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The Yamaha DX7 might never have been created if it hadn't been for Dr John Chowning who invented the FM theory behind it; equally so, it might never have been the huge success it was without sound engineers such as Dave Bristow, Gary Leuenberger and Bo Tomlyn, who together crafted some of its best known and most popular sounds, providing the backdrop to 80's, 90's and even current music.

I have recently had the opportunity to ask Dave Bristow about his experiences with the DX7.

Dave, who is originally from London UK but now lives in the USA, starting playing the piano from an early age.  After graduating from university with a BSc in Psychology, Dave turned his musical talents to playing and programming keyboards, and has been in the music business ever since. He is internationally recognised as one of the most important contributors to the development and voicing of FM synthesis.

He has provided a really interesting insight into the days preceding the launch of the DX7 and DX9 models, which you can read below:

 

• SS: What was your first synthesizer?
• DB: I used to play a mini-moog occasionally - that was doing the rounds in Birmingham in the mid 70’s -  then I got hold of a CS-80. I used to demonstrate this at weekends in a local store and occasionally borrow it. Yamaha UK came by one day and asked if I would do a public demo for them – which I did, and another, and then another…

 

• SS: What had you been doing musically before your involvement with the DX7?
• DB: I played in rock/jazz bands, did session work and demonstrated CS-80 and other analog synths for Yamaha.
  
  
• SS: How did you first get involved with the DX7 project?
• DB: I was first invited to Japan in Jan 1980, after about 2 years of demo-ing analog stuff for them all over Europe. (CS-80, CS-01, SK series, CS40M, CS70, electric pianos CP70 etc). On that visit I first met Gary Leuenberger. We were there to see the GS-1, a new digital FM synth.    

• SS: When you first saw the DX7, was it full of ‘INIT VOICE’ patches, or was there something already there for you to start with?
• DB: I first saw the DX7 as a prototype called the DX4 in about 1982. There were no patches. I took a proto home with me in late 82 to my studio in UK and Gary did also. We each came up with about 24 patches each. The idea was that we would return to Japan to finish the “factory presets” - we were expecting to make 32 or maybe 48 presets. A programmer from Japan was also scheduled to provide some presets.  As you know, DX7 finally shipped with 128! When it came to the crunch, Gary and I had about 4 days in Hamamatsu to come up with 128 presets. I have to admit, it was a challenge – at first, we had a hard time thinking of 128 musical instruments - let alone making the patches on a new FM instrument.

 

• SS: Did you influence any of the internal architecture of the DX7, in terms of it’s user interface?
• DB: Not really, but we did give a fair amount of feedback which proved useful for minor improvements.

 

• SS: Did Yamaha give you any lessons, and how long did it take you to fully understand how to create patches?
• DB: No lessons, but we had both had 2 years experience by now with the GS-1 and GS-2. These were simpler FM instruments with 2-op algorithms, so we did have a chance to train our ears with the basic timbral dimensions of FM synthesis.

• SS: Did you find that an understanding of sound engineering, acoustics, harmonic relationships etc went a long way in terms of successfully creating ‘pleasing’ patches, or did you just naturally bond with the DX range?
• DB: Working with synthesisers automatically gets your ears trained and both Gary and I had worked with synths for many years. For myself, I definitely “bonded” with the synth characteristics of FM and the DX7 for some reason, and it has been post-DX7 that I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to study and learn acoustics, psychoacoustics, digital audio and so on. I do think this background is invaluable now, and I always teach these basics when I find myself giving any sort of presentation or class on programming, MIDI or electronic music.

 

• SS: Did you think “right, I’ll create a slap bass patch now” and go straight for it, or was there a sort of random approach – i.e. were there a lot of ‘happy accidents’? 
• DB: The honest answer to this is a mixture of both. As I mentioned, I had developed an ear for FM and was able to associate the timbral behaviour with the various parameters, so in some cases, I was ready to “go for it”. I also had years of careful listening behind me together with a deep interest in sound and the psychology of music. There were also plenty of serendipitous events!

