz, *Sebastian Cacabelos Soutullo (Venezuela) - Garcia Rhapsody, *Georges Fleury - (Switzerland) - Love You | N/A | *芝原 くるみ (Japan) - Theme from Ironside, | *Greg Moeser (Australia) - Jesus Christ Superstar, *Gordon Griffiths (United Kingdom) - Beatles Medley, *Henk Balijon (Netherlands) - Love You, *Billy Tsong (Hong Kong) - Wind Whisper, *Andy Alley Ono (Indonesia) - Beatles Medley, *Carmen Tamés Mejiá (Mexico) - Son de la Negra, *Francisco ("Toti") Fuentes (Philippines) - From Bach to Bacharach, *Ludolff Smuts Wium (South Africa) - Black Orpheus, *Teresa Filmer (Singapore) - Jesus Christ Superstar, *Inn Shien Huang (Taiwan) - Mr Lucky, *M.L.Pratintip Devakula (Thailand) - Trish Trash Polka, *Lyman E. Strong (U.S.) - Bacharach Medley, *Michael Schau (West Germany) - Love You, *照井 栞 (Japan) - Wife and Girlfriend, *Reiko Kashiwagi (Japan) - Pictures at an Exhibition,. | |
| 10th | 1973 | Nemu-no sato, Japan | EX-42, E-5 | *Bobby Lyle (U.S.) - Dance of Love and Peace, *Akira ("Masa") Matsuda (Japan) - Mysterious Dimension, *唯井 明代 Shibahara (Japan) - Eruption | *Yoshi Osamu Nakagawa (Japan) - Alice caught in the Looking Glass, *Maritess Salientes (Philippines) - Passacaglia in C Minor, *Raimund Pranschke (West Germany) - Borikuito, *Hendra Widjaja (Indonesia) - Days of Wine and Roses | N/A | *Martha Patricia Morales Barrera (Mexico) - Uapango | *Dirk Leonard (Australia) - George Gershwin Medley, *Julio Camargo Carone (Brazil) - Bebe, *Rodger Niznik (Canada) - Goldfinger, *Robert Jansen (Netherlands) - Burt Bacharach Medley, *Leandro Bautista (Hong Kong) - Lullaby of Birdland, *Hoon Kim Huat (Malaysia) - Wan Chu Chin, *Ove Hetland (Norway) - Dry Leaves, *Theuns Van Rensburg (South Africa) - Work Song, *Cheng Tau Sin (Singapore) - Valley of the Evening Twilight, *Jose Villacanas (Spain) - People, *Huang Ming Cheng (China) - Cabaret, *Raht Ketusingha (Thailand) - PROMISES! PROMISES! PROMISES!', *James Friemark (U.S.) - Wizard of Oz, *Jose Garcia Guinot (Venezuela) - My System. | |
| 11th | 1974 | Nemu-no Sato, Japan | EX-42, E-5 | *Socorro De Castro (U.S.) - Theme from The Mod Squad, *Reiko Kashiwagi (Japan) - Prelude | *Kenriyou Yoshimoto (Japan) - Freedom Jazz Dance, *Hiromi Sato (Japan) - Invitation to the 21st Century, *Yayoi Yoshida (Japan) - Apple Pie, *Claude Lander (Switzerland) - Cathedral, *Alvin Kwok (Hong Kong) - Abrupt End | N/A | *James Levesque (U.S.) - George Gershwin Medley, | *Russell Finch (Australia) - One Note Samba, *Jacqueline Reggio (Brazil) - Mojave, *Fabio Valente (Brazil) - A Espera, *Relly Coloma (Canada) - I Got Rhythm, *Hugo Alvarado (Mexico) - La Malaguena, *Carolyn Kleiner (Philippines) - Taghoy ng Lupa, *Dorothy Shaw (Singapore) - Dawn,. | |
| 12th | 1975 | Nemu-no Sato, Japan | GX-1 | *Yayoi Hirabe (Japan) - Rhapsody on GX | *Manuel Panta (Philippines) - Bach/Tchaikovsky Medley, *Summer Kei Horiba (Japan) - Sinfonia, *Width 滋美 (Japan) - Police Woman, *Tamam Hoesein (Indonesia) - Es Lilin, *Tito Enriquez (Mexico) - Fantasia Latin America | N/A | N/A | *Julie-Ann Hanlon (Australia) - Wind Blues "Pictures at an Exhibition" *Günter Schwarz (Austria) - September, *Nilson Zago (Brazil) - Bruno de Jekibau Baranso, *Antonio Macedo (Brazil) - Samba Samba Samba, *Darcy Naife (Canada) - Eleanor Rigby, *Louis Tortora (France) - Soleado, *Gilbert Lo (Hong Kong) - Motion Pictures, *Larry Keenan (U.S.) - Space, *John Modrowsky (U.S.) - Beatles Medley. | |
