Appreciating the Yamaha DX7

As a kid I had little battery powered Casio synths, but the first professional synth that I got to touch was a Yamaha DX7 in my junior high band room. It was made of metal, had some design qualities like a Lamborghini, and had a patch that sounded like a motor cycle. It made quite an impression!

Here is a video of me playing one I owned recently:

As an adult, I still appreciate the industrial design of the original DX7. Even more, I appreciate the way the timbre of the sounds in this synth respond to your playing. The FM sounds respond so musically to velocity. It remains one of the best synths for playing live in my opinion. It has a fantastic attack.

Soon after I bought this DX7 last year, I came across a Yamaha TX216 module at a swap meet. It has the exact same signal path / sound as the original DX7, but there are several of them in a rack (3 in my unit). Since my contemporary keyboard controllers are higher quality than the original DX7 keyboard, I resold the DX7 but I am planning on keeping the rack version. I look forward to making some videos that share how I use the 3 instances together. It definitely holds up against the other synths in my collection

Though it often has a controversial reputation in the synth community, the DX7 will always be one of my favorites.

Welcome to my blog

Hi!

I’ve been a fan of synthesizers and drum machines for my whole life and the magic they can make in the hands of a true artist.

I grew up in the 80’s to the music of Prince, Stevie Wonder, Phil Collins, George Michael and Michael Jackson. It always seems you could float in the music they made, not just because of the lyrics and melodies, but you could also float on the sounds.

In High School I purchased ‘Electronic Projects for Musicians’ by Craig Anderton and after building a few projects I was convinced I wanted to do that with my life. I entered college with the intention of studying electronic engineering and music in order to build synths. I ended up with a music degree and what turned out to be a valuable ability to write software.

My career is centered on designing and developing software, but I have continued a love for music and the tools people use to create it.

A few years ago, I came across Ray Wilson’s Music from Outer Space projects and was inspired by his hacker/teacher mentality. It got me back into the mindset of discovering and creating musical instruments.

Lately I’ve been buying used synths and drum machines, taking them apart and putting them back together, poring over the user manuals and service manuals, and then often reselling them so I can try different ones (I’m an explorer more than a collector). I’m trying to understand the magic qualities that each one posses and I’m still dreaming of building my own instruments.

I’ve learned a lot from the community that is passionate about these things, so I thought it was about time for me to contribute by sharing my experiments, designs, and thoughts.

Welcome to the blog!

A.BEHR