SynthMania
3 HN mentions · mentioned in 3 months, 2017–2022
16:33 · 2M views · Apr 6, 2012
A run through the 32 factory presets of the Yamaha DX7 FM synthesizer, with timestamps for each patch such as brass, strings, pianos, bass and tubular bells. It is a straight audio demo of the sounds.
HN uses it as a reference for how DX7 patches and FM synthesis actually sound.
3 comments from Hacker News
Taking a guess at what you're noticing but might not have a framework/vocabulary for... It sounds like FM synthesis[0] to me (so either an embedded FM software synthesizer or simply replaying samples of FM synthesis), so the timbre is quite unlike a "real" piano or PCM samples of a real piano. Timbre is a kind of "color" of "quality" of a sound - in my head it's similar to how different materials feel different to the touch. A violin and a trumpet can play the same "note" but their sounds have very different timbres. An apple and a ball might both appear red but have different surface textures. The "piano" in the app sounds like the piano patches (presets) on FM-based synthesizers from the 1980s[1], where the designers tried to approximate the timbre of a piano using the limited (but fun!) possibilities of FM, while the transients and harmonics produced by a real acoustic piano are more complex. The pitches and temperament sound OK to me, so I think what you are are hearing is the timbre. That is, the app is playing the "right" notes, but it's as if you're hearing a "different instrument", albeit one that is an early digital approximation of a piano sound. [0] [LINK] [1] e.g. the Yamaha DX7; here's one of its "piano" sounds for comparison: this video
How many people in the electronic genre could play Bach ? I mind no medium, no genre, nothing at all. If you give me something musical, even tapping on bamboo, or an old DX7 (see this demo this video , the pianos samples are dense, and the harmonies aren't dull) synth, I'd welcome it. The link you gave are not bad, but they lack soul, feel, weight. It's a common thing in electronic music, sampled drumbeats, tiny vocals, steady and fragile melodic rhythm. ps: other electronic sounds that I found a bit more telling [LINK] [LINK] These two are simplistic but have a strong rhythmic backbone and are surprinsgly twisted at times [LINK] [LINK] I'd love to keep on but I have to leave, I'll be back in an hour
Seems like the sort of thing you'd use for a drum kit patch (each key is a different kind of drum), but I suppose that wasn't a standard thing when the DX7 came out and wouldn't be for awhile. This demonstrates the factory patches; the train patch (#31) seems to have several different distinct timbres: this video