| 13th | 1976 | Nemu-no Sato, Japan | GX-1 | *Yumiko Tanaka (Japan) - Divertimento | *Ito 由実子 (Japan) - Autumn in Sofia, *Sensho Hayashi (Japan) - Waves Of Light, *Raht Ketusingha (Australia) - Australia, *David Smith (United Kingdom) - 1812 Overture, *Gilbert Lo (Hong Kong) - Fantasy on GX, *Bupha Dhamabuttr (Thailand) - Ashanji | N/A | *Hiromi Sato (Japan) - Meditation on 25 O'Clock | *Guy Tassé (Canada) - All You, *Ruud Jansen (Netherlands) - Love Confessions, *Luis Carlos González (Mexico) - Latin Dawn, *Omar Guzmán (Mexico) - Tarkus, *Miriam Uyboco (Philippines) - Music Moments, *Frank Loch (U.S.) - Chopin Impressions, *Paul Doerrfeld (U.S.) - An American in Paris, *Luis Jose Arias (Venezuela) - Concerto for Voice. | |
| 14th | 1977 | Nemu-no sato, Japan | GX-1 | *Oshima Michiru (Japan) - Gloria | *Width 滋美 (Japan) - Dancing "18", *南部 昌江 (Japan) - Sunrise, *Danny Baker (U.S.) - Christine's Samba, *Rodger William Niznik (Canada) - Manipulation, *Louie J. Ocampo (Philippines) - Moods of Tina | N/A | *Jenny Tjahjono (Indonesia) - Sunset | *Bryan William Roberts (Australia) - Impressions of the Ionosphere, *Cèlio Balona Passos (Brazil) - Kantika, *Raul Castaño Escobar (Columbia) - Latin Landscapes, *José Alberto González (Costa Rica) - Diary of a Computer, *Louis Tortora (France) - Revolution, *Skip Van Rooy (Netherlands) - Nature *Leong Wai Meng (Singapore) - August 2nd, *Kumiko Kodera (Japan) - Tip-Top-Fly. | |
| 15th | 1978 | Nemu-no sato, Japan | GX-1 | *Skip Van Rooy (Netherlands) - Relationships | *Rosy Chua (Malaysia) - Elite, *Michael Gundlach (West Germany) - Final Four Times, *Masashi Huzita (Japan) - Symphonic Rhapsody, *Yumiko Santon (Japan) - Airship Marshmallows, *Ito Yumiko (Japan) - Steps of September | N/A | *Jeannette G.R.Casuga (Philippines) - Neptune's Chamber | *Fernando Cruz (Mexico) - Toreador Banquet, *Fu-Mei Ma (China) - The Sea of Happiness, *Raimund Pranschke (West Germany) - Love Dance, *Isaac S. Rosenthal (U.S.) - Portrait of America, *Cheryl M.Smith (Australia) - Voyage to Peace, *Julia H.P.Wee (Singapore) - Piper Dreams, *Yasuo Miyauti (Japan) - Hamlet Overture, *大野 三知代 (Japan) - Let's Dance a Waltz. | |
| 16th | 1979 | Nemu-no-sato, Japan | GX-1 | *Nozomi Moroi (Japan) - Windward Passage | *Hiroko Kawata (Japan) - Musica?, *Sensho Hayashi (Japan) - Eternal Sea, *Michael Behymer (U.S.) - Two Variations of One Theme, *Eileen Ng Ai Ling (Singapore) - Reflections of You, Yumi Nakata (Japan) - Bright Future | N/A | N/A | *Phillip K. Keveren (U.S.) - Portrait, *Paul August Li (Indonesia) - The Grey Shadow, *Tzer-Shiun Lin (China) - Mental Anguish, *Mark D.Matthews (Australia) - Corroboree on a Summer Day, *Maria Corazon Perez (Philippines) - Lost In A Dream. | |
| 17th | 1980 | Nemu-no-sato, Japan | GX-1 | *Yasuyuki Kasori (Japan) - Grand Sinfonia No.2 | *Hiroko Kawata (Japan) - Cosmic Rhapsody, *Akira Kobayashi (Japan) - Fiesta: One Two, *Yoshiko Doi (Japan) - Summer Dreaming '80, *Michael Gundlach (West Germany) - Workshop | N/A | N/A | *Juan Carlos de Martini (Argentina) - El Maltrecho, *Lynda Hulford (Australia) - Tracy, *Mervin Mauthe (Canada) - Oceanic Suite, *Yongyos Saengphaibul (Thailand) - New Breath of the New City, *Roberto Fuentes (Uruguay) - Imagenes de Montevideo, *Phillip Keveren (U.S.) - Cascade Suite, *Eleonora Paolino (Venezuela) - En Busca de una Esperanza, . | |
