Your Very Own DX7

Alongside the cultural developments that provided an impetus for Detroit techno was the evolution of music technology, including the legendary DX7 synthesizer which found its way into just about everyone's music in the 1980's--Michael Jackson, Juan Atkins, Queen. Given the importance of the technology, I had a hunch that someone would try to emulate the sounds and interface of the DX7 into a VST. Turns out that not only does it exist, but it's free and sounds excellent! The VST is an open-source plug-in called Dexed, and is pretty fun to mess around with and create new sounds. For anyone interested in a more intuitive understanding on how to operate the DX7 and the plug-in, Chowning's FM Theory and Applications provides a host of example patches for the DX7 in a manner that systematically explores FM synthesis. I've found that translating Chowning's intended DX7 patches into Dexed parameters is fairly straightforward.