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My new gift, a DX7


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I did the "hard split" programming hack, and voices using it were sold as part of one of Bo's libraries. From the front panel, the Operator Level range is 0-99. Via MIDI Sysex you could send values from 100-127, and certain values in that range would randomly glitch the OS to bypass the "normal" Output Level and +/- Lin or Exp level keyscaling behavior and access the underlying "output level set for each 3-note key range" tables as in the GS1/GS2. So you could do hard splits by allocating the Operators to the 'high' or 'low' sound. You could store the sound, and change the Split point by the Level scaling "Break Point" value, but if you accidentally even just viewed that Operator's Level on the front panel, the OS would correct the 100-127 value to 99 and the hard split would be lost. So, Operator "level" had to be changed by altering all of it's Envelope Levels.

 

Re: Filter sweep emulation -- can be very faithfully done in pure FM, but very dependent on combination of Cutoff & Resonance and the modulation rate you're trying to copy. A DX7 (traditional 6-Op) can do the basics. The 4-Op engines of the DX11/TX81Z and especially the Reface DX are better at it in having the additional non-sine waveforms. AFM in the SY77/99 with the 3 patchable feedback loops and phase control can be setup to be a true virtual analog even without using the filters, and FM-X in the Montage nearly so.

 

Even after all these years the ignorance about the capabilities and timbral palette of FM is still widespread, though programmers like the guy who did the aforementioned video are helping to inform the masses. FM really is the most usably versatile synthesis method out there.

 

Manny

 

 

Very cool! Thanks for clearing that up and for the hard split information. And I agree with your comment regarding the capabilities of FM. I've always liked the idea of starting with nothing and building a sound from the ground up as opposed to subtractive synthesis where you whittle away at a given sound.

 

Wm. David McMahan

I Play, Therefore I Am

 

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I'm glad to see all the positive support here for the DX7. I likewise got a DX7iiFD recently -- simply because it was a good price, but nobody was buying it. Although the DX7 never rated high on my list of desired synths, I did like the way David Lewis used it in Shadowfax, and it satisfies my first criterion: it does what it does better than anything else.

 

Then a QX7 sequencer came up for sale, so I bought that too. I haven't figured out how to work it yet, but it seemed unfair not to get a TX7 as well, so I did. Why not have the full package?

 

I do notice how poorly it compares with the D-50, precisely because the D-50 adds its own reverb and effects. Any recommendations for what reverb/chorus unit is best for the DX7?

It's not the gear, it's the player ... but hey, look -- new gear!

 

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In fitting with your retro-Yamaha rig, why an SPX-90 of course.

 

Hm, well ... you make a good argument :) -- assuming of course that you aren't being ironic. I don't actually actually know anything about these signal processors, and I freely admit that I do *not* want to sound like a dated 80s power ballad. But if any rackable unit will do, it might as well be a Yamaha

It's not the gear, it's the player ... but hey, look -- new gear!

 

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... the original DX7 ... its key velocity infamously went only to about 100 -- on a scale of 1-127. Which meant that when used as a controller, you could never get full volume (or other velocity-controlled characteristics, e.g., brightness) out of remote modules. Your DX7 keyboard could never drive your external sampled piano beyond mezzo-forte.

 

The original DX7 is one of the nicest synth actions and worth using it as a controller.

There were several "workarounds" available for the velocity issue:

 

I used EES M3 Velocity Transformer boxes for the DX7, DX7mkII and KX76.

Even the DX7mkII and KX76 transmitted full velocity scale in theory, the velocity curve was not ideal for that purpose.

The EES velocity Transformer fixed the original DX7 by offering a special setting and for the others there were several different curves user selectable by a stepped rotary encoder.

I still have 2 of these boxes in stock and when soldering a jumper inside they can be powered over MIDI as well.

 

When I got my Miditemp PMM88E MIDI processor/matrix-switcher in the past, it had freely programmable velocity processing built in already,- solution for DX7 explained in the manual,- so programming was easy.

 

I think today´s solution would be Midisolutions Velocity Converter.

 

A.C.

 

Yes. The DX was one of the greatest lead actions ever. I think Jens still plays only DX7s.

 

[video:youtube]

 

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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No. I'm shocked. Jens changed his controller. Plus since joining Rainbow he mostly plays organ on that gig.

 

[video:youtube]

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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Check out Dexed, and try out the patches that come with the Black Winny Bank.

 

Does your DX have the original ROM 1/2/3/4 or your own custom patches?

Yamaha MX49, Casio SK1/WK-7600, Korg Minilogue, Alesis SR-16, Casio CT-X3000, FL Studio, many VSTs, percussion, woodwinds, strings, and sound effects.
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