Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music • Hacker News Board

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#21

Post by klodolph » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 6:16 AM UTC

type0 wrote: post #10

Korg recently released fm synth (Opsix) looks cool but I wonder where innovation in synthesis is nowdays? Interesting products like ASM hydrasynth have fantastic sound design possibilities but it still could be somewhat done in a DAW. The semimodular stuff can offer things for experimentation, I wish there were more digital semimodular affordable synths like Microfreak that would offer versatility and invite to exper…

New synthesis techniques don’t really pop out of the woodwork. As far as I can tell, what we’re seeing is old techniques repackaged with new user interfaces. There’s a ton of room for innovation in user interfaces.

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#22

Post by klodolph » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 6:20 AM UTC

Exmoor wrote: post #16

jdontillman wrote: post #4

Interesting. I agree that the article is an exaggeration. It could be argued that the DX7 had a significant negative musical contribution. Oodles of sounds at the expense of musical expression. The musician became alienated from the process of making the sound. The keyboard player's job moved from playing the piano or organ to coming up with all the accompaniment parts that aren't guitars. And the DX7 was way too dif…

I would agree that the DX7's sound is really dated has honestly really negatively impacted some of my favorite songs recorded in the the 1980's [0][1], but I really cannot think of an specific instrument as distinctive and widespread as it. The Telecaster and Stratocaster were very popular, but it's very tough to pick them out in a recording from other types of electric guitars. Hammond Organs are distinct and popula…

I don’t think it’s that hard to pick out a Strat or Tele in a recording, they both have fairly unique sounds and the only guitars which sound like them are direct clones. At least at low to medium gain levels, but that’s where Strats and Teles are mostly used.

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#23

Post by TrackerFF » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 6:22 AM UTC

I love the DX7.

It's by no means a perfect synth, not anywhere close - but for certain sounds and styles, it really excels. Pain in the @ss to program at first (and later for that matter...), but for me, the bass and electric piano sounds are just wonderful, at least if you're doing retro stuff, or 80's cover tunes.

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#24

Post by jgalentine007 » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 6:25 AM UTC

Exmoor wrote: post #16

jdontillman wrote: post #4

Interesting. I agree that the article is an exaggeration. It could be argued that the DX7 had a significant negative musical contribution. Oodles of sounds at the expense of musical expression. The musician became alienated from the process of making the sound. The keyboard player's job moved from playing the piano or organ to coming up with all the accompaniment parts that aren't guitars. And the DX7 was way too dif…

I would agree that the DX7's sound is really dated has honestly really negatively impacted some of my favorite songs recorded in the the 1980's [0][1], but I really cannot think of an specific instrument as distinctive and widespread as it. The Telecaster and Stratocaster were very popular, but it's very tough to pick them out in a recording from other types of electric guitars. Hammond Organs are distinct and popula…

I don't agree - if you play guitar a bit, it's pretty easy to tell a telecaster from a stratocaster or a les paul, whether clean or distorted (in their traditional forms) on most any recording.

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#25

Post by brudgers » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 6:51 AM UTC

Exmoor wrote: post #16

jdontillman wrote: post #4

Interesting. I agree that the article is an exaggeration. It could be argued that the DX7 had a significant negative musical contribution. Oodles of sounds at the expense of musical expression. The musician became alienated from the process of making the sound. The keyboard player's job moved from playing the piano or organ to coming up with all the accompaniment parts that aren't guitars. And the DX7 was way too dif…

I would agree that the DX7's sound is really dated has honestly really negatively impacted some of my favorite songs recorded in the the 1980's [0][1], but I really cannot think of an specific instrument as distinctive and widespread as it. The Telecaster and Stratocaster were very popular, but it's very tough to pick them out in a recording from other types of electric guitars. Hammond Organs are distinct and popula…

The Rickenbacker 360 comes to mind in the context of distinctive guitar sounds.

