Ensoniq Corporation Transoniq Hacker Archive Issue #077 077

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P r o g r a m m i n g t h e S Q - 1 : Ta m i n g

Hacker
The Independent News

Magazine for Ensoniq Users

In this issue

Tr a n s w a v e s
Articles:

Clark Salisbury
The SQ-1: Taming Transwaves
Clark
Salisbury
moves through its stages, its harmonics in
teract in complex ways, producing an
ever-changing timbre.
The transwaves differ from the other waves

contained within the SQ in that they are not

Welcome back! Well, I guess it wasn't real
ly you that were gone for the last two
months, it was me. Been a busy little beaver
out here in the great Pacific Northwest.

Busy, busy, busy. That's me, all right.
So. Where were we, now? Ah yes — we've
looked at a lot of stuff in the old SQ. We've
checked out the waves, LFO's, envelopes,
filters, amplifiers, envelopes — covered a
lot of ground. So far it's been pretty much
your standard synthesizer stuff, though.
Now it's about time to start getting into the
interesting stuff that makes the SQ unique.

really just a single looped wave, but rather a
series of different, but closely related,
waves in which the loop can be freely
moved through the wave. The effect is that
the wave sounds different depending on
where the loop is placed. If it happens to be

VFX-sd/SD-1 Tips
Jeffrey
Fisher

15

VFX-sd & SD-1 Sequencer File Formats
Gary

Giebler

16

Reverberating Around on the ESQ-1
Kirk

Siinkard

18

Reviews:

placed in an area of the wave that contains a
lot of high frequency information, the wave
will soimd bright. If the loop is placed in an

Scott

Signature Series — EPSs

area of the wave that does not contain as

Basement Tapes: Greaser/Nurminen

much high frequency information, the wave

Daniel

Leonard

7

Mandel

9

will sound darker. And if it's moved from
one location to the other while the wave is

playing, it will go from bright to dark, or

vice-versa. For example, if we were to digi
tally sample the word "dayo" we could loop

the entire word to produce "dayodayo-

Ensoniq's SC-3 — SQ-1 & SQ-2
Jeffrey
Rhoads

11

Music Labs Sequences — EPSs
Bryce
Inman

12

dayo..." If we use brackets to indicate the
loop, we could show the same thing in this
way: [dayo].

The EPS Sampling Book

Transwaves are an Ensoniq innovation, and
are a response to a problem that has sur

Suppose then we loop just the "a": d[a]yo.
The resulting sound would be "daaaaaa..."
Or if we looped just the "o" (day[o]), we'd

Regular Stuff:

faced with the advent of digital synthesizers

get "dayoooooo..."

Hypersoniq
Ensoniq
To u r
Hackerpatches

We begin this month by looking at the

Cover

Michael

Schmltt

14

Transwaves.

that rely primarily on wavetables for their

raw data — namely that sounds created by

Now let's say that we can control the start

playing back digital wavetables can seem

point of the sample. We could indicate the
start point using the symbol in this

rather static. One of the things that makes
acoustic instruments so pleasing is that the
waveform produced by acoustic instruments

is evolutionary — generally, acoustic waves
are constantly changing — as the sound

ISSUE NUMBER 77, $2.50

case, setting the start point to the begirming

of our sample could be shown in this way:
>dayo. We could then produce sounds such

as "ayoooo...," (d>ay[o]), "ayyyy...,"

Random

Notes

Dates

3

3
21

S a m M i m s & J e ff r e y R h o a d s 2 2
C l a s s i fi e d s
The

Hacker

Booteeq

Current

Hard

25
26

Interface
O.S

Drives

31
31

List

31

NOVEMBER, 1991

Head over to the LFO menu (hit "LFO"). First, let's slow the LFO
rate down a bit. Hit the "0" button, and change LFO rate from its
cunent value of "29" to something like "20." Hit the "1" button to
move to the next page. From here let's set LFO level to, say, "65,"
and "Dlay" (delay) to "GO." It should become obvious by now that
the LFO is modulating not only the transwave start index, but the

(d>a[y]o), "yoooo...," (da>y[o]), and so on. And finally, if we
could move the loop while the sound was playing, we could

produce things like "dayooyadayooyad...," (>[d]ayo), and
"ayyaayyaayyaay...," (d>[a]yo) by moving the loop back and forth,
or things like "dddaaayyyooo,"(>[d]ayo), and "yyyyyaaaaa...,"

(d>[a]yo), by moving the loop slowly in one direction or the other.

pitch of the wave as well. Let's do away with the pitch mod for
This is much like what happens with the transwaves. Instead of

now — hit the "Pitch" button, then button "1." Set the "LFO="

using the collection of sounds that make up the word "dayo,"
though, each transwave is actually a collection of many similar
waves that have been linked together. If you listen to a loop of any
one of these individual waves, the resulting sound is somewhat
static. But move the loop through the transwave, and the various
waves it contains blend one into the next in much the same way
that individual frames in a movie blend together to form a moving

parameter to "+00" (it should currently be showing a value of
"+04"). This will eliminate the rather seasick-sounding vibrato.
Now head back to the LFO menu (hit the "LFO" button), and let's

try some different LFO waveshapes. Press the "2" button to move
to the LFO wave page — the wave used happens to be the trusty
"Triangle" wave. As it so happens, the triangle wave is probably
not really the best choice for a modulator in this application, since
it has both positive and negative movement. You see, we've set the
start index of the transwave to "00," the lowest possible number.
When the triangle wave moves in a positive direction, of course, it
moves the start index of the transwave higher, resulting in the

image.
So how is the loop moved through the transwave? Well, it can be
manually set to any point in the transwave using the "start index"
parameter. This not only sets the transwave to start playing from
the point selected, but also places the loop at that point. In other
words, setting the "start index" for the word "dayo" to "a,"
(d[a]yo), will produce the sound "aaaa..." But to actually move the
loop through the transwave, we'll need to apply a modulator, such
as an LFO or envelope. Let's try it out.

sweeping effect you should be hearing. When it moves in a nega
tive direction, however, the transwave seems to stop sweeping.
This is because the transwave can't be modulated any lower than
"00," even though the triangle wave produced by the LFO is
moving in that direction. So a better choice for the LFO wave
would probably be either of the positive-only waves, the

Start by selecting ROM program 04, 'Today's Organ." First, let's
set the effect to something more-or-less generic — perhaps the
"Concert Reverb" would be a good choice. Hit "Edit," then "Ef
fect," then the "0" button, and use the data slider or "Yes/No" but
tons to change the effect from "Phaser+Reverb" to "Concert
REVERB." Now we need to select voicel for editing. Hit the

"POS-SINE" or the "POS-TRI" — either of these waves will

"Wave" and then the "0" button to move to the "SelectVOICE"

At this point, you might want to listen to some of the other
transwaves, to get a feel for how each of them sounds when being
modulated in this way. Head back over to the "Wave" menu and
hit the "1" button. From here you can easily select the wave (in
this case the "Formant-X" wave), and use the up/down buttons to

modulate the transwave start index with positive numbers only.
Give each of them a listen — they produce subtly different effects.
To my ear, the "POS-SINE" produces the smoothest sweep, so
l e t ' s u s e t h i s w a v e f o r n o w.

page. Solo voicel by selecting it and hitting the "Up/Yes" button
— the display should be showing something like this:
"SelectVOICE:ONE
SOLO

OFF

O F F. "

step through the other available transwaves. Once you've finished,
set the wave to "Pulse 1-X." We're going to use this wave to
re-create a popular analog synthesizer string sound based on "pulse

Now hit button "1" to move to the "Wave" page. Select "WAVE
FORM" and hit "Up/Yes" twice to select the "TRANSWAVE"

width modulation."

waveclass. The display should now be showing
Back in the good old days, any analog synthesizer worth its salt in
cluded at least one pulse wave with a modulatable duty-cycle. A

" Wa v e = T R A N S WAV E
FORMANT-X."

Pulse Waves

Hit the "3" button — this takes us to the page wh«e we can set the

start index and mod source and dqrth for tliis|i!^etdar transwave.
S e l e c t t h e " S t a r t I n d e x " p a r a m e t e r, a n d s l i d e r w h i l e

-TLTLTL

playing something on the keyboard. As ywi^Kove die data slider
up, you'll hear the sound get thinner. Note that you can leave this
parameter set to any value you like, and use the resulting wave in

whatever sound you're trying to create. The really interesting stuff,

50^ Duty cycle

though, occurs when you dynamically modulate the start index (ac
tually, you'll be modulating both the start point and the loop loca

_I1_ILJ1_

tion) with an LFO, envelope, or other modulator. Let's try using an
LFO to hear an example of this.

10^ Duty cycle

First, set the "Start Index" back to "00."Now srt^'Mod=" to "LFO

* + 9 9 " — y o u s h o u l d a l r e a d y b e a ff e r. t o f L F O

modulation on the start index, liiinil'iiiiwsitions> (SQ02)

• R&B/Top ^—
i The hp
i p^t sounds of the ariwaves—and some youv'e never

heard—pulsate from this critically-acclaimed collection! Contains 80 programs

featuring classic R&B analog synths, hrass, percussion and strings; ultra-modem
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Ensoniq WFX/UFX»™'rt«fl/ „M

Dsik: S48.97 (teg. W.95) 2§%0nr

• Samplers & Synthesizers—Tltese sounds range from popular digital and analog
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to motion picture souridtrack type textures. Many new sounds and pedal FX not
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nature of the names, made working with this collection quite pleasant. Indeed,

many of the sounds brn
i g forth memore
i s ofn
i struments vI'e known ando
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—Electronic Musidan, July 1990 (VI01)
FORMATS: Voice Card • Macintosh • IBM/MS-DOS • Atari ST • Aiesis Data Disk

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SOURCE

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(818)879-0093 FAX (818) 879-0727
2985 E. Hilcrest Dr., Suite A
Westlake Vilage, CA 91362

DEALER mUlRIES INVITED!

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H A C K E R B A S E M E N T TA P E S

Dan's Eospital Phgsician
O r e a s e r / N u r m i n e n
Daniel Mandel

some of my music heard by someone other than myself. I have
been playing around with keyboards since about 1987. Before
this time, I was a DJ (private parties, school dances and such),
which by the way, was what got me interested in creating my
own music. Anyway, I decided to go out and buy my first key
board, a Casio SK-200, and began to write my own music.
Then I acquired a Tascam Porta 05 which improved my ability
to get my ideas across, but I was running out of sounds. I

Group: Greaser
Contact Info: Jim Greaser, 216 Walnut St., Roversford, PA 19468.
Group: Nurminen

Contact Info: Paul Nurminen, 304 West Oak Ave., El Sequndo, CA 90245.

Equipment Used:
Greaser

Nurminen

E P S

EPS w/2x expander

Alesis Quadraverb

Alesis HR-16

bought another keyboard, a Yamaha PSS-680. Then along
came the Alesis HR-16.1 loved it, except for the fact that my
synths were missing something...POWER! Well, I finally settled

Tascam Porta One

Ya m a h a P S S - 6 8 0

on the Ensoniq EPS.

Gibson SG

Tascam Porta 05

Yamaha 12 string
Cry Baby Wah

"Cheesy" Realistic Mixer

MXR Distortion

"After reading the manuals about 500 times, I really got into
my new toy! The ideas just kept coming, and I just couldn't be
stopped. Later, however, I realized that I had all these tapes of
ideas and songs and sounds, yet no one to hear them.

Teac V-570 Mastering deck
Casio SK-200 (in the closet)

For this article I've been listening to two different tapes by two
different groups that I've put into the same category. It's not a

"I guess I should tell you where I'm going with all of this. I
hope to be able to make a comfortable living off this hobby of

category like Rock or Pop. It's not a musical category at all.
It's a situational category.

mine, but right now I just don't have the time or $$$ to aggres
sively pursue it."

The situation is that of the musical hobbyist. Maybe they've
had a taste of professionalism. Maybe they are on the verge of
a record deal. The following are some of the comments they

Now to the music!

wrote in to explain their situations:

Jim Greaser's tape, VARIOUS SELECTIONS and MORE,
starts off with a song with a good rhythmic base. Very danceable with a moving keyboard part. The lead voice is well
played and fits in almost every way, BUT — it is one of those
sax patches that just doesn't do it for me. I know it's a sax
patch, a fairly good one. But I know it's not a sax playing. This
sax/non-sax lead is followed by a rhythm break and then enters

Jim Greaser: "This tape has about 40 minutes of tunes, all of
which were primarily composed on the EPS. I don't sing, I'm
not a lyricist, so they're all basically instrumentals. The intent

I'm not sure of except that I'm basically a top ten type of guy.
You know, 3-4 minute song with an intro, verse, chorus, and
out. I can picture some of the tunes as backing for movies, com
mercials, and, with a good lyricist, a potential sing song.

the WAH. Very exciting guitar work! This takes the song

"Tm your basic "former musician" who played six years

somewhere. It's a little musical escape and then a return to the
theme. At the end of the piece Jim uses a piano sound layered
with a string sound that compliment each other perfectly.

professionally, ended up with a day job and still went back to
buying the latest equipment and sat at home at night to air out

The next song was slower, more moody. This time the sax/no

my head. Thus I must have about a hundred tunes in all in

sax lead came off as a bit more realistic. The notes were held

various finished and unfinished conditions.

out longer. I think I personally would have put a wetter reverb
on the sax/no sax. There is one passage, however, where Jim

"My equipment list is short (Note: after his equipment list he
writes, "This is all I can afford!") / basically compose on the

played a very un-sax like phrase. There is a nice shimmeryness

EPS and dump down to a Tascam Porta One 4-track on two
tracks. Then I throw a lead on top or use the other two tracks
to record guitar (my real instrument). The EPS made me a

Jim has definitely listened to a lot of top 40. His rhythms are all

keyboardist. That's about it."

to its elements, or highlight and emphasize the most interesting

to this softg; the way the cymbals were used.

very danceable. He knows how to set up a groove and reduce it
parts. Overall he has captured a very full sound using brass

Paul Nurminen: "I am very thankful for this opportunity to get

strings, a variety of keyboard sounds. He plays a fine rhythm
9

and lead guitar. The mixes are all well done. Each voice is

long intro for what follows. A horn/sax patch that plays the

where it should be, and even though you might expect that Jim
would pump up his leads over the rest, he didn't.

first hook I've heard so far. Then our buddy the cricket starts to

One of the songs begins with a very swooping intro. This was a
very exciting intro element to use, but the problem was in the
sample itself. I could hear where it looped — and having never
owned an EPS I'm not sure how easy it is to rework your

what Paul did on this last piece was the most interesting work
on the tape.

perform a sort of scratch/scale to his heart's content. This is
followed by some vocal snatches from Depeche Mode. To me,

Overall as I listen to Paul's tape I get the feeling that these are
the backing tracks for... something. I am not left humming any

samples, but it would be worth the effort.

hooks or any melodies. I am definitely not of the opinion that

In summary, for Jim's tape I would have to give a thumb's
down to the sax lead. His playing is fine, his phrasing is great.
If he picked a patch that was more listenable I would have en

everyone should write a hook that any yuppie can learn in three
minutes, however a "hook" is a tool that draws the listeners' in
terest.

joyed this tape a lot more. I would also say more, more, more
guitar! I think that Jim's guitar — his real instrument — is
what puts Jim's signature on these times. They really make this
collection tasty. But the guitar leads are too few. Show off!!
Let me hear your guitar instead of the sax/no sax sound.

