ElmerJFudd Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/31/yamahas-dx7-synthesiser-changed-modern-music How a single instrument defined the 1980s and beyond Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuruPrionz Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/31/yamahas-dx7-synthesiser-changed-modern-music How a single instrument defined the 1980s and beyond No question in my mind that it has been a factor. Leo Fender's Precision Bass changed music forever since the early 50's. To say nothing of the Hammond Organ, the Leslie speaker, the Telecaster guitar, the Fender Deluxe amp and many other fine items. We are pretty lucky to be around after they worked out most of the bugs on crazy stuff like modern keyboards or computer based recording systems. Who knew? Quote It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamanczarek Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 The DX7 changed music by putting an end to production of the Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Pianet, Clavinet and most analog polysynths. It has taken many years for new facsimiles of most of these instruments to become available again. A used DX7 was going for about $200 at one point and has been increasing in value somewhat in recent years. Quote C3/122, M102A, Vox V301H, Farfisa Compact, Gibson G101, GEM P, RMI 300A, Piano Bass, Pianet , Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, Matrix 12, OB8, Korg MS20, Jupiter 6, Juno 60, PX-5S, Nord Stage 3 Compact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 It was a great part of the total sound pallet. It layered and mixed great with Jupiters and D-50s. E Piano1 had its place but as a stand alone fake Rhodes I preferred Rolands. I thought the strengths of TXs were leads and basses. Two TX modules slightly detuned on the same patch and same MIDI receive channel could be huge. Treat the entire module inherently like a single oscillator. FM was sharp and clean enough it worked great. I still do this but I don"t use TX modules anymore. I use multiple Kronos MOD-7 zones. This will sound stupid but stupid is what I do ... the DX7 was simultaneously the most under utilized synth in the live field while being the most overused thing. IMO it"s true strengths were often ignored. Moe is bringing the Trebuchet. Quote "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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 No doubt, the DX7 hit the 1980s music scene like a meteor. Musicians were putting that sound on everything as if it was Frank's hot sauce. IMO, after samplers (Akai S series/MPCs and Ensoniq EPS/ASR-10) and ROMplers (Korg M1 and Roland D50) came along in the late 1980s/early 1990s, no other piece of KB technology has really changed the sound of music. KB instruments manufactured over the past few decades have gotten better in terms of features, functionality, polyphony and memory but they do not have a definitive sound or flavor that jumps off the record or pops out of the speakers. For better or worse, the DX7 had a distinctive sound that musicians could pick out by ear upon hearing it. A testament to the impact of the DX7 sound is its inclusion in the General MIDI soundset and having been sampled or modeled by other manufacturers in later KBs. Here we are 35 years later and Korg has MOD-7 in the Kronos and they're releasing an FM synth in the OPSIX. Yamaha has revitalized FM in their newer synths. The DX7 changed the sound of music back in the 1980s and and FM remains a tool of sound design today. Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/12/31/yamahas-dx7-synthesiser-changed-modern-music How a single instrument defined the 1980s and beyond It was so defining that players would pose with one not hooked up because it looked cool! The output jack is on the far right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16251 Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 For me, it was a way to save my back from having to pick up a Rhodes any longer. My DX7 then became a controller once Roland MKS20 hit the scene. To continue my thought, the Korg SG1D replaced both once it hit the market. Quote AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Trebuchet BOOM! http://www.aboutbritain.com/images/attraction/big/warwick-castle-45-trebuchet-fireball.jpg Yeah, the DX7 changed modern music. Before, you had kick ass Terry Kath rockin' Chicago. After, you had, well you know... "til the end of tiiiiiime" Quote Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuruPrionz Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Trebuchet BOOM! http://www.aboutbritain.com/images/attraction/big/warwick-castle-45-trebuchet-fireball.jpg Yeah, the DX7 changed modern music. Before, you had kick ass Terry Kath rockin' Chicago. After, you had, well you know... "til the end of tiiiiiime" I want one of those catapult thingies!!! You could buy a van full of used bowling balls and show your neighbors who rules the neighborhood. Quote It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Coda Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 It was a great part of the total sound pallet. And WHEN you learn to program, Yammi FM is a complex and versatile synth architecture ! Most of the freely available patches in the web as also commercial cardridges from the past are crap though. But some aren´t ! A very good example are the patches Michael Boddicker programmed for "The Magic Egg". [video:youtube] another version ... [video:youtube] Later, Yamaha sold these patches on a cardridge VRC-1004 for the DX7mkII. Today, follow this link ... clonck It layered and mixed great with Jupiters and D-50s. I agree,- DX7(mkII) as well as the TX916 is (also) excellent together w/ Oberheim OB-8 and even better w/ Xpander ! E Piano1 had its place but as a stand alone fake Rhodes I preferred Rolands. Yup,- Roland MKS-20 and P330 modules were great. Most dunno there´s a 100% analog Roland Dimension D inside. This also rules for MK80 where the modulation FX are completely analog too, populting a dedicated analog FX circuit board. Two TX modules slightly detuned on the same patch and same MIDI receive channel could be huge. That´s how I used my TX816 when touring,- 4 slightly detuned pairs of TF-1 modules. When Yamaha would introduce a MODX rack module, I´d buy in a heartbeat because it replaces the original 8-operator FM from FS-1 module which I don´t own. A.C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 I want one of those catapult thingies!!! You could buy a van full of used bowling balls and show your neighbors who rules the neighborhood. A catapult uses torsion