Ensoniq Corporation Transoniq Hacker Archive Issue #094 Th 094

Ensoniq Corporation Transoniq Hacker Archive Issue #094 094 Ensoniq Corporation - Transoniq Hacker Archive - Issue #094

Ensoniq Corporation Transoniq Hacker Archive Issue #094 th_094 Ensoniq Corporation - Transoniq Hacker Archive - Issue #094

User Manual: Ensoniq Corporation Transoniq Hacker Archive Issue #094 Ensoniq Corporation - Transoniq Hacker Archive - Issue #094

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IraiKmiq Hacker

Waiting With Baited Breath

Ensoniq Sound Libraries SL-6, SL-7, SL-8

S a m S . M i m s

Product: Ensoniq Sound Libraries — SL-6,

SL-7, SL-8

For: EPSs,ASR-10

Price: $39.95 per set of five or six disks

From: Ensoniq, 155 Great Valley Parkway,

Malvern, PA 19355, (215) 647-3930 or con

tact your local Ensoniq dealer.

I love getting new sounds for my cher

ished sampler. I'm addicted to it. The

problem is that, out of any new batch of

sounds, I usually have to decide what to

do with a lot of samples that are of mar

ginal quality — should they take up valu

able space on my hard drive or should

they be tossed?

With sample collections from Ensoniq,

that never seems to be a problem. Their

latest sounds have all been dynamite, and

the sets I reviewed were no exception.

Here's what I thought...

SL-6

A great collection of brass samples, all of

them very bright and punchy.

TRUMPET SECT (1348 blocks) is a siz

zling clean section and includes fall-offs

and "doights" (fall-ups?), as well as a

nice double-tonguing effect on the patch

selects. This one will see lots of use.

TROMBONE SEC (861 blocks) is a

fabulous sample of three trombones. It's

beefy and energetic — great for the

"Dragnet" theme. I'm not overwhelmed

with the patch selects, but I'll let that

slide. (That was a trombone pun.)

TRUMPETS 507 (507 blocks) is an

economical version of TRUMPET SECT.

It gives up the fall-off and doight patch

selects, but the main sound is still great.

CUP MUTES (785 blocks) is a trumpet

section appropriately muted, and another

great, musical sample. Patch selects give

double-tounging and subtle attack slides.

MT T ROMBO N E S ( 7 85 bloc k s ) i s a

m u t e d t r o m b o n e s e c t i o n . T h i s i s a n o t h e r

good sample, but pitch bending unfor

tunately sounds hoakey, due to the mute

changing in virtual size as the pitch is

shifted.

HARMON MUTES (1009 blocks) is the

trumpet section using this unique type of

mute. Great for jazz gigs.

BS TR OMBONE S (5 5 6 b l o c ks) is a

sample of bass trombones. Great, as

usual.

BR S EN SEM BLE (15 07 bloc ks) is a

mapping across the keyboard of bass

The Independent News

Magazine for Ensoniq Users

I n t h i s i s s u e

Articles:

VFX Quasi-Analog Rez

D a r a J o n e s 5

Miragefreq

Johnny Klonaris 7

Understanding Envelopes - SD & VFX

R o b b y B e r m a n 9

The Perfect Piano - SDs, SQs & KS-32

M a r k C l i f t o n 1 0

Ensoniq's Customer Service Q & A

T o n y F e r r a r a 1 3

B u s i n e s s A s U n u s u a l

Garth Hjelte 19

Reviews:

Ensoniq's SL-6, 7, & 8 for EPSs & ASRs

S a m M i m s c o v e r

Basement Tapes: Bruce Lehrer

Daniel Mandel 4

MIDI Mark's Sound Disks - EPS & ASRs

Bryce Inman 6

Talking Owner's Manual - SQs

Pat Finnigan 15

Ensoniq's Wordsynth - EPSs & ASRs

B i l l S e t h a r e s 1 8

Regular Stuff:

Random Notes 3

Hypersoniq 4

Classifieds 21

Hackerpatches

S a m M i m s & J e f f r e y R h o o d s 2 2

The Interface 25

H a c k e r B o o t e e q 3 1

ISSUE NUMBER 94, $2.50 APRIL, 1993

trombones, trombones, and trumpets — a handy configuration,

indeed. The bass trombone sounds slightly thin, but play all of

these ensemble style and it's BIG — and convincing!

SL-7

Hip drum loops and assorted ear candy for dance grooves.