I am fairly certain that most of us out there (yeah, me too) are
hobbyists on one level or another. I would encourage these
guys to keep it up. If you aren't a vocalist, find someone who
is. For those of us with the luxury to have a home studio, we
should exploit it to its fullest and keep on recording as much
and as often as we can. I just hope that
this kind of feedback is helpful for

Paul's tape had four songs on it. And overall it had a more
analog approach. Maybe it is Paul's history with some of the
earlier pre-MIDI keyboards that influenced his sound choices.
The first song has a synth-bass patch playing opposite a
bell-like keyboard patch. The drums (I'm guessing from the
Alesis) are fairly dry. After the song begins, there's not much
change. Instruments drop out and a string part adds in, but for
the most part there is not a lot altered to capture one's interest.

your next project! ■■

Bio: Daniel Mandel is a songwriter,
sound designer, and has sold pro
audio and keyboard equipment and
produced demo tapes for local bands.

The second song has another analog type patch that sets up the
chord progression. The drums sound dry and processed, which
give this song a very tight dimension. What helps to spread it
out is the string leads which are also synthy. There is some sort
of ominous pulsing sound in the background which also adds
character to this piece. Overall the sounds are thin. There is
some interesting stereo placement and movement. Here when
the main instruments drop out and all we are left with is the ini
tial keyboard sound, the break is effective and refreshing. As an

O.K., O.K....You Talked Us Into It!
We've been happily specializing In the EPS
series for 2-1 /2 years now. But you weren't
happy with that. You kept calling us about
this VFX-SD and SD-1 stuff.

outro Paul chooses the string leads which stand out in contrast

So

against the other sounds and the return of the ominous pulsing
sound for a very strong, classical feel.

We finally gave in. We got an SD-1 and we're busily
converting our performance sequences to both the

The third song begins with an airy vocal patch and, this time, a

SD-1 and VFX-SD formats. AND YOU WERE RIGHTI

"rap" approach to the dmm sounds. All of these tend to be very
sequency. I can almost divide up the sequences into parts and
talk about them separately. The vocal patch that is used is
fuller. This song sounds bigger than the previous two. There is
not a lot of movement in the base voice, however it is very
thick and helps to add to the sound. In the middle of the song,
brass is added. This is definitely the kick that this song needed!
The sections, or sequences here, are pretty long.

The "SD 's sound GREAT! [But we still love the EPS]
AUDITION US!

206-536-8637 features an EPS AND an SD-1 playing a
variety of sequences. Leave your address at the beep
and we'll send you the full story on Music Labs products
505 Broadway Suite 211

The last song is very different. Paul describes it as "entirely
made up of Depeche Mode samples." There is a heartbeat of a
bass drum. There is a cricketoid percussion popping in every
once in a while. The bass patch bubbles up from the bottom,

Tacoma, Washington 98402
206-272-7352

Fax 206-627-5429
Visa and Master Card Accepted

very wet. Somewhere in there is a backward patch that shoops
into itself. As the song progresses there is a metallic pipe sound
that accompanies a crashing boom. All of which seems a rather

ENSONIQ, EPS, SD-1 and VFX-SD are trademarks of ENSONIQ Corp

10

Review:

Ensoniq's SC-3 Soundcard

Jeffrey Rhoads

The second bank is the obligatory Vox Vocal bank. It seems
that now every card has to have one, so there is really nothing

For: SQ-1.SQ-1+, SQ-2.
Product: SC-3 Soundcard.

very earth-shattering here. Maybe it's time to resist the tempta

Price: S99.95.

tion to include more than one or two of these behemoths in a

From: Ensoniq Corp., 155 Great Valley Parkway, Malvern, PA 19355.

collection. These "voxes" would seem, now, to function better
as a small part in a non-vocal idea.

Accessories Order Line (800) 553-5151 or your local Ensoniq dealer.

The next 3 banks represent brass, saxophones (and harmonicas)
and woodwinds respectively. There are a couple of very good
stabs in each section. "Large Brass," a punchy electro-brass

When you decide to purchase a ROM Card for your synth, what
characteristics should that library have? If you play many
clubs, affairs and concerts the card should probably house an
assortment of reasonable emulations; "copycats," if you will
(strings, keyboards, pads, lead sounds and the like.) This may
be particularly important if you're playing club dates or private

stab with more than enough attack, will fill out most any blues

arrangement in need of back-up. "Muted Trumpet," is the best
representation of same you're likely to hear from any Ensoniq
synthesizer. It is likely to become a classic for the SQ. Miles
On A Foggy Day. (Yes, this sound is reminiscent of the T1
Muted Trumpet we hear Michael Wolff beat into submission

affairs that call for cover tunes.

There are those of of us, though, who prefer to avoid the joys
of club dates and weddings, provided we can afford to. We in
stead pursue session work, teaching, composing, soundtrack
work and the like. Often, we're looking for bold, different even

every-other Arsenio Hall show.)
"Cajun Saxes," provides a very effective sax section. Although
this patch sounds good all by itself, it really hits the mark when
MED led up to even a less than perfect brass sound. (I used "Big

odd tones in the mix.

City Brass" on the Proteus 1.) "Blues Harp" is a good try but,
alas, not quite so effective. It just sounds too contrived. The at
tempt here is directed towards that "Harp-in-the-Bullet-to-aFender Twin" feel. But even good harp players (with real har

The problem is that ROM Cards have become very specific;
this is your basic "Rock Card," behold the "Jazz Card," feast
your ears on this "Scary Textures Card" and so forth. Yes, it's
nice to have a choice, but after spending more than a few francs

monicas) sometimes have trouble with that one. Thanks for
trying, though.

on the animal, who can afford to feed it all that? What if we

play out and compose? (NO, the dog's NOT for sale.)
Ensoniq seeks to answer our questions with its new ROM in
stallment for the SQ series, the SC-3. This card has a split per

The next bank is devoted entirely to Woodwinds. Yes, there's a
nice collection here, but you may question (as did I) the need
for more than one flute or "wood group."

sonality. Side A has neatly organized banks of Everything
You'll Need On The Gig. Side B tempts our darker and more

Banks 5 and 6 are set aside for keys and guitar. "Hammond-

inquisitive side with moody bursts and sounds Mother Told Us

ish," embodies the slow rotor, now-it's-far-now-it's-close ef

Never To Use. So how does the SC-3 sound?

fect we want from a Leslie and it comes complete with keyclick. And although it is tagged "Classic Guitar" it lilts thru the

The first bank on Side A contains a fairly predictable and very

jazzy "My Romance" with greater ease than does its sister

competent group of strings. The string pads are full and drip

patch, "Jazz Guitar." These banks, again, contain other good,
facsimile sounds. However, as is the case with other ROMs
I've used, two full banks of this kind of material seems to be

ping in reverb. "Really Strings," is a mildly muted pad with a
fast velocity and attack. It's probably best suited for passages
that require a quick unison string run. The mod wheel adjusts

somewhat of a stretch.

the brightness while timbre(!) controls reverb. It would be un

fair not to mention that the elusive timbre controller is imple
mented in practically every patch on this card. Those mods

Side A's final bank finishes strong in the Bass and Drum

department. "Electric Bass" is just that, simple, electric and
clean. It should do quite nicely as a staple-studio low end. And

assigned to timbre are (cleverly) secondary to the more perfor
mance- oriented changes given to the mod wheel. With a secon
Bravo.

"8 String Bass" is a full bodied 2 octaves above the root sound
that will bring more life to Funk and Fusion Grooves. The
"Drums" on this card are ENTIRE KITS. This is great for those

If you like the strains of John-Luc Ponty or Michael Urbaniak,

players who sequence a lot and can never seem find enough
variety in drum sounds.

"Fusion Violin" may do them justice. It sounds better than
some other solo strings in the bank because it is unabashedly

Rather than look at Side B bank by bank, we're probably best

electric with plenty of flange.

served by looking at a few highlights. Given the more "eso-

dary controller, each sound is afforded more color and motion.

11

teric" appeal of most of this side, these sounds aren't subject to
tight organization, although, the last bank is reserved for Splits.

composer who doesn't want to be bothered with finding bass
sounds or even assigning MIDI channels. They're also very

Generally speaking, this second side of the SC-3 does what it's
supposed to do; stir the creative spirit.

handy in some live performance situations.

"Alienn Pad," uses the Inharmonic Cluster Loop as its pad
waveform, while "Alien" is brought to life with a Synth Pluck.
"Alieim Pad" is cold and spooky and could easily act as a sub
stitute for "normal" pads. The "alien" can be controlled with
timbre. "Electraglide" is striking as a demonstrator for the
multi-wave. (And it's key mapped in Drum Mode.) Also try

The SC-3 was programmed by Andrew Schlesinger and the
Hacker's own Clark Salisbury. Clark's been the Hacker's resi
dent answerman for a while now and he's been writing an ex

cellent "how-to" series for the SQ-1. His expertise with the SQ
is well served by many of the stronger moments on the SC-3.
The only caveat I have with the SC-3 is not with the design of
the individual sotmds. Rather, I wonder why certain sounds are
so similar to one another and why some banks contain the
sounds they do. This is particularly true for side A. I wonder
about the need for the sheer number of woodwinds and guitars,
for example. Some will see what I view as a slight overkill on
Side A as simply a way to cover multiple bases, a device to

"Slow Wave" for a new twist on "Dark Shadows."

"Oscar's Trashcan" provides an answer for those of us asking
"Why can't I find a dirty percussioninstrument?" Comprised of
rack bell and cowbell waves, it can be inserted in Latin rhythms
instead of timbales.

allow the musician to program rather than tweak. Ensoniq

The most interesting effect patch on this card is "Fly-By" be
cause that's precisely what it does. It begins with a phasey
whoosh generated by the noise loop. Then the transwave Airforce divebombs overhead with startling accuracy. The planes

might have considered, though, letting the more interesting side

seem to come from a distance when reversing the mod wheel.

experimental, yet with many practical uses. And the use of
timbre as a controller earns points of praise. So, whether you're
timing 40 minute sets or chasing SMPTE, this card may suit

B of the SC-3 bleed into side A.

The SC-3's a worthwhile investment. Side B is a lotsa fun and

"India" works because it sounds like its title; experiment with
diminished scales while holding a low 5th. This soimd will also
double as a string pad.

your needs, h

Side B finishes with a very tasty set of splits. "Clav + SynBass," "Synth + Bass" and "Vibes + Bass" are fresh, clean al
ternatives to the usual Pianos + Bass. These splits work for the

And thanks go to Kip of Medley Music in Bryn Mawr, PA for
his special assistance.

Review: Music Labs Sequences
Bryce Inman

About the instruments...

For: EPS family (also available for the VFX-SD and the SD-1 — not
reviewed here.)
Product: Sequences.

To e l i m i n a t e t h e n e e d t o l o a d i n s t r u m e n t s i n t h e m i d d l e o f a

Price: $15 per song (buy 6 and get the 7th free).
From: Music Labs, 505 Broadway, Suite 211, Tacoma, Washington

performance, they design all of their sequences around the
same group of instruments. When you purchase your first se

98402. phone: 206-272-7352.

quences from them. Music Labs includes their "Setup Disk"
which contains all of the sounds you'll need for all their se
quences. The sounds are saved as a bank, so it only takes the
press of a couple of buttons to load everything. When the Bank
is loaded, your EPS will look something like this: Instrument 1

Why do I need Music Labs?

is left empty for moving things aroimd or adding an extra sound

So, there you are — you just got your first big break. You've
signed a contract to do a week of gigs at the local Hop-til-UDrop club, when it hits you — you don't have an act!!! Don't
panic...Music Labs may be the solution to your problem.

of your own. Instrument 2 has a piano (the patch buttons bring
up an organ or an electric piano). Instrument 3 contains four

synth pads. Instrument 4 is strings. Instrument 5 has various
brass sounds. Instrument 6 is guitar. Instrument 7 has four bas

Music Labs has developed a large catalog of sequences for the
EPS family of keyboards with the following philosophy in
mind: They want to make it possible for a person with no more
than an EPS and a 2X expander to do an entire performance

ses and Instrument 8 is drums.

with little or no loading from disks while on stage.

Each of Music Labs' songs is recorded as a single sequence, so

How do they do this? Thought you'd never ask.

you can have several songs loaded into the EPS's memory at
the same time. The obvious advantage to this is that you can
have an entire set of songs loaded before you start your set. As

About the sequences...

1 2

a result, you won't have to access a single disk while perform

with the sequences from Music Labs give you step-by-step in
structions for doing this. To help you navigate your way
through the sequences, each song is accompanied by a chart

ing. In addition, you can chain all of the sequences together in
Song mode. Once you've done this, all you have to do is push
"Play" once and you can go through an entire set without

that includes the time of the song, the starting measure of each

touching the EPS again.

verse, chorus, etc. and a list of which tracks are in use.

There is at least one drawback to this method, however. Since a

If you want to customize the tracks to your own individual
needs. Music Labs provides information about how to go about
accomplishing this.

majority of the sequences use patch selects, you might not hear
the correct soimds if you start the EPS playing in the middle of
a sequence. While this isn't a problem in performance (unless

The most basic change you might want to make is to substitute

you're on a roll and your audience begs you to do that last
chorus of "The Beer Barrel Polka" one more time) this makes
it a bit awkward for rehearsal. Although Music Labs provides a

your own favorite sounds for those which Music Labs includes
with their sequences. If you have a 4X expander you will cer
tainly want to replace the piano (the weakest of all the sounds;
but hey — have you ever heard a good piano sample that didn't
take up a ton of memory?) and strings and brass. While the
sounds contained on their setup disk are certainly usable, I
found that the overall sound of the sequences was improved by
substituting sounds of a better quality. No big surprise there.

chart for each song indicating the location of each chorus, verse

and bridge within the sequence, practicing with the track exact
ly as it is meant to sound requires starting from the beginning
each time.

While the sequences that are available cover a variety of styles,
they lean most heavily towards dance music. The list of titles I
received (which isn't the most recent one since they are con

Another option would be to MIDI some of the sounds to other

tinually updating their list to keep up with the latest jams) con
tains over 100 Pop/Rock titles compared to 10 Country titles
and 7 Standards (Chattanooga Choo Choo, etc.). (There's even
a Milli Vanilli song on the list. I detect a subtle irony here: If

keyboards or modules to further enhance the sound or to free

up voices so you can play along with the sequences. Since the
drum kit Music Labs provides follows Roland key assignments,
you can MIDI the drums to your favorite drum machine.

you were to perform with this sequence, you would be pretend
ing Milli Vanilli pretending to be Milli Vanilli.)

