My opinion on the DX7MKII FD.....

[DIGITAL SCREAMS]

Ok, well ive had the DX7 for about 4 months now and Id like to give you the lowdown on FM synthesis and my thoughts on the DX7 in general...

First off, the DX7MKII FD is a well built machine. The key action is very good and rivals most current VA's. All the buttons have a great feel to them and the sliders are great. The backlit LCD display is very good an displays just about enough information.....all in all, they look sexy and are very nice to wank over...

FM SYNTHESIS

One of the first things to hit me when I bought the DX was just how expansive the programming possibilities were/are. Now I know why Brian Eno swears by them.....and only uses DX's.

Conceptually I understand how FM works. What I dont understand is just how the various algorithm configurations are supposed to influence the overall tone. Hmmm....I fundemental limitation you might ask....well in fact no....its not.

Selecting the algorithm is one of the last things I do when finalising a patch. True...organs sound best when using algorithm 32....and leads sound best when using either 5, 27 or 29. For the most part....any algorithm can be used for any sound.

I start by swithing on all the operators and making sure their outputs are all set at maximum. Contrary to programming guildlines....the manual and other sources will tell you to program each operator/modulator one at a time. But, where dealing with additive synthesis here as well as FM. How are you supposed to imagine hypothetical harmonics?

Next, I think of a basic lead, bass, FX or pad envelope....and adjust accordingly. You have to do this for each operator and there 8 stage envelopes. The 'copy' function makes quick work of this. Only when your wishing to make wavetable type sounds would you then want to make subtle tweaks to each operators envelope.

Now comes the fun part. Tuning the operators. This is where it either goes brilliantly or horribly wrong. When first starting out, Id recommend you use ratio tunings of 1.00 - 12.00. If one of your modulators is set to 12.00....then its usually best to set all others as 1.00. Only when you become more comfortable should you then start experimenting with more extravagent ranges and fine tunings. A point about the fine tuneing of 6 operators. As you can imagine, on sabtractive synths, detuning 1 or two oscilators from the fundemental is doable and good. But when you effectively have 6 'oscilators' some of which are acting as modulators of a carrier...you can seriosly get into f*$% up (and sometimes interesting) territory.....

Next comes the 8 stage pitch envelope. I recommend you stay away from these unless you ARE making guitar patches or some weird FX. The practicality of using pitch generators is limited for most synth sounds....and I only tend to use small amounts of inverted pitch on basses and leads. In addition to this, I know some of you have asked for pitch generators to be included on the virus. In my opinion....pitch generators are going to have little practical application for subtractive 'analog' sounds.....perhaps with the wavetables they'd be quite interesting. But until you've actually mastered how to pitch generators....I wouldnt bother Access to implement them

OK, so now you have your operators activated, tuned and envelop'ed! Next is to set the individual outputs for each operator. THIS MAKES A MASSIVE difference to the overall color/tone of your sound. Making subtle tweaks here and there can bring out really beautiful ENO style timbres....

And thats about it folks. Making basses, leads, bells, metallic drones and *outthere* fx.....is actually pretty easy. Its not as hard as people make out. Granted, the FM guitars and space FX are hardcore.....but in terms of simple, evolving FM sounds.....its quite a breeze to do yourself.

The bottom line is; if any of you are seriosuly looking for alternative sounds then check out a DX7. Its one of the most versatile synths ever made.....and definitely one of my best purchases ever.

DS