Released in 1990, the SY22 was Yamaha's only attempt at Vector synthesis. This type of synthesis provides movement in a sound by providing dynamic cross-fading between (usually) four sound sources. Mixing is usually done using a joystick, although the sound can also be controlled using envelope generators or LFOs.

Vector synthesis was originally developed by Sequential Circuits when they released the classic Prophet VS in 1986. Many of the same people who worked on the Prophet VS at Sequential Circuits went on to work at Yamaha when Sequential went out of business in the late 80's and worked to develop the SY22.

The SY22 combines FM and vector synthesis along with ROM samples to produce it's sound. It features a 16 voice, 8 part multitimbral synth with two oscillators, but no filter. It has a five octave, 61 note keyboard with velocity and aftertouch. It includes 16 digital reverbs and delays as effects and can hold 64 preset and 64 user patches in it's memory.

Yamaha TG33 Sound Module

Along with the SY22, Yamaha released the TG33 table top sound module. The TG33 was pretty much the same as the SY22 with 32 voice polyphony and 128 presets instead of 64 that was in the SY22. The ROM on board is very similar to the Yamaha SY/TG55 series. There are many of the same AWM samples categories found on the SY55 series, but several other categories have been added, such as OSC, SEQ and Tran - all great for wave-sequencing/vectoring.

Our SY22 and TG22 patches are available in system exclusive (.syx) or standard midi files (.mid) and can be downloaded from our web site when you order our free e-mail delivery. We provide the software with your order that lets you load in the sounds. If your computer has a midi interface connected to the USB port, you can use your midi interface to load in the sounds. Midi interfaces are an inexpensive alternative to purchasing RAM or PCM cards and we sell them starting at under $100.

Our sounds will also get you back in business if your SY22 or TG33 battery has died and you lost all the sounds in the memory. Sorry, but the sounds are not available on the old ROM cards. The cards have not been made in many years and we no longer support that format.