Music Labs' sequences are designed to provide all of the in
strumentation for each song — all you need to add is the vo
cals. If want to play along with the sequences, you could delete

In their literature, the people at Music Labs state that they try
to stay as close to the original version of these songs as poss
ible. I must admit that my musical tastes veered away from the
radio several years ago, so I can't vouch for most of the songs I
heard. The ones I do know, however, are pretty darned close to
the originals or as close as you'd expect from a decent band
playing the nightclub circuit. The dance sequences tend to
sound a lot better than the standards. For example: Although
"What's New" is pretty faithful to the Linda Ronstadt/Nelson
Riddle arrangement, it comes off sounding somewhat flat. The
dance stuff, by contrast, is usually pretty hot — especially the

the keyboard track (or drums or guitar or whatever instrument

you play) and play along with the rest of the instruments. If
later on you add another member to your act, you could delete
that instrument also. Of course, the reverse would also be true:

if a member of your group has to miss a performance, all you
have to do is put the missing part back into the sequence.

Might I make a suggestion?
About the only thing I can think of that Music Labs might do to
improve their product would be to
provide printed music with their se

percussion. To be fair, I'm sure that a
lot of this has to do with the nature of
the instrumentation of these contrast

ing styles. Since Dance music is
generally recorded and performed with
electronic instruments, it's much

easier to reproduce this sound than it
is to emulate songs that are recorded
primarily with acoustic instruments.

I was pleasantly surprised at
the diversity of sounds that

they've been able to pro
duce... The overall quality of
the sequences is very good.

This has been one of the great challen

quences. I know that this would in

volve more work and expense (I don't
say this flippantly...music publishing
is what I do for a living) but it seems

to me that this would be a very useful
addition to their product. I suppose
that a lack of printed music isn't that
important if you just plan to sing
along with the sequences — it

ges for all musicians involved with

electronic instruments since the time a synthesizer beeped its
first beep.

wouldn't be too hard to get the lyrics from a recording by the
original artist (I would assume that you would order songs you
already know anyway); it seems to me, however, that if you
wish to play along with these songs, this might prove to be a
more difficult task. Even for those people who are able to
figure out the music just by listening to it, I think that the
availability of printed music would be considered a valuable

Is there anything else?
If you don't know anything about the EPS and all you want to
do is load the sequences and play them, the materials included

asset.

13

As they used to say on American

In my opinion...

Bandstand, I'd give it a 92 — it's got

When I first saw that Music Labs'
grammed around the same group
they'd all sound pretty much alike. I
I was pleasantly surprised at the

sequences were all pro
of instruments, I figured
must admit, however, that
diversity of sounds that

a good beat and it's easy to dance to!
Music Labs also supplies sequences
for the VFX-SD and the SD-1. b

they've been able to produce within this context.
The overall quality of the sequences is very good. The heart of
Dance music is the beat set down by the percussion and Music
Labs has done an excellent job here. E you were to get on stage
with tracks that sounded like they were programmed on a

Bio: Bryce Inman is a free-lance
music editor and arranger for Word,
Inc. in Irving, TX. Although he has
decided to make Texas his permanent
home, he refuses to say "y'all" or
" fi x i n '

cheapo drum machine, you'd get justifiably snickered at. That's

not the case here — even the wallflowers will be tapping their
toes once the beat kicks in.

Review: The EPS Sampling Book
Michael L. Schmitt

tepaper baskets, etc... which is all ftm but everyone has done
these things before, and usually within minutes of buying
their EPS, and certainly no one has had to tell them to. Among
sampler owners, this type of behavior is instinctive.

For: EPS.

Product: The EPS Sampling Book by Bobby Maestas - 155 pages spiral
bound.

Price: $21.95+ $2.50 s/h.

From: Mix Bookshelf, 6400 Hollis Street #12, Emeryville, CA 94608,

entry level and work the novice up to sampling, complex
looping and editing. Great — at long last a good "do it your

Two more chapters go on to describe how to use a multi-track
recorder with an EPS. The book recommends putting the
straight sound on one channel, mixing a delayed channel with
it, then sampling it. Big deal. What people need to know is
how to set seamless loop points and then edit the sample to
turn it into a useful instrument. Unfortunately only 14 pages
are given to actual instruction on loops, and most of these are

self book on sampling.

mere descriptions of loop points and auto looping. Only four

Unfortunately, it was a serious disappointment. This book

pages are given to advanced looping functions such as cross
fade loops, bidirectional x-fade, etc... and these are only

caters only to the novice. In fact it is so basic it never gets

descriptions with no elaboration on how they should be used.

phone: 1-800-233-9604.

I was really excited to see this book advertised in the Mix
Bookshelf catalog. It was supposedly designed to start at the

past the information contained in the two manuals that come

with the EPS! The first 70 or so pages aren't even about sam

And that's it! There's not even any mention of envelopes, fil
ters, or LEG. In fact the most advanced subject covered is
layer glide mode and how to set up a legato layer. (For those
who don't know how see Layer Glide mode under the chapter

pling. They are about how to load sounds, performance
presets, hooking the EPS to a mixer etc... all basic info con
tained in the Musician's Manual.

"Layer Parameters" of the EPS Advanced Applications
Guide.) Everything in this book is contained in the EPS
manuals. The only person who might get some use out of it is
someone who bought a used EPS without manuals, but they
can be piuchased from Ensoniq for $7.95 each. The EPS Sam

I skipped this part and went straight to the chapter entitled
"Prepare to Sample." The first lesson covers setting the vu
meter and how to change the sampling rate. The tricky ques

tion of what sampling rate to use is brought up, but the only
advice given is to choose a sampling rate twice as high as the
highest frequency of the sound you wish to sample. That's it!

pling Book is $21.95! And, surprisingly, it's published by Mix
Bookshelf, which in all fairness does publish some terrific

E a chart had been given displaying different instruments and
their highest frequencies, along with recommended rates, this
advice would be at least a little helpful. But no such chart is

books on music.

Thumbs down for The EPS Sampling Book, h

given and since this is supposed to be a beginner's book,
anyone who would buy it probably isn't going to know what

the highest frequency of their sample instrument is, so this ad

Bio: Michael L. Schmitt studies classical guitar and composi

vice is useless.

tion at Indiana University. He also writes for and plays MIDI
guitar in Bestiality Killed the Cat, a high-tech industrial
dance band of very questionable virtue.

The next couple of chapters cover sampling bottles, was1 4

VFX-SD/SD-1 Tips — Six Pairs and
a Spare
Jeffrey P. Fisher
I bring to these hallowed pages my own list of a dozen tips,
gleaned from experience, that you can use to get more from
yoiu VFX-SD/SD-1. You'll probably notice that these are all
sequence/performance tips. Well, with over 1000 sounds in
my library, I don't really do much voice programming — only

with what sequences. And it is a waste of time trying to find

tweaking.

sounds are on a disk somewhere...

them.

I have a sequence that I have no idea what sounds it originally
used. I've been close, but never exactly right. But I'm sure the

Making music is my business, so running the sequencer,
mixing, and getting good, solid tracks down fast is my most
important concern. These tips are the result of my trying to
make the hardware as transparent as possible so it doesn't get
in the way of what it is really all about: creativity.

4. IF YOU HAVE an extra track (and voices to match),

copy a comp track to a blank track location. Next, give the
copied track a different patch or variation of the first. Use the
shift function and move the copied track ahead in time by a
few clocks. Pan the two tracks hard left and right and the
comp track will spread out in stereo very nicely. The amount
of clocks depends on the song tempo and the subtlety of the
effect you are after.

1. SAVE OFTEN. I know it's been said many times, many

ways, but save often! Keep a scratch disk in the drive and
save as you work. You can organize your best songs and se
quences later.

Try it with brass stabs, electric piano sounds, and strings. You
can, of course, assign the copied/shifted track to MIDI and

When naming a file, put a number in the first position, e.g.
IROCK. When saving to the scratch disc, just hit one key
(with keyboard naming enabled, of course) to name subse

send it to an external sound generator.

quent versions: 2R0CK, 3R0CK, etc. This way you won't be
deleting the old versions. You will save the different versions

5. PLAY REPEAT ECHOES in time with the music on the

that reflect the song's progress and can always go back to ear

repeat echoes through velocity, MIDI volume controller 7, or
mixdown volume (and pan!).

track or a separate track. Follow the tempo and fade the

lier ideas.

When the final version is down, give it a name for life and
save it to your main disk. And don't forget to make a back up
of your main disks. When the scratch disk is full, either erase
it and start over or file it for extra protection. This same pro
cedure applies to sound/preset design. If you are like me, you
tweak by ear and never write anything down. By taking a

Try it with woodblock, tamboiorine, or those infamous brass
stabs —just about any percussive sound works. You get a

quick minute to save, you will have a reference to return to as
the sound takes shape. Often version 4 is better than version
17, if only you could remember that VGA setting...

6. DON'T RUN EVERYTHING through the same effect —
even if it's a multi-effect. Make the bass line dry, make the
kick dry, route some sounds through one effect; others

digital delay, in perfect time, without having to use an internal
or external effects processor.

through both, and get some variety in your musical life. Make
sure you check the volume of dry versus wet tracks. If the
bass is dry and everything else is wet, the bass will be over

2. BE CAREFUL when you save 30 seq/song files. If the
music you have created is in Banks 0-4 and you save banks
5-9, and there just happens to be nothing in Banks 5-9 you
save the nothing. And if you decide to delete your old file in
the process and replace it with new changes, you will write

powering, so back off on the volume a bit.

7. BE CAREFUL NOT to have too many voices set to
CNTL in a dynamic effect. Otherwise, conflicting controller
information will go to the effect and create some weird, impredictable results. See Tip Number Eight.

"nothing" over the top of "something." 1 speak from ex
perience and it is why I highly advocate tip number one.

3. WHEN YOU SAVE 30 or 60 seq/song files, always save
the programs too. It is hard to remember what sounds go

8. SET MUTIPLE VOICES to CNTL in a dynamic effect.
15

You can get some strange and wonderful results that might be

Don't you just hate it when the hardware gets in the way? As
an extra plus, it will really impress yoiu friends (and clients!)
when one button changes everything.

musically useful. See Tip Number Seven.

9. USE THE AUX OUTS. (See Tip Number Six.) Try the
bass and kick drum to one AUX out (using pan and effects
routing) and process it at the board to get the bottom end real
ly happening. Send the snare out the other AUX for additional
beefing up with EQ and external reverb.

11. BE EXTRA CAREFUL when deleting bars from a se
quence or when deleting a song step. These are the only
changes that you can not audition. Make the change and those
precious musical moments are gone forever. See Tip Number
One.

You may need to have the kick, snare, and bass on separate
tracks to have this kind of control, but you do get 24 tracks —
the Beatles only needed four for Sgt. Pepper. Sometimes I

12. DOUBLE CHECK the edit tracks=song or sequence

will rout a guitar voice through the AUX and run the signal
through stomp boxes or (eek!) to a guitar combo amp and

when preparing mixdown volume and/or pan. You want to
mixdown the correct sequence/song track. Even though you
can audition the change, you don't want to waste your time

mike it up. Let's face it — it's the only way to get that sound.

doing it over.
10. USE THE MASTER KEYBOARD functions to control

your entire rig. Set up the VFX-SD and other components in

BAKER'S DOZEN. Sometimes it is just plain easier to use

your system so that selecting a preset or sequence will con

MIDI volume controller 7 than mixdown volume. Personal

figure your whole system. It takes a while to organize all

ly, I play more naturally with the volume pedal, but then
again, I'm really a guitarist who happens to play keys, too. mi

those patches, effects programs, et al, but it is well worth the

extra effort. You will ultimately save a lot of time by having
everything organized. It does wonders toward enhancing your
creativity.

Ensoniq VFX-SD and SD-1
Sequencer File Formats
Gary Giebler
In my last article, I described the diskette formats for each of

mine the file type, refer to my article on Ensoniq Diskette For

the Ensoniq keyboards. This month and next I will discuss the
format of the sequencer files for the VFX-SD and SD-1

mats in the July 1991 Hacker.

keyboards. This information can be used to write special pur
pose editing programs such as a utility to change the notes on a
track from one drum machine to another. I put that feature into

One Seq/Song File Format
Location

000
188
512
576

my VFX-SD programs to allow me to transfer drum mapping to
the VFX-SD drums when I get a standard MIDI file which has
Yamaha or Roland drum tracks. If computer programming isn't

-

187
5 11
575
XXX

Contents

Sequence Header (See below for format)
U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )
Sequence Data Offsets (See below for format)
Sequence Track Data

X X X - z z z U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )

your specialty, several programs discussed in this article are
currently available from Giebler Enterprises.

Thirty Seq/Song File Format (No Programs)
Location

VFX-SD and SD-1 Sequencer File Types

Contents

0000 - 5639 Sequence Headers for 30 sequences
5 6 3 0 - 6 1 4 3 U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )
6144 - xxxx Sequence Data - Offsets & Track Data for
d e fi n e d s e q s
x x x x - z z z z U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )

The VFX-SD and SD-1 can store sequences and songs on dis
kettes in several ways. An individual sequence or song can be
stored in a One-Seq/Song File. Thirty sequences or songs
(Banks 0-4 or Banks 5-9) can be stored together in a file with
or without programs (sounds). All sixty sequences or songs can
be stored in a file with or without programs. When storing

Thirty Seq/Song File Format (30 Programs)
Location

Contents

0000 - 5639 Sequence Headers for 30 sequences
5 6 3 0 - 6 1 4 3 U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )
6144 - 22043 30 Programs (530 bytes each)

programs in a thirty seq/song file, the user can elect to store
thirty or sixty programs along with the sequences. To deter
16

2 2 0 4 4 - 2 2 5 2 7 U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )
22528 - xxxxx Sequence Data - Offsets s, Track Data for
d e fi n e d s e q s

Seq)
C k R c = C l i c k d u r i n g R e c o r d O n l y, C k O n = C l i c k O n
?? = reserved for future use, currently set = 1
02-12

x x x x x - z z z z z U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )

S e q u e n c e N a m e - 11 b y t e s ( I f S o n g , B y t e 0 2 = 5 )
MSB set if corresponding track is not muted and
contains

Thirty Seq/Song File Format (60 Programs)

track
L o c a t i o n

Contents

14-15

5639 Sequence Headers for 30 sequences
6 1 4 3 U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )
37943 60 Programs (530 Bytes each - mixed

0000
5630
6144

Location

00000
11 2 8 0
11 2 8 2
11 2 8 6
11 3 0 1
11 7 7 6

-

Upper Time Signature (1 - 99)
Lower Time Signature (0=1, 1=2, 2=4, 3=8, 4=16,

17

5=32, 6=64)
Punch In Location (in ticks) Edit Start Point
Punch Out Location (in ticks) Edit Stop Point

18-21
22-25
2 6

Te m p o
Number of Song Steps (FFh If Not Song)

2 7

Sixty Seq/Song File Format (No Programs)
Contents

11 2 7 9
11 2 8 1
11 2 8 5
11 3 0 0
11 7 7 5
xxxxx

Sequence Headers for 60 sequences
Current Selected Sequence Number
Sum of All Sequence Data Sizes + FC (hex)
Global Sequencer Information
U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )
Sequence Data - Offsets i Track Data for
d e fi n e d s e q s
x x x x x - z z z z z U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )

