Dexed: A Fun, Free Synth

Dexed is a wonderful little synth. It’s completely open source and free to download, and is a great tool for digging deep in FM synthesis. I highly recommend trying it out!

FM synthesis, or Frequency Modulation Synthesis, was ubiquitous in the ‘80s due to the popularity of the Yamaha DX7 synth. I’ve been wanting to get my hands on one for a long time, but I don’t have room for another synth. I actually have a DX100, but it’s difficult to use. So Dexed is a great alternative. You can see all the knobs and hear exactly what happens when you move them. A long time ago, I downloaded a pack of sounds called “Synprez”. I just cycle through the sounds until I find the general vibe I’m going for and tweak until I’m satisfied.

This week is a little Vangelis inspired piece. I used Dexed for all the synths and a Volca Beats for the drums. A lot of people don’t love the Volca Beats and I completely understand why. The snare is crap and it has an incredibly small sound pallette, but I didn’t know that when I bought it. I picked it up on a whim at Main Drag during a trip to New York City. (Do your research before you buy some gear.) An upside of the drum machine is that it’s incredibly quick to get a beat going. The delay is cool too!

If you’d like to keep up with this project, subscribe for email updates. I send the updates occasionally, but not enough to overwhelm your inbox! If you’d like a list of all the songs I’ve written so far, here’s a link!