 

• SS: The DX7 was shipped with two cartridges – Are any of the patches on those cartridges yours, or did you start programming after the initial launch?
• DB: Yes, about 50% of the original DX7 factory patches were mine and 50% Gary’s. Gary and I did a sort of Lennon/McCartney thing though we did both produce individual “signature ROMs” for Yamaha later on.

 

• SS: How long did you typically spend creating and fine-tuning each patch?
• DB: That’s hard to say for individual patches. All I know is, Gary and I locked ourselves into Studio-6 at Yamaha’s factory in Hamamatsu from about 8am in the morning till after midnight for four days solid. We downed a fair bit of whiskey I have to admit, and developed a close bond with each other and the engineering and management team at Yamaha (which has lasted to this day – I value my association with Yamaha very highly, and consider myself one of the team). Anyway, in those four days we came up with about 90% of the “Factory Presets” that appeared on the two cartridges. The DX was introduced into Europe before the States, so Gary had a little extra time back at his home to fine tune a few of the patches, but basically, that was it.

 

• SS: Did you create the sounds using only the DX7, or did you have a patch editor back then?
• DB: We just used the DX’s interface. There were no patch editors back then.

 

• SS: Can you remember the first time you heard one of your patches on the radio and if so, what was the song? (and the patch?!)
• DB: They were everywhere all the time during the 80’s

 

• SS: Were you surprised by the ubiquity of the DX7 during the 80’s, or did you feel right from the start that Yamaha had created something which would dominate electronic music for a long time?
• DB: It was really like being in on the start of something big and we all felt it. Apart from being the first major digital synth, the synth engine itself was entirely new, there was a LCD for naming voices, there was a voice-preset memory bank and of course MIDI. Yamaha hoped to sell 15~18,000 DX7 and DX9’s. In the first year or so they sold and pre-sold 150,000 units. It was a music industry phenomena.

  

• SS: How long ago did you last create a new patch on your DX7?
• DB: Probably 20 years ago

 

• SS: The DX7’s programming architecture has confused thousands, but clearly not yourself - have you ever been completely stumped by a synthesizer, or have you been pretty much able to program anything that’s been put in front of you?
• DB: Yes, as long as I have patience with it and I can hear the timbral dimensions, I can program it. I have enjoyed FM7 by Native Instruments.

 

• SS: Which has been your favourite Yamaha synthesizer?
• DB: I think SY77/99. I still love FM synthesis and SY was a nice hybrid.

 

• SS: I understand you have been working with Yamaha again more recently?
• DB: Yes. Three years ago, I got a call from an old colleague at Yamaha. I finished my first association with Yamaha in about 1992 after a stint at their R&D centre in London – they were having some big reorganisation in Europe at the time, and I felt it was time for a change. I began consulting with Emu Systems who were developing some neat filter synthesis. In about 1994 I moved to the states to work at their headquarters in Santa Cruz. I enjoyed a good few years but eventually the job faded away due to Creative Technology issues, the parent company. That was when (fortunately for me) I received this call from Yamaha. They had essentially ported the DX7 architecture into a mobile device chip. So yes, I ended up voicing FM synths again. The advent of the MP3 phones eventually put the lid on this activity, and though I wrote lots of demo music for Yamaha (both for their synths and in the last few years, cell phones) I realise that I really enjoy voicing.

Dave continued his work with the DX and TX range of synthesizers right up to the SY range in the early 90's, providing many of their familiar preset patches. During the 1980's, Dave became firm friends with the inventor of FM synthesis, Dr John Chowning and during their time together at  IRCAM in Paris, they wrote a book called "FM Theory and Applications" ( ISBN 4636174828). 

Dave Bristow has his own website, www.timbremerchant.com, which further explores the use of FM synthesis.

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