28-38

Track

1

Parameters

39-49

Track

2

Parameters

50-60

Track

3

Parameters

61-71

Track

4

Parameters

72-82

Track

5

Parameters

83-93

Track

6

Parameters

94-104

Track

7

Parameters

105-115

Track

8

Parameters

116-126

Track

9

Parameters

127-137

Track

10

138-148

Track

11

Parameters

149-159

Track

12

Parameters

Current

160

Selected

Track

Number

Current Layered Track Numbers

172-182

Sequence Effect Parameters
Size of Sequence Data Section

186

M a j o r R e v . o f O p e r a t i n g S y s t e m u s e d t o w r i t e fi l e
M i n o r R e v . o f O p e r a t i n g S y s t e m u s e d t o w r i t e fi l e

187
Location

Parameters

161-171

183-185

Sixty Seq/Song Fiie Format (60 Programs)

12

Sequence Length (Measures or Bars)

16

together)
37944
3 8 3 9 9 U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )
38400
xxxxx Sequence Data - Offsets & Track Data for
d e fi n e d s e q s
x x x x x - z z z z z U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )

data

Unused Name Byte (00 or 20 tiex) MSB = mute for

13

Contents

0 0 0 0 0 - 11 2 7 9 S e q u e n c e H e a d e r s f o r 6 0 s e q u e n c e s

Tr a c k P a r a m e t e r s a n d E f f e c t P a r a m e t e r s a r e d e fi n e d i n t h e

11 2 8 0 - 11 2 8 1 C u r r e n t S e l e c t e d S e q u e n c e N u m b e r
11 2 8 2 - 11 2 8 5 S u m o f A l l S e q u e n c e D a t a S i z e s + F C ( h e x )

owner's manuals for the keyboards, so I won't spend time

11 2 8 6 - 11 3 0 0 G l o b a l S e q u e n c e r I n f o r m a t i o n
1 1 3 0 1 - 1 1 7 7 5 U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )
11 7 7 6 - 4 3 5 7 5 6 0 P r o g r a m s ( 5 3 0 B y t e s e a c h - m i x e d

covering them.
VFX-SD and SD-1 Sequence Track Offsets

together)
4 3 5 7 6 - 4 4 0 3 1 U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )
44032 - xxxxx Sequence Data - Offsets & Track Data for
d e fi n e d s e q s
x x x x x - z z z z z U n u s e d ( R e m a i n d e r o f b l o c k fi l l e d w i t h 0 0 )

The thirty and sixty sequence files always store all of the se
quence headers (30 or 60 respectively), but only the defined se
quences have their offsets and track data stored. For example, if
sequences 3, 5, and 10 are the only defined sequences, and they
are stored as a thirty sequence file, sequence 3 track data would
be stored first, followed by sequence 5 and then sequence 10.
The offsets and track data for each sequence would start at the
begirming of the next block in the file, so the remainder of the
last block of each sequence would be filled with 00. Each
defined sequence takes at least one block of disk space, so a 60

quencer information in the sixty sequence files contains most
of the values from the Sequencer Control Pages and the Click

01

I

??

I

Fx

-

59)

S t a r t

Trk

CO 00

00

S t a r t

Trk

00

00

00

3
00

7
00

00

00

S t a r t

Trk

00

00

00

S t a r t

Trk

00

00

00

0
00

4
00

8
00

S t a r t

Trk

00

00

00

S t a r t

Trk

00

00

00

S t a r t

Trk

00

00

00

S t a r t

T r k l l

S t a r t

T r k l 2

M u l t l

-

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

1
00

5
00

9
00
Trk
00

S t a r t

Trk

00

00

00

S t a r t

Trk

00

00

00

2
00

6
00

S t a r t

TrklO

00

00

00

00

Song T r a c k
00

00

00

00

Conclusion next month.

VFX-SD and SD-1 Sequence Header Format

(00

00

00

the near future, h

global information.

Location

00

Hopefully, tempo and time signature changes will be added in

Page. Contact Giebler Enterprises if you need the format of the

U n d e fi n e d )
Flags: | ?? I ??

s t a r t Trk

00 00

Size of Seq is the total number of bytes of memory used for the
sequence data including the track offsets. Track Offsets (Start
of Track) are from the start of the sequence offsets and point to
the start of track data for each track. If the sequence is a song.
Song Track points to the start of the song track data. The
Multi-Track offset is not used in the disk files. It is only used
in the internal keyboard memory. Ensoniq defines track 0 as the
conductor track which currently contains only Clock events.

sequence file with all sequences defined can be rather large
even if the sequences don't contain any notes! The global se

Bytes
D e fi n i t i o n
00 Original Sequence

size of Seq

(FFh

if

Bio: Gary Giebler is the Manager of Computer Engineering for
Eagle Comtronics - a cable TV manufacturer. Gary owns and
runs Giebler Enterprises where he produces computer soft
ware, records, tapes, and compact disks. Gary still has over
800 copies of his first album in his bedroom closet.

Seq

|CkRc|CkOnILooplSong

I

(Song = 1 if Song) (Fx = 0 if Song s Effects =

1 7

Around on the ESQ-1
Kirk Slinkard

ESQ reverberation has been mentioned in articles and

be heard at all when the original sound is happening. When it
does come through, though, it tends to add mostly to the
midranges and sounds like a complex chorusing. Although

patches to varying degrees in past issues of this illustrious
magazine, but I thought that there was a need for a more

for the ESQ patches here, we will primarily be adding the

in-depth look at it with experimental patches. The informa

tion here is intended mainly for the ESQs because they don't

sustain part to the end of the original sound. But there's more
than one way to skin a patch.

have the second release option like the SQ-80, but it can
used equally well on both types, and even on the VFXs and

similar synths. There are only three practical ways that I can

Longer Release

think of to do this effect on the ESQ: You can use an out
board effects processor, you can play the ESQ in a rever
berant room, or you can use the envelope release times in
certain specific ways. The first two methods sound the best,

About the simplest way to make a regular patch seem more
reverberant is to increase the release time on the amplifier's
envelope(s). This method has been used as long as there have

but they are not what this article is about, so forget about

been synthesizers, but be warned: This is often not very

t h e m f o r n o w.

realistic at all. There are cases, however, in which this tech

nique can be used for a somewhat adequate reverberation

When thinking about a reverberant sound, consider it in two

simulation. Check out "VOCALS" (below) for an example.

parts — the original sound component and the reverberant

This simulates a big choir in a large reverberant hall. In a

component. This latter part usually comes in just after the
original sound stops. In most situations, the reverb com

real-life case like this, the direct sound of the choir would be
heard from some significant distance, and the hall's rever
beration becomes a major part of the choir's sound. So when

ponent is much quieter than the original sound, and may not

the choir stops singing, the reverberation dies away with a

original sound starts and sustains for a while after the

SQ-80 PROG: VOCALS

BY: Kirk Slinkard

SQ-80 PROGiREVRBI.

OCT SEMI FINE WAVE M0D#1 DEPTH M0D#2 DEPTH
O S C I

- 1

0

0

V O I C E l

L F 0 2

+1

OFF

080

2

0

3

4

V 0 I C E 2

L F 0 2

- 1

L F O l

- 6 2

OSC 2

0SC3

0

0

0

V 0 I C E 2

L F 0 3

+2

L F O l

- 5 0

OSC 3

OCT SEMI FINE

W AV E M 0 D # 1 D E P T H

0

OCT+5

OSCI

LEVEL OUTPUT M0D#1 DEPTH M0D#2 DEPTH

0

0

M0D#1

DEPTH M0D#2 DEPTH

ENVI

+21

ON

OFF

OFF

DCA1

54

ON

OFF

OFF

DCA2

O F F

DCA3

56

ON

OFF

O F F

DCA3

O F F

FREQ

Q

KEYBD

3

0

M0D#1

DEPTH MOD«

V E L

+

F I N A L V O L PA N PA N M O D
DCA4

1 "

8

RESET

LF01

0

LF0 2

18

LF0 3

19

+ 63

FILTER 11

1

DCA4 11

1

HUMAN

WAV

Li

L2

MOD

ON

OFF

SQR

6 3

0

0

OFF

L F O l

OFF

ON

T R I

1 0

0

0

OFF

LF0 2

OFF

ON

T R I

1 0

0

0

OFF

LF0 3

L2

L3

LV

T1V

T1

D E U Y

T2

T3

T4

KEYBD

0

63

ENV4

O F F

PAN MOD

8

L2

L3

+63

1

HUMAN

LV

1

DEPTH

O F F

WAV

LI

D E L AY

-

+63

+ 4 2

DEPTH M0D#2 DEPTH

O F F

-

L1
E N V I

M0D#1

0

F I N A L V O L PA N

TK

ENV2

T1V

T1

L2

MOD

; ;

-

T2

T3

T4

TK

+63

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

+63

0

0

0

0

0

50

0

ENV 2

ENV3

ENV 3
+

63

SYNC

MODESI OFF
S P L I T / L AY E R

1 OFF

0

127

FREQ RESET

ENV1

ENV4

ON

FREQ

DEPTH

O F F

DEPTH

KBD2

FREO

L1

7

O F F

0

5 5

DCA2

1 60

M0D#2 DEPTH

OFF

LEVEL OUTPUT

DCA1

F I LT E R

BY: Kirk Slinkard

+

63

+63

19

2 6

AM

MONO

GLIDE

OFF

OFF

0

S/LPRG UYER
OFF

LPRG

2 6

v c
O F F

SPLIT

0

0

ENV

OSC

CYC

OFF

O F F

OFF

40

0

ENV 4

1

M0DES|

SPRG SPUTKEY

+

63

+63

SYNC

AM

OFF

OFF

MONO
OFF

GLIDE
0

S P L I T / L AY E R S / L P R G L AY E R L P R G

OFF

1 OFF

18

O F F

vc
OFF

ENV
OFF

OSC CYC
OFF OFF 1

SPLIT SPRG SPUTKEY
O F F

1

BY:K]rfcSllr^rd

SQ-80 PROG: REVRB2.

r

B Y: K l r k S l i n k a r d

SQ-80 PR0G;REVRB3.

OCT

SEMI

SEMI

FINE

WAV E M 0 D # 1 D E P T H M 0 D # 2 D E P T H

0 S C 1

0

0

0

OCT+5

LFOl

+ 1

O F F

0 S C 1

0

0

0

OCT+5

LFOl

+1

O F F

0 S C 2

-

11

30

OCT+5

LFOl

+ 1

O F F

OSC 2

- 1

U

3 0

OCT+5

LFOl

+1

O F F

0 S C 3

0

0

2

OCT+5

LFOl

+ 1

O F F

OSC 3

0

0

2

OCT+5

LFOl

+1

O F F

1

W AV E M 0 D # 1 D E P T H

FINE

M0D#2

OCT

DEPTH

LEVEL OUTPUT

M0D#1 DEPTH

M0D#2 DEPTH

OUTPUT

M0D#1 DEPTH

M0D#2

DEPTH

DCA1

0

O N

ENVl

+21

ENV4

+ 3 5

DCA1

0

O N

ENVl

+23

ENV4

+

DCA 2

0

O N

ENVl

+19

ENV4

+

33

DCA 2

0

O N

ENV2

+21

ENV3

+ 31

DCA 3

0

O N

ENVl

+18

ENV4

+ 3 2

DCA 3

0

O N

ENV2

0

ENV3

+ 30

F I LT E R

FREQ

Q

1 2 7

0

FINAL
DCA 4

1 "

LF01

2 5

KEYBD

M0D#1

0

VOL

FREQ

RESET

HUMAN

L1

TRI

0

D E L AY

L2

0

0

LF01

WHEEL

LF0 2

LF0 2

LF0 3

LF0 3

PA N

PA N

"

RESET

25

MOD

HUMAN

DEPTH

1

+ 55

E N V l

DEPTH

1

+63

WAV

OFF

O F F

33

M0D#2

+63

ENVl

0

FREQ

MOD

0

ENV4

0

FINAL VOL

DCA 4 i1

+ 63

WAV

OFF

O F F

DEPTH

E N V l

+2

KEYBD M0D#1 DEPTH

0

FILTER 11 8

1

O F F

PA N M O D

0

FREQ

M0D#2 DEPTH

DEPTH

O F F

PA N

LEVEL

TRI

LI

D E U Y

0

0

L2

MOD

0

WHEEL

L2

L3

LV

T2

T3

T4

TK

ENV1

+ 63

+ 63

+ 63

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ENV2

ENV 2

0

+ 63

+ 63

0

0

11

2

0

0

0

ENV3

ENV 3

0

+

63

+ 63

0

0

11

2

0

53

0

ENV 4

+ 63

+

63

+ 63

0

0

0

0

0

53

0

VC

ENV

OSC

ENV1

ENV4

L1

L2

+ 63

+63

+ 63

S P U T / L AY E R

1 OFF

+63

+63

SYNC

MODES] OFF

L3

+63

LV

T1V

T1

T2

0

0

0

0

0

AM

MONO

OFF

OFF

0

0

0

0

0

OSC

GUDE

V C

ENV

0

O F F

O F F

S/LPRG UYER L PRG

SPUT

OFF

OFF

T3

OFF

T4

L1

TK

0

10

0

50

SYNC

CYC
OFF

1

MODES

1 OFF

SPLIT/UYER
1 OFF

SPRG SPUT KEY

1

AM

MONO

OFF

OFF

T1V

GLIDE
0

T1

OFF

S/LPRG UYER LPRG SPLIT
OFF

-

OFF

SPRG

OFF

CYC
OFF

1

SPLIT KEY

OFF

turned up two-thirds at DCA 1 to combine with envelope 1.1
used envelope 4 here in stead of 2 or 3, because this way the

tone very much like the sound of the choir when it is singing.
Also, there is not much of an immediate drop in volume
when the original sound stops at the beginning of the rever

final DCA 4 is automatically adjusted to have the proper sus
tain so that it won't cut off the reverb decay. This combina

beration decay, so that all of this basically just adds a smooth
decay to the choir's original sound. So the "VOCALS" patch
just takes a basic choir sound and adds a little longer decay
time at envelope 4 which controls DC A 4. The more com
plex the parts you play, the more realistic this patch sounds.
If you just play one note or chord though, the limitations of
this kind of approach really become obvious. The end result
is not the best possible reverberation effect you've ever

tion of envelopes works basically like the SQ-80's second
release option in its envelopes. So listen to the "REVRBl."
patch, you can hear a reverb effect, but it sounds really dull
and flat. So what can we do to make it better?

