Old 04-30-2022, 05:26 PM   #1
The Kid
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Default DX7: Cool?

In an episode of Sonictalk they say that the Yamaha DX7 was never cool...
Do you agree?
I think it has some unique sounds, but it got me thinking...
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Old 04-30-2022, 06:02 PM   #2
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At that time, everyone wanted one!

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Old 04-30-2022, 06:07 PM   #3
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In an episode of Sonictalk they say that the Yamaha DX7 was never cool...
Do you agree?
I think it has some unique sounds, but it got me thinking...
I owned a real one, and still have the patches from it, which I can now load in Native Instruments FM7. I also have Dexed, but I don't have my original .syx file so I can't load my patches into it. I converted them back around the year 2000 into FM7s format.
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Old 05-01-2022, 03:12 AM   #4
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Quote:
In an episode of Sonictalk they say that the Yamaha DX7 was never cool...
Do you agree?
Rick astley would disagree!



Without the dx7- not the same level of cool..cooler than a chilled common cucumber.

(but in reality,the dx7 is a bit clicky)
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Old 05-01-2022, 05:47 AM   #5
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DX7 is the only cool synth actually.
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Old 05-01-2022, 06:32 AM   #6
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It's complicated. Cheesy, ubiquitous, expensive for the everyman but not unobtainable.
They were everywhere, precisely because they were so capable. Still are - however you can have it in software for peanuts.

In a broad palette of sounds cold sterile FM synths can also blend seamlessly with analogue, wavetables, VCO, DCO and so on.

If you could only have one synth (and back then it had to be hardware) when they came out it was the best option, unless you were a super rich megastar- in which case you still had one in your arsenal.

Reliable, polyphonic, memory for presets.

Most people stuck to the presets, unlike Brian Eno.

Stock Aitken and Waterman cheese, but it was everywhere else too.
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Old 05-01-2022, 07:31 AM   #7
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Most people stuck to the presets, unlike Brian Eno.
Yep- the power in all these tools is how you manipulate them..some of brian's patches can be found here> http://dxsysex.com/

I really like arturia's take on this..giving quite a few extras from the original devices.
Sytrus is also an amazing synth..both them plugins will load the older dx7 patches as well.
FM is actually how the universe manifests via human consciousness. (maybe this is debatable!)
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Old 05-01-2022, 07:36 AM   #8
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There's a great keyboard player in my country, Mono Fontana (Luis Alberto Spinetta's keyboardist) that managed to make records in the 80s and 90s that are listenable now, simply by avoiding DX7's E.PIANO 1
He said that he worked a lot in finding a piano replacement that wasn't a "bottle piano".
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Old 05-01-2022, 07:52 AM   #9
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It was very cool at the time.

People that want to say something isn't cool that was once in style - bell bottom jeans, horn rimmed glasses, gated reverb, whatever - are the musical equivalent of being narcissistic. They think their subjective opinion is an empirical scale that is always ascending, when just about everything can be a parabola.

One either feels cognitive dissonance when revisiting an old place, because the context around it has changed - or they reject reality as it once was.

If one wasn't around when the DX7 happened, then saying it was "never cool" is musical narcissism: they're ignoring reality while not realizing people *see* them ignoring reality.

I *don't like* the DX7 sound in a modern context, BUT - I *can* imagine it being popular again if recontexturalized. The sound of the 80s carried a lot of tropes with it simultaneously, which makes it easy to mock (or dislike), but those things can be used in a fresh way individually (tinkly DX7 patches, rhythmically timed non-linear reverb, Yamaha or Linn drum machine sounds, etc.).

If anything, the DX7 lends itself to... overtly cheery sounds, fey pads, which is not my taste but a lot of people definitely liked. I wish I had a "DX7 remover", along with a "non-linear reverb" remover - which could happen with ML/GAN trickery.

