Ableton Forum

hey all

just picked up an old TX7 synth (keyboardless version of the DX7). i had heard all the horror stories about programming it, but still want to give it a go. anybody out there use on of these? any tips or good sites to check would be appreciated.

i already got it hooked up and used this editor to get some good sounds - http://dx7.roundsquare.net/ - but its still all pretty mysterious.

How much did you pay for it? I remember the DX7 was The Synth back in the day but out of my price range at the time.

If they are rare now I think we can place a lot of blame on Trent Reznor for destroying at least one on stage at every show for several tours.

I recently got a Yamaha TX-81Z which is an FM synth from right around the same era, but with less operators and I believe it's only 12 bit. So far I am loving it, but haven't gotten into tweaking the patches yet.

the tx 7 is great... love it.
its a dx 7 serie 1 without keyboard..so everything written about the dx7 matches the tx7 and it has te same use as a dx7..

so you have to live with an editor..or.. a faderbox that is capabel of sysexstrings..
with knobs for the arameters it gets really mysterious

I have a DX7 II FD and still use it.

dx7 is my currently most used synth, and the tzx8 is second, but the dx can be anything, from raw, to smooth "analog" to bell, fat drums, skinny drums, it just can't be clean because the converters are shit and that is what it gives it this wonderful sound.

it's very hard to program it, i gave a go to a computer editor, but suddenly realized that there are so many already made sounds out there that i don't need to program my own


wonderful machine

paid 100 bucks for it, on the bay. im hoping to use it in a hardware only setup, so there are some specific sounds i want to get out of it. has anyone else used that editor (the DX7 librarian)? or a different, better one? thanks.

i would also eventually like to hookup an external controller to it. 3phase, what do you mean by "with knobs for the (p)arameters it gets really mysterious"?

hmm.. the dx 7 that is where the preset terror startet.. there are great sounds for it out there but they never made it to the internet really... the thousends you find there are just the factory banks and unsorted crap...

.

i mean a fader box that can send commands to the dx7.. one that can do sysex strings ..i think from the contemporary devices only the bitstream 3 x can do it.. second hand the peavey on can do it..

in softwae the logic enviroment can do it.. and you might use that to reroute a normal cc faderbox..
and some miditranslators probably can do it too.. maybe max for life can do it? no idea.. but than.. is life able to send sysex commands? the editor cant handle them and you cant record them..but are the drivers passing them to the outputs?

at first FM synthesis can seem complicated but it's really not that hard once you understand it.
I have a TX81Z which is similar but with more waveforms, software editor can make it a little bit easier to program.
If you have used Live's Operator and understand the basics of FM you should have no problem with this.

3phase wrote:maybe max for life can do it? no idea.. but than.. is life able to send sysex commands? the editor cant handle them and you cant record them..but are the drivers passing them to the outputs?

Not sure about Max 4 Live, but Ableton CAN'T send Sysex unfortunately.

I have a DX7 and I like just programming it by hand. That was the best thing about getting it, it forced me to really learn FM synthesis. Once you get the hang of it, it's not as hard as people make it out to be. Reminds me of all the menu diving I used to have to do when I was using a Groovebox and a digital 8-Track (shift, arrow over over over over, damn I went one too far, start again). Oh those were the days, total pain in the neck and it was a limited setup but I probably made my best tunes then.

Here are some DX7 links:

DX7 Manual & section on Midi:
http://chipple.net/dx7/
http://chipple.net/dx7/english/midi.html

An ancient article from Keyboard Magazine I believe, How to Program the DX7:
http://www.maths.abdn.ac.uk/~bensondj/d ... grmdx7.pdf

Dave Benson's DX7 page:
http://www.maths.abdn.ac.uk/~bensondj/html/dx7.html

Links for DX7 Librarian for Mac:
Homepage: http://dx7.roundsquare.net/
Download: http://dx7.roundsquare.net/downloads
An older link?: http://www.tcp-ip.or.jp/~setsu/dx7.html

A different editor, for Windows or Mac:
http://www.squest.com/Windows/Instrumen ... index.html

Trifonic FM8 tutorials from NextStepAudio.com: If you have Native Instruments FM8, these tutorials by Brian Trifon are fantastic. Even if you don't have FM8, I think these will help. He does an excellent job of explaining the principles of FM synthesis; modulators, carriers, setting the pitch and envelope for each operator, using velocity, LFO etc. He also gets into more advanced stuff like an operator modulating itself. Great tutorials, some of the best around.

http://vimeo.com/9543504
http://vimeo.com/10026834
http://vimeo.com/10397739

If you have Ableton's Operator synth, the same goes for the included lessons on using Operator and there are tons of videos out there.