Chorusing And Stereo
For the "REVRB2." patch, I have added the other two oscil

heard, so how can we improve it?

lators with the same waveform, but detuned a little for a

Combining Envelopes

chorusing effect. This chorusing carries over to the rever
beration decay and gives it a much more natural randomness

A little more sophisticated way to simulate reverberation is
to use two envelope generators with different release times,

and richness. Listen to both "REVRBl." and REVRB2." and

one for the original volume envelope and one for the rever

realism of the reverberant sustain. Chorusing is actually very

berant decay, then adding them together. This gives an im
mediate drop in volume at the end of the original sound,

closely related to reverberation in that they are both delay ef

which is a more common situation in real life. Usually you

would be closer to the original sound source, giving it much

ing effect with sustain. This patch is a more finished patch
and includes a vibrato activated by the mod wheel. In this

more volume than the reflected sound. Fortunately, the ear

situation, the vibrato also affects the reverberation. I'll leave

lier Ensoniq synths' voice structures permit this technique to

it up to you whether this sounds good or bad — I'm un

be easily used. The experimental patch "REVRBl." uses en

decided. "REVRB2." also uses a stereo effect. Envelope 1,
the basic sound envelope, is applied to the pan parameter
which is set to zero, or all the way to the left to give the main
sound a central location in the pan while the envelope is on.

you can really hear the difference the chorusing makes in the

fects. In fact, reverb could be described as a complex chorus

velope 1 turned up one-third at DCA 1 to give the basic
volume envelope to the organ sound of oscillator 1 (2 and 3
are turned off). Envelope 4 has the reverb decay time and is
19

and then the reverb decay is heard off to the left as envelope
1 turns off. The reverb effect is starting to sound pretty good

(Envelope 4 release time)

here, but we can make it sound just a little more natural.

3. Reverb brightness.
(Filter freq. setting)

Not So Bright

4. How much brightness the reverb looses as it decays.
(How much envelope 4 is used in filter modulation)

The reverb decay in "REVRB2." sounds really bright, and
because of this loses some of the natural quality that it could

5. Reverberation pre-delay.

have. It really doesn't sound like a real-life reverberation.

(Envelopes 2 and 3 T1 and T2)

Generally speaking, actual reverberation will lose its high
frequency components first as they get absorbed by various
soft materials in a room, leaving the reverberation sounding

6. Chorusing intensity
(Oscillators 2 and 3 detuning amounts)

less bright than the original sound. The VFXs and other SQs
include a parameter in some of their reverberations called

"high-frequency damping" to simulate this, but for the ESQs,
we'll have to do something in the filter. The "REVRB3."

Epilogue

patch combines envelopes 1 and 4 with the frequency

This technique of simulating reverberation might sound a lit
tle different for each waveform. The reverb decay part of the

parameter in the filter (note that the amounts of all these

should add up to a total of 127 or less, because this is the

sound takes on the personality of the waveform that it was
made from, sometimes more than it would with a reverb
processor or natural reverberation. You might find that some
waveforms might need the filter to be set a little lower or

maximum allowable modulation in the filter). This way, the
reverberation isn't as bright as the main part of the sound.
And because envelope 4 is used, the reverb loses even more

brightness as it decays to zero. This makes for a very

higher in frequency during the reverb decay to sound as
realistic. Individually adjusting the different reverb
parameters for each patch in a sequence or song can be fun
because you can get each separate patch to have a reverbera
tion sound different from all the others, giving an illusion of

natural-sounding reverberation.

Pre-Delay

different distances, or even different environments to each

When you were listening to "REVRB3." you may have
noticed a sort of slapback echo sound at the beginning of the

instrument.

notes. This is actually a simulation of the reverberation

If you can get a hold of Issue #37, check out C. R. Fischer's

pre-delay. This simulates the way you would hear the
original sound briefly by itself before the reverberation kicks

article on reverberation (and other delay effects) for a slight

in. This is something else for which the VFXs and other SQs

ly different approach that uses the FORMANT waves. Back
in Issue #43, Sam Mims discussed how to create an echo ef

have a parameter in some of their reverb effects. In this

fect and said "We'll cover some simple tricks this time, and

patch, oscillators two and three use envelopes two and three

get on to more complicated delays and reverb effects some
other time." This is the real reason that I did this article. I

in their DCAs to delay the start of their sound. Envelopes
two and three are the same as one and four except that two

had been waiting for Sam's next installment, and finally the
suspense became so unbearable that I wrote my own. Hey
Sam, don't think that this article gets you off the hook, I'm
still waiting for what you have to say on the subject.

and three have a delay at their beginning that is controlled by
times one and two. T1 controls how long the envelopes rest

at zero before they come in and T2 controls how slowly they
kick in. This pre-delay effect is kind of subtle, but you might
find that it helps to fool most people into thinking that you
are playing through an effects processor. On the negative
side, this effect isn't heard on short staccato notes, where it
is most dramatic on external effects units. You actually have
quite an advantage here over the SQ-80's second release, be

As for the rest of you, may you reverberate long and prosper,
and I'll mod you later, h

Bio: Kirk Slinkard hangs out near Denver and plays synth.

cause the things you have complete control over include:

His favorite color is ultraviolet. Author's picture:

1. Relative volume of reverb to original sound.
(Relative levels of envelopes 4 and 1, or 3 and 2, at DCAs 1

0
*-1.*

through 3, also total volume of oscillators 2 and 3)

_y\_

2. Reverb decay time.

2 0

Ensoniq November & December '91 Seminar Schedule
11 / 1 9 M c M u r r a y M u s i c S t . L o u i s
1 2 / 3 S o u n d s G r e a t S p r i n g fi e l d

ALABAMA

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11/19 Broadway Sound
11/21 Music Man Country

12/4 Music Box Studios Inc.

Ml Clemens

12/5 Amoldt Williams

Canton

(313) 263-1994
(313) 453-6586

TEXAS

MICHIGAN

1115 Randy's Music Mart
M I N N E S O TA

11/7 Knut Koupee Music Stores Minneapolis

VIRGINIA

(612) 870-1400

12/5 Virginia Music Co.
MISSISSIPPI

11 / 7 M o r r i s o n B r o s . J a c k s o n
12/5 Mississippi Music Inc. Biloxi

WEST VIRGINIA

(601)352-0135
(601) 388-6547

11/21 0. B. Fawley Music Co.

MISSOURI

11/14 Big Dudes Music City

Kansas City

(816) 931-4638

21

Morgantown (304) 292-3352

ESO & SQ-80 Haokerpatoh
By Sam Mims
Hackerpatch is intended to be a place where patch vendors can show thenwares and musicians can share their goodies and impress their friends.
Patches designated "ESQ-1" will also work on the SQ-80. The reverse is not
always true. Once something's published here, it's free for aU. Please don't

SQ-80 Patch: BRASH
by P. T. Brown II, Myrtle Beach, SC

submit patches that you know to be minor tweaks on copyrighted commercid patches unless you have permission from the copyright owner. All sub
mitted patches are subject to consideration for mutilation and corrunents by

This is a modified brass sound, which I have used often.
The Hack

Sam Mims-our resident patch analyst. If you send in a patch, please include
your phone number. Requests for particular patches are also very welcome.

BRASTT is more of a realistic horn section than a synth brass
sound. There is a subtle sforzando built in via ENV 3 modulating

the filter. If you need the sound to cut through a bit more, try raising
the filter cutoff FREQuency to 39 or so. One other subtle change I

ESQ Patch: POLISI

by Claudio Sansilvestri, Barasso, Italy

made was to set T1V of ENV 3 to 05; this gives a sharper attack

when notes are played hard. As a final tweak, I added a bit of spa
ciousness by using KBD2 as the PAN MOD (DCA 4 page) with a

This is a sound that I developed by changing the parameters of the
ESQ-1 while the sequencer was playing disco house sequences. I've
used it almost as a drum fill, playing 32 nd notes, or for fast staccato
lines, such as playing arpeggios in octaves. Try also simulating

depth of -1-30.

ESQ owners can substitute SAW waves for the BRASS waveforms,

brass hits with chords.

and get a different but usable sound. For more of a synth brass
\ * sound, turn SYNC on, and apply a bit of
filter resonance. For a cheesy synth brass,

The Hack

This is a very nice sound, except that it dies in the upper register.
The problem is that the filter frequency is set so low that the higher

turn AM on.

pitches are being cut out. To get around this, I set the KEYED

pwameter on the FILTER page to 22. This brightened the sound sig
nificantly, which I liked. If you want it as dark as the original, ad
just the depth of the ENV 3 modulator to around zero. To get a little
more stereo motion, I went to the LEO 3 page and changed the

Bio: Sam Mims is a studio session player
and programmer in Los Angeles, and is
keyboardist for Richard Elliot. He owns
Syntaur Productions, a company that
produces music for film and TV and
markets sounds for Ensoniq keyboards.

PREQ to 04 and DELAY to 08. Note the excellent reverb effect

acheived by setting T4 of ENV to its maximum value, then limiting
the release with T4 of ENV 3, which controls the filter.

ESQ-1 PROG:POUSI

OCT SEMI

BY: Claudio Sansilvestri

W AV E M 0 D # 1 D E P T H

FINE

M0D#2

SQ-80 PROG: BRASTT

BY: P. T. Brown II

OCT SEMI FINE WAVE M0D#1 DEPTH M0D#2 DEPTH

DEPTH

0 S C 1

0

0

0

SAW

ENVI

+2

*OFF*

0 S C 1

0

0

0

B R A S S

L F 0 3

OSC 2

0

0

4

SAW

ENVI

+6

•OFF*

- 1

0

3

B R A S S

• O F F *

OSC 3

0 S C 2

0

*OFF*

0 S C 3

0

0

3

S A W

ENVI

DCA1
DCA 2
DCA 3

0

ENVI

-1

LEVEL OUTPUT

M0D#1

DEPTH

M0D#2

DEPTH

0

ON

ENV2

+ 63

ENV3

+ 40

0

ON

ENV2

+ 63

ENV3

+ 40

0

ON

ENV2

+ 63

ENV3

+ 4 0

FREQ
FILIbH

SAW

8

1

Q

0

KEYBD M0D#1

2

0

FINAL VOL
DCA 4 1 52

E N V 3

PA N

FREQ RESET

+ 3 6

PA N M O D

8

DEPTH M0D#2

DEPTH

* O F F «

FILTER 11

1

DEPTH

LF03

+ 63

HUMAN

DCA1
DCA 2
DCA 3

WAV

LI

D E U Y

L2

OFF

OFF

L2

L3

LV

0

+63

0

ENV 2

+63

+63

+

ENV 3

+63

+56

0

MODES|

+63

+63

+

63

63

TRI

O N

FREQ

Q

33

0

*OFF*

A OFF*

*OFF*

•OFF*

KEYBD

•OFF*

M0D#1

26

2

DEPTH

ENV3

+

M0D#2 DEPTH

37

• O F F *

7

O F F

0

63

63

*OFF«

O F F

LF0 3

19

O F F

O N

L2

L3

LV

T1

T 2

T3

T4

ENVI

+ 63

- 6 3

0

O L

0

8

8

0

6

9

6 3 L

0

7

2 0

11

2 1

l O L

0

0

63

2 5

0

T1

0

0

5

0

0

0

6 3

63

0

9

ENV 2

0

1

0

63

63

45

0

ENV 3

+ 59

- 2 0

0

0

6 3

6 3

63

0

ENV 4

+ 63

+

+

0

0

SYNC

A MI M O N O G L I D E

OFF

OFF

-

63

M0D#2 DEPTH

DEPTH

*OFF*

T1V

OFF

0

SPUT/UYER S/LPRG LAYER LPRG
1 OFF

O N

+1

T R I

0

0

T R I

0

1

0

W H E E L

LF0 2

ENVI

ENV 4

63

M0D#1

+ 8

L F O l

F R E Q R E S E T H U M A N W AV L I D E L AY L 2 M O D

MOD

LF0 2

LI

O N

+ 8

L F O l

DCA 4 Fh

L F O l
1

OUTPUT

63

- 1

L F O l

FINAL VOL PAN PAN MOD DEPTH

n

LF01

LF0 3

LEVEL

+3

OFF

T2
1 0

V C
O N

SPLIT
OFF

T3
0

T 4

T K

LI

0

0

ENV

OSC CYC

O F F

O F F

O F F

59

55

T I V

3

40
2

0

• O F F *

T K

SYNC AM MONO GUDE VC ENV OSC CYC

1

MODES]

SPRG SPLIT KEY

OFF

OFF

OFF

4

ON

oJT

O N

SPUT/LAYER S/LPRG LAYER LPRG SPUT S PRO SPUT KEY
1

OFF

2 2

-

OFF

-

OFF

-

~

SD

&

VFX

Hackerpatch

SD & VFX Prog: D HEAVENS

By: Walter Cooper, Latter Sound Productions

NOTES: D HEAVENS is one of the ethereal sounds from Latter Sound's Volume I col

is a beautifully haunting sound using the Marimba waveform, yet en

lection. Moving the mod wheel forward brightens the sound. Play a chord and sustain it,
then press patch select *0 and repeat the chord: you will hear the horns come in nicely.

veloped to sound like a crystal wine glass being rubbed.
Thanks to Latter Sound for releasing the patch to public domain.

THE HACK: This patch sounds great for doing soundtrack work. I found the initial at
tack of the notes to wiggle a bit too much in pitch, so for voices 1 and 3,1 turned the
LFO amounts (Pitch Mod page) to -1 and +1 respectively. The other voices work fine
once these are toned down a bit. The other thing I did was sacrifice the 0* patch select
— barely distinguishable from the 00 patch — for a setting that plays only voice 2. This

- Sam Mims

SELECT VOICE
H
D

2

4

5

6

0 *

2

4

5

®

*0

1

2

3

11

2

s

4)
41

i

*

5

6

1

2

3

4

5

6

0 0

6

WAVES
Strings
StrngSnd

Vocal Pad Strings
Vocal X
Unl Brass
Tu n e d P e r c B r e a t h S n d S t r n g S n d T r a n s w a v e B r a s s S n d