for its energy - tightly wound rope usually. A trebuchet uses a free swinging weighted arm and can be built much much larger. While you could terrorize your neighbors with bowling balls if you have a catapult, you can terrorize most of your town with a trebuchet by throwing flaming pianos. Quote Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 The university Physics department where one of my kids got his Physics undergrad degree had a Trebuchet team. I didn"t realize it was a sport until he went to ISU. They did that and had a solar power car team. We didn"t do anything that cool in Computer Science or Economics. Quote "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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuruPrionz Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 I want one of those catapult thingies!!! You could buy a van full of used bowling balls and show your neighbors who rules the neighborhood. A catapult uses torsion for its energy - tightly wound rope usually. A trebuchet uses a free swinging weighted arm and can be built much much larger. While you could terrorize your neighbors with bowling balls if you have a catapult, you can terrorize most of your town with a trebuchet by throwing flaming pianos. Got it, this is a big improvement!!!! I like those gigantic crossbow thingies too but since I don't have a yard to keep all these fun toys I must live vicariously. Also, I've never yet seen a flaming piano so I have something to look forward to. I was at a swap meet once and some guy did have a van full of bowling balls that he'd gotten from a bowling alley. I guess you could fire off sackfuls of them with your trebuchet! Quote It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 To me, the revolution of the DX7 wasn't "its sound" (despite that one EP sound popping up in a lot of hits for a while)... it was the fact that you could get so many different kinds of high quality sounds out of a single board, and one that was reasonably affordable and reasonably portable to boot. Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 FM is back like micro mini skirts and brown tortoise shell glasses. Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Also, I've never yet seen a flaming piano so I have something to look forward to. Well then, check this out. [video:youtube] Quote Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuruPrionz Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Also, I've never yet seen a flaming piano so I have something to look forward to. Well then, check this out. [video:youtube] That is crazy cool!!! Quote It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rod76 Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 [video:youtube] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Never owned an FM synth but I can understand its impact at its time. It was the right instrument at the right time but its timbre quickly became clichéd. Few musicians could program it so you had to rely on third party libraries to get fresh sounds. Even then there wasn't anything as outstanding as the factory sounds. As for changing modern music... have to disagree with that. The FS1R was a good advancement of FM synthesis but only made for one year after dismal market sales... so if FM "changed modern music" then why did this product flop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 The FS1R is awesome, and still sought after by fans even if they didn"t move a large number of units during production. But aren"t you ignoring that Yamaha got and continues to get mileage out of their FM synths? DX27, DX100, FB-01, DX7IID/FD, TX-801, TX-81z, subsequent TG and SY lines, PLG DX cards for Motif and today"s mother of FM engines in the Montage. Soft synth developers have tackled FM VSTs, many of which come with or open DX programs. And other hardware synth developers (like Korg and Kurzweil) are experimenting with their own take on FM. Even Crumar stuck a DX electric piano engine in the Seven. Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Williams Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Before I go mildly negative, I acknowledge that the DX7 was historic. Especially since it gave us 16 voice polyphony. What's forgotten are some things that made the DX7 maddening (and for me, a deal-breaker): MIDI velocity output only went to 100, when the top of the range was actually 127Unless you had the 8-unit rack module, you couldn't get a believable acoustic piano. So when I was in a position to buy, I went for the Ensoniq Mirage instead. My instruments sounded real! I went to the EPS (eventually two of 'em) when I outgrew the Mirage. For Synthesis (vs sample playback) I used Casio CZ1 and VZ1 until I wore them out. I never really regretted missing the DX craze. (Of course now, 3 decades later, I'm trying to figure out how I can budget for that PC4 next spring, in part because of its 6-op FM engine. What a hypocrite....) Quote -Tom Williams {First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnotherScott Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Never owned an FM synth but I can understand its impact at its time. It was the right instrument at the right time but its timbre quickly became clichéd. Certain sounds became cliche. Well, basically one sound. ;-) Whether you call it cliche or iconic is a matter of perspective. Regardless, the board was capable of an enormous range of timbres. As for changing modern music... have to disagree with that. The FS1R was a good advancement of FM synthesis but only made for one year after dismal market sales... so if FM "changed modern music" then why did this product flop? The claim was that the "DX7" changed modern music, not "DX7 and and then again for every derivative product that came after it." FS1R came out 15 years later! The competitive landscape was different (romplers did not exist when the DX7 came out). And in 15 years, "modern" music changes, too. Quote Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVC Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 From memory, DX7 was a game changer at its time. And so was Roland D50. And Korg M1, perhaps in a lesser degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outkaster Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 I had a Dx21 and still have it actually. When music retail was huge these things were flying of shelves. I was only 13 but remember how impactful it was. Quote "Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello" noblevibes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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