I'd argue it sounds so iconic because it's a very accurate digital copy of the Rhodes keyboard sound. They all sound great no matter what you play on them :)
Too many people get caught up thinking that the immitation sounds of real intruments should sound just like real instruments and when they don't, they call them "cheesy." But they aren't cheesy in the least. They don't have to sound exactly like real instruments, they sound fantastic as sounds of their own and are unique in themselves. Real musicians know that sound shouldn't be limited to natural real instruments, but be limitless to express anything.
True the tone generators have improved so much from since back then. Even the $200. Yamaha keyboards today, have tones that rivals or surpasses the DX7's.
Yes, but to me, the organ sound, pipe, harpichord, even clavinet are very usabe. Maybe with a pedal or two they can sound even more alive than good sample based systems. Well, on the creative side, not on the emulation side of the thing.
@carlyletom301 New Fm synths under $200 😂 False, they can't stand up to a dx7. Sorry man, believe me I've searched. Not even Yamahas Reface, or the Opsix and those are $400-$1000, and they don't compare, even with the original system patches from the dx7.
this happens a lot .. we had a dx7 and we swapped it out for a roland d50 and a digital piano and an M1 i had a rick 4001s and swapped it out for a 5 string active we both regret our decision but it was economics and now i have 20 basses and no rick and he is in IT
My god, how I wanted a DX-7 when I was a young teen back in the early/mid 80's! Sadly my family couldn't afford one. Even the DX9, 21, 27 & DX-100 was out of our budget. For X-mas my dear grandparents bought my a Yamaha Porta-Sound VSS 100. It was a "consumer" keyboard, much like a standard PSS, but it had a built in mic/sampler. It was a lot of fun. Finally in 1984 my mom surprised me with a "real" synth, a Korg Poly-800! (wow!) I loved it! (& STILL have it) but oh how I longed for a DX7.
@@WildernessMusic_GentleSerene I've heard demos of the Reface DX. It sounds really nice. I even thought about buying Reface DX but my Korg Kronos is pretty good at FM synthesis. (& it can even load DX-7 patches) When I wrote the comment 7 years ago, I was just reflecting back on my childhood. When I was a young teen I remember a friend of mine had a brother who was in wedding band, played piano at upscale restaurants, etc. He had a DX-7. I remember my friend showed it to me. I was like: 😮 (but I wasn't allowed to touch/play it) When he opened the case....it reminds me of that case in Pulp Fiction which belonged to Marsellus Wallace. Anytime anyone would look inside the case, they'd be like 😮. That's how I felt when my friend opened his brother's DX-7 case. 😂
I wanted a DX7 as well, but a friend gave me his electric guitar in 1989 so I played that until I realise I would rather play bass, so I got into basses and never learned much on keyboards until about 10-15 years ago.
@@edwardjamyangmacarchick1847 That's cool. I have always wanted to learn how to play the guitar, but just never had the patience or manual dexterity. I just can't get my hands/fingers around the neck or hold down the strings properly. I get annoyed, then try to play it on my lap like a keyboard, then I just give up. I have a cheap acoustic/electric Squire (strung left handed) that I bought about 15 years ago. I wish I could just play some basic chords. But again, I lack the patience & just can't grip the guitar properly. Plus I am getting older (pushing 50) & beginning to experience Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, so that doesn't make things easier. I've always been into keyboards/synths, and Ample Guitar Lite is really cool, so I just use that for guitar stuff.
@@gjc82071 get a dx7. They’re cheap now. I got mines for like $300, good shape and everything. Live yo dream. I’m only 21 so I wasn’t even close to being alive back then 😂 but trust they’re still relevant today. Kids like me love the dx7. The reface is cool but it’s like the same price as a real dx7 so just get the real deal, you won’t regret it. And get dxed to make your own patches cuz yeah it’s impossible to make patches directly onto the dx7
"In late 1982, Briton Dave Bristow and American Gary Leuenberger, experts on the Yamaha CS-80, flew to Japan to develop the DX7's voices. They had less than four days to create the DX7's 128 preset patches." (wiki)
One of the great things about eh DX series synths was the fact that they were digital they were extremely accurate in triggering,gate times and velocity. You could take a sound and cut the gate time down in your sequencer to say 5 clocks in duration. (480 per quarter note) and the part would trigger perfectly. Setting the velocity up past 100 would create some cool effects. I used the DX a lot on my records for Taylor Dayne and Celine Dion back in the day.
Apparently BASS 2 was the lead sound in Take My Breath Away, with some reverb added. It's amazing how many 80s songs have the fingerprints of the DX7 in them.
I've seen a lot of people play the piano, keyboard. The grace that's coming from this man's fingers when he lays his beautiful hands on that God damn keyboard is just amazing. Also the way that he's demoing each sound is just intuitive.
That would be because Yamaha also designed FM chips with similar capabilities for numerous computers at the time, and even for the SEGA Megadrive console.
I'd venture to guess, rhe DX7's operator, the YM21280 runs similar fm waves as the YM3812 found in sound blaster and adlib sound cards made until the mid 90s.
