Yamaha XG

Yamaha XG (EXtended General MIDI) is an extension to the General MIDI standard, created by Yamaha. It is similar in purpose to Roland's GS Standard.

Features

Relative to General MIDI, XG gained popularity by increasing the number of available instruments from 128 to over 600, and introduced a large set of standard controllers and parameters that composers could employ to achieve greater subtlety and realism in their compositions. The XG also has a synthesizer that provides a 32 note polyphonic feature which is shared through the supported 16 MIDI channels. XG has a wide range of sounds to form such complex chords and produces a vast variety of lower synthesizer sounds to choose from.

History

In 1994, Yamaha released the first XG-based product: Yamaha MU80 Tone Generator. In 1995, Yamaha released the first XG-based product for PC users, the DB50XG daughterboard, a Creative Wave Blaster competitor. In 1996, Yamaha released MU10 external module, basically a DB50XG in a case and later the SW60XG ISA PC card. Coupled with their tone-generator, both devices included an on-board 4MB sound bank chip of sampled instruments and became highly desirable among MIDI fans due to their crisp, high-quality sounds similar to the newer models of Roland Sound Canvas . These devices feature an effects processing system with individual stereo reverb and chorus effects on any of 16 channels, and the ability to route any of the channels through an additional 'insertion' effect, and even guitar amp and wah-wah pedal simulations. Yamaha's in-house song-writers often utilized these tools to demonstrate the power of the XG format, notably recreating Jimi Hendrix leads complete with feedback, flamenco guitar with distinct pick/hammered notes and finger slides, growling saxophones, and even a very convincing sitar.

Yamaha Corporation

Yamaha Corporation (ヤマハ株式会社, Yamaha Kabushiki Gaisha) (/jəˈmɑːhə/ or /ˈjɑːməhə/; Japanese pronunciation: [yamaha]) is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate based in Japan with a very wide range of products and services, predominantly musical instruments, electronics, motorcycles and power sports equipment.

History

Yamaha was established in 1887 as a piano and reed organ manufacturer by Torakusu Yamaha as Nippon Gakki Company, Limited (日本楽器製造株式会社, Nippon Gakki Seizō Kabushiki Kaisha) (literally Japan Musical Instrument Manufacturing Corporation) in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka prefecture and was incorporated on October 12, 1897. The company's origins as a musical instrument manufacturer is still reflected today in the group's logo—a trio of interlocking tuning forks.

After World War II, company president Genichi Kawakami repurposed the remains of the company's war-time production machinery and the company's expertise in metallurgical technologies to the manufacture of motorcycles. The YA-1 (AKA Akatombo, the "Red Dragonfly"), of which 125 were built in the first year of production (1954), was named in honour of the founder. It was a 125cc, single cylinder, two-stroke, street bike patterned after the German DKW RT125 (which the British munitions firm, BSA, had also copied in the post-war era and manufactured as the Bantam and Harley-Davidson as the Hummer. In 1955, the success of the YA-1 resulted in the founding of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

Yamaha (yacht)

Yamaha is a Volvo Ocean 60 yacht. She took part in the 1993–94 Whitbread Round the World Race skippered by Ross Field and finished as fastest Volvo Ocean 60 yacht and second overall after New Zealand Endeavour.

References

Yamaha (disambiguation)

Yamaha may refer to: