Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product DX7 Yamaha
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YAMAHA AUTHORIZE D PRODUC T MANUA L DX7 DIGITA L PROGRAMMABL E ALGORITH M SYNTHESIZE R.
YAMAHA Digita l Programmabl e Algorith m Synthesize r OPERATIO N MANUA L.
PRECAUTION S Locatio n Avoid placing the DX7 in direct sunlight or clos e to a source o f heat. Also , avoi d location s in which the instru- ment i s likely to b e subjecte d t o vibration, excessiv e dust, cold, or moisture.
INTRODUCTIO N The DX7 i s th e world's first full y user programmable and prese t FM digital synthesizer. If you're use d to con - ventional synthesizers, one loo k a t the DX7 will tell you that something unique has happened.
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NOT E FO R SYNTHESIZER S SOL D BY TH E U.S.A . Internally , th e DX7 generate s signal s i n th e radi o frequenc y spectrum . I f th e instrumen t i s installe d i n th e immediat e proximit y o f som e type s o f audi o o r vide o device s (withi n te n feet) , interferenc e ma y occur .
INTRODUCTIO N Inside fron t cove r PRECAUTION S Inside front cove r CONVENTION S 3 "QUICK " BASI C FEATURE S 4 SETU P 1 2 Audio Outpu t 1 2 External Foo t Controller Jacks 1 2 Breath Control.
CONVENTION S Nearly every button on the DX7 has severa l functions. Typically, the editing parameters are labele d in violet , the overall instrument functions are labele d in brown, and yet other function s are labele d in white or by reversing out th e colo r o f the button.
"QUICK " BASI C FEATURE S Thi s sectio n i s provide d for referenc e s o yo u ca n quickl y locat e a contro l o r acces s a function . I t i s mean t mor e fo r revie w tha n a s a learnin g tool .
These buttons select the internal or cartridge memory and activate the PLAY mode; they also designate where individual voices may be stored This button selects the EDIT mode and com- pares edited to o.
and light brown characters belo w the buttons for FUNC- TION mode parameters. A brie f example for two buttons i s shown here, with the specifi c reference s for these two buttons noted in parentheses.
PITCH This lets you se t th e sensitivity o f th e voice t o LF O pitch modulation from no sensitivity (0 ) to maximum (7) . One setting affects the overal l voice . AMPLITUDE This lets you se t the sensitivity o f the individua l operators i n a voice to amplitud e modulation from no sensitivity (0) to maximum (3) .
KEYBOARD RATE SCALIN G In EDIT mode, this button activates the [DAT A EN- TRY] sectio n s o its control s can b e use d to program o r edit eac h operator s o its envelop e rate s becom e faster a s you mov e u p the keyboard.
POLY/MONO In FUNCTION mode , thi s button activates the [DAT A ENTRY] section s o it s controls ca n se t the keyboar d to play polyphonically (up to 1 6 note s simultaneously) or monophonically (one note at a time).
voice s into the DX 7 internal memory and then format if you like.) You cannot format a ROM (factory preset ) car - tridge. BATTER Y CHEC K In function mode, thi s button cause s th e display to show the voltage leve l o f the battery which preserve s th e DX7 interna l voice and programming memories when power i s turned off.
Keyboar d This i s a 61-ke y keyboard which has initial (veloc - ity) and after (pressure ) sensitivity, although these parameters must b e programmed into the voic e in order to b e useable . The keyboard ha s 16-not e poly - phonic capability or ca n b e switched to monophonic mode.
SETU P NOTE: Do not turn power On until all other connections have been made. Audi o Outpu t The DX7 ha s a built in headphone amplifier, s o stere o headphones may b e plugged into th e front panel jack. However , the instrument doe s not have a built in powe r amplifier, and thus requires an exter - nal amplifier/speaker system .
Additional Technical Installation Notes When connecting the DX7 t o an amplifier o r mixer, a maximum unbalanced cabl e length o f 2 0 feet will reduce susceptibility t o hum, noise , and high frequen.
PLAYIN G TH E FACTOR Y PRESE T VOICE S Playin g th e Interna l Voice s 1 . If the DX7 happens to b e on, tur n it off . Then turn it back o n while observin g the display window. This will let you se e the initial display s we are about t o describe .
FUNCTIO N MODE : SETTIN G OVERAL L PERFORMANC E PARAMETER S NOTE Yamaha reserves the right to continue to refine and update factory preset voices. For this reason, some ROMs may have this voice in a different loca- tion, or may have a different voice altogether.
th e keys (Afte r Touch). Velocit y sensitivity i s NOT se t in this mode ; it i s programmed into individual voices . ALL THE PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS AFFECTED BY FUNCTION MODE ARE MARKED IN BROWN on the control panel.
doe s not cance l th e original note . Leav e the instru- ment se t to POLY mode for the time being . PITC H BEN D RANGE & STE P The PITCH bend wheel locate d at the far left sid e o f th e keyboard can b e use d to "bend " notes or chords, provided the Pitch Bend Range i s se t to som e non-zer o value.
PORTAMENT O & GLISSAND O I N POL Y MOD E Sustain : Ke y Pitc h Retai n 1 . Pres s [PORTAMENTO TIME] and us e the [DAT A ENTRY] control s t o se t a time o f 80 , a s indicate d in the LCD window.
Glissand o (Ke y Pitc h Retai n & Ke y Pitc h Follow ) Glissand o i s similar to the Portamento effects you just explored, wit h this exception; the pitch glid e in Porta - mento i s continuous, whereas in Glissand o it move s u p or down in 1/2 step increments.
4. You ca n obtain a "Ful l Time Glissando " effect in much the sam e way (with steppe d pitch shift instea d o f a continuous glide) ; just pres s [GLISSANDO] and then the DAT A ENTRY [ON ] button.
a RAM cartridge before submitting the instru- ment for a new battery or repair. See page 49 for Cartridge Save and Load descriptions and directions. Please do not try to change the battery yourself ; expensive damage that is not covered by your Warranty may result.
5 . Play th e keyboard and then move the MODULATION WHEEL toward "MAX" . Notice it doe s not change the sound; that's becaus e you just turned OF F the Wheel' s effect.
HO W TH E DX 7 CREATE S SOUND S Breath Controller or Foo t Controller) to tur n note s u p and down withi n the existing envelopes , provided you are als o playing the notes on the keyboard. The more EG bias , the les s amplitude i s present when you play a note; the leve l increase s when you add EG bia s by advancing th e Wheel.
Algorithm s Different arrangements o f operator s are known a s "algorithms. " An algorithm i s something like a "patch " on a modular synthesizer ; i t define s the way the opera .
The results o f using different frequency ratios , a s wel l a s different algorithms, are shown graphically in the accompanying illustration. In the left column, you se e th e resulting waveforms create d by 1:1,2:1 and 3: 1 frequency ratios when a modulator i s stacke d atop a carrier — for example, operators 1 and 2 in Algorithm 5 o r 16 .
Envelope s an d Envelop e Generator s Conside r what happens when you play a note . The volume goe s u p to som e value, then eventually falls t o nothing, with som e sor t o f reasonabl y well defined pat - tern that i s characteristic o f th e particular instrument.
PROGRAMMIN G VOICES : A TUTORIA L ence whether th e envelop e had reache d LEVEL 3 and wa s sustaining, had just reache d LEVEL 2 , o r had not yet reache d LEVEL 1 . Whatever the leve l when you releas e the key , the sound immediately move s towar d LEVEL 4 a t RATE 4.
2. Assuming you want to initialize the voic e edit mem- ory (buffer), answer affirmative by pressin g [YES] . (If you changed your mind and don't want to initialize a voice, pres s [NO] ; the display won't change, but the voice will not b e initialized and you ca n selec t any other functio n you wish.
The "current" operator i s that one whose parameters are being displayed, and which i s ready t o b e repro - grammed. You ca n se e which one i s current (OP 1 through OP6 ) by looking at t.
3 0 With al l level s at the maximum o f 9 9 (excep t Leve l 4, which i s a t 0 ) and with Rat e 1 a t 25 instea d o f the 9 9 t o which the other rate s ar e set , the note builds u p slowl y when you pres s a key and turns off the instant you releas e the key If you coul d se e the envelope , i t would loo k something like this: 2 .
RATE] a s require d s o yo u ca n us e [DAT A ENTRY ] to adjus t Rat e 3 to a valu e o f 50 . When you play a note, observ e how the sound builds to a maximum, then falls to the sustain leve l a t a moderate rate and stay s there unti l you releas e the key, after which th e sound slowl y fades.
Instea d of takin g th e tim e t o reprogra m th e envelope , we as k yo u t o agai n us e th e Voic e Initializ e feature.. . i t save s time . 1 . T o gai n acces s t o th e "Voic e Initialize " function , pres s [FUNCTION] , an d the n [VOIC E INIT] , an d answe r th e displaye d prompts .
6 . Slide [DATA ENTRY] all the way down s o the fre- quency return s to 1.00 , and then pres s [OSCILLA- TOR-FREQUENCY COARSE] and us e DAT A ENTRY [+1 ] to se t th e frequency ratio to 2.00 . Then slowly move this slider up and down fully, or use these buttons while continuing to play a note 7 .
ALGORITHM # I These bracketed numbers show you where the on/off switching is done in the algo- rithm. Operators can be dis- abled (turned Off) using the [OPERATOR ON/OFF] buttons, but they remain Off only while programming. Stored voices have all operators On.
Press this button (Don't confuse it with [EG LEVEL], button 22) And repeatedly play notes until the display shows maxi- mum output level I f you are familia r with analog synthesizers, you may se e a parallel betwee n this sound and tha t o f a saw - tooth wave which i s going through a filter that has a lot o f resonance.
And again adjust [DAT A ENTRY] to hear the results of different frequency ratios as you play Leave Operator 2 set to a frequency ratio of 2.00 The sound you now hear will be simitar to that of a square wave in a conventional synthe- sizer.
9 . T o compare what the sound i s like with and without th e carrier, you don't have to tur n down the output leve l o f operator 1 ; you ca n simply tur n it off. Pres s [OPERATOR ON/OF F 1 ] t o tur n off the carrier, and tr y to play few notes .
preset voices, you can do so without "losing" this voice. There are two approaches to this. (A ) You ca n stor e this voic e in it s current stat e o n a RAM cartridge by following the instructions o n pag e 49 , or.
When you later tr y switching algorithms after adding FEEDBACK and activating the other 4 operators , you'll hear much more variation. 2 . Pul l down th e [DAT A ENTRY] slider and/or us e the [-1 ] button unti l you've selecte d algorithm 1 again.
In this cas e scalin g operato r 2 i s not necessar y s o you can omit the proces s o f setting its break point (which would b e done by pressin g [OPERATOR SELECT ] and adjusting the value a s desired) . Now play som e scale s and notice that the sound i s still reasonabl y uniform acros s the keyboard .
41 LFO SECTION BLOCK DIAGRAM ments. One MODULATION SENSITIVITY control i s provided for PITCH, and another for AMPLITUDE. I n order for you to hear the result o f any LFO PMD or AMD settings, the corresponding [MOD SENSITIVITY- PITCH] or [MOD SENSITIVITY-AMPLITUDE] param - ete r must be greater tha n zero .
3 . Pres s [PMD] (Pitch Modulation Depth), and adjust [DAT A ENTRY] for a value o f 50 , again, just to begin. Now play a few notes . You probably won't hear any change from when you started.
The display should look like this. Play several brief notes 10 . Now use [DAT A ENTRY] t o tur n the syn c OFF Again, play the same brief note severa l times, and listen to the pitch eac h time. You'll hear the initia l pitch o f each note change slightly a s the randomly timed note s interact with th e regularly oscillating LFO .
Programming th e remainin g 4 operator * S o far we have use d just 2 o f the 6 available operator s withi n the algorithm to creat e the voic e you are hearing.
In this case , we do not want thes e two segment s o f th e voice (OP1-OP 2 and OP3-OP6 ) t o combine; we want a "split" keyboard instead. (With another voice , you might want th e two voice segments to play to - gether, complementing one another.
46 press and hold down the [CHARACTER] button, then pres s individual buttons which correspon d to the letters, numbers, o r punctuation you wis h to use . You ca n determine which buttons produce which alphanumeric character s by looking a t the smal l dark brown "reversed " typ e in the right come r o f eac h button.
Any o f the prese t voice s can b e edite d to change them slightly, or totally I n fact, the term "primary voice " might be better tha n "prese t voice, " sinc e thes e voice s are not permanent like the preset s o f mos t other synthesizers .
Analyzin g an d keepin g a recor d o f voice s You ca n us e the EDIT mode to examine all the param- eter s o f eac h preset.. . or o f any voice . You don't have t o change anything, but the envelope or frequency ratio s or touch sensitivit y o f a voic e may b e useful to you in creating a new voice .
TH E INTERNA L AND CARTRIDG E MEMORIE S We have already describe d how t o play voice s that are store d in th e internal memories o r cartridge memories .
play a liv e performance and you want memorie s 1-3 2 to contain the voice s you plan to play in numerical order . This ca n b e done either in the internal memory or in the RAM cartridg e memory It s bes t t o have a t leas t 1 "blank" or unwanted voic e which you ca n eras e when doing this .
ADVANCE D PROGRAMMIN G NOTE S Playin g styl e an d programmin g o f dynami c contro l B y now you should b e familiar with som e o f the way s the DX7' s keyboard can b e programmed to b e touch responsive .
variation o f the secon d category . Another variation simi - lar t o categor y (2 ) i s feedback, which create s frequency modulation through regeneration. If you wer e to se t the 6 operator s t o any frequency ratios you choose , and se t their envelope s and output levels to "typical " value s (i.
ent modulator output level s for eac h combination o f frequencies, since this can make a world o f difference in the sound. Ensembl e voice s ma y differ fro m sol o voice s When a musician plays an instrument a s part o f an ensemble, whether 2 or 7 0 people are playing, the sound of his instrumen t wil l interact wit h the other sounds.