Nicely set up for use with sequencers, either to lock other stuff

to the loop, or to lock the loop to other stuff (with micro-pitch

shifted versions across the keyboard). The individual instru

ments of each loop are available on certain keys as well, and

they have the characteristic "grundge" of resampled records

and such. (That's good, you know.) There are 13 loops in all on

the five disks, all of them happenin' and lots of fun. But here's

what else you get:

DANCE DINK (38 blocks) is a simple pitched percussive

sound. It's not the greatest thing on its own, but you'll find a

place for it, and at 38 blocks, it's cheap!

BASS-N-GOOB (45 blocks) is nearly as cheap, but you get a

goober (similar to a dink, you know) and a bass sound. The

bass works well with the loops.

THE GOOBETTE (54 blocks) is a nice spiky sound for ad

ding background spice to a track, particularly in fast sequenced

runs.

DANCE DRUMS (972 blocks) is a fabulous kit of TR-808 and

TR-909 drums, along with some assorted rap/house scratches

and percussive sounds. Very cool!

SUPER GOOB (101 blocks) is a percussive electronic sound

reminiscent of the TR-808 cowbell, only smoother. Like the

808 cowbell played with a mallet, sort of. Nice.

SUPER HITS-1 (439 blocks) is four hits: rock band, guitar, or

chestra, and rap. The first and last sound cartoonish, in a cool

way, I mean. Patch selects turn them into scratches.

HIPNESS KIT (176 blocks) is a very happening cheesy syn

thetic drum kit, just like the TR-808 is happening and cheesy.

HIPNESS BASS (50 blocks) is to the bass guitar what HIP

NESS KIT is to a drum set. A very percussive bite makes it cut

through. And all for 50 blocks!

SUPER HITS-2 (254 blocks) is a collection of four more fun

rap hits. They sizzle!

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

12 MONTHLY ISSUES

US: $23/year. All others: $32/year (please use International Money

Order, payable in US funds). Please make payable and mail to:

TRANSONIQ HACKER

1402 SW UPUND DR.. PORTLAND. OR 97221

THAT STRING (1076 blocks) sounds like a wavetable-synth

string patch, with a fast attack and cutoff. The patches add

some nice chorusing and panning.

SL-8

Strings aplenty. This is a magnificent set!

VIB VIOLIN (1347 blocks) is a very natural sounding solo

violin, with a great bite when the keys are played hard. I've

been waiting for this one forever! Patch selects just alter reverb

amount.

VIB VIOLA (1340 blocks) is much like the violin above in

quality and programming. Superb.

VIB CELLO (1380 blocks) seems a bit darker than the violin

and viola, and the vibrato gets much too fast in the upper range.

Still very nice, though.

ARCO CELLO (623 blocks) is, again, a bit dark. Patch selects

add a fifth below, a monophonic patch for doing nice trills, and

octaves.

ARCO VIOLIN (542 blocks) is the same as above, in the

violin department. The aftertouch vibrato works very well.

ARCO VIOLA (490 blocks) is again the same, in the viola

department.

CHMBR STRNGS (623 blocks) represents an ensemble of the

above arco strings (cello, viola, violin), over the entire key

board range. A nice combo of these three files, and cheap on

memory.

PIZZ STRINGS (998 blocks) gives us plucks of solo violin,

viola, and cello. Very smooth.

Ensoniq's devotion to providing a first-class sample library is

surely one of the reasons they sell more samplers than all other

manufacturers combined. The Mirage library was very well

done, and they just keep getting better.

T h e s e s e t s c a n ' t b e b e a t , h

Bio: Sam Mims is a studio session player and programmer in

Houston, and is keyboardist for Richard Elliot. He owns Syn-

taur Productions, a company that produces music for film and

TV and markets sounds for Ensoniq keyboards.

CH A NG E O F AD D RE S S

Please let us know at least four weeks in advance to avoid missing

any issues. Tfie Post Office really will NOT reliably forward this

type of mail. (Believe us. not them!) 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)

2

Front Panol

RND

Ensoniq News

We are pleased to announce the development of the TS-10 Perfor

mance/Composition synthesizer, the new flagship of our line of synth

esizer-based workstations. The 32-note polyphonic (31 when using

sampled sounds) TS-10 offers 6 Megabytes of 16-bit waveform

memory for a total of 254 different waveforms. These high-quality

waves were created from source material that has been gathered for

the last five years of our intensive sound development campaign,

which has resulted in many top artist Signature Series libraries. The

TS-10 has 300 Sound Programs and 300 Performance Presets, which

are combinations of up to three sounds with a custom effect. Sounds

can be combined by simply double-clicking a selection, and the TS-10

has a wide variety of simple editing controls over these sounds, in

cluding mix, pan, attack/release times, brightness, key zone, velocity

range, transpose, detune, controller enables. Patch Select status, MIDI

information and more.

