Cool ... great explanation & demo This Reface DX seems to have the display and knobs the classic DX7 was missing ... great to see thingies getting better & cheap/affordable in the keys range
Thanks for the tip about using distortion as an eq. The Reface DX can sound very warm and analog-like in my opinion. When you add the chorus effect to your sound...wow.
Thanks for watching! Yes, the RDX can sound nice and warm, and (as I said in other comments) it ultimately depends on the player/user of an instrument and his musical intent.
Reface DX was my first synth, this makes me miss it ❤️ I spent a lot of time trying to make analog type sounds 😂 Also, putting the drive after reverb was one of my favourite tricks - fuzzy shoegazey goodness!
I've sold the Reface DX, realized that was a mistake, bought it again, thought I don't need it anymore because of various other FM synths, realized that was a mistake, and bought one again. Whenever there's a voice in my head telling me to sell it I tell that voice to please shut it. ;-) It's a very nice, easy-to-grasp FM synth that explains FM very well.
I have found if you add an analog 31-band stereo graphic equalizer to any synth you have the final say on the output of the tone. Though you cannot modulate this tone, it is very versatile in cutting out any unwanted treble harshness, midrange annoyances, and bass muddiness. I only buy very cheap graphic EQs because when applying this EQ to digital synths boosting the bass frequency spectrum adds a little analog distortion and warmth. Normally in audio engineering we avoid all this boost, but for digital synths it works fine. The stereo EQ gives you the added benefit of splitting frequences in the stereo field so that each channel isn't sharing the same frequency. Could we say this graphic EQ is a comb filter?
Hi! You're describing a multiband filter, not a comb filter (a comb filter has a slightly misleading name and works by adding a signal to itself after a slight delay, which will cancel out certain frequencies and add up on others)
As I said in the video, the whole topic is rooted in beliefs and nostalgia ;-) I don't believe in "digital coldness". Create your sound in a way that allows expression and then express yourself through your music, and then whatever sound fits your music best will transport warmness if you intend it. I think what most people refer to when talking about "warmness" are slight imperfections in a sound that don't occur predictably. You'll need special plugins that process your sound (on MPC One, there's the "Flavor Pro" plugin that does that) Another example to illustrate my point: Imagine you built a robot to hammer on a piano at the exact same velocity all the time ;-)
One thing I challenge myself with when trying to program the R-DX is limiting myself to just sine waves and no feedback. I watched Dr. Synth talk about how when you apply feedback it has just a static modulation that is not like the volume or the envelope interaction type of modulation that happens over time (If I undestood him right.) I have been trying odd frequencies and different envelope configurations to get interesting sounds.
Well yeah, that's right of course, but I don't understand why that makes you not use it at all? Use this to define the "lower boundary" of "brass-y-ness" while the "loudness" of the operators will define the "upper boundary", as shown in the video. Anything else can be fine tuned by velocity sensitivity, lfo and envelopes.
FM is endless. How about turning the DX into a drum machine or kind of? FM is great for drum machines but you need probably some kind of parameter locking or similar to achive it... Not sure if the DX is capable, but sure it´s the first thing I try with any synth: to get it rithmic and drum machineish... The dirtywave M8 would probably be exceptionally good for that, I guess...
Thanks for your input! There are some great examples for "drum sets" over on Soundmondo (Yamahas Web page for sharing sounds on) - these cleverly use the key scaling feature to move from bass drum to snare drum to hihat sounds the higher the note is. Worth a look!
Thanks! That's a matter of personal tastes, ultimately. If you listen to both patches on expensive headphones, you'll hear the Juno 60 / Jura patch has that super satisfying "filter woosh" at it's start, which my patch is sadly devoid of. ;-)
Sounddesign on the DX is easy and fast. The Keybed is fantastic to play. Its my favourite Keybed in this size. You learn much about the timbres of some instruments like brass, base with metallic Parts (E-Bass) or E-Pianos.
Well, yesn't. ;-) I think "warmness" always comes from the player / the composer / sound editor. If you let a robot hammer away on a felt piano at exactly the same velocity all the time it might be the best felt piano in the world but it'd sound cold and sterile.
Reface DX is such a versatile tool. I sill play mine every day.
It's one of my go-to synths as well.
Love seeing more FM sound design videos! This one was very useful!
Thanks! I like to make these, it's fun. But I'm a bit out of ideas, so answering viewer questions is a welcome departure.
i've used some of your patches on my reface and i'm very thankful for step by step guides. always will be grateful for fm lessons :)
Thanks! Making these videos is fun.
Thanks for this Floyd, love watching your process creating a patch. So helpful,
Cool ... great explanation & demo
This Reface DX seems to have the display and knobs the classic DX7 was missing ... great to see thingies getting better & cheap/affordable in the keys range
The RDX is a great synth for learning FM (and then some). ;-)
Great video. Also very good little synth. I had one for a while.
Yes, the RDX is a great synth. The engineers really made some good choices while designing this.
Thanks for the tip about using distortion as an eq. The Reface DX can sound very warm and analog-like in my opinion. When you add the chorus effect to your sound...wow.
Thanks for watching! Yes, the RDX can sound nice and warm, and (as I said in other comments) it ultimately depends on the player/user of an instrument and his musical intent.