I usually skip over any “guitar” presets on synths or digital pianos, but my god this guy makes it actually sound like an expressive actual guitar player. Now I realize the patch doesn’t suck, it’s me!!!
being a person who uses mostly virtual synths I really admire the great sound that comes from hard synths...needs little to no EQ....just some effects....I love it.
As an user of FM8 This bank is virtually a must for me. I know DX7 hardly can imitate any realistic instruments, but it doesn't have to. That's why I love the DX7 sound.
I think he is trying to say Mac is an idiot? No idea why anyone would dislike Mac. His music may not be for you, but he seems like such a legend and has a good heart
Back in the mid 80's a lot of songs featured DX7 bass sounds, e.g., What Is Love by Howard Jones, Take My Breath Away by Berlin and many others. I'm sure you can find many more! It's only one of a few factory patches that I like and use today.
The Styx's song "Babe" actually had real Rhodes electric piano. Patch 11 on the DX7 was inspired by the Rhodes and is arguably the most famous synthesized emulation of that classic electro-mechanical instrument.
In his final years with the group DeYoung would use a TX816 electric piano layer on all the songs that originally used Rhodes pianos. On most of them I think it sounds better with the DX electric piano instead of the Rhodes especially babe.
Something like a Juno 60? I'm currently restoring the original DX7. It just needs a new battery, and when it's open I'll recap the power supply completely.
"This week, on a very special episode of 'Some 80's Sitcom', someone learns that something socially acceptable for responsible adults isn't acceptable for children/teens. Will they (insert situationally appropriate pun)? Find out Friday, at 7:30."
DX7 had amazing bright synth sounds but not much realism in actual instruments except for that damned awesome elec piano!!! haha that thing is sweet. and the organ sounds.
Hey, TruthSurge! As a subscriber, glad to see you posting here... I happen to really dig the DX7 and would love to own one as a luxury after I spruce up on my FM skills. This keyboard had many synthesis features to manufacture your own sounds that seemingly few professionals in the west even utilized at the time.
TruthSurge Oh, the sounds shown here are not what I speak of. You can manipulate envelopes and operators directly with this model! I'm sure you've noticed it's interface is quite unique. You can model many sounds from the ground up, even some weird garbage and other stuff maybe no one has even found or really put to melodic use yet! There was little documentation on it and this FM synthesis as a method for manufacturing sounds was very underrated, but is recently seeing a renewed interest in the west.
Have to disagree about the realism. At the time it came out, it could produce much more realistic sounds than analog. Vibes, marimba, steel drum, and timpani for example. After I bought one, I discovered the secret to programming very realistic analog sounds. I tried a blind test with two friends who were analog lovers and they couldn't tell the difference between my DX-7 analog string patch and my Oberheim Matix 6. Of course sampling won in the realism battle later.
radagast brown Yes, those you list are in the mallet/key family. One basic tone that hits and decays. The DX7 had nothing on the M1, however (and they came out roughly at the same time) because the M1 used SAMPLES (real recordings) whereas the DX7 used FM modulation. For reaslim, the M1 was in another universe because it used samples.
Just bought one of these from eBay. Came with three cartridges with quite a lot of presets. Really enjoying using it and laughing at the patches I recognise from songs.
Hehe, I did the same when I bought one some years ago! Also bought a D50 while I was at it. This one had been used on the road by Roxette, so it had quite a few presets I recognized from the hits. Fun!
In the song "Say You, Say Me", the Yamaha DX7 ROM-4B patch "Bell-Flute (Bell and Flute/Bells and Flute/Bells-Flute/Bells and Flute)", Sound Sources "ROM 128" patch "Bellfry", ROM-4A patches "Tub Bells", "Orchestral Strings in 5ths" and "Synth Brass (Brass 2)" were heard.
My DX7 arrived yesterday and I'm honestly super excited to finally use it! It has some of my favorite factory presets of any synth, and your demonstration is even better
This is a great demo for the Yamaha DX7 classic factory patches. With right FM programming skills, you can transform the DX7 into a truly amazing ‘pure’ synthesizer of all time. It can produce amazingly rich and fat analog-like sounds as well as breathtaking opera, choir, pads, strings, brass, pianos, etc. It can rival modern hybrid synths, samplers and romplers. Long live DX7!
Agreed. I bought a DX7 in early '84. Never had had an analog synth, so I didn't have analog programming to "unlearn." I just accepted FM programming for what it was and dived in and was able to create many amazing sounds. I always felt that the factory patches were meant as more of a "starting point" than as representations of the best that this instrument could do. Today, I have a DX5 which is like two DX7s in one box. And a Motif and a Montage.
Power DX7 I bet it can. there's nothing like the original. Jupiter 80 from roland would do the same, while m1 would still be great at producing these days cause those are the original avengers!!
I always wish they'd added a B-bank, where the programmers were allowed to go wild with their own sounds. The A-bank has some gems but Yamaha must have told the programmers to imitate acoustic / electronic instruments, which feels like a waste of a clever synth engine.
