Título: Yellow Magic Orchestra
Seção: Instruments
Background: Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is considered influential and innovative in the field of popular electronic music. They were pioneers in their use of synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, drum machines, computers, and digital recording technology in popular music, and effectively anticipated the "electropop boom" of the 1980s while exploring subversive sociopolitical themes throughout their career. YMO was initially conceived by Hosono as a one-off exploration of computerized exotica and parody of Western conceptions of the orient.

Conteúdo: The band often utilized a wide variety of state-of-the-art electronic music equipment immediately as they were made available. Yellow Magic Orchestra and Ryuichi Sakamoto's Thousand Knives were one of the earliest popular music albums to utilize the Roland MC-8 Microcomposer, which was programmed by Hideki Matsutake during recording sessions. Roland called the MC-8 a "computer music composer" and it was the first stand-alone microprocessor-based music sequencer. It also introduced features such as a keypad to enter note information and 16 KB of RAM which allowed a maximum sequence length of 5200 notes, a huge step forward from the 8-16 step sequencers of the era. While it was commercially unsuccessful due to its high price, the band were among the few bands at the time to utilize the MC-8, which they described as, along with its music programmer Hideki Matsutake, an "inevitable factor" in both their music production and live performances. "Behind the Mask" (1979) made use of synthesizers for the melodies and digital gated reverb for the snare drums.  They were also the very first band to utilize the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, one of the first and most influential programmable drum machines, as soon as it was released in 1980. While the machine was initially unsuccessful due to its lack of digital sampling that the rival Linn LM-1 offered, the TR-808 featured various unique artificial percussion sounds, including a deep bass kick drum, "tinny handclap sounds", "the ticky s

user: What instruments did the band use?

assistant: The band often utilized a wide variety of state-of-the-art electronic music equipment immediately as they were made available.

user: What is an example of an instrument they first used?

assistant: Roland MC-8 Microcomposer, which was programmed by Hideki Matsutake during recording sessions.

user: What is another example?

assistant: It also introduced features such as a keypad to enter note information and 16 KB of RAM which allowed a maximum sequence length of 5200 notes,

user: What other features did it have?

assistant: They were also the very first band to utilize the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, one of the first and most influential programmable drum machines,

user: Any other examples?

assistant: the TR-808's mainstream popularity several years later, after which it would be used for more hit records

user: Did any other bands start using these instruments?

assistant: and continue to be widely used through to the present day.