Yamaha DX-7 Electric Piano alike sound.

Question

Level 1

8 points

Yamaha DX-7 Electric Piano alike sound.

Hi. I am using mainstage and i'm happy with various features of the application. However, this is the 2nd time I install it on my Mac and some sounds that were present the first time aren't there now. I had an E.Piano called Ballad Tines that isn't there anymore. It wasn't the best EP in Mainstage but the one that resembled the most the DX-7 EP sound I need.

I'm not very interested in that particular sound though. What I want is to achieve that Yamaha DX FM Electric Piano with the plugins that come with Mainstage. Any ideas? Anyone knows the settings for creating that sound?

Thank you.

MBP 15", Mac OS X (10.5.7), 4 GB RAM

Posted on May 23, 2009 6:34 PM

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Answer 1

Justin C

Level 6

8,700 points

May 26, 2009 1:43 AM in response to nckdc

Logic's FM capabilities are rather limited (2 ops in their FM synth vs. 6 ops in the DX7). It's actually a simple FM sound, but 2 ops will not make a great replica of the piano. I am guessing you could find the original DX7 settings online.

J

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Answer 2

nckdc Author

Level 1

8 points

May 26, 2009 9:59 AM in response to Justin C

Justin, thanks for your answer, I didn't know that. So, do you know is there a 3d party Audio Unit with more FM capabilities available?

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Answer 3

Justin C

Level 6

8,700 points

May 27, 2009 3:10 AM in response to nckdc

Hey nckdc1,

Yes. Native Instrument's FM8 is the standard (IMO).

If you want a free one that isn't as powerful or sonically pleasant as FM8, but is someplace between FM8 and efm 1 for capabilities and you can program a synth, you can try Stochaton:
http://www.eigentoneresearch.com/Downloads.html
(synth and manual are separate downloads)

It's free, and not specifically a FM synth, it has a few rough edges, but it's kinda funky if you like programming odd FM types of sounds. I wrote it, actually (quite quickly, as you may notice).

Best,

J

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Answer 4

nckdc Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 1, 2009 3:58 PM in response to Justin C

Hi Justin, thanks for your answer. I'm already trying FM8 and the results are what I was looking for, I think I'll keep it.

I will download Stochaton also, it sounds like fun, and maybe one day it will outperform FM8!

Thank you,

nckdc1

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