DX7
Digital programmable algorithm
synthesizer
The most famous synthesizer of the 1980s.
Its electric piano became a standard sound in ballads and "smooth jazz" genres. Its bass was the standard bass sound, typically played in bouncy octaves. Its crystalline timbres were such a departure from the world of analog, that this synth was a super-hit for Yamaha in 1983, and spanned a long family of FM-based products.
The DX7 came out in 1983, sporting the new MIDI interface. The high quality of its digital sounds, velocity + aftertouch, the expandability, the thoroughly professional look, and the complicated programming interface, made the DX7 and FM synthesis take off in a way the was unknown before for synthesizers. Thousands of units were sold, and thousands of records have that distinct DX7 sound (especially for the electric piano, the bass, marimba and glassy, crystal-type sounds).
The DX7 was also the first synth that originated a huge "patch creation" business. Since it was cumbersome to edit, many programming houses were established, ready to feed the hunger for new sounds that players all over the world craved. Today, there are literally thousands of sounds available for the DX7.
Bottom line: together with D-50 and M1, the synthesizer of the '80s
| Preset name with demo | My comments |
| Factory internal presets (ROM-1 A MASTER GROUP) | |
| 1 BRASS 1 | Classic '80 synth brass. |
| 2 BRASS 2 | A variant on the classic synth brass. |
| 3 BRASS 3 | Muted brass, typically the breath controller was used for these types of sounds. |
| 4 STRINGS 1 | Glassy strings, typically FM. The DX7 was never renowned for its string sounds - most everybody preferred the warmth and body of a true analog for string parts. |
| 5 STRINGS 2 | Variation of the above. |
| 6 STRINGS 3 | Full string orchestra. |
| 7 ORCHESTRA | Rich orchestral setup. This was great for the time. |
| 8 PIANO 1 | Nice approximation of a grand piano, with its own character. |
| 9 PIANO 2 | Rough rock 'n' roll piano. |
| 10 PIANO 3 | Detuned upright. |
| 11 E.PIANO 1 | THE MOST FAMOUS PATCH OF THE '80s!!!!!!! Used by EVERYBODY, the fabled INT11 preset has become a standard sound (aka "FM piano" in all modern workstations, of all brands. It was manipulated in many ways, but the typical add-on was a wide chorus, to achieve that polished, professional sound. Mixed with a regular piano sound, it became the "L.A. piano", a standard for mid-80s ballads. |
| 12 GUITAR 1 | Solid guitar sound. Quite expressive and hypnotic! |
| 13 GUITAR 2 | Heavy guitar rendition. |
| 14 SYN-LEAD 1 | Very nice, quasi-analog synth solo. Reminds of the sound used by Chick Corea (which he mixed with another electric piano type of sound). |
| 15 BASS 1 | THE OTHER CLASSIC DX7 PATCH!!!!!!! This bass was used as the MAIN BASS for SO MANY '80s productions. Listen back and you'll spot it easily. Again, this patch now has become a standard (FM Bass) and lives in all modern synthesizer workstations, of any brand. |
| 16 BASS 2 | Very nice and expressive fretless bass. This sound is also an FM trademark. |
| 17 E.ORGAN 1 | Aha! I bet you didn't remember the DX7 Hammond organ sound to be this good! Yep, the sine waves of the DX7 lend themselves very well to create a Hammond sound. |
| 18 PIPES 1 | Powerful and noble pipe organ. |
| 19 HARPSICH 1 | Realistically programmed harpsichord, key release and all. |
| 20 CLAV 1 | Awesome Clavinet sound. Just add wah-wah. |
| 21 VIBE 1 | Intriguing, beautiful digital sound. These were the types of sounds that the other synthesizers of the era could not do at all - and in part helped the DX7 rise to the top. |
| 22 MARIMBA | Another classic DX7 sound!!! Very used in the mid-80s |
| 23 KOTO | Excellent reproduction of the Japanese instrument. |