Some of the basics:
- Choosing an algorithm or template, the routing or order of operators & carriers (these are the diagrams on the front of an DX7).
- Setting the amount for how much one operator modulates another.
- Choosing the pitch of each of the operators.
- Using each operator's envelope to determine it's own shape, i.e. how long that individual part of the sound will be.

Algorithm, Pitch, AMOUNT, ENVELOPES.

What are your impressions of the DX7 Librarian? Is it a decent editor? It looks like it's only $10 so I'd like to know what you guys think.

Right now I'm just programming it by hand and saving patches to a couple of cartridges that came with it. I bought it at an estate sale. It belonged to the touring guitar/keyboard player for The Doobie Brothers amongst others. Kinda cool. Came with foot pedals and a massive touring case, the thing is so big & heavy it takes two people to carry.

MacGuffin wrote:at first FM synthesis can seem complicated but it's really not that hard once you understand it.
I have a TX81Z which is similar but with more waveforms, software editor can make it a little bit easier to program.
If you have used Live's Operator and understand the basics of FM you should have no problem with this.

i allways was able to get a sound of use out of a fm synth..but i really wouldnt say that it isnt as hard as people think it is.. at least compared to some master patches i have heard in some pro studios that had bought pretty expensive libs for their dx 7 modules...

there is a certain mastery of using the velocity responce of the different operator envelopes to make really responsive and expressive keyboard sounds.. a quality i really never have seen in the freely available sounds, and only in a handfull of the factory lib..which holds some nice classics..

there was a scene in the 80s that was really into collecting master patches for the dx7..
realy allmost a market...

however.. just mention this because the sounds in the internet that fly around really make you underestimating the machine..

the Tx7 is one of the most desirable dx modules.. but its rare.. the original dx 7 is nice but a big thing.. however the keyboard is not bad at all..
Later dx are to clean allready... powerfull still.. also the very late modells are interesting and go pretty cheap for what they can do...
in the vintage digital domain some of theese yamaha devices will see a bigger demand again..

the holy grail of them soundwise is the tx 816.. or modules from it..

the tx 816 is 8 dx7 in one rack.. each with independant symetrical output and a mix output and global patchchange matrix..

this machine is actually the reason dx sounds in the 80´s was so big..

8 dx7 stacked are big.. with the different velocity responses and single outputs they are actually huge.. and we have a real vintage factor here too..against such a monster with all its alliasing noise any dx plug in sounds like a smurf rebellion

3phase wrote:

MacGuffin wrote:at first FM synthesis can seem complicated but it's really not that hard once you understand it.
I have a TX81Z which is similar but with more waveforms, software editor can make it a little bit easier to program.
If you have used Live's Operator and understand the basics of FM you should have no problem with this.

i allways was able to get a sound of use out of a fm synth..but i really wouldnt say that it isnt as hard as people think it is.. at least compared to some master patches i have heard in some pro studios that had bought pretty expensive libs for their dx 7 modules...

there is a certain mastery of using the velocity responce of the different operator envelopes to make really responsive and expressive keyboard sounds.. a quality i really never have seen in the freely available sounds, and only in a handfull of the factory lib..which holds some nice classics..

there was a scene in the 80s that was really into collecting master patches for the dx7..
realy allmost a market...

however.. just mention this because the sounds in the internet that fly around really make you underestimating the machine..

the Tx7 is one of the most desirable dx modules.. but its rare.. the original dx 7 is nice but a big thing.. however the keyboard is not bad at all..
Later dx are to clean allready... powerfull still.. also the very late modells are interesting and go pretty cheap for what they can do...
in the vintage digital domain some of theese yamaha devices will see a bigger demand again..

the holy grail of them soundwise is the tx 816.. or modules from it..

the tx 816 is 8 dx7 in one rack.. each with independant symetrical output and a mix output and global patchchange matrix..

this machine is actually the reason dx sounds in the 80´s was so big..

8 dx7 stacked are big.. with the different velocity responses and single outputs they are actually huge.. and we have a real vintage factor here too..against such a monster with all its alliasing noise any dx plug in sounds like a smurf rebellion

I agree it's definitely not easy, but once you know the basics of what you're dealing with it's not as hard as people sometimes make it out to be.

Totally agree, Velocity is a key, key modulation. For all types of synthesis when you're trying to make expressive, playable patches but especially in FM synthesis. After the 4 basics I mentioned above, it's probably #5 as I go about making a patch. I should have made that more clear. The Trifonic FM8 tutorials do a good job of explaining it.

Is there anyone using midiquest XL VST in Ableton? How good is it?