Is it actually possible to emulate an acoustic piano properly on the DX7, with only the number of operators per algorithm it has? I have tried and got somewhere vaguely close in the bass notes but not in the tenor/treble.
And this synth is so much more than just presets. I just bought one of these on Ebay. #12 is a great jazz guitar. I actually know how to program FM synthesis. It really is fun. Complex but fun
I recognise more than half of these sounds in this video from pop music in the 1980s as well as TV shows. All of this was just the presets. I wish I could just go through 32 presets and find half of them to be useful. However, this synth was very expensive. It cost $2000 in 1983 dollars.
@@TheTruthIsFiction Yes indeed. That was the equivalent of about $5000 today. These days I have a DX7, a DX7S, a Novation Mini Nova, Yamaha EX5, Behringer Deep Mind 12, Ensoniq SQ1+ and Behringer Neutron. All kinds of fun synths :)
Yamaha made an FM synth chip that was used heavily by electronics manufacturers, including Sega and Soundblaster. Some of the cheaper 90s Yamaha keyboards literally use the same FM chips as Soundblaster cards for PC.
My old friend Chuck turned me onto this and the Roland D-50 back in the day. These sounds remind me of the good times we had jamming back then. Rest peacefully Chuckster. Sure do miss you man.
Its amazing that the sound design team made such great presets in something like two weeks back in 1983. These presets are better than the thousands of free DX7 patches available online made in the last 40 years, IMO!
A synth with some very specific, highly recognizable sounds from many 1980's easy listening, pop jazz, R&B and television and movie theme soundtracks. The much maligned membrane buttons on the DX7 were actually surprisingly better and stood the test of time compared to a lot of other synths with similar controls back then. If you're looking for Roland strings, Oberheim brass , Kurzweil LFO rhythms or Moog sequenced synth bass, then the DX7 ain't for you. But for lots of other textural sounds that are near record-ready, the Yamaha DX-series have some serious synth street cred.
+RAPEE APE thats the sound that made the dx7 famous. it was suppose to imitate a rhodes piano. it doesnt but its a great sound in its own right you hear off tonnes of records in the 80's
One question - WHICH Tubular Bells sound are we talking about? The North American internal preset bank featured a sound called "TUB ERUPT" (#27 in North America) and the Sound Sources "ROM 128"B preset bank featured a sound called "SLOE BELLS" that are/were same fuller sound and have/had "filter swell" (well as an FM synth could do one) sounds that you hear/heard when the keys are/were held down.
Yes, there is a lot theories around that famous bass sound in Take My Breath Away by Berlin. It probably went through heavy post-processing to make that sound. I tried to edit it, but couldn't get it right, so instead, I create my own bass patch that is pretty good. you can check my TH-cam channel by clicking on the Power DX7 Icon next to this comment. You will find a DX7 demo video of the famous song. Cheers, Power DX7.
In the 1986 Kids Incorporated version of the song "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going", the Yamaha DX7 internal patch "Electric Piano 1" was heard.
In some October 2017 Cartoon Network promo, the Yamaha DX7 internal patch “Electric Piano 1” was heard and the Yamaha DX7 ROM-2B patch “Electric Piano 1-Brass BC” (without the brass part) was heard and the Yamaha DX7 ROM-4B patch “Electric Piano 1-Brass BC” (without the brass part) was heard.
spice them chords up. All chords start from an original chord. play wit that board and as you go along fatten chords you already know by hitting more notes with them, listening out for harmony. then master it. That's how I learned and I play organs and all now
+SynthMania the DX7 bass preset 15 was also used on never gonna give you up by rick astley and maybe many more songs from the 80's. the best synth bass ive heard.
Actually, if you read the book "PWL: From the Factory Floor" by Phil Harding, you will learn that the S.A.W. basses were not factory patches, but custom-programmed by Ian Curnow and held in a certain cartridge that .... yeah, read the book. I grew up with that music and so I researched it a lot, and own most of the machines. I was in London in the summer of 1985... best summer ever.
SynthMania ill have a read of that. i bet its a good book. ive got many 80's CD's and its unbelievable how many number hits SAW had in the mid 80's-early 90's.
+SynthMania ive just bought a yamaha dx7 with no cartridge. had to change the battery which made it lose all its data no soldering at least as its been converted to a holder. next job is to get the factory patches and download them onto the keyboard
In the song “In Too Deep” (where the Roland TR-808 sounds/modified sounds and Roland Alpha Juno patch “Bell Chimes 1” were heard) and “My All” (probably 1989), the Yamaha DX7 internal patch “Electric Piano 1” was heard.
"E. PIANO 1" Preset is one of the most important inventions of the 20th century.
Right! It’s timeless bro.
literallyyy
I'd argue it sounds so iconic because it's a very accurate digital copy of the Rhodes keyboard sound. They all sound great no matter what you play on them :)
And I feel like I’m the only one that hates it. Idk why. I love 80s music, but I fucking hate that preset
Its an absolute unit in the low register!