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#26

Post by mortenjorck » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 6:51 AM UTC

Exmoor wrote: post #16

jdontillman wrote: post #4

Interesting. I agree that the article is an exaggeration. It could be argued that the DX7 had a significant negative musical contribution. Oodles of sounds at the expense of musical expression. The musician became alienated from the process of making the sound. The keyboard player's job moved from playing the piano or organ to coming up with all the accompaniment parts that aren't guitars. And the DX7 was way too dif…

I would agree that the DX7's sound is really dated has honestly really negatively impacted some of my favorite songs recorded in the the 1980's [0][1], but I really cannot think of an specific instrument as distinctive and widespread as it. The Telecaster and Stratocaster were very popular, but it's very tough to pick them out in a recording from other types of electric guitars. Hammond Organs are distinct and popula…

Just as a Fender is always played through an amp, a DX7 would never go dry into the mixing console. What we think of as the DX7 sound is almost always a combination of the Yamaha chip and a smorgasbord of effects units, usually at least reverb but likely also chorus, delay, compression, and even distortion, not to mention extensive EQ.

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#27

Post by MrGando » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 6:54 AM UTC

The DX7 is indeed super important. The E. Piano preset is in like all the 80s cheesy ballads ever... but not only those. It was also used in Jazz (fusion) quite a bit. Hell, Chick Corea was a fan of the Synth (listen Electric City), also George Duke.

Even the big brands these days have sampled the DX E. piano, because if you're a live performer it's quite likely that you'll need it if you're playing anything from the 80s in your repertoire (https://www.nordkeyboards.com/sound-libraries/nord-sample-li...).

The DX 7 E.Piano is not a great "E.Piano Sound", but it has a life of its own... :)

Source: Been playing Piano for 27 years and started on Synths ~22 yrs ago... first synth was an FM Korg X5D :)

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#28

Post by arvinsim » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 7:00 AM UTC

type0 wrote: post #10

Korg recently released fm synth (Opsix) looks cool but I wonder where innovation in synthesis is nowdays? Interesting products like ASM hydrasynth have fantastic sound design possibilities but it still could be somewhat done in a DAW. The semimodular stuff can offer things for experimentation, I wish there were more digital semimodular affordable synths like Microfreak that would offer versatility and invite to exper…

Speaking of Microfreak, I wish there are more portable but powerful synthesizers that run on batteries.

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#29

Post by alfiedotwtf » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 7:21 AM UTC

The DX7 is also the reason people flooded the market with all their classic analog synthesizer. These days, while a DX7 is about $800 Australian, an OG Jupiter 8 will set you back $30K AUD

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#30

Post by alisonatwork » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 7:29 AM UTC

scoopdewoop wrote: post #19

Exmoor wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would agree that the DX7's sound is really dated has honestly really negatively impacted some of my favorite songs recorded in the the 1980's [0][1], but I really cannot think of an specific instrument as distinctive and widespread as it. The Telecaster and Stratocaster were very popular, but it's very tough to pick them out in a recording from other types of electric guitars. Hammond Organs are distinct and popula…

I'd say that roland drum machines and bass synths would be up there, especially in the past 30 years.

I think the TR-808 is the only one that might qualify.

Although there are loads of synthesizers that were extremely influential in the industry and are immediately recognizable to hardcore synth fans (M1, D-50, Prophet 5, TB-303, Minimoog etc), I doubt there are many that the average listener would consider to be "distinctive".

This is what makes the TR-808 special, I think, even though there are lots of other drum machines that can make the same sounds. It's become a part of the standard lexicon of hip-hop, R&B and electronic music. I imagine a fair amount of casual pop music fans know that when someone says an 808 beat is about to drop, they're gonna get that booming bass drum and typewriter snare, maybe a cowbell.

I'm not sure the DX7 ever had the same widespread name recognition, even back in its heyday. And outside of synths, I don't think the average person connects specific guitar models to distinct sounds either, even if they know the names in the abstract. The 808 might be unique in this. Then again, rock music fans might never even have heard of it?