Delay

0

0

0

0

0

0

Start

0

9 9

9 9

0

99

0

Ve l S t a r t M o d

0

0

0

0

Wave
Wave Class

Marimba

*

NVI

0

Initial

9 9

9 9

9 9

Mod Scr

ENV2

Peak

5 0

5 0

5 0

Mod Amt

- 9 9

Break 1

32

3 2

3 2

Break 2

0

0

0

M CD MIXER

1

2

3

4

5

6

Sustain

0

0

9 9

SRC-1

Press

LFO

Press

•Off*

LFO

•Off*

Attack

1 8

SRC-2

ENV1

ENV2

ENV1

Noise

Noise

ENV1

17

2 3

SRC-2 Scale

2.0

0.1

2 . 0

0 . 1

0.1

1 . 0

3 9

3 9

3 9

Shape

LateRise

Smoother

LateRise

Smoother

Smoother

QuikRIse

Decay 1
Decay 2
Decay 3

1 8
1 7

1 8

1 8

Release

9 9

9 9

18
2 5

KBD Track

0

0

0

VelCurve

QuIkRs

QuIkRs

QuIkRs

15

1

2

3

4

5

6

Octave

+1

0

+1

0

0

0

Mode

Finish

Finish

Semitone

0

0

0

0

0

Repeat

0

Ve l - L e v e l

0

0

0

Fine

+ 6

-4

-8

-4

+4

- a

Ve l - A t t a c k

0

0

0

P i t c h Ta b l e

System

System

System

System

System

System

ITCH

6

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

Initial

0

0

0

0

0

0

MODSRC

Mixer

LFO

Mixer

LFO

LFO

Mixer

Peak

3 6

3 6

3 6

3 6

5 0

3 6

MODAMT

0

0

0

0

0

0

Break 1

4 6

4 6

4 6

4 6

99

4 6

Glide

None

None

None

None

None

None

Break 2

3 6

3 6

3 6

3 6

3 6

3 6

ENV1

0

0

0

0

0

0

Sustain

3 6

3 6

3 6

8 4

89

3 6

LF01

-2

0

+ 3

+1

0

+3

Attack

4 6

4 6

4 6

46

4 6

4 6

Decay 1
Decay 2
Decay 3

3 0

3 0

3 0

3 0

3 0

3 0

31

31

3 1

31

31

31

3 7

37

3 7

3 7

3 7

37

Release
KBD Track

5 7 *

57*

57*

8

57*
8

8

8

8

8

Vel Curve

Cnvxl

Cnvxl

Cnvxl

Cnvxl

Cnvxl

Cnvxl

Mode

NormI

NormI

NormI

NormI

Repeat NormI

Ve l - L e v e l

2 6

2 6

2 6

2 6

2 6

2 6

Ve l - A t t a c k

41

41

4 1

41

19

41

ITCH MODS

1

2

3

4

5

6

Mode

2 L P

3LP

3LP

2LP

3LP

2LP

Cutoff

72

61

7 2

70

0

7 2

KBD

+8

+8

+ 8

+8

+ 8

+8

MODSCR

Wheel

Wheel

Wheel

Wheel

Wheel

Wheel

MODAMT

+22

+22

+22

+35

+35

+22
+35

+17

ENV2

+17
+35

+99

+35

I LT E R 1

;nv2

-57:__ 57*

1

2

3

4

5

6

1

2

3

4

5

6

Mode

2LP

1LP

I M P

2LP

1LP

2LP

Initial

5 5

1 8

5 5

3 7

5 5

5 5

Cutoff

87

9 3

0

9 3

9 3

8 7

Peak

6 5

65

65

6 5

6 5

6 5

K B D

+13

+13

+13

+13

+13

Break 1

9 0

9 0

9 0

9 0

9 0

9 0

MODSCR

Pr+VI

Pr+VI

TImbr

Pr+VI

Pr+VI

+ 13
LFO

Break 2

9 9

9 9

9 9

9 9

9 9

9 9

MODAMT

+34

+34

+77

+34

+34

+28

Sustain

86

9 2

8 6

8 6

9 2

8 6

ENV2

+19

+19

+19

+19

+19

+ 19

Attack

1 6

1 6

1 6

1 6

1 6

Decay 1
Decay 2
Decay 3

16
16

1 6

1 6

16

16

1 6

31

31

31

31

31

31

47

I LT E R 2

)UTPUT
VOL
MODSRC
MODAMT
KBD Scale

LO/Hl_Ke_y_
best Bus

;nv3

6

1

2

3

4

5

6

4 7

9 9

6 7

9 9

9 9

Release

60*

60*

4 7
60*

4 7

9 9

47
61*

4 7

99
•Off*

61*

58*

•Off*

•Off*

L F O

•Off*

•Off*

KBD Track

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

1 0

0

0

0

+ 4

0

0

Ve l C u r v e

Linear

Cnvx2

Linear

0

0

0

0

Mode

NormI

NormI

Linear
NormI

Cnvx2

0

Linear
NormI

NormI

NormI

AO/AO

AO/AO

AO/AO

A#4/A#4

Ve l - L e v e l

2 6

2 6

2 6

26

2 6

2 6

Ve l - A t t a c k

5 8

5 8

5 8

58

5 8

5 8

0
AO/AO

fxT

O/AO
~ AFXl

""fYI

■" f x i " ' "

"fxi

"

" f x i

2 0

20

71

5 0

80

5 0

MODSRC

Mixer

Mixer

Mixer

Mixer

Mixer

Mixer

MODAMT

+30

+30
Off

+30
Off

+15
O n

-30

+30

Off

Off

P i t c h Ta b l e

Off

Effect

•

Decay

5 0

Pan

Pre-Gain

Off

EFFECTS (1)

PGM CONTROL

Chorus & Reverb 2

Vo i c e P r i o r

Medium

High

Medium

Medium

High

Medium

Bend Range

Ve l T h r e s h

0

0

0

0

0

0

Delay

Xl

FXI Mix

5 0

Restrike

4 9

FX2MIX

2 5

Glide Time

0

F O
Rate
MODSRC
MODAMT
Level
MODSRC

Del§y^
Wa v e s h a p e
Restart
Noise SRC RT

1

2

3

4

5

6

2 2

1 7

2 2

3 3

1 7

1 6

Pedal

•Off*

Wheel

P r e s s

•Off*

•Off*

+30

0

+30

+10

0

0

14

9 9

14

23

9 9

42

Mixer

_56

Mixer

_ 0

Mixer
5 6

W l + P r

__4J

Mixer

._0

Sine

Sine

Sine

Sine

Sine

Off

Off

Off

O n

Off

4 7

21

•

EFFECTS (3)
EFFECTS (2)

Wheel

_56
Pos/Slne
Off

23

Wa v e s h a p e

Sine

Rate

17

ModScr

Timbre

Depth
Delay

5 1

HF Cut

Off

Rate Mod

+99

Depth Mod

- 6

Mix

5 0

2 5 0

PERFORMANCE
Timbre

0

Release

0

Pressure

Key

SQ-1

&

2

Hackerpatoh

Jeffrey Rhoads

Prog: Zoot Suit By: Yours truly (Jeffrey Rhoads)

Bands of the *40s. Older arrangements are sometimes given a
whole new slant by substituting synth brass for real horns (e.g.,

Notes: Sometimes horns are used in a tune to give it punch or
even to make it sound more "modern." But many current
hom-section charts (synthesized or not) are still rooted in the Big

Extensions by Manhattan Transfer). But many synthesized "sec
tions" sound contrived and not very acoustic in character. Rather
than fight this tendancy, I chose to roll with it.

WAVE

1

LFO
LFO Speed

1

2

3

3 7

31

4 4

Initial

9 0

4 0

9 5

Noise Rate

00

0 0

0 0

Peak

9 4

9 9

9 9

Trump Var Synth Pluck

Level

0 0

21

17

Break

99

9 9

9 9

000

0 0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

Sustain

8 8

9 9

1 8

Wave Direction

Delay

Forward

Forward

MODSRC

Wheel

Wheel

Wheel

Attack

0 0

0 0

2 3

Start Index

28

0 0

Wave

TrI

Pos/Trl

TrI

5 2

3 2

Off

Off

Restart

O h

O n

O n

79

6 8

9 9

MODAIvn"

0 0

0 0

Decay 1
Decay 2

00

MODSGR

28

2 4

1 0

0 0

0 0

72

2 6

53

S e l e c t Vo i c e

O n

Wave Class

Waveform Brass

Wave

Sawtooth

Delay Time

0 0 0

Restrk Decay

O n

0 0

O n
Tuned Perc

PITCH
Octave

-1

-1

Semitone

0 0

0 0

Fine

+ 0

1

MP

1

2

3

Release
Ve l - L e v e l

Filter 1

2Lo

2Lo

2Lo

Ve l - A t t a c k

72

2 6

3 3

Filter 2

2Lo

2Lo

2Lo

Vel Curve

Quikrise

Quikrise

FC1 Cutoff

0 3 3

0 9 5

127

Mode

Normal

Normal

Convex
Normal

KBD Track

0 0

4 2

00

I LT E R

0 0

ENV 2

69

4 0

8 9

-02

- 0 3

0 0

FC1 KBD

1 2

16

0 0

ENV1

+05

+02

+02

MODSCR

Wheel

Wheel

Off

LFO

0 0

+02

0 0

1 5

5 4

0 0

MODSCR

Veloc

Veloc

Off

MODAMT
FC2 Cutoff

057

066

076

MODAMT

+ 0 3

ENV2

3 6

3 5

6 1

O n

+04
O n

0 0

KBD Ptch Track

O n

FC2 KBD

00

0 0

0 0

Glide

Off

Off

Off

FC1MOD-FC2

O n

O n

O n

Glide Time

0 0

00

0 0

lUTPUT

1

2

3

VOL

86

7 8

6 7

Boost

O n

O h

O n

MODSRC

ENV1

Keybd

LFO

MODAMT

07

0 3

- 0 5

KBD Scale

-18

0 0

+45

C2-C7

C2-C7

C2-C7

FX2

FX1

FX1

Medium

High

Low

1

2

3

Key Range
Output Bus
Priority

Initial

7 6

15

9 9

Pan

+28

0 0

- 2 8

0 0

Peak

2 9

8 8

9 9

Vel window

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 0

Break

76

6 2

9 9

00

0 0

Sustain

2 9

2 7

9 9

10

1 4

31

Attack

2 3

17

6 3

Decay 1
Decay 2

1 4

9 9

0 0

5 9

1 8

9 9

7 3

Decay 1
Decay 2

51

2 7

83

6 6

6 5

Release

9 9

9 9

4 5

Release

32

3 5

10

Ve l - L e v e l

7 2

2 6

1 3

Ve l - L e v e l

19

1 9

0 0

Ve l - A t t a c k

7 2

1 9

1 3

Ve l - A t t a c k

06

1 9

0 0

Ve l C u r v e

Quikrise

Quikrise

Quikrise

Normal

Normal

Linear
Normal

Ve l C u r v e

Mode

Mode

Normal

Quikrise
Normal

Normal

KBD Track

0 0

0 0

0 0

KBD Track

7 0

2 6

0 0

iNVl

1

2

3

Initial

0 5

9 9

1 5

Peak

5 1

0 0

Break

2 0

0 0

Sustain

2 2

Attack

Effects Programming
(To save space, only those
effects utilized are listed. A

complete blank form was
published in Issue #68.)

:nv2

Standard
Sound

Programming

The Hack: Voice 1, Sawtooth, uses Veloc and Env 1 & 2 for A) a slight postattack pitch shift and B) a swell over effect. Voice 2, Trump Variation, provides a
more mellow base, using a bit of LFO (mod wheel) for animation only. A detune ef
fect between these two voices is achieved with Veloc Mod in the Pitch Section. Voice

3 adds the metalic click. In addition to increasing LFO, the mod wheel opens the Filter
for Voices 1 & 2. (Push the mod wheel up a third to one-half.) Zoot Suit is probably
best suited (?) for fat, full voicings. This patch may evoke memories of Prophet 5 and
OBX brass.

Jeffrey Rhoads

CONCERT REVERB
FX-1

3 4

FX-2

4 4

Decay Time

4 8

Diffusion

7 2

Philadelphia Jazz and R + B scene for a period of time

Detune Rate

3 8

Detune Depth
HF Damping

resembling forever. He has an interest in cinema and has

2 6

developed some film courses. Jeff still believes in magic and

HF Bandwidth

5 3

LF Decay
rviOD (Dest)
BY (IvIODSRC)

+10

MODAMT

9 9

Bio: Jeffrey Rhoads has been a keyboardist/composer on the

6 6

longs for city lights.

Mod Pedal

SQ-1 & 2 Hackerpatches are published with the same constraints and understand

ings as the ESQ, SQ-80, and VFX patches. The hacking and mutilating part is
being handled by Jeffrey Rhoads.

24

C l a s s i fi e d s
SAMPLES

ECCENTRIC SAMPLES for Mirage and EPS. Eth
nic and Ancient Greek instruments; Harry Patch
creations; Industrial Percussion; Proteus 2; DX21;
Synclavier and more. Mirage demo cassette: $3.
EPS demo cassette; $6. Demo tapes include disk
list. For lists alone, send SASE to: Jim Newton,
NIGHTWIND Sound, 170 Mar Monte Ave., La
Selva, CA 95076. (No layered synths. Electric
Piano or Basses. Enough, alreadyll)
Trade sounds by mail. I have over 1,000,000 blk
library! Many killer Homemade and PD samples.
Send your list. Craig, PC Box 83164, LA, CA
90083.(213) 645-4181.
SOUND EFFECTS for EPS-16 Plus and EPS, very
high fidelity, ideal for studio and post-production
work. All effects are original digital recordings
sampled at 16 bit, 44.6 kHz, with mono and stereo
patch selects. Disks are $5.95 each, or $5.45 each
for six or more. Send SASE for free listing to: Syntaur Productions, 11116 Aqua Vista #2, North Hol
lywood, CA 91602, or call (818) 769-4395.
SP USERS! My new disk - "Keyboard" - contains
over 100 sounds on it including such classics as
Fender Rhodes Bass with Vox Organ (Doors), Red
Rubber Ball Organ, Nasty B-3 sounds, bunches of
different El. Pianos, some futuristic sounds, nice
Ml and SY77 emulations, etc. Also, like all my
disks,includes my runtime version of SP operating
system. Just boot up with my disk and GO! I Only
$19 plus $1 postage/handling. Also, my library of
"Lush," "X," "DeMiTy," "Addy," "Turbo" - $15
each plus $1 postage/handling or all 5 for $69 IN
C L U D I N G P O S TA G E ! ! B o b S p e n c e r, 7 0 3
Weatherby Ln., Greensboro, NC 27406.
Mirage samples: Plus moving wavesamples all
over. 7 soimds in one bank, much more. Listings:

$1.00. Demo tape: $6.00 (includes listings). Mr.
Wavesample, 162 Maple Place, Keyport, NJ 07735.
908-264-3512. Make checks payable to Jack C.
Loesch.
EQUIPMENT

Ensoniq EPS-16+ keyboard. 2 Meg memory
w/SCSI, output expander, 1-Meg Flashbank & CV
pedal. $3500 new - $2500 firm. 44 Meg removable
drive - $450. Tascam 38 8-track, low hours: $1450.
Atari Stacy laptop w/20 Meg drive, flightcase,

Mint condition SQ-80 with 2 caruidges, 2 manuals,
1500 sounds. $795. Will ship. Call Frank (Atlanta)

P a r k e r, S o u n d s o u r c e P a t e h w e l l , 1 7 3 2 2 S t a f f o r d

404-631-0432.

524-0597.

F o r S a l e : Ya m a h a R X 5 d r u m m a c h i n e w i t h r o c k

3D SOUNDS. EPS/16P1US, TX16W, Mirage,
S 1 0 / 2 2 0 / M K S - 1 0 0 , S - 5 0 / 3 3 0 / 5 5 0 / 7 7 0 / W- 3 0 ,
FZ-1/10 & S-900. only $5 per disk. Demo Disk $3.
1200 Sound Drum Sample CD - only $6! VFX-SD:
40 hot new patches, only $61 P.O. Box 114, Station
C, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, N2G 3W9.

waveform card. Awesome! $450. Wanted: Korg
EX8000 synthesizer. Call (908) 389-2197.
Showroom use only; EPS-M: $1500. Also,
V F X s d 2 : $ 1 9 5 0 . K u r z w e i l A X : $ 11 0 0 . R o l a n d O c -

tapad 2: $500. And last but not least, EPS with 4X:
$1300. Call Rick at Stage Sound, Roanoke VA.
(703) 342-2040.
XMAS Special - Free EPS Video, 10 Disc, or
2000 digital samples with Expander orders. EPS,
E P S - 1 6 P L U S , T X 1 6 W, A K A l . B e s t p r i c e s .
Guaranteed. MC/Visa. VFX, SQl cartridges and
memory expansion. Free Shipping. Wildwood
Sounds, 4726 Pebble Creek, Pensacola, FL 32526.
Phone: (904) 944-6012, Tony, after 6 pm.