| 18th | 1981 | Nemu-no-sato, Japan | GX-1 | *Reiko Matsumoto (Japan) - Daiwa Maharoba, *Natsue Enda (Japan) - Fantasia Alpha | *Tatsuko Torii (Japan) - Pure, *Noriaki Rin (Japan) - Autumn Door | N/A | *Eduardo Tadeu Montoro (Brazil) - Soldier Boy | Luis Fernando Luna Guarneros (Mexico) - Maniixni, *Yung Man Leng (Singapore) - Horizon, *Staffan Hedman (Sweden) - Aiolos, *Dan Rodowicz (U.S.) - Comme Le Jour | |
| 19th | 1982 | Tokyo, Japan | GX-1/EX-1/D-85 | Yasuo Miyauchi (Japan) - 荒城の月変奏曲 | *Kiyoko Koyama (Japan) - The Sphinx, *Yukie Tsunokuma (Japan) - Quincy Quincy, | *Piergiorgio Marotti (Italy) - Model F, *Tomoko Yoshida (Japan) - Appassionata, *Tohru Yoshizawa (Japan) - African Symphony, *Walter Stowasser (West Germany) - The Barber of Seville | N/A | *Deanna MacDonald (Canada) - Armageddon, *Ian Sell (Australia) - Transition, *Miho Kodama (Japan) - Dark Eyes, *Enrique Ordoñez Martinez (Mexico) - Barada Mehikana, *Alberto Vicente Santos (Philippines) - Ulilang Bituin, *Stanley Koyama (U.S.) - Cheek to Cheek/I've Got Rhythm, *Sandra Aparecida Ribeiro (Brazil) - Sintonia, *Soh Wee Tee (Singapore) - Forgotten Empire | |
| 20th | 1983 | Tokyo, Japan | Kan'i Hoken Hall/FX-1 | Keiko Tanimura (Japan) - Come Glorious Light Again (K.Tanimura) | *John Teare Corlett (Australia) - Switched on Sonatas, *Lupita Romero Ponce (Mexico) - Flight of the Bumblebee, *Mizuno Yoshiko (Japan) - Phoenix, *Katsuse Truth (Japan) - Creation, | *Lennart Palm (Sweden) - Endless Pain,, *Yuki Huzihara (Japan) - Pioneer Pulse, *Ishizaki Miyuki (Japan) - Hymn Republic, *Hiroko Muta (Japan) - Departure, | N/A | *Lennie Campbell (Canada) - Eurasia, *Carlton Liu (Hong Kong) - Variations in C Major, *Didier Montellier (France) - Hallelujah, *Hidebrand Brasil Bordi (Brazil) - Railroad, *Norman Adviento Agatep (Philippines) - Likha, *Marcel Josef Himbert (West Germany) - Sinfonia, *Edward M. Goldfarb (U.S.) - Excerpts from the Suite for Violin and Jazz Piano,. [20] [ vague ] | |
| 21st | 1984 | Los Angeles, U.S. | /FX-1 | Tatsuko Torii (Japan) - The Skyscraper (T.Torii) | *Thomas Folenta (U.S.) - Tomarbar, *Toshinori Suzuki (Japan) - Eternal Sea | *Luis Estrella (Spain) - Rhapsody In Blue, *Ya-Hui Wang (Singapore) - Toccata, *Hanson Tan (Philippines) - Bursting Out | N/A | *Joan Misako Nakanmoto (Canada) - Tarkus, *Greg Norrod (U.S.) - Journey To Perfection, - Gasto Alberto Marsanich (Italy) - Toccata, *Mark Wyer (Australia) - War Of The Worlds, *Hector Manuel Islas Licona (Mexico) - Luzarkana, * Ronald H.Van Barele (Netherlands) - Musica Esperanto, *Erik Holsten (Norway) - Progressive Tension. | |
| 22nd | 1985 | Hamburg, West Germany (Congress Centre Hamburg) | /FX-1 | Toshio Mori (Japan) - 流火(Ryuuka) | *Sueko Tsunoda (Japan) - Bright Times, *Ya-Hui Wang (Singapore) - Eternal Sea | *Jan Veenje (Netherlands) - Symphony Historique, *Mei-Li Pai (Taiwan) - Tropical Isle Emerald, *Gregory Brian Mackintosh (U.S.) - Baroque, Be-Bop, Ballad, Brass | N/A | *Andrew Leonard Campbell (Canada) - Scenescape, *Stela Jizar Orfano Caldeira (Brazil) - Baiao Brásil, *Stefan Flemmerer (West Germany) - Ever Changing Moods, *Bruno Yamasaki Matsumoto (Mexico) - La Fuerza de los Imperios, *Ferruccio Premici (Italy) - Il Vole del Calabrene, *Nicklas Sivelöw (Sweden) - Finding the Way, *Deone Lee Wilson (Australia) - Creation, the Sixth Day, | |
