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Yamaha DX-7 on Dr Who :What a fantastic synth this is


Teoman

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I'm sure some of you DX-7 lovers may have seen this video before. This is the first I'm hearing DX-7 with such a different palette of sounds. It is absolutely gorgeous. Being a vintage analog addict I have to confess that this thing sounds as good as those analogs if not better. If it had a Jellinghouse like add-on factory accessoir in its time it would have been in a different position today. I really wonder how those sounds were discovered while most people were used to analog way of thinking. My guess is that it required top sound engineering to get such sounds via a rather difficult interface at the time. Most people used the presets and very few were lucky to have a good understanding of FM and got professional results. I have a Casio CZ-3000 from that era as well but it is not even in the same league as the DX-7. Just wanted to share with you. Wish I had put a bid on OGG's Jellinghause :facepalm: And those low res D/A converters have some real magic in it...

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Hi Flat, That avatar pictures my own Trident Sir :cool: Waiting your updated avatar as well ;) That Dr Who thema is undoubtedly DX-7 maybe except the drums. All that bass lines, melodic lines and wild brassy textures are all typical DX-7. Honestly, it is much better than many analogs. Maybe it is time to fire up my DX-7 again. It defies no comparison. Very original and unique!

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Im surprised I dont remember the sontarans in that episode.. although I don't recall it being any good either.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Doctors

 

I'm curious if the poster took the music from CD or tape and layered it over the video. He credits Peter Howell.. so I guess so. I thought maybe it was a fan soundrack, as I've wanted to do that myself.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q52eb1eGBo

I'm sure some of you DX-7 lovers may have seen this video before. This is the first I'm hearing DX-7 with such a different palette of sounds. It is absolutely gorgeous. Being a vintage analog addict I have to confess that this thing sounds as good as those analogs if not better. If it had a Jellinghouse like add-on factory accessoir in its time it would have been in a different position today. I really wonder how those sounds were discovered while most people were used to analog way of thinking. My guess is that it required top sound engineering to get such sounds via a rather difficult interface at the time. Most people used the presets and very few were lucky to have a good understanding of FM and got professional results. I have a Casio CZ-3000 from that era as well but it is not even in the same league as the DX-7. Just wanted to share with you. Wish I had put a bid on OGG's Jellinghause
:facepalm:
And those low res D/A converters have some real magic in it...

 

Cool stuff! thanks for posting :)

 

Some of the brassy lines in that clip sound like the Yamaha CS-80 to me, I don't think it's all DX-7. I'm sure Peter still used the CS-80 to some extent at the time.

 

Micke

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Reminds me of some of the music made for the film Runaway (yes, the one starring Tom Selleck and Gene Simmons). A TX816 was used for that.

 

 

Jerry Goldsmith (R.I.P) used a lot more than that on Runaway...

 

Here's a list of what synths he used on that score:

 

Rhodes Chroma

Yamaha GS-1 FM synthesizer

Memorymoog

Oberheim OB-8

Yamaha DX-7 (x2)

Minimoog

Jupiter-8

SCI Prophet T8

plus a rented Emulator

 

That's quite an impressive setup!

 

cheers,

Micke

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Jerry Goldsmith (R.I.P) used a lot more than that on Runaway...


Here's a list of what synths he used on that score:


Rhodes Chroma

Yamaha GS-1 FM synthesizer

Memorymoog

Oberheim OB-8

Yamaha DX-7 (x2)

Minimoog

Jupiter-8

SCI Prophet T8

plus a rented Emulator


That's quite an impressive setup!


cheers,

Micke

 

 

Possibly... But those dissonant chords between 1:29 and 1:45 sound very digital, metallic and DX-7 to my ears. It is indeed possible with DX-7 to get such wild sounds as I audition the character closely these days.

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If Yamaha (or for that matter, anyone) made a controller with the same keybed as the original DX7 I'd buy it in a heartbeat.


Unless I find a way to make the DX7IIFD less noisy.

 

 

Yes! Why, why, why did they drop that design?

 

I love the sound of the DX7 (a distinctly different timbre than the higher resolution output of my TX-802, although noisier) and hope to find one in good shape eventually, but would love one solely as a controller, it feels so nice to play.

 

Evolution in this industry is definitely not a straightforward proposition.

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Yeah! if that was all done on a DX7, im very impressed/surprised.

 

 

The DX7 is a bit underrated these days. Perhaps it is because there is an awful lot of bad DX7 tracks out there.

 

(Listening to some old Hearts of Space shows reminded me of this recently. There was a period in the mid 1980s, I guess after Ray Lynch DX7ed his way through Deep Breakfast, where practically every New Age music composer switched out their arsenal of analog toys for a single DX7. The results often were awful.

 

Which makes you forget the awesome DX7 ambient tracks.

 

[YOUTUBE]lOgQyIMX_XU[/YOUTUBE]

)

 

Anyways, yeah, that Who track that does sound all-FM to me.

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Which makes you forget the awesome DX7 ambient tracks.

Ok, that's it... I'll never sell my TX802. Never ever... ever ever ever! I want to be buried with it when I die. :)

 

I love the sounds in that track.

 

The Dr. Who soundtrack reminds me of the PC games in the early 90s running on the old FM-based soundcards, but with higher quality. ;)

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)


Anyways, yeah, that Who track that does sound all-FM to me.

 

 

Can I ask you where you found that the video you posted is DX7? Not that I don't trust what you're saying, but do you have a source? Like other Eno albums (music for airports etc) it sounds analog, not FM to me... also, Daniel Lanois says it was mainly a CS-80, not a DX7 used in Apollo.. http://www.gearslutz.com/board/q-daniel-lanois/185972-apollo.html

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So would the general consensus be that if I had a chance at a TX802 in great condition, with RAM cart and in an Anvil Forge II case for $50, I should take it?

Don't even hesitate, GRAB IT!! Chances are you'll love it. If not, you'll be able to sell it for several times that much. ;)

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Can I ask you where you found that the video you posted is DX7? Not that I don't trust what you're saying, but do you have a source? Like other Eno albums (music for airports etc) it sounds analog, not FM to me... also, Daniel Lanois says it was mainly a CS-80, not a DX7 used in Apollo..

 

 

I'm relying on Wikipedia, and memories of some posts that I can't find (I could find a few like here and here, but I remember seeing more direct references).

 

Honestly, does most of Apollo sound CS-80 to you? It doesn't to me... the base sounds more like the sine-waveish FM algorithms to me, maybe with only one modulator or so. Sure, it does sound warmer than the average DX7... one must wonder what Brian Eno's outboard gear is. (No one seems to give a {censored} about outboard gear when so many times -- Apollo included -- that's a huge component of the sound.).

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