100 free VFX-SD / SDl Drum Patterns with 120

Exciting VFX-SD/SDl sounds. Satisfaction

Guaranteed. $25. EPS, EPS-16-H 100 DRUM PAT
TERNS along with a set of SR16 Drums: $12. 100
Drum Patterns VFX-SD/SDl, HR16 or SR16: $12.

2000 Digital Samples on 2 XLlllOO cassetts,
DBX/Doiby B/C - Tl, DPM3, Ml, D50, DX,
Moog: $25. EPS Sampling Made Easy Video, 2
hr, 2 disc & 90 min Sound Tape: $25. Free Ship
ping. Wildwood Soimds, 4726 Pebble Creek Terr.,
Pensacola, FL 32526. Phone: 904-944-6012, Tony,
after 6 pm.

WANTED

60 VFX-SD patches created by Jim Grote. Wide
Wa n t e d : V F X p r o g r a m m e r s t o t r a d e t h e i r
ORIGINAL VFX PATCHES. (1 have 95 HI-FI
sounds, wide variety). No tweaks / copyrighted
sounds please! Send VFX-SD-1 or Alesis DataDisk

variety. Documentation included. See my article
"Sawtooth Tips" in Dec '90. Call for free Informa

f o r m a t t o : B r a d K a u f m a n , 11 - 2 6 S a d d l e R i v e r

45211.(513) 661-8885.

tion Packet, or send: $30.00 for VFX-SD disk to
Jim Grote, 3721 Frances Ave., Cincinnati, OH

Road, Fair Lawn, NJ 07410.
INSTRUCTION
SOFTWARE

Read and Write Ensoniq Diskettes on IBM-PC's.
Order our Ensoniq Diskette Manager (EDM) soft
ware for only $22. Transfer Sequences to/from
Standard Midi Files (SMF). Each package
(VFX-SD/SD-1 or EPS/EPS-16+) includes EDM
and costs $44. Convert SQ-80 sequences and songs
to VFX-SD or SMF using our SQ80VFX software
($44). Giebler Enterprises, 8038 Morgan Road,
Liverpool, New York 13090 (315) 652-5741.
Midicaster is still available. The way-cool operat
ing system that turns your Mirage into a very
capable System Exclusive data librarian, a
20,000-note sequence player, a disk copier/format
ter, and wave-draw synthesizer is still available for
a limited time. For more information, or to order,
contact Tim Martin, 1510 S 5th W, Missoula, MT
59801. Phone: 406-542-0280 And thank you for
your support.

M I D I s o f t w a r e : $ 1 6 0 0 . Ya m a h a R X 5 d r u m

machine: $400. Yamaha MEP-4: $250. (908)

Circle, Yorba Linda, CA 92686 or call (714)

V F X - s d TA L K I N G O W N E R ' S M A N U A L ( t m )
PLUS disk produced for Ensoniq. The manual "you
don't need to read" to understand your VFX-sd in
timately. 113 minute comprehensive cassette ex
plains applications and capabilities while your
hands operate its controls. Send $15.00
check/money order; includes P/H/Tx to: Talking
Owner's Manuals-VFX 21405 Brookhurst, Hun
tington Beach, CA 92646.
BACK ISSUES

64, yes 64! Transoniq Hacker back issues.
Originals, not copies. Only $100 obo! Steve,
916-369-6444.

OUT-OF-PRINT BACK ISSUES

M.U.G. will provide Out-of-Print issues for cost of
materials and postage. M.U.G. Hotline: 212-4653430 or write: G-4 Productions, PO Box 615TH,
Yonkers, NY 10703. Attn: TH Back Issues. Phone:

PAT C H E S / S O U N D S

(212) 465-3430.

222-1227.

EPS-2X Expander. $50 or best offer. Call Mike at
(206) 473-3156. 5409 57th St., Ct. W. Apt. 9,
Tacoma, WA 98467.

KURZWEIL KIOOOSE Keyboard. 76 notes, aftertouch, multi-timbral, layers, splits, built-in effects.
Super 16-bit Steinways, strings, etc. Like new,
studio use only. Sacrifice $1575 + shipping. (815)
398-4475 (Mike).
F o r S a l e : V F X s d w i t h Ve r s i o n 2 R O M . E x c e l l e n t

condition - home use only. Complete with all
documentation, original packaging, and disk w/
1000 patches. $1400 or best offer. Must sell. (303)

ESQ-1 sound library for sale. Original data casset
tes and cartridges including: Voice Crystal, Heaven,
P a t c h w o r k s , C e s i u m , Te c h n o s i s , M u s i c B a n k ,
Leister, Soimd Hound, Still Voice, and others. Over

Photocopies of out-of-print past issues of the Hack
er can be obtained by calling Jack Loesch, 201264-3512 after 6 pm EST.

2000 great patches in all. First $150 takes it.

Folks in the New York City area can get copies of

401-431-2963.

unavailable back issues of the Hacker - call Jordan
Scott, 212-995-0989.

NEW SQ-80 SOUNDS from the Hacker's Sam

Mims! Soundset 4 takes full advantage of the
SQ-80's unique waveforms, and brings "hidden
waveforms" to the SQ-80 for the first time. Forty
patches on disk, with 22-page booklet of program
ming notes and performance tips, $17.95. Syntaur
Productions, 11116 Aqua Vista #2, North Hol
lywood, CA 91602, (818) 769-4395.

449-9306.

Soundsource Patchwell - a collection of 40 of the

Mirage DSK-1 keyboard with Soundprocess soft
ware, many disks, and Alesis MMT-8 sequencer, all
e x c e l l e n t c o n d i t i o n , m a k e o ff e r. J i m ( 3 0 4 )

best soimds created for the ESQ-1. These patches
were created on this synthesizer over 4 years of
recording and playing live. They are patches you

727-7332.

c a n u s e . F o r d a t a c a s s e t t e s e n d $ 1 0 t o Tr a v i s

25

FREE CLASSIFIEDS!

Well,—within limits. We're offering free classified
advertising (up to 40 words) to all subscribers for
your sampled sounds or patches. Additional words,
or ads for other products or services, are 25 cents
per word per issue (BOLD type; 45 cents per
word). Unless renewed, freebie ads are removed

after 2 issues. While you're welcome to resell
copyrighted sounds and programs that you no
longer have any use for, ads for copies of copy
righted material will not be accepted.

The

Interface

Letters for The Interface may be sent to any of the following addresses:

U.S. Mail - The Interface, Transoniq Hacker, 1402 SW Upland Dr., Portland, OR 97221
Electronic mail - GEnie Network: TRANSONIQ, CompuServe: 73260,3353, PAN: TRANSONIQ, Internet (via CS): 73260.3353@compuserve.com.
This is probably one of the most open forums in the music industry. Letter writers are asked to please keep the vitriol to a minimum. Readers are
reminded to take everything with a grain of salt. Resident answer-man is Qark SaEsbury (CS). Letter publication is subject to space considerations.
The Interface:

Here are some questions for Ensoniq:

Ric Cicchinelli

CompuServe [73327,132]
Can you give me the pin-out (also referred
to as a pinning chart) of a SCSI System
Cable? This is the cable that goes from the

1. When I first turn on my VFX-sd version

Massillon, OH

2, the disk drive activates and looks like it is

EPS to a SCSI hard drive; one end has a

[CS - Unfortunately, the pin-out informa
tion you seek is not published and available

DB-25 connector and the other end has a 50

to the mortal man. However, some users

pin "telco" connector. I'm trying to troubleshoot a ground-loop noise problem with my
system. By referring to the SCSI Cable
pin-out chart on page 498 of "The Winn
Rosch Hardware Bible" (Brady Books,

have reported positive results by lifting the

2. Why does the "PIPE ORGAN" wave

ground on the hard drive. Also, Pro-Co
makes an accessory that may be of some

sound distorted on about the lower one-third

help - an isolation transformer for the
audio signal. You plug your audio cable
into it and it isolates the ground from the
audio signal. You may also want to contact

also.

Ensoniq customer service (215-647-3930) they may be able to help you trouble-shoot
the problem.

soniq synth?

The crashes and lock-up' you are ex
periencing when loading large sounds is not
normal. Best guess is that it's related to a

So Ensoniq, as long as I've got you here,
here is my wish list for future synthesizer

1989), there seems to be an excessive

amount of ground pins with this standard.
I'm using an original EPS on stage with a
4x memory expansion unit manufactured by
PS Systems, and a PS Systems SCSI inter
face adaptor. I have a PS Systems 44 MByte
removable hard drive. For audio, I connect

the "mono" output of the EPS to a TOA
KD-3 Keyboard Amp. The problem is when
I plug the hard drive in, I get a tremendous
amount of audio noise. I can eliminate a

portion of the noisy signal by putting a
3-prong to 2-prong A.C. adaptor on the
TOA A.C. power cord. However, this does
not eliminate the noise completely, and as
you probably know, it is an unsafe condi
tion, because the A.C. third-pin safety
ground on the TOA amp is defeated.
Any help would be appreciated.
Also, here's some other information to pass
along to anyone thinking about adding a
hard drive to their system. If I try to load
sounds from the hard drive while I play the
keyboard, the sound that I'm playing will
"sustain" while the new sound file is load

ing. According to Ensoniq, this is due to the
way the EPS is shuffling memory. The bot
tom line is, don't expect to be able to play a
funky, staccato bass riff while loading a
bank of sounds for your next tune at the
same time.

problem with a RAM chip, or perhaps a
problem occurred when the SCSI hardware
was installed. In either case, you'll need to
be in touch with PS Systems for service in
these areas.]

searching for some secret instructions. What
is going on here?

of the keyboard? I heard this on a SQ-1 plus

3. Do you think that there would be a place
in the market for a $5,000.00 monster En

4. How about a rack-mount SQ-80?

features:

1. A global section that includes not only the
effects processor, but an LEO (this would be
great for organ vibratos and electric piano
tremolos, etc.), a balanced modulator, and a

preamp for external signals.
[Ensoniq - Most hard drives have switching
power supplies, which can generate a lot of
digital noise and hum when their earth
ground is connected to their signal ground.
Ground-lifting the hard drive with a
3-to-2-prong adapter can work quite well.
Note that as long as the EPS remains

2. A voice structure that has at least two os

cillators per voice with A.M. and sync func
tions like the ESQs and SQ-80, with one
oscillator available as an assignable mod
u l a t o r.

grounded, this does not create an "unsafe"
condition, as there is still an earth ground

3. Modulatable start and finish points for all
the waves and samples. (Did I hear about a

return via the EPS.

sampler that does this?) This would be an in
credibly powerful synthesis tool!

Regarding Load While Play functions, if
you push the technology to the maximum
you can always expect some shuffling to
take place. Load While Play uses Direct
Memory Access (DMA), which steals time
from the main processor. The more data you
load, the more time is taken from the main
processor, and eventually you will hit

4. Craig Anderton's MULTIPLE IDENTITY
F I L T E R w h i c h u s e s a s t a n d a r d fi l t e r I . C . i n

an extremely versatile way.
5. All modulators would cover the entire

modulation range of whatever they are mod
ulating.

limits.]

One final point, since adding the hard drive,
the EPS will have a tendency to crash and
lock-u" as the memory limits are pushed to
the maximum. For example, if the internal
memory of the EPS is nearly full with such
sound files as a large string section, piano,
drum kit, and horns, and I try to load
another large file, sometimes I'll get the
"delete more" message but the EPS locksup meaning it won't respond to any button
pushing, and I have to reboot.

6. The return of the "KEYBOARD 2" modu

lator from the ESQs and SQ-80.

Transoniq Hacker,
7. New single-wave samples of Hammond
Say, how practical would it be to reprint ar

organs, and heavy metal guitar loops.

ticles from some of the more ancient issues?

There is some great stuff back there that
most of us would never get to see otherwise.

So thanks for listening and keep up the good
work.

Also, what is the latest news about the
Your subscriber.

Hackerpatch?

Kirk SUnkard

2 6

Lakewood, CO

[CS - Unfortunately, reprinting specific ar
ticles from back issues is not real practical.
Entire back issues can be ordered, though,
as well as collections of articles relating to
Mirage operations and Mirage disk reviews
- check the box labeled "Back Issues" for
more info. As for your other questions:

offer. We do focus on creating instruments
that the majority of the public can afford
and chose to be sure that we are providing
that type of product to the best of our
abilities. What the future holds - we'll
never say never!]

The best software available so far for the

EPS and other Ensoniq instruments is Gary
Giebler's Ensoniq Disk Manager and
EPSSMF. The price is right and Gary even
walked me through one process I didn't un
derstand. This is part of what Ensoniq
promised us for over a year in O.S. 2.5.

Dear Clark,

Ensoniq, when will 2.5 be out? And how
about BACK UP for the hard disk?

1) The disk drive is not seeking any instruc
tions in particular; it's just checking to see
if a disk is inserted or not. This is so that,
for example, when you hit the 'Load' button
the VFX-sd will know whether to load the

directory from whatever disk might be in
serted or whether to display the message
"Disk Drive Not Ready" message.
2) The pipe organ wave is not distorted in
the lower ranges. The pipe organ wave is
multi-sampled, and as with a real pipe
organ, the lower notes provide many more
harmonics than the higher ones. What you
are hearing in the lower ranges is a sample
of a real pipe organ with all the stops pull
ed out - a very big and admittedly some
what gritty sound.
3) My understanding is that Ensoniq's
philosophy and business strategy has al
ways been to build products that most
musicians would find affordable. In today's
market, products costing in the $5000 and
up range are considered expensive, and no
matter how good they are, do not sell in suf
ficient quantity to Justify the R & D re
quired for a company like Ensoniq to
produce them. I think Ensoniq prefers to
create an affordable platform from which
the user can expand, as his budget permits.
For example, the combination of an SD-1
with a rackmount EPS-16 PLUS retails at

around $5000, and provides a very power
ful music-production environment. And bet
ter yet, you don't have to buy it all in one

A bit of advice on sampling: I'm still stuck
on my old EPS but this goes for all samp
lers. Over a number of years I've read a
good deal (books and magazine articles, in
cluding TH) on sampling but I don't recall
reading anywhere this one important fact on
controlling the sample input level: Just like
analog tape recording, always record at the
highest level short of any clipping. Once a
sample has been taken, there is no way to
increase the signal-to-noise ratio unless you
know that there is noise (hiss, for example)
at a particular frequency range and reduce
that frequency range through equalization.
Using the NORMALIZE GAIN command
on the EPS will increase the total signal that

"EPS-16 PLUS."]

it can enhance the current product line we

Fayetteville, AR
[CS - Ensoniq is currently in the testing
phase for OS 2.5 for the EPS. In the mean
time, they have released OS 2.49 (available
through your local dealer or direct from
Ensoniq) which addresses most of the issues
that were scheduled for release with OS 2.5.
The one thing not not included in OS 2.49 is
the hard-disk backup software - for this,
you'll have to wait for OS 25.]