Too many people get caught up thinking that the immitation sounds of real intruments should sound just like real instruments and when they don't, they call them "cheesy." But they aren't cheesy in the least. They don't have to sound exactly like real instruments, they sound fantastic as sounds of their own and are unique in themselves. Real musicians know that sound shouldn't be limited to natural real instruments, but be limitless to express anything.
Exactly.
thats why synth is needed
@@iklimhunianrumahbordil9375
And is why it is also a great musical instrument.
@@HowlingMoonCinemas music is not real,
@@iklimhunianrumahbordil9375
!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yes indeed the E.Piano was everything.
i could listen to that preset forever
True the tone generators have improved so much from since back then. Even the $200. Yamaha keyboards today, have tones that rivals or surpasses the DX7's.
Yes, but to me, the organ sound, pipe, harpichord, even clavinet are very usabe. Maybe with a pedal or two they can sound even more alive than good sample based systems. Well, on the creative side, not on the emulation side of the thing.
So this is where all the hits of my childhood where coming from
@carlyletom301 New Fm synths under $200 😂 False, they can't stand up to a dx7. Sorry man, believe me I've searched. Not even Yamahas Reface, or the Opsix and those are $400-$1000, and they don't compare, even with the original system patches from the dx7.
5:30 serious moment in an 80s sitcom.
a lesson was learned
The more you know....(aaaaand shooting star).
Next time on a very special episode.....
any moment in hey Arnold
funny
In middle school I was obsessed with 80s music. My mom pulled out this keyboard from the back of the closet... Blew my 12 year old mind.
Do you still play?
Wow, she’s rich.
@@hcbs1986 These things go for like $500-700 on the used market...so no
Born 1968, Gen X... for me, in middle and high school the music playing as current on the radio WAS 80s music!
Wow
I could listen to this forever
You are absolutely right! Old FM synthesizers have really cool sounds.
Same
Same
this happens a lot ..
we had a dx7 and we swapped it out for a roland d50 and a digital piano and an M1
i had a rick 4001s and swapped it out for a 5 string active
we both regret our decision but it was economics
and now i have 20 basses and no rick and he is in IT
My god, how I wanted a DX-7 when I was a young teen back in the early/mid 80's! Sadly my family couldn't afford one. Even the DX9, 21, 27 & DX-100 was out of our budget. For X-mas my dear grandparents bought my a Yamaha Porta-Sound VSS 100. It was a "consumer" keyboard, much like a standard PSS, but it had a built in mic/sampler. It was a lot of fun. Finally in 1984 my mom surprised me with a "real" synth, a Korg Poly-800! (wow!) I loved it! (& STILL have it) but oh how I longed for a DX7.
I really like my Yamaha Reface DX, my first FM synth (after 30 years of subtractive). Fully programmable FM. Cost = almost free, at $300.00.
@@WildernessMusic_GentleSerene I've heard demos of the Reface DX. It sounds really nice. I even thought about buying Reface DX but my Korg Kronos is pretty good at FM synthesis. (& it can even load DX-7 patches) When I wrote the comment 7 years ago, I was just reflecting back on my childhood. When I was a young teen I remember a friend of mine had a brother who was in wedding band, played piano at upscale restaurants, etc. He had a DX-7. I remember my friend showed it to me. I was like: 😮 (but I wasn't allowed to touch/play it) When he opened the case....it reminds me of that case in Pulp Fiction which belonged to Marsellus Wallace. Anytime anyone would look inside the case, they'd be like 😮. That's how I felt when my friend opened his brother's DX-7 case. 😂
I wanted a DX7 as well, but a friend gave me his electric guitar in 1989 so I played that until I realise I would rather play bass, so I got into basses and never learned much on keyboards until about 10-15 years ago.
@@edwardjamyangmacarchick1847 That's cool. I have always wanted to learn how to play the guitar, but just never had the patience or manual dexterity. I just can't get my hands/fingers around the neck or hold down the strings properly. I get annoyed, then try to play it on my lap like a keyboard, then I just give up. I have a cheap acoustic/electric Squire (strung left handed) that I bought about 15 years ago. I wish I could just play some basic chords. But again, I lack the patience & just can't grip the guitar properly. Plus I am getting older (pushing 50) & beginning to experience Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, so that doesn't make things easier. I've always been into keyboards/synths, and Ample Guitar Lite is really cool, so I just use that for guitar stuff.
@@gjc82071 get a dx7. They’re cheap now. I got mines for like $300, good shape and everything. Live yo dream. I’m only 21 so I wasn’t even close to being alive back then 😂 but trust they’re still relevant today. Kids like me love the dx7. The reface is cool but it’s like the same price as a real dx7 so just get the real deal, you won’t regret it. And get dxed to make your own patches cuz yeah it’s impossible to make patches directly onto the dx7
Whoever made these sounds did a brilliant job.