| 23rd | 1986 | Toronto, Canada | /FX-1 | Chihiro Yamashita (Japan) - 華麗なるファンタジー(A Fantasia) | *Louis Tortora (France) - Variations from Suspiria, *Norikazu Kawano (Japan) - 時経(Picturesque Time) | *Mary Ueda Ritsuko (Canada) - Petrouchka, *Stephen Kurniawan Tamadji (Indonesia) - Sunset In Bali, *Stefan Flemmerer (West Germany) - Barock | N/A | *John Gregory Matas Aquias (Philippines) - Likha, *John Donald Bates (U.K) - Touch, *Paul Joseph Doerrfeld (U.S.) - Chorale and Fantasy on "Simple Gifts, *George Charles Heldt (Canada) - Riches to Rage, *Shane Michael Parker (Australia) - Scheherazade (The Festival at Baghdad), *Nicklas Lars Sivelöw (Sweden) - Into a New World, *Jorge Raul Suarez (Argentina) - Juana Azurduy, *Ricardo Uma (Costa Rica) - Carmina Burana. | |
| 24th | 1987 | Tokyo, Japan | Kan'i Hoken Hall/FX-1 | Yukio Nakamura (Japan) - Somewhere In The Night (Y.Nakamura) | *Risa Funaki (Japan) - Rise Of Spring, *Arturo Sánchez Guzzi (Mexico) - Grados Indigenas | *Jason Nyberg (U.S.) - Strike It Up, *Warwick Dunham (Australia) - Excerpts from Bernstein's 'Mass', *Racquel Ayeras Rañola (Philippines) - Silver Screen. | *Risa Funaki (Japan) - Rise of Spring | *Kaon Koo (Canada) - Rain Walk, *Terence Swee-Seng Teo (Singapore) - Olympia, *Roberto Cedeño Laya (Venezuela) - Sonata Venezolana, *Lena Sannerstig (Sweden) - Die Fledermaus Overture, *Martin Harris (United Kingdom) - Contrasts, *Rainer Georg Dittrich (West Germany) - The Eternal Stream, *Gabriel Huynh (France) - Si, C'etait Demain,. | |
| 25th | 1988 | Paris, France | /HX-1 | Jason Geh (Malaysia) - Hallucination (J.Geh) | *Tatsuki Watanabe Atsushi (Japan) - And The Sun Shines!, *Mia Soetanto (Indonesia) - Evening In Bali | *Valérie Boggio (France) - La Confession d'Uranus, *Paul Wei Chung Liang (Singapore) - Festive Overture (Shostakovich), *Adelmo Listorti (West Germany) - City Movements | N/A | *Hector Islas (Mexico) - Centuria, *Linda Eckert (U.S.) - Jupiter from The Planets, *Jason Klein (Canada) - Conversations, *Marcelo Maranghello (Argentina) - Mosaico Latino, *Lena Sannerstig (Sweden) - Overture from "Pastoral Suite" Op.19, *Rodney Pooley (U.K) - American Patrol, *Fabrizio Brezzo (Italy) - La Forza del Destino - Overture, *Anthony Kenney (Australia) - A Fairytale Relived, *Mayumi Takane (Japan) - Au Coin De Montmatre. | |
| 26th | 1989 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre/HX-1 | Saori Iwauchi (Japan) - Symphonic Rhapsody No.2 (S.Iwauchi) | *Ng Chai Li (Malaysia) - GEM, *Enrique Arturo Escalante Lujan (Mexico) - Raices | *Hitoshi Kotani (Japan) - Hibari-Twilight Scenery, *Stéphane Criado (France) - Comme Dans Un Songe, *Ferdinand Marsa (Indonesia) - Panji Semirang | N/A | Sandy DiGirolamo (U.S.) - On The Waterfront, *Ruth Bernardine Varney (Australia) - Xenophobia, *Robert Messier (Canada) - Powerful People, *Jaana Marja Peltonen (Finland) - From Dream To Reality, *Alex Wong Wai Chung (Hong Kong) - Silhouette, *Smith Bandithaya (Thailand) - Living Float, *Stephen John Selwood (United Kingdom) - A Woodpecker's Anecdote*José L. Souto Colina (Venezuela) - "Fantasia Criolla". | |
