This song is so dreamy. I know it's old by now but congratulations with this result. It's beautiful. There are countless ways to make music, and what you pick is what is correct. Yet there is something about the sound of those units from the past, that for some reason makes it result into something specific and unlike anything you would make with the modern sound generators. I don't think it is specifically the way it sounds, although it has to do with it, but it is also the workflow and the limitations that come with it. I recently bought the TX81Z, and had a blast playing with it. Even if the interface is a pain to use with the worn out buttons, it's a pleasure to use and the process makes it fun. I often find myself making the better sounds using vintage modules for example, resampling that and then playing with other tools to come to a result. There is a certain passion that comes up, something I do not feel if I were to just draw out notes on VSTs. Then again, these are all personal preferences and there is no right or wrong. The process of making it is the joy of the creator, and if anybody listens to the result, it becomes the join of whoever decides it is good enough to listen to. I must say, I enjoy this piece as I keep returning to it. If you ever decide to share more with the world, I (and I believe many more) will welcome it. Thank you.
Midi out from a scarlett 2i4, then lined back into the interface. Can expect a pretty significant delay with ableton due to the limitations of using hardware with the midi from the daw. The sound sources in this video are all tx81z so it will still be perfectly in sync with itself, but to sync it with abletons metronome you will either have to trim samples which isnt an option for some pad sounds, or manually delay some tracks and make your own metronome on the chosen hardware synth.
Unfortunately the only thing i can think of doing under those conditions would be to use a keyboard with midi out and plug it directly into the tx81z, but you'll need to be at least semi-proficient at the keys to do that. The plus side would be no midi lag though.
You're sending midi from ableton directly to the TX81z? No max patch or sysex convertion required? Or maybe that is only for cc's, and ableton can send notes natively? (Sorry, I'm thinking about getting the tx81z but i'm trying to make sure that i can integrate it well
Yes, you can send midi from a DAW directly into the TX81z, sysex usually only pertains to patch information. These days I am using Bitwig though, because I can sync to the metronome with one click (would always have sync issues with midi on ableton)
I appreciate your work here. It sounds great however taking a low-fi synth and running it through a very hi-tech piece of software only demonstrates how sophisticated Ableton is and creative its user is. You could essentially make high-fidelity music like this starting with a tiny sample of white noise. It all comes down to the artist mostly, but the software is what's making the TX81Z sound like this.
it's very clear you know nothing, and I do mean nothing about FM synthesis and you have very little to no experience program it on a real Hardware machine. I say this because I'm near 50 years old and I've been programming Yamahas version of FM garnered from Stanford University's Genesis of the synthesis engine for decades. Only young people with very little experience would say something like that. And this is the statement coming from somebody who has numerous published works in post-production music-related audio for film and television. I do commercial work and have her very long period or time. If you knew anything about how carrier modulator systems work in FM synthesis you would understand the nature of the envelopes and understand the nature of how just because this program has decided to use mostly sounds that do not involve does not mean that they do not do that in other hands.
I came here looking for an answer to the question "can the TX81Z do pads?" which has been amply answered, and I got some significant aesthetic gratification as well. Beautiful composition!
Abosolutely awesome track! Bought one today, looking forward to messing with it :) Btw. do you remember if you used a single unit to produce this track, or many of them at once ? Thanks
Great work! I've had a TX for a few years and am across most of these timbres ... except that enormous pad. Are you in Alg 5 or 8? The closest I can get is detuned pairs on Alg 5 with low modulation, but the timbre still has that sawtooth-ish buzz. Any tips? Warmer/colder? Cheers
Hi, been far too long to check what algorithm was used, but I just warmed up the sound by lowering output of modulator. The gentle and slow pitch lfo is what makes the pad sound large (once the reverb is added it creates a big chorus effect) If you want to keep the signal raw you can also just layer the same pad with varying speeds of lfo
@@00eddie0 Thanks for the reply. I've been so single-minded on learning how to voice the TX that I've resisted turning on any effects until now. In trying to match your pad, I've instead developed a whole library of orchestral-style massed string pads, in the 1980s Pet Shop Boys tradition. The vowel-ing on those pads is always an "eeee", where yours is a more roomy "aaah". I'll see if I can get there with layering or using effects to smooth out some slight inharmonic tuning. Cheers
@@lacqueredstudio583 You can accomplish this with one TX, the patch can be duplicated and then layered in performance mode. This will lower your polyphony though, with 2 synth patches playing at once you would be restricted to a maximum of 4 notes for your chords
DX7 is better in the sense that you have 2 more operators to work with and a cleaner output signal. Also can map synth parameters to note velocity, which makes for a more expressive live performance. Having said that though, the dx7 is pure fm synthesis, so only uses sine waves. Tx81z has its own unique wave-forms. Both are capable of producing sounds that the other cannot. If you want the iconic e-piano sound, you are much better off with a dx7 or rack equivalent though.
These kinds of percussive sounds are definitely be possible on a Dx7, albeit much more time consuming. If I remember correctly the Tx81z has sampled transient noises that makes these sort of sounds a little simpler to make.
@@00eddie0 No, there's no sampling in the TX81Z, just FM. (There are some other Yamaha synths that do combine the two - the SY22/TG33 for one, but not this.) The big tricks to percussive/noise sounds are non-integer carrier : modulator ratios (which the lesser 4-op synths can't easily do, but the TX81Z can) and good use of operator feedback. These are the key to getting bunches of enharmonic overtones that make for a good noise burst. Great track, BTW :D
@@johna6502 Hey I found this comment really uselful, thanks! I would like to add that the TX81Z has a number of precussion presets (basa drum, tims, snares, etc.) which are good starting points for your own percussive sounds.