"In late 1982, Briton Dave Bristow and American Gary Leuenberger, experts on the Yamaha CS-80, flew to Japan to develop the DX7's voices. They had less than four days to create the DX7's 128 preset patches." (wiki)
One of the great things about eh DX series synths was the fact that they were digital they were extremely accurate in triggering,gate times and velocity. You could take a sound and cut the gate time down in your sequencer to say 5 clocks in duration. (480 per quarter note) and the part would trigger perfectly. Setting the velocity up past 100 would create some cool effects. I used the DX a lot on my records for Taylor Dayne and Celine Dion back in the day.
And we all love the work you did, Rich!! Thank you so much for the insight!
Wow.... I wish my wife was as nice to me as you! Haha!
Apparently BASS 2 was the lead sound in Take My Breath Away, with some reverb added. It's amazing how many 80s songs have the fingerprints of the DX7 in them.
That was "celebrate" he was playing with the 2nd sound too.
ironically bass 1 is used in danger zone (both are top gun songs)
I've seen a lot of people play the piano, keyboard. The grace that's coming from this man's fingers when he lays his beautiful hands on that God damn keyboard is just amazing. Also the way that he's demoing each sound is just intuitive.
Hey, Ottokal, thank you for the compliment, way too kind!
I have my DX7...and is SOOOO SPECIAL, bcoz the old owner was EDDY GRANT, and he sold it to me when he came to Uruguay
Wow!
Lucky you but he did give me a hard case for my classical guitar when I was his tenant in London. I still have it to this day.
I wonder if he remembered about the DX7 he sold you ?
@@jameskerr9509 I am thinking if you are a fu**ing hater or only stupid. What do you think about that?
even in 2021 this thing still sounds like it came from the damn future, this thing is so badass
this is how a demo should be done.
Man, this is like owning a musical time machine.
Sounds like every computer game released during the MS-DOS era, 75% of movies from the 80s, and 50% of the songs. Intense nostalgia, to say the least.
That would be because Yamaha also designed FM chips with similar capabilities for numerous computers at the time, and even for the SEGA Megadrive console.
My Compaq computer almost made the same noise at 3.18 when it started up.
SEGA MEGA DRIVE/GENESIS have a FM Synth too
Well said.
I'd venture to guess, rhe DX7's operator, the YM21280 runs similar fm waves as the YM3812 found in sound blaster and adlib sound cards made until the mid 90s.
Simply amazing. The E. Piano puts everything in perspective.
The E. Piano is instant a e s t h e t i c
I usually skip over any “guitar” presets on synths or digital pianos, but my god this guy makes it actually sound like an expressive actual guitar player. Now I realize the patch doesn’t suck, it’s me!!!
Same thing with Sega Genesis which also uses FM, the electric guitar sounds on it are amazing, and sound just like a distorted metal guitar would.
So iconic in the 80's pop music. Lot's of uses in new wave / romantics, TV sitcom, commercals and documentary shows.
Nr 15 is vital.
being a person who uses mostly virtual synths I really admire the great sound that comes from hard synths...needs little to no EQ....just some effects....I love it.
As an user of FM8 This bank is virtually a must for me. I know DX7 hardly can imitate any realistic instruments, but it doesn't have to. That's why I love the DX7 sound.
4:47 That solo is beautiful
L0L
That the theme song for when you take your clothes off for an evening shower. 🍑 💦
3:34 those chord progressions on POINT! 🎹
Gotta add Misty Fitzgerald
I played these sounds with Dexed while watching the video and it's amazing how close this program gets to the real thing...
The composition you're playing to illustrate 11) E. Piano 1 is really quite wonderful. If it's your original composition, fantastic job.
Thanks - it's my improvisation.
SynthMania Nice Improv first chords are used also on Ivan Lins - Acaso do you know it?
Reminds me of something you'd hear from mac DeMarco
Dario Federici what does that mean?
I think he is trying to say Mac is an idiot? No idea why anyone would dislike Mac. His music may not be for you, but he seems like such a legend and has a good heart
The DX7 has In, Out, and Thru. It was one of the first synths (in 1983) to feature the then-new MIDI interface stock from the factory.
OMG!! 5:11 incredible, a 80's sound chip still sounds amazing, beating many current professional keyboards
1983 it was pretty dam impressive and it was heard everywhere on songs to commercials to games etc.
Wow.. that bass sounds like it was probably used in "highway to the dangerzone" from top gun.
working on it..
thats because it is the bass sound top gun used.
It was and many songs from the 80's
Back in the mid 80's a lot of songs featured DX7 bass sounds, e.g., What Is Love by Howard Jones, Take My Breath Away by Berlin and many others. I'm sure you can find many more! It's only one of a few factory patches that I like and use today.
Power DX7 Many DX7's ditched for FM8
Hats off for playing each style on point for the preset 👏👏👏
Thank you 🙌
The Styx's song "Babe" actually had real Rhodes electric piano. Patch 11 on the DX7 was inspired by the Rhodes and is arguably the most famous synthesized emulation of that classic electro-mechanical instrument.
In his final years with the group DeYoung would use a TX816 electric piano layer on all the songs that originally used Rhodes pianos. On most of them I think it sounds better with the DX electric piano instead of the Rhodes especially babe.