| 24 FLUTE 1 | Much was said about the realism of this patch, at the time. Today, it doesn't stand out as such, but in 1983, especially if you used a breath controller, it didn't get more real than this (unless you sold your car and bought on of the first samplers, such as the Emulator I) |
| 25 ORCH-CHIME | Beautiful, angelic orchestral pad. |
| 26 TUB BELLS | Graceful tubular bells. Again, a sound that no other synthesis but FM at the time could reproduce. |
| 27 STEEL DRUM | Cool steel drums. |
| 28 TIMPANI | Expertly programmed, and very expressive orchestral percussion. |
| 29 REFS WHISL | Dead-on referee whistle! |
| 30 VOICE 1 | Another DX7 signature sound - the hollow digital voices. Useful as a pad and for many other purposes. |
| 31 TRAIN | Marvelously programmed setup, with the aftertouch controlling the volume of the "steam engine" sound. Split keyboard to achieve all these sounds. This was for the time, absolutely groundbreaking. |
| 32 TAKE OFF | At the end, the usual sci-fi sounds step in. Common in synths of that era. |
| ROM 1-B KEYBOARD AND PLUCKED SOUNDS GROUP | |
| 2 PIANO 5 | A nice, intimate piano. |
| 4 E.PIANO 3 | Wurlitzer variant of the electric piano |
| 13 E.ORGAN 2 | Jazz organ, with some of the higher drawbars pulled out. |
| 16 E.ORGAN 5 | Great Farfisa / Vox combo organ sound! |
| 18 PIPES 3 | Solemn church organ - very well programmed! |
| 20 CALIOPE | Cute calliope puff organ sound |
| ROM 2-A ORCHESTRAL & PERCUSSIVE SOUNDS GROUP | |
| 1 PICCOLO | Super cute piccolo flute sound |
| 3 OBOE | Realistic oboe |
| 4 CLARINET | Realistic clarinet |
| 18 HARMONICA1 | This preset was used in a VERY FAMOUS hit song of the '80s: Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It?" |
| 26 GONG 1 | Ominous gong sound |
| 32 LOG DRUM | Excellent wood percussion sounds |
| ROM 2-B SYNTH, COMPLEX & EFFECTS SOUNDS GROUP | |
| 2 SYN-LEAD 3 | Another great, expressive '80s solo synth |
| 6 SYN-CLAV 2 | Throaty, funny synth clav |
| 10 SYNBRASS 2 | More DX7 signature synbrass sounds. |
| 16 SYN-BASS 2 | Typical FM bass - |
| 22 B.DRM-SNAR | Analog sounding TR-808 type. |
| 24 EVOLUTION | Strange, evolving synthesizer FX |
| 26 WASP STING | Great emulation! |
| 27 LASER GUN | More sci-fi FX |
| 31 ST.HELENS | Disturbed transmission |
| ROM 3-A MASTER GROUP | |
| 15 JAZZ GUIT1 | Awesome jazz hollow-body guitar! |
| 28 GRAND PRIX | Classic car racing sound FX |
| 31 BRASS S H | Synth brass with Sample and Hold effect (mod wheel) |
| ROM 3-B KEYBOARD & PLUCKED SOUNDS GROUP | |
| 3 E.GRAND 2 | Nice electric grand, a la CP-80 |
| 14 E.ORGAN 3 | Happy '60s electric organ sound |
| 26 LUTE | Airy and transparent lute sound |
| ROM 4-A ORCHESTRAL & PERCUSSIVE SOUNDS GROUP | |
| 5 BASSOON | Realistic emulation of a bassoon. |
| 25 VOICES | Icy, mysterious digital voices. |
| 26 XYLOPHONE | Nice xylophone |
| 27 COWBELL | Well-programmed cow bell. |
| ROM 4-B COMPLEX SOUND & EFFECTS GROUP | |
| 2 PERC BRASS | Nice percussive synbrass. |
| 4 HARPSI-STG | Very interesting amalgam.. |
| 8 STRG-CHIME | Nice split. |
| 20 FILTER SWP | Ok emulation of a filter sweep (the DX7 doesn't have filters..) |
| 22 WILD BOAR | LOL! Great sound. |
| 23 SHIMMER | Happy sci-fi sound |
| 30 ..GOTCHA.. | Yep! |
Don't forget to press FUNCTION (SPACE) and then Nr. 8 to switch from UNAVAIL to AVAIL when loading patches from your sequencer, or the DX7 won't receive the MIDI sysex.
- trademark FM digital sound;
- velocity and aftertouch make this keyboard very expressive;
- hundreds (even thousands) of sounds available on the Internet;
- still a workhorse after 20+ years
| Year of release: | 1983 |
| Polyphony: | 16 |
| Sound generation method: | FM |
| Preset memories | 32 + expandable via cartridges |
| MIDI: | in, out, thru |
| Sound expansion capabilities: | cartridges |
| Sequencer | no |
| Arpeggiator | no |
| Effects | no |
| Velocity | yes |
| Aftertouch | yes |
available at www.yamaha.com
| SITE | Type of resource | DESCRIPTION |