Dear Transoniq Hacker,

It's easy to demonstrate this. Find an ap

running on O.S. 2.40.

I have two questions concerning my EPS
propriate sound on a CD or tape. Sample it
at the highest level below clipping. (On the
EPS an "AMP" light flashes whenever any

maximum levels or two or more minimum

When I play back a song which has songtracks, these songtracks seem to slow down
in comparison to the sequencer tracks.
(When I look on event-edit, every note is in
the right place, so everything is recorded

levels next to each other.) Just to be sure

perfectly.)

clipping occurs. I assume this takes place
when a little subprogram finds two or more

this sample is at maximum possible
strength, use the NORMALIZE GAIN com
mand, Next, sample the same sound at a
MUCH lower level. Bring it up to the same
strength as your first sample with NOR
MALIZE GAIN. Compare the sound quality
of the two samples.

When I "mixdown" a song (with no songtracks, only based on sequences) my EPS
has problems doing the volume changes.
When I do volume changes on only one
track, everything goes just fine. But when I
try to make changes on multiple tracks my
E P S c r a s h e s o n t h e f o u r t h o r fi f t h t r a c k .

I'm sorry if I've bored those of you who
have already figured this out but it bothers
me that I haven't seen this in print before.
Good Sampling!

Jonathan Whitcomb

Is something wrong with my EPS or do they
all do this?

Yours faithfully,
Johan Tyvaert
Roeselare, Belgium

Long Beach, CA
[CS - You bring up a good point, Jonathan
- normalizing will not salvage a noisy
sample. Always try to sample at the maxi
mum level possible before clipping.]

[Ensoniq - Regarding the $5000 unit, we
are not specifically opposed to a higher
price point product and would consider it if

Jim McDonald

enlarging a photograph - you'll never see
details that were not present in the negative.

Sincerely,
For the most part, your suggestions seem
like good ones to me. And yes, you have
heard about a sampler with modulatable
start points, loop position, loop start and
end points, and loop length - it's called the

The old piano player,

you have recorded, including the noise (i.e.
inaccuracies in the sound signal). It's like

chunk.

4) Seeing as how the SQ-80 has been out of
production for a few years now, I don't
think it likely that you'll see a rack-mount
SQ-80 anytime real soon.

TH - your mag is great.

DearTH,

[CS - There's probably something wrong
with your EPS. Song tracks should play
back in sync with sequences, and inputting
mixdown volume changes should not cause
your unit to crash. It's probably time to get
in touch with your nearest service center.]
[Ensoniq - It is also possible that your O.S.
disk somehow got corrupted. You might try

Treat Yourself!!

again with a new!fresh disk from your
dealer.]

Sincerely,
James Rosand

Port Angeles, WA
(206) 457-0545

EPS/16 PLUS

To whom it may concern:
I'm using a sample editing program called

Samples from K. Thomas
"Keith has proven to be one of the
true masters of the art of sampling."
[TH review, June '91]
Keyboard Magazine says —

"Beautifully recorded... incredibly
smooth... rich... soulful... crisp and
seamlessly multi-sampled."
[Jitn Aiken, Keyboard, Oct. '91]

"Samplemaker VI.52" on an Atari 1040
STE. Virtual Sounds Inc. developed the
program and Dr. T's marketed it. The pro
gram has since been discontinued.
This version supports the Ensoniq EPS. I'm
having problems getting a sample from the
EPS into the computer for editing,. Every
time I try to upload a sample into Samplemaker I get an "Error $0004, Function $06,
Second rev in error" message in my dialog

[CS - I have no experience with this par
ticular program. Perhaps one of our
readers might have some insight?]
[Ensoniq - We've heard of the program but
never actually worked with it. Here's a
possible problem: The EPS could be send
ing data to the program faster than the pro
gram can handle it (hence the problem with
the second reception error). If this is the
case, it would be the software developer's
responsibility to adjust the reception
timing.]

box.

Demo Package (includes tape,
disk, and catalog) .... $12.00

K. Thomas
Box 174

S t r a t f o r d , O N T.
N5A 6T1 Canada
Phone: 519-271-7964

I have no problems downloading a sample
I've created in Samplemaker to the EPS, so
I must have things hooked up correctly. I'm
also using a very small sample to experi
ment with (24 blocks) in case memory

Dear TH:

It would be a money-saving favor to EPS
users if Ensoniq could test some affordable
hard and removable drives in addition to

space was a factor.

those listed in TH - such as the drives of

I called Dr. T's and they were also per

companies advertising in the back of Mac
User or Mac World magazines. For

plexed by the problem. Is anyone out there
using this combination that could enlighten
me concerning this problem?

example, one can find a SyQuest 44 Mb
removable for $400 (which I'm interested in
buying) and most of these companies have

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2 8

Turn your EPS or EPS-16 Plus Into a
First Generation Synthesizer.
First Generation samples are synthesized, processed, and edited entirely in the digital
domain. We use state of the art computer synthesis techniques to create sounds
available exclusively for the EPS and EPS-16 Pius.

Ail disks are $12.00 each except Demo Disk #1 which is $6.00. Postage is $2.00 for 1-5
disks, $3.00 for 6-10, $4.00 for 11 up; add another $3.00 for overseas airmail. Florida
residents please add 6% sales tax.

"A great idea, and some great sounds. Very clean...wildly exotic."
-Jim Aikin, Keyboard July/91
Modern Keyboards #1

Unreal .Svnths #1

FG Bamboo, FG Bass 4, FG
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Unreal Svnths #2

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Modular Svnths #1

gtrings #1

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Unreal Svnths #5

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excellent reputations. I have been trying to
find out WHAT is tested and what may go
wrong if I bought a removable from one of
these companies. I am not interested in fea
tures such as shock-mounting, universal

ner will receive a free set of Ensoniq Signa
ture Series sounds (your choice - compli
ments of Ensoniq) and one of the highly

just tweaks on the ROM FX but completely
new FX, i.e., "Pitch shifter," "Multi-tap-

coveted Transoniq Hacker tee-shirts (com

ware not already in the EPS FX ROM?

delay," "Resonator," etc. that require soft

that an untested drive MAY work just fine

pliments ofTH). Along with the knowledge
that you'll be helping to make mass-storage
a safer place for countless generations of

and that these products have not been tested

Regards,
Scott Fisher [scott@wapsy.uwa.oz]

Ensoniq users. So keep those cards and let

ters coming, folks, and watch these pages

PH:(09) 380 3574.

simply because they have not been tested.

power, etc. I called Ensoniq and I was told

Since damage by third-party products is a

for updates!]

University of Western Australia

big issue in the warranty literature and the

$200 - $400 price difference is rather sig

Nedlands, 6009, Perth, W.A.

nificant for most of us, I think drives of

[Ensoniq - We try very hard to write clear,
easy-to-understand manuals for all of our

companies such as APS, Mac Land, and

products, and we have been commended for

Aurora should be tested as well.

On another point, I strongly believe that En
soniq products deserve better-written and

user friendly manuals. I don't want to play
the unauthorized reviewer here and name

specific items, but I would like to warn

users about hastily-put-together third-party
books sold for a lot of money, taking ad
vantage of the manuals' weaknesses. It

would save some people from getting

achieving those same results. But we realize

that any effort can always be improved
upon, and given the time, resources and

complexity of a product we strive to keep
improving. It would be more helpful to us
for Hacker-ites to offer tangible sugges
tions, rather than general commentary. We
do listen.]

[CS - While Ensoniq does try to test any of
the hard drives that come its way, it does
not have the resources to support an ongo
ing, aggressive testing program. However,
we've (Ensoniq and the Hacker) come up
with an idea that might be of use to those of
you considering making the purchase of a
hard drive, and it is this:
SPECIAL OFFER

If you have any experience with the EPS or
EPS-16 PLUS and a hard drive, let us know

what that experience is. What drive(s) work
or don't work for you? Drop us a line and

manuals may be found in this very issue.]

The new commands that show up in the
EPS-16 PLUS are all related to tests for the
ESP chip - the chip that's responsible for

Greetings TH, fellow hackers.

the digital on-board effects in the EPS-16

PLUS. If you decide to mess with any of
I have a suggestion and some questions.
The suggestion is for future OS updates on
the EPS-16 Plus. When 1 am dealing with
the alpha-numeric display and writing in

these tests, proceed with caution. The

strument names 1 think that it would be

possible to crash your EPS when monkeying

more efficient to have 'A" appear when the
Data-SUder ("Mr Knob," history of the term
eagerly requested) is all the way down and
"0" with the data-slider all the way up. As
Mr Knob is slid up the display would
progress: ABC...XYZ',.*M234567890.1 al

could locate A and 0 quickly (at the ex
tremes of the data slider movement) as good
reference points for the letters and numbers.

data (the stored values for the user-access

a dumpster and draw one - the lucky win

your ears, for that matter.

The algorithm for the ESP chip resides in

EPS, or an EPS-16 PLUS? Are you using

we'll throw all the contributors' names into

around with this stuff. And while it is not

possible to damage your unit, it is possible
to cause it to send tremendous amounts of
signal to its audio outs, and this might not
be too healthy for your sound system - or

ROM, but it is also saved to disk (along

page? 2) Where does the algorithm for the
FX chip reside? As I understand it the data

For our part, when we've received a suffi
cient number of responses, we'll collate and
publish the results - along with any inter
esting anecdotes that might crop up. And

even supposed to be visible to him!her. It is

If you follow the above convention we

a ROVCO 80 for 8 months now, without a
problem," or "I tried the Hoovier 40, and
couldn't get it to work." And be sure to let
us know what you're using it with - is it an

details. And that's all there is to it.

analog tests really are not meant to be of
any use to the end user and aren't really

ways find myself wading through the num
bers and symbols before I get to the letters.

Questions, 1) Can you tell us what all the
new commands are for on the Analog Test

manufacturers' ? And any other pertinent

technical appellation when referring to the
slider. The name finally became immortal
test pages of the original EPS.

let us know - it doesn't have to be anything
fancy, just something like "I've been using

the Ensoniq SCSI hardware, or another

designers using this somewhat less-than-

[TH - A review of one of these third-party

these books.

New York, NY

[CS -In the original layout for the ESQ-I,
where all the various components were first
diagrammed, the data entry slider was
labeled "Mr. Knob" (primarily because one
of the guys at Ensoniq was having a little
fun). The term stuck, with engineers and

ized when Mr. Knob made it into the analog

ripped-off if TH could have brief reviews of

Thank you and best wishes,
Semih Firincioglu

Department of Psychology

that is loaded into the FX chip may be
divided into two categories a) the parameter
ible parameters of the algorithm) and b) the
algorithm itself (the program/code that ac
tually makes the chip produce the noises).
When we load and store FX programs to
and from disk are we just transferring the
parameter data that then calls up the FX al
gorithm from ROM or does the actual soft

ware that drives the chip go with it? In

other words, is it possible for Ensoniq to
release a disk just full of FX algorithms, not
3 0

with the parameter data) when you save an
effect, and is re-loaded when you load the
effect. Therefore, it is possible for entirely
new effects algorithms to be loaded from
disk, thus adding new capabilities to the

signal processing section of your EPS-16
PLUS. Ensoniq assures us that they can and
will release new effects algorithms for the
EPS-16 PLUS in the future. And with all the

development they've been doing on the new
DP/4 processor, they must have at least a

few new algorithms laying around back at
the factory.]

*

Tested and Approved Hard Drives for the EPSs

Your Ship Finally Came In!

Note; The drives listed below are known to be compatible with the EPS and
EPS-16 PLUS at the time of testing. Changes In firmware or hardware by
drive manufacturers may make later versions Incompatible (with the excep
tion of PS Systems, Eltskon, and Frontera whose drives are configured to
work specifically with Ensonlq products). Drives rrof Included on this list may
also work just fine. For up-to-date Information about specific drives call En
sonlq Customer Service: 215-647-3930.

— And it's full of laundry.

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address, shirt size, charge number and card expiration date.

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CHANGE OF ADDRESS
Please let us know at least four weeks in advance to avoid miss

ing any issues. The Post Office really will NOT reliably forward
this type of mail. (Believe us, not themi) We need to know both
your old and your new address. (Issues missed due to late or no
change notification are your own dumb fault—we mailed themI)

CURRENT ENSONIQ O.S.
EPS

2.49

VFX

2.1

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SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
1 2 M O N T H LY I S S U E S
US: $23/year. (All others: $30/year—please use International Money
Order, payable in US funds.) Please make payable and mail to;

1.1

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1.8

1402 SW UPLAND DR., PORTLAND. OR 97221

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R e a d / Wr i t e / F o r m a t E n s o n l q D i s k s o n
IBM-PC's with our Ensoniq Diskette
Manager (EDM) software ($22).
Transfer Sequences to and from Standard
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and EPS-16-I-) includes EDM and only
costs $44.

Also - Spectrum Collections Eon
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tch/Works

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YO ADVERTISERS!
Announcing a new economical size ad for the

Hacker. Our new one-twelfth page ad (the size of
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moving up from the classifieds, dropping back
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And great sounds for many other MIDI
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Convert SQ-80 sequences and songs to

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8038 Morgan Road

owners!) for the price of 5 months - only $150

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VFX-SD or SMF with our SQ80VFX soft

ware ($44).

Reverse it (white on black): $5
Run 6 months (that's 10 to 15 thousand new Ensoniq

31

Transoniq Hacker

B U L K R AT E
U . S . P O S TA G E
PA I D

TRANSONIC HACKER

1402 SW UPLAND DR., PORTLAND. OR 97221, (503) 227-6848

PORTLAND, OR
PERMIT NO. 913

S U B S C R I P T I O N M AT E R I A L

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Publisher: Eric Gelsllnger
E d i t o r ; J a n e Ta l i s m a n

D AT E D M AT E R I A L - T I M E VA L U E

Advertising rates: Please send for rate card.

Rates for authors: Please send for writer-info card.

Our (somewhat regular) Illustrious bevy of writers Includes: Craig Anderton, Chris
Barth, Barry Carson, Gary DInsmore, Rob Felner, Pat FInnlgan, Charles R.
Fischer, Jim Grote, Garth H]elte, Bryce Inman, Jim Johnson, Kenn Lowy, Daniel
Mandel, Sam MIms, Gary Morrison, Michael Mortllla, Earle Peach, William
Pont, Jeffrey Rhoads, Clark Salisbury, Jordan Scott, Mick Seeley, Joe Slater, Kirk
Sllnkard, Bob Spencer and Erech Swanston.

Subscriptions: 12 monthly Issues. US: $23/year. All others: $30/year. Payable

Copyright 1991, Transonlq Hacker, 1402 SW Upland Drive, Portland, OR
97221. Phone: (503) 227-6848 (8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pacific Time).

necessariiy reflect those of the publisher or Ensoniq Corp. Printed in the

In US funds.

Transoniq Hacker is the independent user's news magazine for Ensoniq
products. Transoniq Hacker is not affiiiated in any way with Ensoniq Corp.

Ensoniq and the names of their various products are registered trademarks of

the Ensoniq Corp. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not
United States.

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