Yamaha DX7 Tutorial - Basic functions and creating saw and square waves.

Hey there, I didn't see too many videos showing a fairly detailed breakdown of how to program a Yamaha DX7. I assume a lot of this should carry directly over to a DX9/11 and pretty much any other FM synthesizer.
I'm going to treat this like you don't really know much about what you are getting yourself into, I find too many people try to scare people off from getting to know these machines saying things like "it's a nightmare to program".
These things are fairly cheap in comparison to most Hardware synths from the 80's so hopefully this can convince some better musicians than me that maybe, they should add this thing to their lineup, or better yet, show some people who are looking for their first synth that this thing isn't the scariest thing in the world.

[@ericlloyd7981]

I like how this guy has got this down to a science and willing to demonstrate in this manner that even his rhetorical questions are inviting which 99 percent of the time I find annoying in people that do, but not from this genius.💯

[@jakobole]

My dad got one in the spring of '84 - I was 11. In '85 I knew how to program this thing before I knew what subtractive synthesis was :)

[@kokasharabidze2495]

Im getting into FM Synths and i haven't seen such a great tutorial for DX7 ! Many thanks to you partner

[@Alejandro-kz2zf]

This tutorial is basically no joke. Got my DX7 today and just made my first preset, some sick Blade Runner type pad which performs incredibly, and is made with only 2 Operators, FM is that powerful. Thank you!

[@elimiNator345]

Im going gaga

[@ronsteffans8107]

gotta tutorial on that ? lol

[@Alejandro-kz2zf]

@@ronsteffans8107 lol may make one soon

[@albeckwall]

This was wonderfully informative. I wish I had this resource in 1988 when I had my DX7. I was clueless!!! Incredible how powerful FM is.

[@danielkarlsson5161]

Very nice, thank you! I just subscribed to follow your further adventures with the DX7. In the 90's, I had a Korg DS-8, which introduced me to FM synthesis. Now I have a Korg Kronos with an extremely complex and powerful FM engine. Playing around with that has made me look at the DX7, and eventually I will have to get one too. Your enthusiasm is inspiring. Keep up the good work!

[@nitroxiii]

Thanks! I've been kind of slacking since I made this video. I had an idea for a video and started recording it, and realized I forgot to record the sounds from the synth so I kind of got discouraged, then I started looking at other ways to record the keyboard but couldn't find anything suitable/affordable for the time being. I'll be looking to put another video out shortly, (hell, I should probably just do it today).

[@colinclout9804]

Just programmed a sound for the first time following your tutorial - super helpful, has totally opened up the synth for me. Cheers!

[@ottilove261]

You're the bomb! Thanks for this video!! Keep going with the DX7 - explain more, the FM-world needs you!!

[@multim6571]

It is very easy to follow tutorial. It also covers most essential sounds in a brief.

[@mogadon7]

18.40 - before it gets going with SYNTHESIZERY sounds.

[@JoeJoe-ny1yg]

I just want to say this is one of the most helpful video ive ever watched. You went through everything and showed everythib beautifully! Thank you so much i needed this alot.

[@gmodderr]

This video is completely followable even with the relaunched Yamaha Reface DX, quite quickly made a nice rock organ sound. The Reface DX also only has 4 operators instead of 6

[@diegolukas3012]

instaBlaster...

[@rasm411r]

Actually really good tutorial. Everytime I got lost, you kind of knew that I needed help haha

[@ArturJanz]

Thank you for this great video! I just bought a DX7 IID and this thing is as amazing as it is pretty complicated to figure out. Now I feel more confident to create some patches. Thank you again!

[@jostein6581]

Watching how you created the saw and pulse by using a feedback modulator was very educational and interesting. The pluck sound was also nice! Thanks for a great tutorial on this hard-to-understand synth.

[@bradford9129]

Love this tutorial- just got a DX7 and this has been super helpful- thank you!

[@SuperAcademie]

Best video ever! Just bought a DX7 and this video makes it a lot easier!! Thanks man!

