The Electone CSY-1 combines an organ with a synthesizer based on the SY-1, Yamaha's first synthesizer, which was also launched in 1974. The instrument has two manuals with 44 keys for 3 2/3 octaves, the upper one for the melody, the lower one for the choirs and the bass pedal with 13 keys for 1 octave. The synthesizer is played on the upper manual and the pedal. The CSY-2 came out as a slightly modified instrument.
The CSY-1 Solo Synthesizer has the main functions of the SY-1: The analog sound generation is monophonic with a VCO for the sawtooth, square and sine waveforms. Instead of 28, it offers only 14 preset, non-combinable but modifiable sounds: Flute, Trombone, Trumpet, Saxophone, Oboe, Violin, Piano, Harpsichord, Bass, Tuba, Bassguitar, Funny, Trumute, Double. A low-pass filter with resonance and 12 dB attenuation per octave, a fixed filter, a high-pass filter and an adjustable VCA envelope are used to shape the sound. An attack/pitch bend effect, vibrato and portamento are also built in.
The organ section has the timbres Wood 8', Horn 8' and Cello 8' on the lower, 6-voice manual and Flute 8' and 16', Trombone 16', Oboe 8', String 8' on the upper, 3-voice manual. It also has permissive, vibrato, reverb, tremolo, pedal sustain and an auto rhythm section with march, waltz, swing, slow rock, jazz rock, rhumba, bossa nova and samba.