Yup - it's a classic. Pair it with an analog poly of the era, add a LinnDrum, and you have the sound of the '80s in a nutshell...
Something like a Juno 60? I'm currently restoring the original DX7. It just needs a new battery, and when it's open I'll recap the power supply completely.
@@325iaddictOberheim OB8
One of the most wonderful musical instruments ever made.
5:39, the definition of the 80s and early 90s
"This week, on a very special episode of 'Some 80's Sitcom', someone learns that something socially acceptable for responsible adults isn't acceptable for children/teens. Will they (insert situationally appropriate pun)? Find out Friday, at 7:30."
DX7 had amazing bright synth sounds but not much realism in actual instruments except for that damned awesome elec piano!!! haha that thing is sweet. and the organ sounds.
Hey, TruthSurge! As a subscriber, glad to see you posting here...
I happen to really dig the DX7 and would love to own one as a luxury after I spruce up on my FM skills. This keyboard had many synthesis features to manufacture your own sounds that seemingly few professionals in the west even utilized at the time.
just snooping after selling my M1. finally got a DX7 again. Not for the sounds, just the keyboard. working pretty well.
TruthSurge Oh, the sounds shown here are not what I speak of. You can manipulate envelopes and operators directly with this model!
I'm sure you've noticed it's interface is quite unique. You can model many sounds from the ground up, even some weird garbage and other stuff maybe no one has even found or really put to melodic use yet!
There was little documentation on it and this FM synthesis as a method for manufacturing sounds was very underrated, but is recently seeing a renewed interest in the west.
Have to disagree about the realism. At the time it came out, it could produce much more realistic sounds than analog. Vibes, marimba, steel drum, and timpani for example. After I bought one, I discovered the secret to programming very realistic analog sounds. I tried a blind test with two friends who were analog lovers and they couldn't tell the difference between my DX-7 analog string patch and my Oberheim Matix 6. Of course sampling won in the realism battle later.
radagast brown Yes, those you list are in the mallet/key family. One basic tone that hits and decays. The DX7 had nothing on the M1, however (and they came out roughly at the same time) because the M1 used SAMPLES (real recordings) whereas the DX7 used FM modulation. For reaslim, the M1 was in another universe because it used samples.
Just bought one of these from eBay. Came with three cartridges with quite a lot of presets.
Really enjoying using it and laughing at the patches I recognise from songs.
Alex Ball A L E X B A L L
HE COMETH
Hehe, I did the same when I bought one some years ago! Also bought a D50 while I was at it. This one had been used on the road by Roxette, so it had quite a few presets I recognized from the hits. Fun!
How much does it normally cost
@@notapseudonym678 peri perihelion
Just bought a Dx7 from a thrift store. Prestine condition for dirt cheap. Love the classic sounds they produce.
In the song "Say You, Say Me", the Yamaha DX7 ROM-4B patch "Bell-Flute (Bell and Flute/Bells and Flute/Bells-Flute/Bells and Flute)", Sound Sources "ROM 128" patch "Bellfry", ROM-4A patches "Tub Bells", "Orchestral Strings in 5ths" and "Synth Brass (Brass 2)" were heard.
My DX7 arrived yesterday and I'm honestly super excited to finally use it! It has some of my favorite factory presets of any synth, and your demonstration is even better
You picked excellent riffs to show off the capabilites of the DX7 in basic trim. Kudos.
This made the 80s perfect!!
This is a great demo for the Yamaha DX7 classic factory patches. With right FM programming skills, you can transform the DX7 into a truly amazing ‘pure’ synthesizer of all time. It can produce amazingly rich and fat analog-like sounds as well as breathtaking opera, choir, pads, strings, brass, pianos, etc. It can rival modern hybrid synths, samplers and romplers. Long live DX7!
Agreed. I bought a DX7 in early '84. Never had had an analog synth, so I didn't have analog programming to "unlearn." I just accepted FM programming for what it was and dived in and was able to create many amazing sounds. I always felt that the factory patches were meant as more of a "starting point" than as representations of the best that this instrument could do. Today, I have a DX5 which is like two DX7s in one box. And a Motif and a Montage.
Power DX7 I bet it can. there's nothing like the original. Jupiter 80 from roland would do the same, while m1 would still be great at producing these days cause those are the original avengers!!
I always wish they'd added a B-bank, where the programmers were allowed to go wild with their own sounds. The A-bank has some gems but Yamaha must have told the programmers to imitate acoustic / electronic instruments, which feels like a waste of a clever synth engine.
Is it actually possible to emulate an acoustic piano properly on the DX7, with only the number of operators per algorithm it has? I have tried and got somewhere vaguely close in the bass notes but not in the tenor/treble.
Yes - but you had to go to Harvard for 4 years to learn how to program it.
And this synth is so much more than just presets. I just bought one of these on Ebay. #12 is a great jazz guitar. I actually know how to program FM synthesis. It really is fun. Complex but fun
I recognise more than half of these sounds in this video from pop music in the 1980s as well as TV shows. All of this was just the presets. I wish I could just go through 32 presets and find half of them to be useful. However, this synth was very expensive. It cost $2000 in 1983 dollars.
