Synther 7: when the Dragon keyboard became a piano
Synther 7 by Daniel M. Stevens came out in 1983. It turned the computer keyboard into the keyboard of an instrument, and you could change the sound while you played. Here is how to play.
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Type CLOADM and ENTER. After about a minute the program starts by itself and shows a drawing of a piano keyboard. Turn the sound up.
The note keys
The white keys are the row ↑ Q W E R T Y U I O P @ ← CLEAR. The black keys are the row above: 1 2 4 5 6 8 9 : - BREAK. U is middle C; ↑ is the same C an octave lower, and CLEAR an octave higher.
Pick an instrument
| G | Gamba |
|---|---|
| H | Hogfife |
| J | Ninni |
| K | Krumphorn |
| L | Lute, the standard sound |
Each of them also resets the sound to something familiar. If the sound goes strange, press L.
Shape the sound
The coloured bars at the bottom left show the settings.
| A / Z | Attack: harder / softer start |
|---|---|
| S / X | Sustain: longer / shorter |
| D / C | Decay: slow (organ-like) / fast |
| F | Felt damping, 6 steps |
| B / N | "Boing" at the start of the note: more / less |
| M | Louder |
| ENTER / ↓ | Whole keyboard higher / lower |
| < / > | While a note plays: bend it |
| Space | While a note plays: vibrato |
| ; | Stops a note that keeps sounding |
Something to try first
Press U a few times and hear the lute. Press K, then U again: now it is a horn. Press D a few times and play Q W E R T: it sounds like an organ. Finally play a note and hold >: the sound bends like a space film.
This guide is in our own words, for Dragon owners who have the original program. We do not host the program or its original manual. We tried every step on an emulated machine with the same chips.
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