New Equipment: DTronics DT-RDX + Yamaha Reface DX

 

DT-RDX (top), Reface DX (bottom), my cat Pinot (top right).

About two years ago I acquired a second-hand Yamaha Reface DX four-operator FM synthesizer. I believe I've only used it on one song: it provides the main sequenced part on Blackbird Bend from Music of the Lake. I also use the very handy looper function for sketching ideas. As FM synthesizers go it's relatively easy to program your own sounds. But everything is done from one four-parameter touch-pad thingamajig and a series of push-buttons.

When the Korg OpSix was announced last year, a six-operator FM synth that promised even more user-friendly programmability, it went straight on my wish-list. Recently I got to try one in-store, and while I was able to get some interesting sounds out of it quickly, I wasn't impressed with the feel of the keyboard. I couldn't quite justify the price-tag, either.

So, as I already had the Reface DX and wasn't getting the most out of it, I looked into buying the DT-RDX MIDI programmer. DTronics' distributor Synthcity.nl is based in the Netherlands, and ordering from them was quick and simple. Synth and programmer combined still worked out cheaper than an OpSix, and to be honest, until I get used to how FM works, two fewer operators is probably a good thing.

Some minor gripes. Neither the DX or RTDX have very thorough manuals. Some infographics detailing the eccentricities of the envelopes, for example, would be handy. Another oddity is how the programmer attaches to the synth; ie. it slots loosely into the screw-holes underneath but doesn't actually screw in. For that you'd need to get hold of some longer screws with the correct thread. The other issue, with the DX itself, is patch storage, which is limited to 32. I can see myself filling that up in no time flat, and having to dump the sounds to hard-drive.

Aside from those few issues, having knob-per-function access to the programming parameters will make this a far more useful piece of kit.

New Equipment: Korg M1

A decade ago I said I would never buy a Korg M1. My reasoning was that it was digital (at the time I had the misguided view that digital synths were bad), and that Gary Numan overused the M1 presets on everything he recorded from approx. 1988 onwards (since it was released, in other words). I even passed up the opportunity to buy one for $300 around the time I said that.

I've since come to appreciate what digital synthesizers can bring to the table. Interestingly, so have a lot of other people, and the price of these machines has gone up in recent years. Despite that, I still paid just shy of  $300 for this one. It needed a new internal battery and the presets reloaded, and has a few buttons that don't work, but other than that is in good condition. It was way cleaner inside than the DW8000 I had to restore recently, for instance.

So, what are my thoughts now that I own it? I still think it's an ugly machine, and I don't like the keyboard action very much. But overall the sound is decent, if dated. To my surprise, it has an on-board filter. It's more like a brilliance or brightness control (ie. not much depth to it, except in edit mode) but it's a mark in its favour. There are other things you can affect with the same slider control, too, such as the mix between the two digital wavetable oscillators of each sound. This makes it that little bit more endearing to someone like me who likes to create their own sound on a synthesizer, or at the very least change a preset enough that it has a unique flavour. A flip through the manual reveals that the designers expected the end user to program their own sounds with ease and relative quickness, but I wonder about that when there are so few controls on the front-panel.

At present I'm using it in my practice/writing space (along with the Reface DX). The piano sound is halfway decent, and there are other sounds that can inspire new ways of composing.