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Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

economist.com

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Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#31

Post by jdontillman »

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…

"Hammond Organs are distinct and popular, but nowhere near as ubiquitous as the DX7."

Dude...

There were about 200,000 DX7s manufactured.

There were about 2 million Hammond Organs manufactured.

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#32

Post by malthaus »

If anyone is interested in playing around with FM (or PM), have a look at the Elektron Digitone.

It's "opinionated"; something like Ruby on Rails for FM with some guardrails to keep you in the sweet spot of sounds mostly. FM can become quite metallic / noisy quickly otherwise.

Additionally you get an interesting sequencer and audio over usb in a custom format and it doesn't take up too much space. You can build small tracks completely on its own with it.

There are also really good DX7 software emulations on the market but i suggest something more beginner friendly; even back in the 80s the DX7 was a pain to program.

And theres a nice podcast episode about its ubiquity: https://switchedonpop.com/episodes/the-cyndi-lauper-conspira...

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#33

Post by malthaus »

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…

The difference between analog and digital FM/PM is quite immense though. It's very hard to get good sounding analog FM (e.g. on my modular system) due to the instability of the oscillators. It's mostly used for weird sounds or with short envelopes to accent the attack phase.

In that sense, DX7 et al where a huge leap as they brought an extensive sound range to the table (even though deeply in the uncanny valley for some of them)

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#34

Post by ratww »

musicale wrote: post #6

I am a huge fan of FM synthesis popularized by the DX7, but the DX7 is only one of many highly influential synthesizers, and FM is only one of many influential synthesis approaches including modular, subtractive, additive, sampling, wavetable, hybrid, phase distortion and various forms of wave shaping, physical modeling, and others. I would rank many other developments such as modular synthesis (e.g. Moog - think Swi…

IMO the DX7 sound was kind of a fad and a dead-end in terms of evolution and influence. Both the sound and the music it contributed to are relegated to nostalgia those days.

Its popularity in the synth world was quickly eclipsed by Roland-303s and Korg M1s after some mere 5 or 6 years of production. People were very keen to move to anything else and it sorta gave FM a bad rap for a while...

Also, Synths like Prophet and Oberheim were already dominating pop when the DX7 popped up, and they paved the way for the DX7. That's why I don't think the DX7 "changed music", like the article says. However, unlike the DX7, bands didn't stop using those synths when the "next thing" else came (even though they lost some market popularity), and they're still sought after today. People still love that Bernie Worrell funky-sync sound.

And Moog and ARP were already popular it in the preceding decades and were back on hits in the 90s, with Dr. Dre using a Moog in N.W.A., in his solo and in Snoopy Dogg's albums. Trent Reznor used a MiniMoog very prominently in Closer, but treated DX7s as disposable: they were just live MIDI controllers that were meant to be destroyed at the end of every concert.

Maybe there will be a DX7 revival but I'm not really holding my breath. Vaporwave was sort of, but in an ironic way, and using samples instead of the synth itself.

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#35

Post by alisonatwork »

httpsterio wrote: post #11

FM (frequency modulating) synthesis in itself was rather groundbreaking. Typically when we're talking about creating sounds, we mainly had additive and subtractive synthesis where stacking oscillators were used to shape sounds. FM uses oscillators to manipulate other oscillator's waveforms, which opened up a whole lot of new possibilities. The DX7 mainly was an affordable all-rounder that got loaded with a ton of alr…

Great comment. This really gets to the core of why the DX7 and Yamaha's FM synthesis patent was important.

At the time the DX7 came out, sample-based synths were still too expensive for the average musician. Affordable analog synths had less polyphony and mediocre piano sounds, plus they were heavy! The DX7 was cheap and light and did an alright piano sound, which is just what musicians wanted.

But having a cheap and light alternative to sample-based synthesis wasn't just useful to musicians. Cut-down versions of the chips also went into Sega consoles, Neo Geo arcade games, AdLib sound cards for PC, and even the early Sound Blasters.

I think Yamaha's FM synthesis had a huge impact on the sorts of music a whole generation of gamers grew up with, as well as being ubiquitous in pop music through much of the 80s. This is what makes the DX7 important, in my opinion. It's more significant as part of the story of consumer electronics becoming affordable than just as a pop music phenomenon.

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#36

Post by IndySun »

What's the HN soft rule about linking to soft paywalls?

https://archive.is/Gap8m

I lived through the DX7s arrival in to the recording studio. It sounded harsh, thin, very un-musical, vastly overpriced, and was dated then, and it still does. Never sounded 'cool'. Recent software recreations flatter its legacy, which is a good thing.

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#37

Post by ratww »

klodolph wrote: post #18
type0 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

M1 beats both DX7 and D-50 in units sold. We are living through the death and simultaneous revival of synthesizers, there probably won't be any characteristic bestsellers anymore. Last I checked MicroKorg was bestselling (in nr of units) current synth still in production but it can't leave the same mark on the current era of music like DX7 presets did.

I think the biggest synth from the current era will be the eurorack. Yes, it’s really a form factor and not a synth but it’s taken off in the past few years in a really startling way.

Maybe in influence... it helped kickstart the modular revival and even made other form factors popular again.

But in number of absolute units in operation, I don't know... Unless we compare number of modules sold vs number of Microkorgs. Modulars are expensive!

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#38

Post by ratww »

type0 wrote: post #9
musicale wrote: post #7

It is true that the DX7 piano (among other presets) was on tons of songs, but so was/is the Korg M1 piano sound which became the "dance/house" piano of the 1990s. Its punchiness (basically compression, fast/percussive attack, quick dropoff, and tinny aspect) of the sound worked perfectly, cutting through mixes and also working as a solo instrument, providing strong melodic/harmonic/rhythmic support without sounding o…

M1 beats both DX7 and D-50 in units sold. We are living through the death and simultaneous revival of synthesizers, there probably won't be any characteristic bestsellers anymore. Last I checked MicroKorg was bestselling (in nr of units) current synth still in production but it can't leave the same mark on the current era of music like DX7 presets did.

The Microkorg is pretty popular with indie bands, bedroom producers and was big in the mid-2000s indie-electro fad. But I agree that it didn't leave a mark as big as DX7 or M1! :(

Re: Yamaha’s DX7 synthesiser changed modern music

#40

Post by ratww »

alfiedotwtf wrote: post #29

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

It's 800 now? I remember seeing them in the early 2000s for about 200 USD in used music stores and pawn shops, and even then people thought that was expensive since everyone were starting to hype analog stuff and had some disdain for them!
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