Yamaha "DX Performance Demonstration" (1985)

Here is the complete cassette demo tape that was distributed by Yamaha with their DX7 and DX9 FM synthesizers. This tape discusses the benefits of FM synthesis, has examples of various FM patches, as well as musical examples. This tape was produced probably around 1984 or 1985 by Yamaha Corp.
Yamaha "DX Performance Demonstration"
FM Digital Keyboards
DX7 and DX9 Performances
by Gary Leuenerger and Don Lewis
L'LADY (Paich) ©1984 Hudmar Publishing Co. Inc. ASCAP
THE ONE (Porcaro) ©1984 Porcaro Music ASCAP
Performed by David Paich, Steve Porcaro, and James Newton Howard
All rights are reserved by the original copyright holders.

[@stevepreskitt283]

I remember these tapes from when I got my DX7 back in 1985. Interestingly, "The One" heard on this tape was finally released commercially as the full song "She's The One" on Steve Porcaro's 2016 debut album "Someday/Somehow".

[@sams5363]

3:36 DX Jazz Ensemble 6:06 On the road with a country band 9:27 From full orchestra to chamber ensemble the DX fills the hall 12:51 Techno pop from latin and back: the DX does it all 18:19 L'lady (Paich) 20:23 The One (Pocaro, later She's the one, kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZoG1naCwfb6eq6c)

[@Elhardt]

Thanks for the info. I've always like that last piece (She's The One) and thought it was written just for the DX7 demo. Had no idea it existed previously.

[@lancegoerner1719]

What a find. I went to a friends house with my DX7. He had a new D-50. I got crushed that day.

[@jnorten]

What is most interesting is the entire emphasis on most of the sounds on this cassette are how "real" the DX can sound. Funny, I don't think anyone in 2018 is buying it for any realistic sounds but rather for something Synthy or Vintage.

[@MadameSomnambule]

Compared to a lot of analog synths from years prior, I can see how the DX line's synths would sound realistic back then. It's like the difference between the synths in Outrun and the simple 2 or 3 channel jingles in Pacman. Nowadays, you can notice an electronic aura in its sounds that's pretty unique to the 80s compared to many sample based synths used now. The train sounds, here, wouldn't sound too out of place in dos games like Police Quest or early 90s edutainment titles.

[@BillVincent]

Ahh, memories. I first had a DX9 and then a DX100, and finally the DX7IIFD which I still have. There are a few aspects of the DX series that had people talking and caused the DX7 to become legendary. One was touch sensitive keys, which up to that point were very rare on synthesizers, and even so the DX9 did not have touch sensitive keys, only the DX1, DX5 and DX7 respectively. Another was aftertouch, something practically unheard of to your rank and file keyboardists at the time. And finally, the DX had that infamous Fender Rhodes imitation sound, which ended up on just about every single ballad of the 80's and was probably solely responsible for Guns and Roses and Seattle Grunge movement. It got completely saturated and overused in popular music, but for good reason - up until then a real Rhodes was not necessarily the most reliable or easy to record sound - it was mechanical and finicky. Some keys struck better than others. Plus it was heavy as shit. Probably 125 lbs and that required two people to safely move. Guys had been schlepping those damn Fender Rhodes "suitcase" models all over the place, and all the sudden the DX7 came along, at 32 lbs, that had a beautiful digital imitation of a Rhodes sound that ended up becoming a famous sound all on it's own (David Foster, I'm looking at you). It got so overused that some people still today cannot stand that sound. But when it was first heard, it was like butter and there was nothing else that came even close.

[@the-synth-artist]

Sega Genesis-esque masterpiece. The chip used by Genesis is just like the DX7, but is missing two operators, or to put in simple terms: sounds with less character/depth.

[@Zedek]

Yep, the OPL and the OPN are what I grew up with and we have a AdLib derivate in our work's mobile telephones, the ringtones all sound like MS-DOS FM awesomeness!

[@tlazohtlalia]

Some of the demos sound like DOS/Sega genesis era music from the late 80s - early 90s.

[@darrenhirst9900]

@@tlazohtlalia When I listened to Nintendo games like Mario I always thought they sounded like the Yamaha DX7.

[@Zedek]

The YM2612 (OPN) and the YM2812 (OPL) are little FM synths ;)