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Old 05-01-2022, 08:08 AM   #10
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I have a E.PIANO 1 patch (Dexed) ready to go in a track template. I never use it for records, it's kinda cheesy, but it's fun to play. Very expressive.
There is on example of it that I think is cool, not cheesy at all.

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Old 05-01-2022, 11:25 AM   #11
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In an episode of Sonictalk they say that the Yamaha DX7 was never cool...
Do you agree?
depends on your definition of "cool" i guess.

Kind of a bit like how ProTools is perceived - you need to be using it to be taken seriously whereas Bitwig or Reaper would be "cool".

DX7s were certainly ubiquitous & the industry standard, but i don't think they were ever perceived as "cool" in terms of street cred or counter-culture by aspiring musicians of the time. Analogue beasts and early samplers were much more appealing to dreamers but less road-friendly & more hassle & expensive.

Just my hazy memories, but maybe it's influenced by the music you listened to at the time, who your heroes were, where you lived etc.
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Old 05-01-2022, 11:41 AM   #12
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Think it can stay in the cool club.
#Modern DX7's can create a vast range of instrument timbres..gongs,bongs,whistles,basses,otherwordly or cinematic style textures,oboes,guitary things..nice range.

It can stay cool as it is still useful for modern genres like dnb,techno,dubstep,trap etcetc.. this is what a lot of modern youths actually like..gnarly basses,highly textured waveforms and bone shaking sub basses..the modern dx7 can provide.



Perhaps the dx7 and all it's companion devices became #obsoleted once things like the synclavier came along..that did kinda change the fm game a bit.
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Old 05-01-2022, 11:51 AM   #13
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the synclavier cost a fortune, The whole appeal of the DX7 was that it was polyphonic, had memory etc. and was "affordable".

I do think the DX range became "cool" through the dance music scene, but this was largely due to the DX100
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Old 05-01-2022, 12:57 PM   #14
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With DX came the FM technique that was new and gave a new sound.
It seems like all bands and studios had the DX7.
And at the same time the synths became affordable.
DX7 WAS cool, no doubt about it. loved my DX100.
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Old 05-01-2022, 01:22 PM   #15
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Because I was a Moog guy. (I had a MemoryMoog.) I never got into, nor ever wanted a DX-7.

I didn't understand what the hype was all about.
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Old 05-01-2022, 01:32 PM   #16
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The DX-7 was the 'affordable' FM synth that said, 'I can't afford a Yamaha grand and I can't program a Moog'.
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Old 05-01-2022, 01:53 PM   #17
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Quote:
'I can't afford a Yamaha grand and I can't program a Moog'.
Haa- the good old human self limiting condition..it is just another programme,you can change that any moment!
You could afford a grand,you could program a moog.

A DX7 can do what a grand cannot,a grand can do what a dx7 cannot,they are both tools that can be expressive and playful given the right hands or programming=cool.
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Old 05-01-2022, 03:02 PM   #18
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Quote:
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There is on example of it that I think is cool, not cheesy at all.

Gracias The Kid. Nunca lo había escuchado. En esos años no había cómo escuchar/conocer lo que ustedes hacían por allá, con el tiempo he intentado desatrasarme.

¡Un saludo desde Locombia!
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Old 05-01-2022, 04:08 PM   #19
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Gracias The Kid. Nunca lo había escuchado. En esos años no había cómo escuchar/conocer lo que ustedes hacían por allá, con el tiempo he intentado desatrasarme.

¡Un saludo desde Locombia!
Qué bueno! Saludos!
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Old 05-02-2022, 12:58 AM   #20
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Because I was a Moog guy. (I had a MemoryMoog.) I never got into, nor ever wanted a DX-7.

I didn't understand what the hype was all about.
During the early 80s I imagine the vast majority of serious successful keyboard artists that were still using a Memorymoog would also have had a DX7 in their arsenal anyway.

