Yamaha DX7 Voice Data Book by David Bristow for Keyboard Magazine in Japanese

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this Reverb listing

"Ultra Rare Voice Data Book by the great David Bristow, Japan only release!!

Full of unique patches to program into your amazing DX7.

Never offered on Reverb and Ebay before, ever, grab your chance to own this very sought after DX7 historical item."

Addtional posts mentioning David Bristow.

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Yamaha Y-CAMS Demonstration Package

video uploads by Failed Muso

"The four tracks contained within the Y-CAMS Demonstration Package for the Yamaha QX1, TX816 and RX11."

"This set was only ever available to dealers and demonstrators in the mid 1980's."

Playlist:
Yamaha Y-CAMS Demonstration Package - Tri X - written and programmed by Toshiro Imaizumi.
Yamaha Y-CAMS Demonstration Package - Slunky Bunk - written and programmed by David Bristow.
Yamaha Y-CAMS Demonstration Package - Lament - written by J.J. Johnson and transcribed by Takehira Honda.
Yamaha Y-CAMS Demonstration Package - St. Elsewhere - written by Dave Grusin and transcribed by Gary Leuenberger.

NYZ DRN4 DECLASSIFIED

Exclusive mix on SoundCloud:


Tracklist:

1. NYZ_FMMGKSQ_43t
2. ISR_16x16_WCM
3. CSN [excerpt 2 mono]
4. SWI_r170_16x32x32_B
5. SWI_FM1#16
6. NYZ-1_1#08_A [finite downsized]
7.CSN1 [excerpt 1 mono]

Be sure to see the MATRIXSYNTH exclusive further below!

FM EXPLORATIONS AND MICROTONAL DRONES FROM NYZ (AKA DAVE NOYZE, DAVID BURRASTON, NOYZELAB, BRYEN TELKO)

This is the first release by NYZ and is a superb musical collection of research areas classified to internal Noyzelab operations. Not even .MEDS label were informed of the secret processes underlying its creation, excepting that we know it involved Frequency Modulation (FM) synthesis! We have not been given any information regarding when this work was recorded, but we suspect the material spans at least a decade of David's FM algorithm research on numerous synthesizers, as well his own custom built ear deceiving gear...

According to one reviewer of David's previous musical output he "gleefully disrupts just about every standard convention of musical form you could think of, including those of so-called experimental musics."

Other reviewers have written that :
"His music is a bizarre, yet compelling journey investigating the outer realms of music generated on ancient & contemporary machines." "It's strikingly original audio that doesn't really sound like anything else I can think of." "Utterly sublime. So there you go, a life-affirming slab of mind-altering sound to reawaken you to the terrifying possibilities of creation."

"absolutely wreaks havoc" wrote Keith Fullerton Whitman on reviewing David's last release T. H. Cycle cassette on Important Records/Cassauna .

Cassette releases April 1, 2016

All Audio by David Burraston
Design Tom Knapp

----

MATRIXSYNTH recently asked NYZ why he put together this new album of FM synthesis based explorations, and whether he would discuss some of the process behind it. The declassified information below has been put together by NYZ especially for a MATRIXSYNTH exclusive.

***BEGIN NYZ DRN4 DECLASSIFICATION REPORT***

DC REPORT STATUS: PARTIAL DECLASSIFICATION ONLY
PARTIAL DC STATUS: INCOMPLETE CELLULAR BINARY SPACETIME
PARTIAL DC LEVEL: SEMI-PICTORIAL_TEXTUAL_HIGHLIGHTS
FUTURE DC STATUS: _PENDING

The main reasons for making this album were an interest in FM synthesis in both analogue modular and MIDI/digital mediums. I had worked with digital FM synthesis since getting a Yamaha TX81Z when they came out back in 1987 (which I still have, along with another backup machine with a very hummy mains transformer which bleeds onto the outs). How me and another synth friend used to cry with drunken laughter at preset D11 Hole in 1... :) But after initially wondering whether I had just wasted about 350 UK pounds on an utter piece of shit... I quickly warmed to its better presets, and its very different approach to synthesis yielded enough interesting results early on for it not to get outed.

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An Interview with Barry Schrader

Hi everyone! As you know Barry Schrader will be giving his farewell concert at CalArts on September 26. The following is the beginning of my interview with him. I opted to post the questions and answers as they come in.  New QAs will get a new post so you do not miss them and they will be added to this post so we have one central post for the full interview. This should make it easier for all of us to consume in our busy lives, and it will allow you to send in any questions that may come to mind during the interview process.  If you have anything you'd like to ask Barry, feel free to send it in to matrixsynth@gmail.com.  This is a rare opportunity for us to get insight on a significant bit of synthesizer history, specifically with early Buchla systems, and I'd like to thank Barry for this opportunity. Thank you Barry!

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Happy New Year! The Year in Synths 2013

Happy New Year Everyone!

What a busy year it has been in the world of synths.

This is going to be one doozy of a post, so bear with me. This post is a review of the year in synths for 2013. We begin with Tributes to Those We Lost This Year, followed by New Manufacturers & Makers, Older Manufacturers Added to the Site, New Gear Announcements, Top 10 Posts by Traffic,  My Standout Posts for the Year, and finally This Years' Synth Events. I did my best to keep things as short and concise as possible.

Let's begin with the hardest part of the post.

Tributes to Those We Lost This Year

RIP Bernard Parmegiani - Electronic & Acoustic Composer
Lou Reed RIP
RIP Dick Raaymakers aka Kid Baltan
RIP George Duke - DreamWeaver
RIP Ralph Dyck, Sept 28, 1941 – May 20, 2013
RIP Ray Manzarek

All missed and never to be forgotten. Take a moment to remember them.

------

New Manufacturers & Makers

Starting last January, I decided to keep a running list of every new manufacturer and maker introduced to the site during the year.  This is something I haven't done before and I thought it would be interesting to see how many there were in the year.   It's easy to focus on the big synth announcements throughout the year, but what about all the new makers and brands? I shouln't have to go considerably into the significance of new designers on the scene, so I'll just say two things regarding them.  One, the number of new makers is a direct reflection on the interest in our scene, and two, these are the creators of new gear which directly translate into new designs not previously available to us.  Think about that for a moment.  These are makers and designs that did not exist before.  They are part of our synth history.  So what is the total count of new synth designers for the year? A whopping 113. Think about that a bit. One hundred and thirteen new synth designers and brands this year alone.

Here they are (note a handful date back to 2012, but 2013 marked their momentum and availability):

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FM Theory & Applications

via eBay

"FM Theory & Applications By Musicians for Musicians.

Dr. John Chowning (inventor of FM Synthesis)
David Bristow ( Yamaha synth designer)

Great condition-
Copyright 1986 Yamaha Music Foundation

Very rare book, hardcover with dust jacket.
Covers topics relating to Frequency Modulation synthesis theory and it's relevance to making music.
If you have used a Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer or many of the other Yamaha DX synths, the sounds are created using FM synthesis."

Update: check the comments.

Yamaha DX7 Voice ROMs

Follow up to this post. I commented that I was curious to know what the others looked like, and DC, who has the complete collection, was kind enough to send in a shot of all of them. Thanks DC!

Update: SoundSets 107 and 108 below via Eric.

So that makes:
- VRC-101 Keyboard Plucked & Tuned Percussion Group
- VRC-102 Wind Instrument Group
- VRC-103 Sustain Group
- VRC-104 Percussion Group
- VRC-105 Sound Effect Group
- VRC-106 Synthesizer Group
- VRC-107 Special Selection "David Bristow"
- VRC-108 Special Selection "Larry Leuenberger"