DX7

[Frozen Lonesome]

Following up on aoVI's post about indulging himself for his 50th. My 50th year is almost up and I've been indulging myself all year. To add to my arsenal and to have a synth that is the antithesis of the MiniBrute, I bought a DX7 in pretty great condition last night. Used supposedly only in church (said the dude). It came with a stand, foot controller, breath controller, two ROM cartridges and a blank Ram cartridge and he bundled in a Yamaha VX55 that he had cleaned up. I'll use the amp for the band stuff and the synth for my planned piano lessons and yes I do plan to learn how to program it.

IMG_0344.jpg

[robojam]

Very cool! I'd like one if I could get one. Used to have one in the studio I worked in in 84-85 and I never learned how to program it at all, something I wish I had done.

[aoVI]

Sweet.

My only synth for years was a DX7IIFD.

Talk of DX7's always reminds me of a noob moment back when I went to put one of the original DX7's on layway:

Music store guy: So, you got an 8 track or something to record on?

Me: No, I don't care for 8 track, I prefer cassettes.

[Frozen Lonesome]

Sweet.

My only synth for years was a DX7IIFD.

Talk of DX7's always reminds me of a noob moment back when I went to put one of the original DX7's on layway:

Music store guy: So, you got an 8 track or something to record on?

Me: No, I don't care for 8 track, I prefer cassettes.

Speaking of Cassettes, I have a track on the upcoming Bedroom Cassette Masters 1980-89 Volume Three. Should be out next week. Made a new fake band called Frozen Lonesome. Next comp, I won't have to fake the 80's sound. But I did play my Minibrute on parts of the track, so that must count for something.

[S1gnsOfL1fe]

I found this link on KVR, but if any of you have an Android phone then you can download this DX7 emulation for free!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...en.synthesizer

I assume this is an emulation of the same DX7 you guys are talking about? :roll:

[GaryG]

Always kind of regretted getting rid of my DX11 back in the day. Had the extra waveforms so could make some really strange sounds... Excellent keyboard too.

[windspace]

I still remember the eager anticipation of getting on the waiting list to buy a DX7 when they first became available. Revolutionary, awesome, amazing...it was all those things. I was #13 on the list. I was so jazzed to hear that I moved up the list when folks ahead of me couldn't actually afford it when their names came up. I couldn't really afford it either...but I threw down some plastic for the difference and carried home a brand new DX7. 30 years later I still have it. And it works as well as the day I unboxed it. What a solid heap of hardware! The only thing that has deteriorated is the shock absorbing pads in the keyboard. They have hardened over time and these days the keyboard sounds kind of 'thumpy' when you play it.
I use it mostly as my MIDI controller these days. Unfortunately though, the after touch is not transmitted in this early implementation of MIDI. Today there also the amazing ability to route the output onto a DAW and run it through previously unimaginable Fx chains - or at least unaffordable in the past if you had to use hardware Fx.
Confession: I never really learned to program it well either. I had a great opportunity to learn how when I started a DX7 programming class from Steven Ruppenthal at Stevens Music in Willow Glen, CA. (He was a member of The Electric Weasel Orchestra along with Allen Strange and Don Buchla) but I squandered it, thinking that band practice was more important on Tuesday evenings...bad choice! Band is long gone, but the DX lives on.
Steve, I hope you enjoy your DX7, I'm sure you'll put it to good use!

[Frozen Lonesome]

I still remember the eager anticipation of getting on the waiting list to buy a DX7 when they first became available. Revolutionary, awesome, amazing...it was all those things. I was #13 on the list. I was so jazzed to hear that I moved up the list when folks ahead of me couldn't actually afford it when their names came up. I couldn't really afford it either...but I threw down some plastic for the difference and carried home a brand new DX7. 30 years later I still have it. And it works as well as the day I unboxed it. What a solid heap of hardware! The only thing that has deteriorated is the shock absorbing pads in the keyboard. They have hardened over time and these days the keyboard sounds kind of 'thumpy' when you play it.
I use it mostly as my MIDI controller these days. Unfortunately though, the after touch is not transmitted in this early implementation of MIDI. Today there also the amazing ability to route the output onto a DAW and run it through previously unimaginable Fx chains - or at least unaffordable in the past if you had to use hardware Fx.
Confession: I never really learned to program it well either. I had a great opportunity to learn how when I started a DX7 programming class from Steven Ruppenthal at Stevens Music in Willow Glen, CA. (He was a member of The Electric Weasel Orchestra along with Allen Strange and Don Buchla) but I squandered it, thinking that band practice was more important on Tuesday evenings...bad choice! Band is long gone, but the DX lives on.
Steve, I hope you enjoy your DX7, I'm sure you'll put it to good use!

Loving these stories. Back in the day I was a punk and had no interest in keyboards at all. Banging drums badly (or stick) and singing/shouting was more my style. I have my mid-life crisis to thank. How much was the DX7 when it first went on sale?