| 27th | 1990 | Mexico City, Mexico | The City Theater/HX-1 | Chinami Taki (Japan) - Humpty Dumpty (C.Taki) | *Bruno Yamasaki Matsumoto (Mexico) - El Niño Colibrí, *Joachim Wolf (Germany) - El Avispa | *Goh Chee Seng (Malaysia) - Midnight Dream, *Hiromi Suzuki (Japan) - Rhapsody Espagnole, *Teh- Chiang Yuang (Taiwan) Time Passing. | N/A | *Philip George Newns (Canada) - Rhapsody in Blue, *Tony Matthew Austin (Australia) - Squib Cakes, *Omar Arroyo Garcia (Costa Rica) - Danza del Sable, *Debra Fleming (U.S.) - West Side Story, *Sirpa Ojala (Finland) - Take Five, *Syilvia Dewi Estiningrum (Indonesia) - Sunset In Bali, *Gaston Marsonich (Italy) - Toccata, *Miriam Teresa González Hernández (Mexico) - Herencia IndeÏgena, *Kerry Jayne Stanton (United Kingdom) - Fantasy,. | |
| 28th | 1991 | Tokyo, Japan | Kan'i Hoken Hall/HX-1 | Chinami Kawasaki (Japan) - A Scene - Time For Sowing (C.Kawasaki) | *Yuki Toda (Japan) - Rhapsody, *Carsten Jarocki (Germany) - Fairytale | *Stephen Tromans (U.K) - Great Expectations, *Raussel Renata Cedeño Laya (Venezuela) - Orinoquia, *Danny Lim Teong Chin (Malaysia) - Kingdom Of Black Panther | *Tanya Hulbert (Australia) - Tianenmen, June 4th, 1989 | *Roberto Mistichelli (Italy) - War from Rocky IV, *Arnaud Fabien Fourniguet (France) The Sorcerer's Apprentice, *Albert Lawrence Villaruz (Canada) - War from Rocky IV, *Clarice Marie Weathers (U.S.) - Ballet Mechanique, *Rene Monterosa Sanchez (Mexico) - Final Night, *Chun Chun Yang (Taiwan) - Moments Musicaux, *Ching I Lu (Taiwan) - Fantastic Festival. | |
| 29th | 1992 | Kyoto, Japan | Kyoto Kaikan Hall/ELX-1, EL-90, HX-1 | Kaon Koo (Canada) - Alice In Shanghai (E.Corpus) | *Kaoru Ono (Japan) - Sensitivity, *Emi Saiki (Netherlands) - Voyage to the Far East, | *Ohta Mayumi (Japan) - Symphonic Dances, *Ken Lee Ming Yi (Malaysia) - Joy Of Spring, *Ruben Martorell Y Bayon (Spain) - William Tell Overture. | N/A | *Chiemi Colleen Middleton (U.S.) - Sleeping Beauty Waltz, *Darren Grech (Australia) - Arion, *Anabel Rosales Casco (Mexico) - Dreams, *Jose Luis Souto (Venezuela) - Taurepana, *Thio Kah Shiu Ernest Zhang (Singapore) - Promised Land, *Gianluca Bertolo (Italy) - Mirror, *Robin Yann (France) - Anastasia, *Dominicus Levi Gunardi (Indonesia) - スミランの旗. | |
| 30th | 1993 | Singapore | World Trade Centre, Harbour Pavilion/ELX-1, EL-90 | Daiju Kurasawa (Japan) - Well You Needn't (T.Monk) | *Hitoshi Utsumi Hazime (Japan) - Piano Concerto in F, *Eric Leong (Singapore) - Feline(Alley Cats), *Elver Sohrab C. Perez (Philippines) - Talinhaga | *Tricia Ann S. Villareal (Philippines) - Seascapes, *Yani Danuwidjaya (Indonesia) - Seven-Eighth | N/A | *Leigh Robert Harrold (Australia) - Little Man Tate, *Jeff James Blake (Canada) - Back To The Future, *Brent William Mills (U.S.) - Festive Overture, *Carlos Alberto Gonzáles (Argentina) - Alma De Milonga, *Celso Gusben Marfil Simon (Mexico) - En La Ciudad De Los Dioses, *Anna Gerasi (Greece) - Auforderung Zum Tanz, *Andrea Gorini (Italy) - Impressions in the Park, *David Claire (France) - Dead Zone, *Paul Dingle (United Kingdom) - Joyrider,. | |
