Yamaha • CS-01
Yamaha CS-01
The CS-01 is a very old but classic analog monosynth from Yamaha. Although originally designed for use by novice musicians or first time synth-buyers, the CS-01 has been recognized by today's electronic musicians as one fat little bass machine with simple controls. In a nutshell, the CS-01 is simple to use and edit but still has some great features for any situation. It's tiny and portable, it has baby-sized keys and it can run on batteries, and there is a built-in amplifier and speaker which is quite fun.
As for sounds and synthesizing, the CS-01 is the perfect monosynth for bubbly and growling bass! It features a very nice 12dB resonant VCF filter. In addition to the oscillators' sine and square type waveforms there is PWM and noise. There are also LFO controls, glissando (like portamento), a typical ADSR envelope generator, pitch & mod wheels and even a breath controller input. A CS-01 mkII (pictured below) was later released by Yamaha soon after the original. It featured an improved 24dB resonant VCF filter with adjustable slider control over resonance instead of switchable on/off resonance as found on the original. The CS-01 mkII is also identifiable by its black case with green letters.
Yamaha CS-01 mkII
The CS-01 may look simple or toy-like but it is still able to create cool little analog bass blips, bass lines and bass bubbles that are just perfect for today's electronic musicians. It has been used by the Dust Brothers, Underworld, OMD, Richard Barbieri and Chick Corea.
Great sound for such a compact unit, microkorg of it's day
i mean being a small real small light analog synth that you can take pretty much anywhere earns it max marks in my books.
too bad theres no magic midi sockets. i think kenton sells a kit for this.
really tho it is a fun little synth. great little synth for whatever your mind dreams up. dont expect any amazing sound design here but who cares.
i mean most of us would be first in line at the local music shop to grab it if it was rereleased.
Hilarious little synth, loved it except for the resonance switch on the original. A switch? Come on...