[@pyrotas]

I really appreciate the effort of this man to illustrate all this procedure. However, I cannot avoid to notice that it takes 30 minutes to get a DX7 to sound like a Soundblaster. Time to go back to my analogs :D

[@marcuspearson6214]

Lovely tutorial chap, I have always shy'd away from the the DX family, but last week I picked up an old DX9 for literally a few pounds (UK). Your tutorial has really helped. Thanks

[@willdatsun]

this helped a lot thanks, just picked up a 7 with scrambled memories, i fitted a new battery and now i have made one sound

[@nhoenderop]

Thanks so much dude, greatly appreciate the video. I got one yesterday and this is just what I needed, an easy going video to get familiar with how to operate this brown beast :P

[@ryanmiller3063]

Thank you!! This is literally the only video that helped me

[@zackariasholmdahlsjoberg9626]

Awesome vid!! Love to see more dx lessons from you!

[@Javier-ox8ui]

Big Appreciation for this... PLS do more!

[@rudyadrian9087]

Nice video with good explanation! Bo Tomlin's 1980s article on programming the DX7, originally published in Keyboard is an additional a good introduction too :)

[@NadavNirenberg]

This was super helpful - I really appreciate it man. Thank you

[@gatoloosebone5584]

Just bought one today, thanks for the video, very helpful. Now it's time for programming ;)

[@ThierryPBeaulieu]

Thanks a lot mate! This is the real beauty of FM (or phase modulation to be exact ;) ): Produce any type of sound out of sines wave. Awesome!

[@jonasquirin2100]

This was both helpful and hilarious. Thank You.

[@davetbassbos]

I think you0 did the impossible haha, made DX7 programming understandable, I had a real one in the 80i's never tried to program it but now I'm trying to modifiy some stuff in Dexed, very helpfull, props!

[@melchiortod29]

i've started using "dexed"(can't afford a real one) and this tutorial helped a lot! thank you!

[@rachelcabot4539]

Dexed is pretty rad! 👌

[@musicjourneys]

Amazing tutorial. Thank you Sir!

[@henriquestaino2465]

GREAT tutorial, man! Thanks!

[@burnout188]

This is awesome man! thanks.

[@urwholefamilydied]

I thought my Casio CZ-101 was a hassle to program.... DAMN... the Casio actually seems very intuitive after I watched this. This shit is straight up Greek. I can see why most people never bothered with anything but the presets.

[@aycc-nbh7289]

What about the Yamaha Reface DX with its one-touch controls and multitude of sliders?

[@urwholefamilydied]

@@aycc-nbh7289 I haven't owned this nor the reface version. Just watching this seemed really overly complicated.

[@Rsonixtunes]

@@aycc-nbh7289 I have both and the reface doesn’t sound like the original .. but is really cool af

[@sambalolo25]

best tutorial for beginners ! thanks a lot

[@louierubio]

This is invaluable - thanks!!!

[@alecmaclaughlin]

Excellent tutorial!!!

[@handmadeindustrial]

Great tutorial! Thank you!

[@ToXball]

Great tutorial!

[@Andronicus2007]

The Operator is the one you hear. The Modulator is the part that wiggles the Operater. The Operater has its own envelope generators, as does the Modulator. Its kind of like LFO applied to a traditional VCO, the difference is the modulation is far faster. There are no filters on traditional FM synths, but you can get similar effects to filtering (theres tutorials on KZbin).

[@joso8801]

youre an F'n hero man. well done vid. thank you.

[@glenesis]

Thanks! Amazing tutorial.

[@R0b1zzle137]

it would be cool if you did a video where you tried to get Moog type sounds. Some funky wah type tones. Would it take more than just the ADSR approach to achieve this? Great tutorial, seriously the most helpful dx7 video ive watched thus far

[@applerabbits]

Thanks. It’s been very useful. 👍👍

[@nitroxiii]

If anyone has any feedback positive or negative please let me know! If you think it's complete shit, that's fine, but at least let me know what about it is complete shit rather than "the whole thing" lol. If there's something you'd like me to demonstrate or show on the machine let me know as well, I'm fairly new to this machine, but it's a hell of a lot of fun.

[@mano123456]

This is great Dylan!! I really like how you compare the Brute with the DX7 to explain things. Keep making these! One thing is, the camera is constantly shaking / moving, so maybe get a stand (I have a phone adapter which is nice to make these, and also a head-mounted GoPro hehe). In any case hope this helps. I HOPE you make more. The DX7 is a daunting machine. I started to design and make my own hardware control panel for mine! It's an early prototype, but it does work OK. Thanks again.

[@nitroxiii]

Manuel Clément Thanks for the feedback. I figured I'd try without a stand first just to see how it took. I think it's useful because you can see everything up close and personal. But I think you're right, it's hard to keep track of. I'm always amazed at the kinds of hardware hacks people with skills like your own build, seems like a time consuming but rewarding skill to learn.

