The Yamaha DX1 is the top-level member of Yamaha's prolific DX series of FM

Frequency modulation synthesis

A 220 Hz carrier tone modulated by a 440 Hz modulating tone with various choices of modulation index, β. The time domain signals are illustrated above, and the corresponding spectra are shown below ....

 synthesizers

Digital synthesizer

A digital synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses digital signal processing techniques to make musical sounds.Electronic keyboards make music through sound waves.-History:...

. It featured two sets of the same synthesizer chipset used in the DX7

Yamaha DX7

The Yamaha DX7 is an FM Digital Synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1986. It was the first commercially successful digital synthesizer. Its distinctive sound can be heard on many recordings, especially Pop music from the 1980s...

, allowing either double the polyphony or dual simultaneous instrument patches. In addition, it contained twice the amount of patch memory as the DX7. It included a handmade Brazilian rosewood case, a 73-key weighted wooden keyboard, comprehensive backlit LCD displays for instrument programming, and solid push-buttons as opposed to the membrane buttons on the DX7. There were only 140 of them ever made.
The Yamaha DX5 was a derivative of the DX1. It lacked the DX1's aesthetics and cross FM functions, but included 76 keys with channel aftertouch and slightly improved MIDI features.

Programming instruments on the DX1 is more advanced than a DX5 where on the DX7 the programming is less complex.

Notable users

• Brian Eno
  Brian Eno
  Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
  
  
• Depeche Mode
  Depeche Mode
  Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
  
  
• Dire Straits
  Dire Straits
  Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
  
   Money For Nothing
• Elton John
  Elton John
  Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
  
  
• Herbie Hancock
  Herbie Hancock
  Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
  
   on the Village Life LP (with Foday Musa Suso)
• Jan Hammer
  Jan Hammer
  Jan Hammer is a composer, pianist and keyboardist. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970s, as well as his film scores for television and film including "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", from the popular 1980s...
  
  
• Jean Michel Jarre
  Jean Michel Jarre
  Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
  
   used a DX1 on live concerts
• Kitaro
  Kitaro
  , better known as , is an award winning Japanese musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist who is regarded as one of the pioneers of new age music.-Early life:...
  
  
• Kraftwerk
  Kraftwerk
  Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
  
  
• Pet Shop Boys
  Pet Shop Boys
  Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
  
   as seen playing a DX1 in their videocliphttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD6-Q6PncWA
• Tangerine Dream
  Tangerine Dream
  Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
  
  
• The Beach Boys
  The Beach Boys
  The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
  
   on the album The Beach Boys (album)
  The Beach Boys (album)
  -Sources:* Keepin' the Summer Alive/The Beach Boys CD booklet notes, Andrew G. Doe, c.2000.* "The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and the Southern California Experience", Timothy White, c. 1994....
  
  
• John Dulik of Relâche (musical group)
  Relâche (musical group)
  Relâche is an American chamber ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the group was formed as a composer-performer collective by Joseph Franklin and Joseph Showalter in 1977 and was officially granted not-for-profit status in...
  
  
• Grzegorz Ciechowski
  Grzegorz Ciechowski
  Grzegorz Ciechowski was a Polish rock musician and film music composer.Ciechowski was the founder and frontman of the band Republika, which was one of Poland's most popular rock groups...
  
  

External links

• Yamaha DX1 Worldwide Information Center DX1 and DX5 info site, including owner's club and technical specs.
• Vintage Synth Explorer Site Information
• Sonic State Site User Reviews
• Yamaha DX5 page