Yamaha DX7

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
synthesizer
DX7II-D
DX7II-D
General
Surname DX7
Manufacturer Yamaha
Sound synthesis digital, FM synthesis
Period 1983-1987
properties
Polyphonic yes, 16
Multitimbral No
filter -
LFO 1, various Waveforms
Effects -
Keys 61, velocity sensitive
with aftertouch (monophonic)
Int. Controller Pitch, modulation wheel
Ext. Controller Button, pedal, breath controller
Interface (noun) MIDI
Sequencer -
D / A converter 12 bit
Samples -
Storage spaces 32
ROME -
R.A.M. -
Ext. Memory ROM and RAM plug-in modules
DX7 II open
Yamaha ICs in the DX7 II
Display of the DX7 II

The DX7 , introduced by Yamaha in 1983 , was the first digital synthesizer accessible to a larger audience .

sound

With the DX7 synthesizer, FM synthesis ( invented by John Chowning in 1967 and further developed in the following years) is available for the first time in a mass product that can also be programmed by the musician himself. The DX7 is characterized by sounds that cannot be achieved with traditional (subtractive) synthesis, in particular realistic imitations of vibrating strings, sticks, metal tongues, discs and membranophones as well as flute-like instruments (flutes, organs, etc.). So since the early 80s u. a. its electric piano, bass guitar, bells and acoustic guitar sounds become an exclusive sonic trademark of the DX7. In many cases, the sounds generated with it differ significantly from those of analog synthesizers and were formative for the sound aesthetics of pop and rock music in the 1980s.

Typical examples of the DX7 piano sound can be heard in the songs The Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston and Stay the Night ( Chicago ), as well as bell-like spheres in Rosalie by Spliff and Touch In The Night by Silent Circle . In the mid-1980s, hardly any ballad could do without the “FM e-piano”.

Innovative and musically equally suitable examples of the then new sound characteristics of the Yamaha FM synthesizers can be found on the albums by Depeche Mode , which at that time also worked extensively with the FM section of the Synclavier , Spliff, Level 42 and Brian Eno , who, like many other musicians, still uses this synthesizer frequently today. FM sounds are now considered a suitable fund for a particularly “crazy” and experimental sound material.

Play opportunities and technology

In addition to its velocity-sensitive keyboard, the DX7 offers the option of dynamically influencing the sound with controllers (breath control, aftertouch , foot controls and buttons, modulation wheel and pitch bend wheel ) while playing, which leads to an unusually lively sound image for the time it was created. At its presentation, it attracted a buying audience that was used to this dynamic opportunity from the piano. The DX7 is one of the first synthesizers with MIDI and in addition to the internal sound memory (32 memory spaces) with a practical additional storage medium (here: cartridge). Its sixteen-part polyphony was sensational in 1983 in this price range.

Each of the 16 voices is provided by a complex time-varying waveform algorithm. This algorithm allows up to 6 mathematically represented sinus functions. Depending on the algorithm selected, some sub-functions can be defined as carrier frequencies and others as their modulators. The carrier waves are frequency modulated by the modulators, i.e. by a (horizontal) time function (not: vertical amplitude function). In addition, so-called "feedback" operators are available: Such a sine function is frequency modulated with itself (identical frequency and sine phase), whereby the symmetrical carrier sine function, depending on the given factor, is asymmetrically distorted, i.e. more similar to a so-called sawtooth oscillation. A total of 32 selectable algorithms are available.

The sound generation of the two synthesizer chips in the DX7 is implemented completely digitally. The digital values ​​of the sinusoidal oscillations are read out from an internal ROM and processed further. The "operators" are not physically available, so the resulting waveforms are not generated electroacoustically, as is the case with so-called analog synthesis. The tone generator supplies the values ​​of the complex waveform as digital sample blocks. In this sense, we can speak of a “virtual” real-time synthesis. The inscription next to the DX7 logo reads descriptively: “Digital Programmable Algorithm Synthesizer” (“Digital Programmable Algorithm Synthesizer”). The SY77 / 99 and TG77 follow-up instruments offer the option of compiling algorithms yourself using external software editors.