[@mano123456]

I need to actually finish it :) ... It's actually a piece of cardboard (!) right now, with knobs and an Arduino microcontroller / computer taped in the back LOL BUT it works! Seriously I'd love to see a series of videos like this one, making specific sounds from scratch on the DX7. The key is how you explained the (super confusing) FM envelope (2 decays? crazy hehe). You're onto something. Take care and keep in touch. My website is mano1.com and I'm on Twitter mano1creative. I made music tutorial videos back mid 2000s with a MiniDV cam and bad sound hehe

[@patrickvachon4517]

Great Job Dylan : )

[@onnoka]

Great video, thank you!

[@hpbeats2306]

Nice one bro!

[@wuukaa9079]

A man with a glaceon pfp explaining how a dx7 works!! Who can do better?

[@ShampooWow]

Awesome video! I like it

[@Aggon88]

Great tutorial, i can start now to make some noises with my new dx7, you have great teaching skill RIGHT On POINT. Yeah,if you have time some time make in another video messing with other buttons and more EG rate, would be cool. Thank You once more. Respect.

[@nitroxiii]

Thanks dude! I actually did go into more detail on the Envelopes in my second video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6jNpmyGfp2GpsU

[@Paddington2000]

Interesting video, thanks

[@erickozak8246]

Very nice tutorial. After years of being intimidated to learn my DX7ii and FM due to folks saying "just download patches, its too hard" I decided to start learning. This was a great simple intro.

[@hittingnote75]

Cool info since i am considering buying a dx7

[@montigol]

great video

[@PavelRedBoyLynxTretyak]

Great tutorial Tnx

[@theoliviaarchives4794]

Very helpful. I got a good deal on a TX7. I've been having fun with the presets, but might get the DX7, since the programming on the TX7 isn't as accessible.

[@timppaUT]

Programming isn't as accessible as on DX7!? How is that even possible, if DX7 has been voted for one of the most impossible synths to program!? :D But I got a solution! Arturia DX-7 VST has much easier interface to create sounds with it. Now if only I knew anything about FM-synthesis, that would be awesome. But this tutorial video helped a lot.

[@ericmosh]

Great tutorial! Can you please do another one for designing the brass of Van Halens Jump?

[@hucky29]

I read the manual! Sorted now

[@vinnyzato]

hi great video. whats the effects that you are using thanks

[@kfirtsairi3986]

thank you sir

[@caughy]

Hey thank you for this very helpful video! I recently bought one but for some reason it sounds supper wobbly when I play chords on the lower end? I asked the seller and they said the person who refurbished it set some kind of "split LFO" but I have no idea how to fix this?? Do you know how? Please let me know, any information would be appreciated thank you!

[@Juanmorocho_]

Lots of people have been saying programming a DX7 is as hard as rocket science, but this actually doesnt seem too hard. Atleast for just creating a saw wave. My school has a DX7, never got to use it sadly

[@BabyEvil1]

Thanks for a clear demo. Is there a way of applying one lfo to one carrier, and another to a second? Basically, I'm trying to get the vox humana sound

[@nitroxiii]

Jan Geerts In theory no. BUT, if you set the frequency of a modulator below 20hz it turns it into an LFO essentially to whatever it is modulating, as it is below the human range of hearing (if I recall correctly, I've been in a bit of a slump and not making much music recently.)

[@horowizard]

I think it would be helpful to have had an oscilloscope running so we could see the wave shapes.

[@bradford9129]

At 22:55 he explains how to save patches. Manual was tldr

[@mschorer]

How about a sound of two slightly detuned saw waves? Like two VCOs

[@rachelcabot4539]

Level 4: the forbidden function

[@MrScoopoo10]

whats the point of level 4 anyways

[@aycc-nbh7289]

@@MrScoopoo10 It’s the release. Turn down the release rate too low and turn up the release level too high and one gets a continuous sound that drones on forever.

[@andreagonzalezmusicainstru7158]

gracias!!!!

[@hucky29]

hi is there a way to assign the modulator amplitude to the mod wheel?

[@eliasjohanliavaag]

Setting the Microbrute clock source to external, huh? Gets me every time

[@nitroxiii]

Elias Johan Liavaag haha yeah, hate that microbrute software.

