Hamamatsu, Japan, founded 1887 by Torakusu Yamaha · 1887 to present

Vintage Yamaha synthesizers

Yamaha started in 1887, when Torakusu Yamaha began building reed organs in Hamamatsu, and it made Japan's first piano in 1900. Its road to synths ran through the Electone organ, which arrived in 1959 with the transistor-based D-1. The first Yamaha synth, the monophonic SY-1, followed in 1974, and the giant GX-1 came in 1975. In 1977 the CS range brought that technology to stage players, topped by the CS-80, which Yamaha puts at about 180 lb against the GX-1's 600-plus. Meanwhile Yamaha had licensed FM synthesis from Stanford in 1973. It took until 1981 to ship the first FM instruments, the F-70 organ and the GS1, and in 1983 the DX7 made FM the sound of the decade. Smaller 4-op FM machines like the TX81Z followed. Yamaha also bought Sequential Circuits in 1988 and held a majority stake in Korg from 1987 to 1993. The CS synths are analog and want a tech's eye, while the DX and TX machines are digital and plentiful.