| 31st | 1994 | Tokyo, Japan | Kan'i Hoken Hall/ELX-1 | *Jun'ichi Matsumoto (Japan), *Thomas Karcher (Germany), | *Carlton Liu (U.S.) | N/A | *Stephane Eliot (France) | Edward Chan (Hong Kong), Alfred Chan (United Kingdom), Brent William Mills (USA), Tomomi Takahashi (Australia), Pauline Ng (Canada), Wataru Fujimura (Japan), Clement Shaw (Malaysia), Bayornpat Jyntaprasert (Thailand). | |
| 32nd | 1996 | Tokyo, Japan | Kan'i Hoken Hall/ELX-1 | *Yoshihiro Andoh (Japan) | *Zhu Lei (China) | *Linda Harjono (Indonesia) | *Joachim Wolf (Germany) | Roberto Marasciuolo (Italy), Tomoko Minemura (Japan), Sheila Vandikas (Canada), Yuen Siu Mun (Malaysia), Shinobu Karaki (Japan), Brent William Mills (USA), Rene Monte Rosa Sanchez (Mexico), Martial Illien (France). |
The Electone HX model appears briefly in the 1987 science fiction film The Running Man. When Ben Richards is in Amber's apartment (18 minutes into the film), he chases her around the Electone. Two scenes later (at the 20 minute mark), Richards, while standing over it, asks her what it is. Amber calls it her "synthesizer setup" and reveals that she wrote the ICS network jingle. [21] (starting at 5:45 and 9:30 in this clip)
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated sound by creating an electric current from rotating a metal tonewheel near an electromagnetic pickup, and then strengthening the signal with an amplifier to drive a speaker cabinet. The organ is commonly used with the Leslie speaker.
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A drum machine often has pre-programmed beats and patterns for popular genres and styles, such as pop music, rock music, and dance music. Most modern drum machines made in the 2010s and 2020s also allow users to program their own rhythms and beats. Drum machines may create sounds using analog synthesis or play prerecorded samples.
KORG Inc., founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. Under the Vox brand name, they also manufacture guitar amplifiers and electric guitars.
An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument based on keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs and digital audio workstations. In technical terms, an electronic keyboard is a rompler-based synthesizer with a low-wattage power amplifier and small loudspeakers.
The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units.
A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhythm section is often contrasted with the roles of other musicians in the band, such as the lead guitarist or lead vocals whose primary job is to carry the melody.
An electric organ, also known as electronic organ, is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally designed to imitate their sound, or orchestral sounds, it has since developed into several types of instruments:
A pedalboard is a keyboard played with the feet that is usually used to produce the low-pitched bass line of a piece of music. A pedalboard has long, narrow lever-style keys laid out in the same semitone scalar pattern as a manual keyboard, with longer keys for C, D, E, F, G, A, and B, and shorter, raised keys for C♯, D♯, F♯, G♯ and A♯. Training in pedal technique is part of standard organ pedagogy in church music and art music.