[@BrooseWayniac]

nice1 - Next maybe Pitchenvelope? Big up

[@marieto1]

how do we do 1:15 on a mk2 IIfd? reset the sound

[@patrickellis1981]

Excellent video brother. Would you happen to know how to reset the keyboard to the original stock sounds? I bought this flawless Board but the previous owner said he didn't know what he was doing and made all the sounds weird lol.

[@nitroxiii]

pellis1981 This page might help get you going in the right direction. www.alexannesty.com/dx7s-restore-factory-voices.php I'm not a fan of most of the default sounds, but there are a couple iconic sounds I guess.

[@rompepale]

You are good!

[@rogercleaves1327]

Love it

[@karlbrugger]

Danke dir !!!

[@yoavestryn5659]

Jesus man,here I am looking at the video for briefing on my DX7 next thing I get is this guy have Microbrute which is the only other analog synth I ever bought(I actually bought 2 because I bought the first one second hand and I kinda messed it pcb up so I bought a new one which they gave me for it 30% discount hehe)

[@jorgecastro1213]

@dylan fenton Quick question, all the function keys on my DX7 seem to work. With the exception of Edit Recall and Voice Init. This sucks since I cant even begin to create any sounds at all. What can I do?

[@nitroxiii]

Don't think I can answer that sadly. I didn't own my DX7 for very long, but I'd guess your best is to see if you can find someone in your area that's got some expertise fixing synthesizers, see if they can give an approximate quote, it may end up being cheaper buying another dx7 than getting it repaired, I wouldn't know though, sorry.

[@buckdownscanada9946]

Nice vid ...I own a dx-7 mk1 and I’ve been on this a week and can’t find a way to make a simple release happen ???? I tweet a nice sound and I’m stuck using my sustain pedal because I can’t find a way to make a little release happen onboard ... anyone reads this drop me a line thanks

[@ColettaHughes]

Great tutorial on the DX7, but I'm still feeling dizzy from the camera lol

[@ManneckeyKhoeAob]

I'm dizzy, but pretty good tutorial. I have a vintage DX7

[@AbrEvig]

Excellent!!! Learned a lot! Can you make a video on setting the pitch Bend wheel? Please???!!!

[@nitroxiii]

I would love to but I sold all my hardware synths a few years back, didn't find myself using them enough. Sorry!

[@AbrEvig]

@@nitroxiii Sorry to hear that. You did great on the videos you produced. Grretings and thanks!!!

[@billy7889]

​@@AbrEvig i gotcha if you still need to know

[@AbrEvig]

@@billy7889 Still wanna know!!!

[@billy7889]

@@AbrEvig So! Pick your patch. any one will do. then, hit the brown function key (in this case, it is the only key that is brown) then hit the third green button on the right side of the lcd panel, key number 3, which says "range" and "pitch bend" underneath it. In this setting you can change how many notes the pitch bender will bend the note in either direction. Choose between 1-12 on the lcd screen, using the data entry slider to the left. If it is at 0, the pitch control won't work. The fourth green key on the right of the panel controls your steps. Press that, and it will give you options for your steps. for a smooth bend all the way up or down chromatically, set it at 1 using the data entry slider. for "breaks" in between notes adjust upwards of that accordingly. Hope that helps!

[@killedxthexbeatx]

effects coming from your DAW?

[@taejun9017]

Lol. I think that's the first time I've ever heard anyone use "bells and whistles" in a sentence literally.

[@DJFlyCuts]

Is there a way to reset and get the original sounds back?

[@nitroxiii]

From what I understand yes, but it's a bit involved. There's one main way that seems fairly reliable. Sending a sysex patch to the DX7 through Midi. Take a look at this video and google around, you should be able to figure it out, I haven't done it myself so I can't really help more than that. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2nIaIOOmbSSf6c

[@giuseppmetallic8872]

please can u tell me how can i tuning the yamaha DX7 ? because when i compare that with my roland VR09 B is different tune

[@nitroxiii]

I don't own my DX7 anymore, but if I remember correctly you can hit the function button and then press 1 as I believe it's labelled "master tune". You can then use the data slider to tune it manually.

