The DX-7 Rhodes sound C/D

The most famous sound of 80's keyboarding being the preset E PIANO 1 sound on the
Yamaha DX7. It the sound the was heard on millions of R&B, Jazz, Pop and soul albums. It's one of those sounds you can love or hate for reasons that are your
own. I personally love it because of it's electronic sound and that it has it's own intristic charm.

wb the startrekman

This thread needs some sound samples! http://www.thedx7.co.uk/DX7_samples.htm

I did like the sound back in the 80s. It is kind of overused by now, but I am not so sick of it as I am of the DX7 bass sound that was used on virtually every 80s song from 1984-85 onwards.

I can't go near this preset without playing the intro to (Something Inside) So Strong by Labi Siffre.

My band all went wrong when we got one. Should have stuck with the Juno-6.

Yep. That's the DX7 for ya. Knightrider! Vice!

I agree with Startrekman that the sound has its own intrinsic charm. When it was first used it seemed like a great replacement for the Fender Rhodes, but with a digital edge. And now that we've had about fifteen years of samples of the muddy proper Rhodes (or indeed the retro original itself), the pristine, naively digital quality of the DX version is appealing to me again in the same way.

There is a problem with the DX sounds, though, that I've never been able to fathom out. They are very sharp and can be difficult to blend with other sounds. It's not something that can be entirely rectified with EQ. It's something to do with the waveforms being of a certain type or shape that gives them a brittle flavour.

I hated this sound for years, a maj 7th played on this chord is still one of the worst sounds imaginable, or whatever chord this is: C,E,F &G w/C bass note, yeeurgh. Also, it was prominently featured on some pretty bad music back in the mid-late eighties.

Recently, though, I got into it somehow. I have the sound programmed into my SY77, which is like a fancified DX7 with samples and digital filters. Put a bit of reverb and chorus on it, and it's a pretty fine sound for noodling around on the keyboard, especially if you take advantage of the dynamic sensitivity (IE play it SOFTLY most of the time) and don't just bang on it. Probably the same reason as dubmill's -it's novel again after all these years.

There was something weird about the DX7 sound back in the day, difficult to blend, and reverb never seemed to hang off them right in some way. I don't know why.

this was one of my least favorite sounds as a kid

always hated, though I do always have to play the doogie howser theme if I am around one

haha i was going to say

Geir, have you forgotten your own thread?

Yamaha DX7 - Classic or Dud?

The DX-7 rhodes sound is an oddly appealing sound. Its a rhodes but not a rhodes. It is its own sound with its own following.

the sound that accompanied each reflective moment on 21 Jump Street

Always hated that sound ever since I could identify it - in fact, ALL the percussive sounds produced by the DX7 leave me cold and nauseous. But certainly the thing was useful for musicians (which I am not) and some of its sounds were passable.

I used to call it the "gonk-gonk-gonk-la-phone" since that was the onomatpaeic way of pronouncing that gloopy sound it makes.

I agree with Startrekman that the sound has its own intrinsic charm. When it was first used it seemed like a great replacement for the Fender Rhodes, but with a digital edge. And now that we've had about fifteen years of samples of the muddy proper Rhodes (or indeed the retro original itself), the pristine, naively digital quality of the DX version is appealing to me again in the same way.

There is a problem with the DX sounds, though, that I've never been able to fathom out. They are very sharp and can be difficult to blend with other sounds. It's not something that can be entirely rectified with EQ. It's something to do with the waveforms being of a certain type or shape that gives them a brittle flavour.

On that point, I actually listened to Cameo's "Back and Forth" recently and the DX-7 rhodes sound in that song actually sticks out like a sore thumb ( Depending on whether you like the DX-7 rhodes or hate it...I like it personally ) It may be that as you say, it's hard to blend it into the other sounds. It may be the fact that it is digital which makes it kind-of cold.

at first i thought the startrek man was agreeing with the startrekman

I think the real difference here is what kind of chorus or overdrive (or both) you choose to slap it through (to include any mic'd amps which provide those fx) - a clean line rhodes or dx7 is really kind of a casiotone joke without at least a little bit of stochasm