"live " after you exi t the FUNCTION mode by pressin g one o f the [MEMORY SELECT] buttons (internal o r cartridge) . Th e [DAT A ENTRY] controls onl y chang e the las t use d parameter prior t o pressin g the [MEM- ORY SELECT] button. Thi s feature ca n b e useful a s an additional live performance control.
MIDI : A STANDAR D INTERFAC E FO R REMOTEL Y PLAYIN G AND/OR PROGRAMMIN G MULTIPL E SYNTHESIZER S MIDI i s an acronym for Musica l Instrument Digita l Interface, a specificatio n which severa l manufacturers have alread y agree d t o us e for designing equipment which i s compatible.
Transmittin g 3 2 voice s fro m th e Maste r t o th e Slav e Fo r this discussion , we will assume the simple setup shown with just two DX7 synthesizers . Basically , the same procedure i s use d when playing more DX7s , or a mixture o f other DX synthesizers .
or [MEMORY SELECT-CARTRIDGE] and then pressing the appropriate VOICE SELECTO R (1-32) . 4 . The voic e you just selecte d on th e Master i s now locate d in the edit buffe r within the Slave .
MAINTENANC E AND TROUBLESHOOTIN G Cleanin g Th e DX7 should b e cleane d with a soft, moistened cloth. To remove more stubborn dirt, us e a mild deter- gent solution on the cloth. D o not allow flui d to ru n into the instrument, and do not us e specia l cleaner s since solvent s can mar the finish.
DX SYNTHESIZE R GLOSSAR Y ADSR This is an acronym for "Attack-Decay-Sustain-Release" which, in turn, refers to the four controls provided on a con- ventional synthesizer's envelope generators. While the DX synlhesizers can simulate ADSR-type EGs , the DX EG s are more complex.
Fingere d Port a This i s an abbreviation for "fingere d portamento." This i s a functional mode o f the DX7 which i s available only when the keyboar d i s se t t o MONO operation.
Loa d I n th e DX7, "Load " describe s the proces s o f trans- ferrin g th e 3 2 voice s from one bank o f a ROM cartridge, or from a RAM cartridge, into th e 3 2 internal memories .
Sav e In the DX7, "Save " describe s the proces s o f simul- taneously placing al l 3 2 internal memory voice s into the correspondingly numbered RAM cartridg e memories . Sawtoot h wav e A waveform that contains the funda- mental and both od d and even harmonics.
DX7 SPECIFICATION S Keyboar d 6 1 keys , Cl t o C6 : velocit y and pressure sensitive (Initial & Afte r touch): 1 6 note polyphonic, and may be se t to monophonic Soun d Sourc e FM digital tone ge.
INDE X AC powe r C*,12-14,20,27,58,59,61,63 afte r touc h C,4,10,16,21,23,42,44,52,58,59,61,63 algorith m 6,9,24-26,28,33,34,38,39,44,46,47,52,55,59,62,6 3 AMD (amplitud e modulatio n depth ) 6,40-43,51,59,6 3 amplitud e modulatio n 4,6,7,10,11,22,23,40,43,53,58,59,6 3 audi o outpu t 4,12-14,23,63 batter y (bat t check ) C,4,5,10.
YAMAHA VOICE DATA LIS T.
DX 7 OM 5/20/9 9 19E011 2 international Corp. , Box 6600 , Buen a Park , Calif . 9062 2.
YAMAHA Yamaha Corporatio n o f America 6600 Orangethorpe Avenue, P.O . Bo x 6600 Buen a Park , CA 90622-6600 10/11/9 9 19J0062 DX7 OM.
An important point after buying a device Yamaha DX7 (or even before the purchase) is to read its user manual. We should do this for several simple reasons:
If you have not bought Yamaha DX7 yet, this is a good time to familiarize yourself with the basic data on the product. First of all view first pages of the manual, you can find above. You should find there the most important technical data Yamaha DX7 - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, Yamaha DX7 you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get Yamaha DX7 will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of Yamaha DX7, but have not read the manual yet, you should do it for the reasons described above. You will learn then if you properly used the available features, and whether you have not made any mistakes, which can shorten the lifetime Yamaha DX7.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with Yamaha DX7. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device Yamaha DX7 along with tips on how to solve them. Even if you fail to solve the problem, the manual will show you a further procedure – contact to the customer service center or the nearest service center