[@giuseppmetallic8872]

@@nitroxiii THANK YOU FOR YOUR ANSWER MATE

[@giuseppmetallic8872]

sorry man but i didn't understand how to save patch ? i'm afraid to loose the data sound

[@jasongurr]

Fantastic video. Just a petty the DX7 is a pile of Doo to create a sound on most in the 1980s used it as a preset which makes it a super pile of Doo

[@chinossynthesizer705]

19:33 nice effects what are you using

[@nitroxiii]

A simple ping-pong delay. I had both devices connected to a mixer which would then send the audio out to a cheap multi-fx pedal. Might've had Reverb too.

[@timppaUT]

​@@nitroxiiiI bet there was some reverb too? And WAAAAYY too much delay for my taste! :P Sounded a bit like Roland effects?

[@synthfellow]

Great tutorial but I’d love if you got a stand for the camera. Feeling a bit dizzy here 😂

[@FESTAHP]

It's possible to make a "new sound" without getting rid of the pre-set ones?

[@nitroxiii]

If you are lucky enough to have an external memory cartridge you can save it to that. Otherwise I think you have to save over the presets.

[@Kermethepenguin]

I just need to know how to turn it on ahhhh

[@Kermethepenguin]

It worked thank

[@ToXball]

What is the delay exf you put on sound?

[@nitroxiii]

Tommy Scarabino It was an external effects pedal I have. A Digitech RP350. Picked it up cheap from a pawn shop.

[@cubo9620]

23:35 ima need this later

[@TooSlowTube]

Now you've had more time with it, can you explain what happens when a modulator modulates another modulator? I get the modulator->carrier with or without feedback, and mixing more than one of those together (in algorithms with more than one carrier), and it's surprising how much you can do with just that, but when a modulator is controlling another one, I don't really have any frame of reference for understanding what it's doing, or what the effect will be when I change something.

[@nitroxiii]

Hmm, it's kinda weird to explain and maybe I don't quite understand it 100%, but from what I understand, and what I've seen using software FM Synths hooked up to an oscilloscope, it looks like it does the same thing essentially as modulator -> carrier. It modulates the shape of the wave of the modulator it's modulating (lol). So if there's an algorithm that has a chain like this (Modulator with Feedback Loop -> Modulator -> Carrier) you can make the modulator in the middle a saw or square wave like I did in my video (you just won't be able to hear it), and then that saw/square wave would modulate the carrier to produce different shapes/sounds than just a normal modulator/sine wave would. I find it's good for producing very harsh sounds when I mess around with it on software synths, but if you are precise/not overly liberal with the output levels you can get some nice full sounds that don't irritate the ears.

[@TooSlowTube]

Thanks. I like the oscilloscope idea. I don't own a hardware one that's up to it, but maybe a software one would cope well enough. I'll have to experiment. I kind of get the impression that they got 2 operator FM working, then decided to just see what would happen if they added another one... and another one.... I'd like to think there was some more reasoning behind it than that, but maybe not :)

[@jmedina4627]

can you make the piano sound? like the grand piano sound.

[@codyshipman848]

Jim Medina ever figure this out?

[@aycc-nbh7289]

Aren’t there several presets for that, including one that was famously used in songs such as the Jolly Roger Bay theme from _Super Mario 64_ and _One More Night_ by Phil Collins?

[@ing.rubenaraiza2815]

Hi somebody. how can i get the sounds of the internal bank. only i can sound one cartridge..... why is important the replacement of the battery?

[@morenaso1]

Use sysex sounds,

[@TooSlowTube]

The internal bank is in battery backed RAM. If the battery goes, you lose all sounds and settings when you turn it off. But, yes, you could load them in from a computer, each time you turn it on. JSynthLib is pretty useful, and free. It's written in Java, so it should work on almost anything.

[@cheapnoise9014]

Is it possible to program (brethy dounds) on the DX-7 such as flutes, glass voices, soft voices or wind sounds? Could you do a tutorial on this?

[@rrocktoo]

I can recommend the Power DX7 channel for tons of FM programming stuff, including tutorials.

[@cheapnoise9014]

@@rrocktoo thanks!

[@thomaskishmanii2675]

Do I need an external speaker ?

[@ArturJanz]

Yes! This (and most synthesizers) demand an external audio, being it a headphone or a amplified speaker.

[@ThePubliusValerius]

holy shit

[@randomdude9269]

19:25 how did you add the effects?

[@nitroxiii]

I kind of glossed over that by accident. I had a multi-fx unit connected to my mixer and I sent the audio from the DX7 into it, basically flipped a switch on my mixer, no effects on the DX7 itself from what I can remember.