Reface DX was my first synth, this makes me miss it ❤️ I spent a lot of time trying to make analog type sounds 😂
Also, putting the drive after reverb was one of my favourite tricks - fuzzy shoegazey goodness!
I've sold the Reface DX, realized that was a mistake, bought it again, thought I don't need it anymore because of various other FM synths, realized that was a mistake, and bought one again. Whenever there's a voice in my head telling me to sell it I tell that voice to please shut it. ;-) It's a very nice, easy-to-grasp FM synth that explains FM very well.
Great ... will try to replicate this on a DeXeD 👍
I have found if you add an analog 31-band stereo graphic equalizer to any synth you have the final say on the output of the tone. Though you cannot modulate this tone, it is very versatile in cutting out any unwanted treble harshness, midrange annoyances, and bass muddiness. I only buy very cheap graphic EQs because when applying this EQ to digital synths boosting the bass frequency spectrum adds a little analog distortion and warmth. Normally in audio engineering we avoid all this boost, but for digital synths it works fine. The stereo EQ gives you the added benefit of splitting frequences in the stereo field so that each channel isn't sharing the same frequency. Could we say this graphic EQ is a comb filter?
Hi! You're describing a multiband filter, not a comb filter (a comb filter has a slightly misleading name and works by adding a signal to itself after a slight delay, which will cancel out certain frequencies and add up on others)
Nice enjoyed the demo, the reface is an interesting instrument.
It is, and out of the 4 models available, it's the most complete one with its 32 user preset slots and stereo effects.
Thanks for this, Floyd--I adore my reface DX, and this is definitely going to help me add to the palette. ❤️🙏🏻
Thanks for watching!
@9:52 Was that intentionally Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time?
Ahaha, that was not intentional. But hey, there never can be enough Cyndi Lauper references in the world ;-)
Does the Reface have a "percentage" setting for the modulator envelops, like the DX11 has? With such finer curves could be achieved.
Hi! No, it doesn't. It's 0-127 for each parameter.
can digital coldness be warmed up by processing through analog gate, analog compressor, and analog EQ?
As I said in the video, the whole topic is rooted in beliefs and nostalgia ;-)
I don't believe in "digital coldness". Create your sound in a way that allows expression and then express yourself through your music, and then whatever sound fits your music best will transport warmness if you intend it.
I think what most people refer to when talking about "warmness" are slight imperfections in a sound that don't occur predictably. You'll need special plugins that process your sound (on MPC One, there's the "Flavor Pro" plugin that does that)
Another example to illustrate my point: Imagine you built a robot to hammer on a piano at the exact same velocity all the time ;-)
One thing I challenge myself with when trying to program the R-DX is limiting myself to just sine waves and no feedback. I watched Dr. Synth talk about how when you apply feedback it has just a static modulation that is not like the volume or the envelope interaction type of modulation that happens over time (If I undestood him right.) I have been trying odd frequencies and different envelope configurations to get interesting sounds.
Well yeah, that's right of course, but I don't understand why that makes you not use it at all? Use this to define the "lower boundary" of "brass-y-ness" while the "loudness" of the operators will define the "upper boundary", as shown in the video. Anything else can be fine tuned by velocity sensitivity, lfo and envelopes.
@@mr_floydst That is true, Thank You.
FM is endless. How about turning the DX into a drum machine or kind of? FM is great for drum machines but you need probably some kind of parameter locking or similar to achive it... Not sure if the DX is capable, but sure it´s the first thing I try with any synth: to get it rithmic and drum machineish... The dirtywave M8 would probably be exceptionally good for that, I guess...
Thanks for your input! There are some great examples for "drum sets" over on Soundmondo (Yamahas Web page for sharing sounds on) - these cleverly use the key scaling feature to move from bass drum to snare drum to hihat sounds the higher the note is. Worth a look!
The RDX patch aguably sounds better than the Juno patch. Very tidy.
Thanks! That's a matter of personal tastes, ultimately. If you listen to both patches on expensive headphones, you'll hear the Juno 60 / Jura patch has that super satisfying "filter woosh" at it's start, which my patch is sadly devoid of. ;-)
FM could sound warm as much as you like, listen to Brian Eno's *Apollo* album...
Yes. It's all in the hand of the sound programmer and most importantly, player.
Sounddesign on the DX is easy and fast. The Keybed is fantastic to play. Its my favourite Keybed in this size. You learn much about the timbres of some instruments like brass, base with metallic Parts (E-Bass) or E-Pianos.
Tape, pcm reverb , running dx through amp heads and sansamp pedal etc…
Main Synth on that is a CS-80 though according to Daniel Lanois
@wsplatinum Eno himself said he used a DX7 and he learned FM programming on the spot.
🔥
If you stick the Reface through and ensemble effect it'll have instant warmth :)
Well, yesn't. ;-) I think "warmness" always comes from the player / the composer / sound editor. If you let a robot hammer away on a felt piano at exactly the same velocity all the time it might be the best felt piano in the world but it'd sound cold and sterile.
Yet another proof that warm sound is just taking off sharp edges that digital synths can do if you want, but you can take off as easy.
Exactly. People always forget the human factor ;-) It's the person that creates the warm sound!