Yamaha DX7 facts for kids

The Yamaha DX7 is a special kind of digital synthesizer, which is an electronic musical instrument. It was first made and released in 1983. This instrument was very popular and its unique sounds were used in many songs. For example, a sound called "Synthbrass" from the Yamaha DX7 was heard in the song "Sunglasses at Night" by Corey Hart.

What is the Yamaha DX7?

The Yamaha DX7 is a keyboard instrument that uses digital technology to create sounds. Unlike older synthesizers that used analog circuits, the DX7 uses computer chips to make its sounds. This allowed it to create many new and different sounds that musicians had never heard before. It was also one of the first synthesizers that you could program, meaning you could create and save your own unique sounds.

How Does it Make Sound?

The Yamaha DX7 uses a method called "Frequency Modulation" or FM synthesis. Imagine you have two sound waves. FM synthesis works by making one sound wave change the frequency of another sound wave. This creates very complex and interesting sounds, from bright bells to deep basses and realistic brass instruments. It was a new way to make sounds in the 1980s and made the DX7 very famous.

Different Versions

Yamaha also made other versions of the DX7. One of these was the Yamaha TX7. This version was released in 1985. The TX7 is a "sound module," which means it doesn't have a keyboard. It's a box that contains all the same sounds as the DX7 keyboard, but you need to connect it to another keyboard or a computer to play it. This was useful for musicians who already had a keyboard or wanted to save space in their music studio.

Why Was it Important?

The Yamaha DX7 was one of the best-selling synthesizers of all time. It changed how music was made in the 1980s. Many pop, rock, and electronic music artists used its sounds. Its digital nature made it very stable and reliable, and its unique FM sounds became a signature part of the music from that era. It showed the world what digital synthesizers could do.

See also

In Spanish: Yamaha DX7 para niños