7 ms·

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 nostalgi

by ratww 6y ago

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.

noizejoy 6y ago
> Maybe there will be a DX7 revival but I'm not really holding my breath. That reminds me of one of the very unique controllers for the DX7 - the breath control apparatus, that ended up immortalized as Midi Control Change 2. It was intended to make horn sounds more realistic and organic. It never ended up being widely used. I still have one for my DX7, but also never got to like it.
TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
Korg's new OpSix is a very successful reinvention of six-op FM and a very nice-sounding synth. It's really quite impressive and also much easier to program. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6X4QSP0NpY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6X4QSP0NpY The real issue is that the synth universe has contracted around a relatively small number of "classic" synth sounds. You have the Moog bass, the supersaw pad, various dreamy pads, various EDM plucks. the TB303 squelch, Oberheim brass, various dubstep pseudo-vocal woobs and buzzes, various clockwork-like sequences, and so on. There are maybe a few hundred of these sounds, and to music consumers they all sound like "synth." Even with vintage analog, the space of potential sounds is much, much bigger. But the number of people who are real sound design virtuosos - as opposed to patching up some kind of raspy randomness on Eurorack - is tiny. It's so much easier to treat sounds as presets or as imitations of the "classics" - which are often imitations of imitations - instead of approaching sound design as an imaginative exercise in mood and association. So that's why some analog synths have legendary status. The promise is a legendary sound without having to do much work. And that's a very boring reason to play with synthesizers.

by ratww 6y ago

noizejoy 6y ago

> Maybe there will be a DX7 revival but I'm not really holding my breath. That reminds me of one of the very unique controllers for the DX7 - the breath control apparatus, that ended up immortalized as Midi Control Change 2. It was intended to make horn sounds more realistic and organic. It never ended up being widely used. I still have one for my DX7, but also never got to like it.

TheOtherHobbes 6y ago

Korg's new OpSix is a very successful reinvention of six-op FM and a very nice-sounding synth. It's really quite impressive and also much easier to program. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6X4QSP0NpY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6X4QSP0NpY The real issue is that the synth universe has contracted around a relatively small number of "classic" synth sounds. You have the Moog bass, the supersaw pad, various dreamy pads, various EDM plucks. the TB303 squelch, Oberheim brass, various dubstep pseudo-vocal woobs and buzzes, various clockwork-like sequences, and so on. There are maybe a few hundred of these sounds, and to music consumers they all sound like "synth." Even with vintage analog, the space of potential sounds is much, much bigger. But the number of people who are real sound design virtuosos - as opposed to patching up some kind of raspy randomness on Eurorack - is tiny. It's so much easier to treat sounds as presets or as imitations of the "classics" - which are often imitations of imitations - instead of approaching sound design as an imaginative exercise in mood and association. So that's why some analog synths have legendary status. The promise is a legendary sound without having to do much work. And that's a very boring reason to play with synthesizers.