The word "manual" is used instead of the word "keyboard" when referring to any hand-operated keyboard on a keyboard instrument that has a pedalboard, such as an organ; or when referring to one of the keyboards on an instrument that has more than one hand-operated keyboard, such as a two- or three-manual harpsichord.
Bass pedals are an electronic musical instrument with a foot-operated pedal keyboard with a range of one or more octaves. The earliest bass pedals from the 1970s consisted of a pedalboard and analog synthesizer tone generation circuitry packaged together as a unit. The bass pedals are plugged into a bass amplifier or PA system so that their sound can be heard. Since the 1990s, bass pedals are usually MIDI controllers, which have to be connected to a MIDI-compatible computer, electronic synthesizer keyboard, or synth module to produce musical tones. Some 2010s-era bass pedals have both an onboard synth module and a MIDI output.
A stage piano is an electronic musical instrument designed for use in live performances on stage or in a studio, as well as for music recording in Jazz and popular music. While stage pianos share some of the same features as digital pianos designed for home use and synthesizers, they have a number of features which set them apart. Stage pianos usually provide a smaller number of sounds, with these being of higher quality than the ones found on regular digital pianos and home synthesizers.
The Yamaha GX-1, first released as Electone GX-707, is an analog polyphonic synthesizer organ developed by Yamaha as a test bed for later consumer synths and Electone series organs for stage and home use. The GX-1 has four synthesizer "ranks" or three manuals, called Solo, Upper, and Lower, plus Pedal, and an analog rhythm machine. The GX-707 first appeared in 1973 as a "theatre model" for use on concert stages, before the GX-1 was publicly released in 1975.
A clonewheel organ is an electronic musical instrument that emulates the sound of the electromechanical tonewheel-based organs formerly manufactured by Hammond from the 1930s to the 1970s. Clonewheel organs generate sounds using solid-state circuitry or computer chips, rather than with heavy mechanical tonewheels, making clonewheel organs much lighter-weight and smaller than vintage Hammonds, and easier to transport to live performances and recording sessions.
Polyphony is a property of musical instruments that means that they can play multiple independent melody lines simultaneously. Instruments featuring polyphony are said to be polyphonic. Instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophonic or paraphonic.
Open-Architecture-System (OAS) is the main User interface and synthesizer software of the Wersi keyboard line. OAS improves on prior organ interfaces by allowing the user to add sounds, rhythms, third party programs and future software enhancements without changing hardware. Compared to previous organs which relied on buttons, OAS uses a touch screen to make programming easier. OAS can host up to 4 separate VST software instruments, allowing for an expandable system similar to the Korg OASYS. OAS can support dynamic touch and aftertouch, but cannot support horizontal touch like the Yamaha Stagea Electone.
The Korg CX-3 is an electronic clonewheel organ with drawbars that simulates the sound of an electromechanical Hammond organ and the Leslie speaker, a rotating speaker effect unit. The CX-3 was first introduced in 1979.
The Yamaha PSR-E323, also known as the YPT-320, is an electronic keyboard manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation in 2009. It is a basic home keyboard intended for learning and personal use.
The Yamaha DX21 is a digital controlled bi-timbral programmable digital FM synthesizer with a four operator synth voice generator which was released in 1985. It uses sine wave-based frequency modulation (FM) synthesis. It has two FM tone generators and a 32-voice random-access memory (RAM), 32 user voices and 128 read-only memory (ROM) factory preset sounds. As a programmable synth, it enables users to create their own unique synthesized tones and sound effects by using the algorithms and oscillators. The instrument weighs 8 kg (17.6 lbs). On its release, it sold for $795.
Christmas Melodies in Yamaha Electone / The first Electone prototype concept, named Type E-T, developed by Yamaha (Nippon Gakki) in the year 1958. / ...(Note: some tracks are available on YouTube; A2: Jingle Bells (played by Shiro Michi))
Brief history of Yamaha Electone
"This confused time of transition also coincided with Wonder's privileged acceleration to the cutting edge of synthesizer technology. He was one of the lucky few (along with ELP's Keith Emerson, Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones and ABBA's Benny Andersson, among others) to obrain a Yamaha GX1, a test model synthesizer that had recently been issued in an extremely limited run."