The one is a mass production Japanese titan, used on countless records. The other was hand made in the US and was an expensive commercial failure on barely any records by comparison. Also arguably (and ironically) less identifiable in a mix.
The spikey, crisp, cold, bright DX7 punches through a mix.
The Memorymoog could more easily be misidentified from other analogue poly synths in a mix.

All that said I would much rather have the Moog, and not just because it could be worth £10k today, and the DX7 £250-£500 depending on condition (maybe double that if you can find an unopened boxed one!).




ENO:
https://youtu.be/Q1Ha0MMT0aA?t=328

Last edited by Softsynth; 05-02-2022 at 02:01 AM. Reason: Add DX7 video link.
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Old 05-02-2022, 06:32 AM   #21
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Q: DX-7...cool?

(imo) music history answers that question quite well ; )


Quote:
Originally Posted by The Kid View Post
In an episode of Sonictalk they say that the Yamaha DX7 was never cool...
Do you agree?
I think it has some unique sounds, but it got me thinking...

Last edited by DarrenH; 05-02-2022 at 06:38 AM.
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Old 05-02-2022, 06:48 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DarrenH View Post
Q: DX-7...cool?

(imo) music history answers that question quite well ; )
Cool AND uncool then...
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Old 05-02-2022, 06:59 AM   #23
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Cool AND uncool then...
It's THE synth to be ambivalent about!
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Old 05-02-2022, 07:15 AM   #24
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Dexed with all the cartridges is a nice thing to have in the arsenal anyway.
As someone said, it's all about context. Sometimes it's just the right synth.
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Old 05-02-2022, 10:11 AM   #25
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Takes me back...

I remember driving up to Cabrini Greens in Chicago in the late 80s(?) to buy a DX7s. My girlfriend waited outside in my bright red RX7 while I (with my cash in hand) made the deal inside. Thought I was the coolest dude in the world coming home with that synth. Girlfriend was really cool with it all to that helped too.

I sold it LONG time ago but still have the SY77 I bought later. Doesn't get much use now as I'm more into guitar these days. Great controller though.
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Old 05-02-2022, 01:24 PM   #26
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The revolution of the DX7 was the expressivity, richness and detail of the sounds it produces, and that it was possible to make patches that sounded much more like "real" instruments than anything that came before it.

When you hear that cheesy E PIANO 1, you're hearing the accumulated joy of thousands of musicians who no longer needed to carry a Rhodes or a Wurlitzer piano to a gig.
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Old 05-02-2022, 01:51 PM   #27
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When you hear that cheesy E PIANO 1, you're hearing the accumulated joy of thousands of musicians who no longer needed to carry a Rhodes or a Wurlitzer piano to a gig.
Then sampling and modelling got back those sounds, without the back breaking fragile tine
and reed machines.
We can always use an FM DX7 piano preset for that retro 80s sound too.
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Old 05-04-2022, 10:27 PM   #28
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I had one of the first DX7s that came to Europe
I still happily use it as a master keyboard for Organ and virtual wind (with Breath controller) sounds.
And I use several DX7 sounds via DEXED.
-Michael
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Old 05-05-2022, 07:25 AM   #29
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Quote:
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I had one of the first DX7s that came to Europe
I still happily use it as a master keyboard for Organ and virtual wind (with Breath controller) sounds.
And I use several DX7 sounds via DEXED.
-Michael
I had a first generation brown DX7 that I bought for $100 in a pawn shop. One day I went to play it, and it had burned up internally. The case was super hot to the touch, and when I opened it up the circuit board was burnt up looking.

Like you I still use some patches from my old DX7, but I have to use Native Instruments FM7 because I lost the .syx file somewhere along the way, but do have an FM7 format file that still works.
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Old 05-11-2022, 07:52 AM   #30
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Snow is cool.
Musical instruments are for making noise with.
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Old 05-11-2022, 08:18 AM   #31
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Snow is cool.
Musical instruments are for making noise with.
Snow is f"#$%ng cold
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