Patch, Lies and Data Tapes

If you were to load the DX9 Voice Data Tape 1 into a DX9 and then flick through the patches, you would possibly notice something a bit odd. It would become apparent that the names of the patches on the inlay card (and for that matter the performance notes) often bear no relation at all to the sounds generated. These misnamed patches can't simply be attributed to opinion or artistic license, as they are quite striking. A sound described as "Train Whistle" is really a piano/string combo, a synth lead is really a laser sound effect, a horn and string sound is really tubular bells.

Of the 120 patches on Voice Data Type 1, 69 are named incorrectly. It is hard to find any mention of this, and equally hard to find mention of the existence of Voice Data Tape 2. With which, Yamaha fixed the problem.

Yamaha's DX9 Voice Data Tape 2 begins with a set of 120 patches that are basically identical to those of Data Tape 1. However there are 2 differences. The first is that set 5 and set 6 are swapped, there seems to be no real reason for this but they are. The second and more interesting difference is that for the exact same patch data - the names are different and more importantly correct. Tape 2 is available from the downloads page in both SYSEX and audio format (Note: I've updated the audio FLAC after Martin Tarenskeen of DXConvert and Reface DX Legacy Project fame noticed it was missing some data sets)

Below is the list of 120 patch names from the inlay cards of both Data Tape 1 & 2.

DX9 Voice Data Tape 1

List of patch names from inlay card, incorrectly named patches highlighted in bold

	[I] Master Group	[II] Keyboard	[III] Orchestral	[IV] Percussive & Plucked	[V] Synth	[VI] Complex & Effects
01	Brass 1	Piano 2	*Piccolo*	Glockenspiel	*Synth Lead 2*	*Horns & Strings*
02	Brass 2	Piano 3	Oboe	*Cowbell*	*Synth Lead 3*	*Marimba & Strings*
03	Synth Brass 1	Piano 4	*Clarinet*	Steel Drums	*Synth Lead 4*	*Harpsichord & Strings*
04	Strings 1	Electric Piano 2	*Saxophone (BC1)*	Tubular Bells	*Synth Lead 5*	*Glockenspiel & Strings*
05	Strings 2	Electric Piano 3	*Bassoon*	Marimba	*Synth Lead 6*	*Brass & Glockenspiel*
06	Piano 1	Electric Piano 4	*Strings 3*	*Xylophone*	*Synth Clav 1*	*Brass & Block*
07	Electric Piano 1	Electric Piano 5	Strings 4	*Gong*	*Synth Clav 2*	*Piano & Voice*
08	Guitar 1	Celeste	Strings 5	*Bells*	*Synth Piano*	*Piano & Brass (BC1)*
09	Synth Lead 1	Toy Piano	Strings 6	*Block*	*Synth Brass 1*	*Harp & Flute*
10	Bass 1	Clav 2	Strings 7	*Flexatone*	*Synth Brass 2*	Celeste & Echo
11	Electronic Organ 1	Harpsichord 2	Strings 8	Sitar	*Synth Brass 3*	*Police Whistle*
12	Pipe Organ 1	Harpsichord 3	Strings 9	Koto	*Synth Brass 4*	*Train Whistle*
13	Harpsichord 1	*Electronic Organ 2*	Strings 10	*Guitar 2*	*Synth Brass 5*	*Train*
14	Clav 1	*Electronic Organ 3*	*Brass 3*	*Guitar 3*	*Synth Brass 6*	*Space war & lasers*
15	Vibe	*Electronic Organ 4*	*Brass 4*	*Guitar 4*	*Synth Organ*	*Evolution*
16	Flute	*Pipe Organ 2*	Brass 5	*Harp*	*Synth Orchestra*	*Octave War*
17	Strings & Bells	*Pipe Organ 3*	Brass 6 (BC1)	*Banjo*	*Tubular Explosion*	*Wart Hog*
18	Laser Gun	*Pipe Organ 4*	Brass 7 (BC 1)	*Lute*	*Synth Bells*	*Earthquake*
19	Human Voice	*Caliope*	*Synth Brass 2*	*Bass 2*	*Sample & Hold*	*Space Bird*
20	Timpani	Accordion	*Harmonica*	*Bass 3*	*Synth Log Drum*	*Data Transfer Noise*