Since digital technology was not very well developed in the early 1980s, the sound resolution is only 12 bits. As a result, the first generation DX7 has a lower signal-to-noise ratio and higher distortion than was usual later. In contrast to the keyboard of the successor DX7 II, the keyboard of the DX7 only outputs MIDI velocity values ​​up to 100 (from 127), which leads to not fully utilized dynamics when controlling external tone generators. Some DX7 sounds sometimes sound a little too rich in overtones when controlled by "full" MIDI keyboards.

The New York Times first mentioned the DX7 in 1984 as an instrument of a new dimension:

“Modern technology has enabled Mr. [Stevie] Wonder to be a one-man band when traveling. Using a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer, a Linn Drum computer and a small portable speaker system, he sang and played two songs from In Square Circle in his hotel suite. ”

Like many of his colleagues, the artist used the loss-free, digital storage of sounds and the quick change from one sound to another as the basis for the then emerging concept of home recording .

Because of its epoch-making importance, the DX7 is exhibited in the Deutsches Museum .

TX-816

There is a 19-inch system under the designation TX816 , which consists of eight individual modules (“TF1”), each of which basically corresponds to a complete DX7. With this and the KX88 master keyboard and the QX1 MIDI sequencer, Yamaha offered a high-performance complete MIDI studio from the perspective of the time. The "TX7" is a desk-shaped sound module that also has the DX7 sound generator.

DX7 II

The DX7II followed in 1987 after around 160,000 units had been sold . This second generation was offered in three keyboard versions: DX7S, DX7IID and DX7IIFD. The now larger and illuminated display (except DX7S) considerably improves the overview when operating and programming the instrument. In addition, on the occasion of the company's 100th anniversary, the DX7II Centennial version was manufactured in a limited edition of 300 pieces, which are equipped with a silver housing, fluorescent 76-key keyboard and gold-plated wheels and program buttons.

Parallel to the DX7II model series there is the TX802 as an expander version in 19 "format, which thus replaced the TX7. Put simply, its sound generation is based on eight 2-part DX7 modules, with which a maximum of 8 different sounds are possible at the same time. For additional voices per Sound can be combined with several expanders, but only up to a maximum number of 16 voices as in the DX7II, which can only produce 2 different sounds at the same time, and these can either be layered on top of each other (dual mode) or each for a defined keyboard area (split mode ).

In addition, the D / A converters have been improved, which leads to a clearer sound image, but is sometimes rejected by sound purists. Another option is the "Unison Mode", which creates particularly fat sounds by stacking several voices with selectable detuning. The second DX7 generation offers the LFO 16-fold (i.e. for each polyphonic voice individually) and instead of mono has a stereo output for the audio signal.

equipment

Accessories and modifications were offered by other manufacturers for all DX7 models. The E! (Gray Matter Response), Supermax and SPX (EES). Some of them also offer additional functions such as split, dual, octal mode and sequencer. There is a wide selection of memory cartridges in several sizes from 32 to 1024 sounds, which have been manufactured by several companies and sold in larger numbers with new sounds. The DX programmer (Jellinghaus), produced in small numbers, offers access to all parameters, each with its own rotary control.

Sound design

The somewhat cumbersome programming of the complex algorithm and parameter structure led to the emergence of a market for sounds: DX7 users who had mastered the then new craft of "sound design" in the field of FM synthesis and who at the same time had commercial ambitions could program their own sound as ready-to-play "sounds “Offer for sale. The sound trade temporarily became a lucrative business due to the mass distribution of DX7 synthesizers, which made this market segment interesting for a variety of other instruments and still is today. Sounds were initially distributed as data sheets, later on cartridges and floppy disks. Today most of them can be downloaded from the Internet. Some sound designers have tried their hand at the DX7 with particular success (in terms of quality and quantity) and thus established themselves among musicians.

DX7 applications today

There are now software synthesizers that emulate and continue his technology . The notoriously complex operation of the model Yamaha DX instruments is not necessarily simplified. But the emulators allow, at least in the case of freeware, cheap access to the enormous sound potential of this synthesis method. Another advantage of the software is the global parameter overview, which is quite limited in the DX7 due to the small two-line LC display.

Web links

Commons : Yamaha DX7  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stephen Holden: The Pop Life - Stevie Wonder . In: New York Times , November 7, 1984