@@TheTruthIsFiction Yes indeed. That was the equivalent of about $5000 today. These days I have a DX7, a DX7S, a Novation Mini Nova, Yamaha EX5, Behringer Deep Mind 12, Ensoniq SQ1+ and Behringer Neutron. All kinds of fun synths :)
Una joyita de los '80.
The sound of this synthesizer really reminds me of soundtracks to old Sega Genesis games. I just love the sound of these retro synths
Yamaha made an FM synth chip that was used heavily by electronics manufacturers, including Sega and Soundblaster. Some of the cheaper 90s Yamaha keyboards literally use the same FM chips as Soundblaster cards for PC.
Because Sega Genesis use a Yahama soundchip
@@hcbs1986 bruh you replied to a 4 year old comment I made. I know this now
@@InkfinityOkamix3 lmfao
@@InkfinityOkamix3 that’s good to know that you saw the reply, especially after commenting at first so many years ago.
13:04 Very festive. I don't think I've heard a synth that has a better sounding Tubular Bells patch than the DX7.
FM synth is basically built for metallic sounds, very beautiful and i agree
3:34 Piano 1 is a LoFi hip hop wet dream waiting to happen!
Well picked. I might load it onto my Korg Volca FM!
My old friend Chuck turned me onto this and the Roland D-50 back in the day. These sounds remind me of the good times we had jamming back then. Rest peacefully Chuckster. Sure do miss you man.
U MAGICIAN BRO ? 11:27
Julien Crane its an auto option
Midi
@@MasterCriminal0 r/whooosh
@@nilayshenai3580 r/woosh
13:19 ooh that's where the Ring sound from sonic comes from
Yea this synth is super influential
Its amazing that the sound design team made such great presets in something like two weeks back in 1983. These presets are better than the thousands of free DX7 patches available online made in the last 40 years, IMO!
In Wikipedia it says they had to make the sounds in no more than 4 days!! Wow!
1:00 just made my day.
Not sure how anyone could dislike this. Those pianos! About to buy one of these. My Minilogue just can’t compete.
15) BASS 1 - i can hear "What Is Love" Howard's Jones :)
And you will hear a LOT of other 80s songs with this bass - as soon as you start to notice, there's no end to it.
To finally find out what made all of my fav music from the 80s and 90s lol
I wish I could improvise like this.
P R A C T I C E
Practice for 40 hours a day
That's no coincidence: Actually the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive featured a Yamaha FM synthesizer chip, which was closely related to the DX7 synthi.
It really started from the arcade games. Listen to After Burner 2 soundtrack on the Sega X arcade board. The music is fantastic
The DX-7 was a funk machine more than anything else. Still hear those sounds constantly.
The TUB BELLS brought me so much nostalgia... Feels like its good old 2003 again. I loved it man
Thanks!
You are welcome! Thank you for playing the classic sounds for us
I have just fallen in love with this synth. It really has the old school videogames sound.
E.piano 1 reminds me of the 90's. Ive been looking for that piano sound for a long time
+Spanky Bruh More like the 70s...
+ReviewMovieWorld i hear that piano in a lot of 90's music, thats why i said that.
+Finely definitely 90s
+hemz96 thank youuu!
the korg m1 is 200% 90s.
5:20 | Electric Piano 1 is what i’m waiting for
Thank you O SynthMania for herein thou doest The Work of The Lord
A synth with some very specific, highly recognizable sounds from many 1980's easy listening, pop jazz, R&B and television and movie theme soundtracks. The much maligned membrane buttons on the DX7 were actually surprisingly better and stood the test of time compared to a lot of other synths with similar controls back then. If you're looking for Roland strings, Oberheim brass , Kurzweil LFO rhythms or Moog sequenced synth bass, then the DX7 ain't for you. But for lots of other textural sounds that are near record-ready, the Yamaha DX-series have some serious synth street cred.
We thank u for this great demo video of this classic board
+Morrisman Smith Morrisman, thank you so much for watching!
My pleasure
+Morrisman Smith Damn man you're everywhere
indeed
Me: mom can we get taco bell?
Mom: we have taco bell at home.
Taco bell at home: 13:10
DX7 Electric Piano 1 is the best on that keyboard. Very smooth tune you played there man. AMAZING
Happiest sounding synth ever.
The Yamaha DX7 internal patch "Electric Piano 1" was heard in the Kids Incorporated version of the Foreigner song "Say You Will".
i think we all came here for
5:20
***** pure sex
pure sex
Right? :D
+RAPEE APE thats the sound that made the dx7 famous. it was suppose to imitate a rhodes piano. it doesnt but its a great sound in its own right you hear off tonnes of records in the 80's
***** when you hear the e piano on an 80's record you know its from a dx7
BIG BOSS uirr
in a way this is such a great instrument and has left such a sonic print in the late 80's and early 90's. but i'll go with the prophet 5 haha
In the song “You Give Good Love” (1985), the Yamaha DX7 internal patch “Electric Piano 1” was heard.