[windspace]

I still remember the eager anticipation of getting on the waiting list to buy a DX7 when they first became available. Revolutionary, awesome, amazing...it was all those things. I was #13 on the list. I was so jazzed to hear that I moved up the list when folks ahead of me couldn't actually afford it when their names came up. I couldn't really afford it either...but I threw down some plastic for the difference and carried home a brand new DX7. 30 years later I still have it. And it works as well as the day I unboxed it. What a solid heap of hardware! The only thing that has deteriorated is the shock absorbing pads in the keyboard. They have hardened over time and these days the keyboard sounds kind of 'thumpy' when you play it.
I use it mostly as my MIDI controller these days. Unfortunately though, the after touch is not transmitted in this early implementation of MIDI. Today there also the amazing ability to route the output onto a DAW and run it through previously unimaginable Fx chains - or at least unaffordable in the past if you had to use hardware Fx.
Confession: I never really learned to program it well either. I had a great opportunity to learn how when I started a DX7 programming class from Steven Ruppenthal at Stevens Music in Willow Glen, CA. (He was a member of The Electric Weasel Orchestra along with Allen Strange and Don Buchla) but I squandered it, thinking that band practice was more important on Tuesday evenings...bad choice! Band is long gone, but the DX lives on.
Steve, I hope you enjoy your DX7, I'm sure you'll put it to good use!

Loving these stories. Back in the day I was a punk and had no interest in keyboards at all. Banging drums badly (or stick) and singing/shouting was more my style. I have my mid-life crisis to thank. How much was the DX7 when it first went on sale?

It was around $1300. Edit: I think...maybe closer to $2000.

[Frozen Lonesome]

I still remember the eager anticipation of getting on the waiting list to buy a DX7 when they first became available. Revolutionary, awesome, amazing...it was all those things. I was #13 on the list. I was so jazzed to hear that I moved up the list when folks ahead of me couldn't actually afford it when their names came up. I couldn't really afford it either...but I threw down some plastic for the difference and carried home a brand new DX7. 30 years later I still have it. And it works as well as the day I unboxed it. What a solid heap of hardware! The only thing that has deteriorated is the shock absorbing pads in the keyboard. They have hardened over time and these days the keyboard sounds kind of 'thumpy' when you play it.
I use it mostly as my MIDI controller these days. Unfortunately though, the after touch is not transmitted in this early implementation of MIDI. Today there also the amazing ability to route the output onto a DAW and run it through previously unimaginable Fx chains - or at least unaffordable in the past if you had to use hardware Fx.
Confession: I never really learned to program it well either. I had a great opportunity to learn how when I started a DX7 programming class from Steven Ruppenthal at Stevens Music in Willow Glen, CA. (He was a member of The Electric Weasel Orchestra along with Allen Strange and Don Buchla) but I squandered it, thinking that band practice was more important on Tuesday evenings...bad choice! Band is long gone, but the DX lives on.
Steve, I hope you enjoy your DX7, I'm sure you'll put it to good use!

Loving these stories. Back in the day I was a punk and had no interest in keyboards at all. Banging drums badly (or stick) and singing/shouting was more my style. I have my mid-life crisis to thank. How much was the DX7 when it first went on sale?

It was around $1300. Edit: I think...maybe closer to $2000.

Wow! However, amortized over 30 years its not bad at all. I paid $350, for the synth, accessories and the amp and like I said it seems in perfect shape other than some scrapes from the stand.

[seismic1]

Sweet.

My only synth for years was a DX7IIFD.

Talk of DX7's always reminds me of a noob moment back when I went to put one of the original DX7's on layway:

Music store guy: So, you got an 8 track or something to record on?

Me: No, I don't care for 8 track, I prefer cassettes.

:rotf:

[aoVI]

Thought I would go ahead and share my full DX7 story.

I never did get the original DX7 I put on layaway. A couple of years later, a friend of mine and I were on a trip. Yes, that kind of trip. After seeing how the universe is one, and the sun came up, we broke on through to the other side and decided to head into town and see if the local music store had any DX7's on display. Sure enough, they had a stack of them: DX7IIS, DX7IID, and the DX7IIFD. We were allowed to play around for a while and eventually a salesman sat next to us.

"So, if you WERE to get one, which one would you want?"

My friend's finger made a solid thump as he tapped the FD.

"You know we have payment plans...."

"Well, I would just go ahead and write a check, I have been saving a bit, and try to avoid credit"

I nudged my friend. "He's giving you a sales pitch..." I mumbled.

My friend nodded and smiled at me.

The next thing I knew we were loading a 5' box into the back of his car. We went to my house and opened up the box. I still have one of the twist-ties that held the cord. Everything about it was magical.

The DX7 sometimes stayed at his house, sometimes at mine. He wasn't a musician, but has a fascination with electronics. By the 90's it pretty much lived with me. I learned how to program it fairly decently--better than I could play it to be sure.

When I headed off to recording engineering school in 1992, I stopped by his house and his wife told me to ask him about the DX, so I did.

"Well, you hang on to it, just don't sell it or anything..."

So I did. In late 2011, his son began an interest in recording, and I wasn't using it as much more than a controller and occasional sound source, so it made the journey back to it's original home, and minus a slight cigarette burn on one of the keys from a drunk friend, looked as good as the day she was purchased.

I miss her.

[seismic1]

Good story, and nice to know that it it is still being put to good use. When I see DX7, I always think of Tom Selleck

[Frozen Lonesome]

Good story, and nice to know that it it is still being put to good use. When I see DX7, I always think of Tom Selleck

Why?

[seismic1]

All of those '80s movie soundtracks, I guess ;)