DX9 Voice Data Tape 2

First 120 patch names, this is the same data as Tape 1 (other than V & VI being switched)

	[I] Master Group	[II] Keyboard	[III] Orchestral	[IV] Percussive & Plucked	[V] Complex	[VI] Synth & Effects
01	Brass 1	Accoustic Piano 2	Clarinet	Glockenspiel	Tub Bells & Expansion	Laser Gun 2
02	Brass 2	Accoustic Piano 3	Oboe	A Go Go Bells	Guitar & Feedback 1	Police Whistle
03	Synth Brass 1	Honky Tonk Piano	Bassoon	Steel Drums	Guitar & Feedback 2	Old 99 (W whistle)
04	Strings 1	Electric Piano 2	Piccolo	Tubular Bells	Full Orchestra 1	Whistle (W train)
05	Strings 2	Electric Piano 3	Saxophone (BC 1)	Marimba	Full Orchestra 2	Space War & Lasers
06	Accoustic Piano 1	Electric Piano 4	Harmonica	Gong	Marimba & Strings 1	Evolution
07	Electric Piano 1	Electric Piano 5	Cellos 1	Bells	Marimba & Strings 2	Octave War
08	Guitar 1	Celestial	Cellos 2	Block	Harpsichord & Strings	Wart Hog
09	Synth Lead 1	Toy Piano	Cellos 3	Flexatone	Brass & Chimes	Earthquake
10	Bass 1	Clav 2 (Nasal)	Violin 1	Cowbell	Celeste & Echo Organ	Space Bird
11	Electronic Organ 1	Harpsichord 2	Violin 2	Sitar	Celeste & Ghost	Synth Organ
12	Pipe Organ 1	Harpsichord 3	Violin 3	Koto	Piano & Strings 1	Synth Clav
13	Harpsichord 1	Pipe Organ 2	Slow attack ensemble	Bass 2	Piano & Strings 2	Synth Bass Clav
14	Clav 1	Pipe Organ 3	Pizzicato Strings	Bass 3	Piano & Brass (BC 1)	Synth Guitar Lead
15	Vibe	Little Pipes	Synth Brass 2	Guitar 2	Harp & Flute	Synth Bells
16	Flute	Caliope	Brass Choir	Guitar 3	Koto & Flute	Synth Log Drums
17	Strings & Bells	Electronic Organ 2	Trombone	Lute	Brass & Blocks	Synth Brass 3
18	Laser Gun 1	Electronic Organ 3	Brass dbl Octave	Harp	Brass & Sam Hold	Synth Brass 4
19	Human Voice	60's Organ	Brass (BC 1)	Banjo	Pipes & Glock	Tubular Eruption
20	Timpani	Accordion	Horns (BC 1)	Xylophone	Recorder & Strings	Data Transfer

Data Tape 2 - Supplementary Voice Library

The additional 300 patches

In addition to the 120 patches from Data Tape 1, Data Tape 2 contains another 300 patches collected into 15 different groups, called "Supplementary Voices". To be honest, a fair number of the patches within each of these groups are really just "slight variations on a theme", but they are still a solid enough set of additional patches for your DX9.

So, listed here are the additional 15 groups on Data Tape 2, it should be noted that Yamaha never produced names for the individual patches within these "Supplementary Groups"

Group Names
1. Electro Acoustic Pianos	2. Electric Piano	3. Clav & Harpsichords	4. Organs & Organs with Brass
5. Accordions	6. Music Box & Bells	7. Brass	8. Strings
9. Misc, Plucked Sounds	10. Acoustic Sounds	11. Lead Sounds	12. Synth Sounds
13. Square Waves & Vocals	14; Complex EGs	15. Sound Effects