Best e piano sound which i ever heard
Go listen to a Korg m1
Always have loved that e piano patch.
That 8) Piano sound is absolutely to die for.
Man some of these sounds were quite realistic for an FM synth in 1983.
Nostalgia is killing me.
I know 😯
GaryKildall
You must be clairvoyance. :)
Getting some 80s vibes xD
@@GaryKildall .1
一一一
Brilliant demo! Couldn't have asked for better chord progressions on a legendary unit.
Wow, I didn't know just what a powerhouse of cool, funky sounds the DX7 was/is. I could use all those sounds.
That bass sound was everywhere in the eighties charts.
This synthetizer has a old sega feeling
One question - WHICH Tubular Bells sound are we talking about?
The North American internal preset bank featured a sound called "TUB ERUPT" (#27 in North America) and the Sound Sources "ROM 128"B preset bank featured a sound called "SLOE BELLS" that are/were same fuller sound and have/had "filter swell" (well as an FM synth could do one) sounds that you hear/heard when the keys are/were held down.
So so so many synths have tried to replicate the E. Piano 1 sound but I don't think anything can ever sound as smooth as it does on the DX7
5:11 That's beautiful. Beautiful Electric Piano sound.
8:01 Great synth bass sound.
Me encantó ver su magistral video con esos sonidos siniguales de Yamaha DX...
9:45
MIIIIISTA CROOOOWWWWLEEEEYYYY
8:42 "Take my brreeath awaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy.. duhn duhn..."
Yes, there is a lot theories around that famous bass sound in Take My Breath Away by Berlin. It probably went through heavy post-processing to make that sound. I tried to edit it, but couldn't get it right, so instead, I create my own bass patch that is pretty good. you can check my TH-cam channel by clicking on the Power DX7 Icon next to this comment. You will find a DX7 demo video of the famous song. Cheers, Power DX7.
In the 1986 Kids Incorporated version of the song "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going", the Yamaha DX7 internal patch "Electric Piano 1" was heard.
THAT'S what made it all happen, right there... 🤣 (Seriously, Martika was my future wife...big life plans at age 11!) 👍
Ah, Martika was cute!
In the song "Dumble", the Yamaha DX7 internal patches "Bass 1" and "Tub Erupt" mixed with the Korg M1 patch "Piano" were heard.
Dude, those sounds take me back to the days of good music!!! I could listen that jazz playing all day.
In some October 2017 Cartoon Network promo, the Yamaha DX7 internal patch “Electric Piano 1” was heard and the Yamaha DX7 ROM-2B patch “Electric Piano 1-Brass BC” (without the brass part) was heard and the Yamaha DX7 ROM-4B patch “Electric Piano 1-Brass BC” (without the brass part) was heard.
0:10 Am I getting rickrolled...nevermind.
0:20 Is that Megalovania...nevermind.
This video is from 2012 lol
0:50 - chemical plant zone from sonic 2
Segas used an FM chip from Yamaha that was very similar to the ones in their 80s synths.
I heard it as I read your comment.
13:09 also sounds like a sonic song
I used to own it`s drum sibling, the RX-5 - As house & techno began to surface, it often displayed that unforgettable "memory full!!"
I had one back in the 80s..Brings back memories...
11 sounds like I'm about to jump into a painting and explore a pirate ship for stars
Dire dire docks!!!
I wanna know how you can play so jazzy
spice them chords up. All chords start from an original chord. play wit that board and as you go along fatten chords you already know by hitting more notes with them, listening out for harmony. then master it. That's how I learned and I play organs and all now
He sold his soul to Beelzebub down at the crossroads.
7ths!!!!!!!!!!!
Practice 40 hours a day
Oh my god, when he started with the bass tones I was like "DANGER ZONE"
+ｂｒｕｈ Yes, same DX7 bass patch, but in the demo I was playing a-ha's "Take On Me'.
+SynthMania the DX7 bass preset 15 was also used on never gonna give you up by rick astley and maybe many more songs from the 80's. the best synth bass ive heard.
Actually, if you read the book "PWL: From the Factory Floor" by Phil Harding, you will learn that the S.A.W. basses were not factory patches, but custom-programmed by Ian Curnow and held in a certain cartridge that .... yeah, read the book. I grew up with that music and so I researched it a lot, and own most of the machines. I was in London in the summer of 1985... best summer ever.
SynthMania ill have a read of that. i bet its a good book. ive got many 80's CD's and its unbelievable how many number hits SAW had in the mid 80's-early 90's.
+SynthMania ive just bought a yamaha dx7 with no cartridge. had to change the battery which made it lose all its data no soldering at least as its been converted to a holder. next job is to get the factory patches and download them onto the keyboard
DX-7 My addiction for many years!
In the song “In Too Deep” (where the Roland TR-808 sounds/modified sounds and Roland Alpha Juno patch “Bell Chimes 1” were heard) and “My All” (probably 1989), the Yamaha DX7 internal patch “Electric Piano 1” was heard.