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Transmitting 32 voices from the Master
to the Slave
For this discussion, we will assume the simple setup
shown with just two DX7 synthesizers. Basically, the
same procedure is used when playing more DX7s, or a
mixture of other DX synthesizers.
1. Load the 32 voices you wish to transmit into the Mas-
ter's internal memory
2. Set the Master synthesizer to MIDI channel 1 by
pressing [FUNCTION], then press [MIDI] (button 8)
until the display shows "FUNCTION CONTROL, MIDI
CH= ?", where the question mark may be any num-
ber from 1 to 16. If it's at 1, go on to the next step, if
not. Use the [-1] DATA ENTRY button to set the
instrument so the LCD displays "FUNCTION CON-
TROL, MIDI CH= 1."
3. Now press [MIDI] once more and the LCD will proba-
bly display "FUNCTION CONTROL, SYS INFO
UNAVAIL". This means that the synthesizer's MIDI sys-
tem communication on channel 1 is turned off. Press
the [ON] button, and the display will change to
"FUNCTION CONTROL, SYS INFO AVAIL". The Mas-
ter synthesizer is now set to transmit voice data.
4. Now set the Slave to receive on MIDI channel 1 by
repeating Steps 2 and 3 above on that instrument.
5. From now on, most changes of the Master's EDIT or
FUNCTION mode programming controls will affect
the Slave.
6. Press [MIDI] once more on the Master, and its LCD
will display "FUNCTION CONTROL, MIDI TRANS-
MIT?" to which you answer [YES]. In about a second,
the 32 voices will be transmitted to the next DX syn-
thesizer (the Slave). When the operation is over, the
Slave's LCD will display "FUNCTION CONTROL, MIDI
RECEIVED".
NOTE If the Slave is a DX9, only the first 20 voices
will be transmitted, and they will be truncated to the
closest sounding voice that can be achieved with 4
instead of 6 operators. Operators 3, 4, 5 and 6 are
transmitted to the DX9, but operators 1 and 2 are not.
This will affect some voices more than others. A simi-
lar translation will occur when moving voices from
DX9 to DX7.
If the Slave did not receive the voices, there are two
things to check. First, be sure its memory protection
was OFF. Second, be sure both synthesizers were set
to MIDI channel 1. (If one is not, you'll have to manu-
ally change it from the FUNCTION mode as described
in Step 2.)
Playing the Slave from the Master
1. Set the Master synthesizer to MIDI channel 1 by
pressing [FUNCTION], then press [MIDI] (button 8)
until the display shows "FUNCTION CONTROL, MIDI
CH = ?", where the question mark may be any num-
ber from 1 to 16. If it's at 1, go on to the next step; if
not, use the [-1] DATA ENTRY button to set the instru-
ment so the LCD displays "FUNCTION CONTROL,
MIDI CH=
1."
2. Now set the Slave to communicate on MIDI channel 1
by repeating Step 1 on that instrument. It is not nece-
sary
to
set
"SYS
INFO
AVAIL"
in order to play or
select
voices via MIDI; the "system information" need be
available only when you are transmitting voices or
parts thereof from one instrument to the other.
3. Press [MEMORY SELECT-INTERNAL] or [MEM-
ORY SELECT-CARTRIDGE] on the Master, and
do the same on the Slave, selecting whichever source
of 32 voices you wish to play on the particular instru-
ment. That's it. Now, any time you press a voice selec-
tor (buttons 1-32), both instruments will go to that
numbered voice memory Both will play and will
respond to modulation controls (if the FUNCTION
mode programming is appropriately set in each
instrument).
CAUTION With or without MIDI, a DX synthe-
siser's [DATA ENTRY] section continues to be
"live" after you exit the EDIT mode or the
FUNCTION mode by pressing one of the [M EM-
ORY SELECT] buttons (internal or cartridge).
This feature can, in some cases, be useful.
However, it can also cause problems when you
are using the MIDI system. For example, when
you set up the instruments to communicate via
MIDI, as they are now, the MIDI channel func-
tion may be the last FUNCTION mode opera-
tion you perform prior to entering PLAY mode.
If you then place the Master synthesizer in
EDIT mode to change its voice, the Slave
remains in PLAY mode. As soon as you press
the [YES] DATA ENTRY button on the Master
to change a voice parameter on that instru-
ment, the same [YES] command is sent, via
MIDI, to the Slave. On the Slave, however, that
command is interpreted to change from MIDI
channel 1 to channel 2. The instant this
occurs, there is no more MIDI communication
between the two synthesizers, so pressing [NO]
on the Master cannot return the Slave to the
proper channel. You may not find out about
this inadvertent change until you again try to
play the two instruments together. The only
way to get the Slave back on Channel 1 is to
manually press its [NO] button.
This same effect can cause problems in Master
Tune mode, since editing a voice parameter on
the Master would throw the Slave out of tune.
In order to prevent such Inadvertent channel
switching or FUNCTION modification on the
Slave, it is a good idea to select an inconse-
quential FUNCTION mode parameter before
entering the PLAY mode - [BATT CHECK] is a
good choice. Then the [DATA ENTRY] controls
will have no effect so you cannot accidentally
switch the Slave(s) to an inoperative channel.
NOTE You can use the
"live" [DATA
ENTRY]
con-
trols to advantage. For example, you miqht go into the
FUNCTION mode and select [PORTAMENTO
TIME. Then go back to the PLAY mode and you can
play both instruments and change the time it takes to
glide from one note to the next (assuming the porta-
mento effect is in use) through MIDI. This works with
multiple DX7s or with a DX7 MIDI connected to a
DX9. If you do not want the Slave voice to be modi-
fied when you alter the Master voice, select a FUNC-
TION mode parameter such as [BATT CHECK]
prior to selecting PLAY mode on the Slave.
Transmitting individual voices from the Master
to the Slave
You can transmit a voice to the Slave's internal or car-
tridge memory, provided you first turn OFF the corre-
sponding protection.
1. Make sure that both Synthesizers are set to communi-
cate on MIDI channel 1, as described in Steps 1 to 3
of the "Transmitting 32 voices..." instructions.
2. Turn OFF the memory protection on the Slave by
pressing the [MEMORY PROTECT] button corre-
sponding to the memory area you wish to use
(INTERNAL or CARTRIDGE), and then pressing the
[OFF] button. If you're using a cartridge, be sure to
turn OFF its hardware memory protect switch, too.
3. Select the voice on the Master that you want to trans-
mit by pressing [MEMORY SELECT-INTERNAL]
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