Unique to the TS-lO's voice architecture is the new Hyper-Wave™

mode, which enables the user to select a list of up to 16 different

waveforms and cross-fade between the waves with many creative con

trols. The sounds possible from this architecture range from constant-

time drum and rhythm grooves to ethereal and moving washes of

sound.

To allow for even greater sound possibilities the TS-10 can be fitted

with up to eight Megabytes of optional SIMM memory, enabling it to

read and edit sample disks made for the ASR-IO/EPS family of sam

pling instruments. With four Megabytes of SIMM memory the

ASR-10 can hold 10 sampled sounds, and with a full eight Megabytes

installed the TS-10 can hold 20 sampled sounds. These sampled

sounds can be used in custom Performance Presets and sequences,

with full editing freedom.

The TS-10 includes 66 effects algorithms, many allowing for multiple

effects with individual bussing for greater control in sound combina

tions and for sequencing. Real-time modulation of any effects

parameter is possible for expressive control over the signal process

ing. Each effect has four variations in ROM, giving you access to 264

effect "templates" for your own sound programming possibilities.

The 24-track sequencer in the TS-10 holds 30,000 notes in memory,

which is expandable to 100,000 notes with the optional SQX-70.

Timing resolution is 96 PPQ, and all edits are able to be auditioned to

hear the results before saving to memory. Up to 60 Sequences/Songs

can be held in memory, and these sequences' templates can also be

used to hold 12-part combinations for expanded performance needs.

The 61-key TS-10 also features Ensoniq innovations such as Patch

Select buttons for instant access to four pre-programmed sound varia

tions and a Poly-Key/Pressure keyboard for polyphonic aftertouch. Its

high-density disk drive can store MIDI System Exclusive data from

external devices, as well as sound and sequence data. When a user

edits a sampled sound the TS-10 will only store the edited parameters,

and will not require the user to resave the sample data, freeing up disk

space. The TS-10 has four polyphonic outputs, and can accommodate

two programmable dual foot pedals and a control voltage pedal.

The TS-10 will be available in April, 1993 and has a suggested retail

of $2495.00 (US).

We are also making available a version of the ASR-10 Advanced

Sampling Recorder keyboard with SCSI installed at the factory. The

ASR-10 with SCSI has a suggested retail of $2995 (US), which

represents a $50.00 savings over buying and installing the SP-3 SCSI

interface as an option.

We have adjusted the price of our first three volumes of CD-ROM

sounds for the ASR-lO/EPS-16 PLUS down to $199.95. This cuts the

price of these sound collections in half, and makes the purchase of a

CD-ROM drive and libraries an amazing value for you. Take ad

vantage of this great opportunity!

In last month's issue of the Hacker we announced the discontinuation

of the 32-Voice upgrade for VFX-SD's and SD-l's. This change

resulted from a shortage of SD-1 32-Voice main board materials.

Steve Coscia, Ensoniq's Service Manager, apologizes to the customers

who may have been planning to upgrade for the abrupt cancellation of

the program. Any customers wishing to speak to Steve may do so by

calling 215-647-3930.

Hacker News

Call for writers: We're still looking for DP/4 material!

Call for programmers: We still could really use some more Hacker-

patches for the SQ-1/-2 & KS-32.

W e ' d l i k e t o w e l c o m e P o w e r T r a c k P r o d u c t i o n s t o o u r H a c k e r

family of advertisers.

TRANSONIQ-NET

HELP WITH QUESTIONS

All of the in d i v id u al s listed below ar e volun t e e r s\ Please take th a t into

consideration when calling. If you get a recording and leave a mes

sage, let 'em know if it's okay to call back collect (this will greatly in

crease your chances of getting a return call).

All Ensoniq Gear - Ensoniq Customer Service. 9:30 am to noon, 1:15

pm to 6:30 pm EST Monday to Friday. 215-647-3930.

All Ensoniq Gear - Electric Factory (Ensoniq's Australia distributor).

Business hours - Victoria. (03) 4805988.

SD-1 Questions - Philip Magnotta, 401-467-4357, 4 pm - 12:30 EST.

VEX Sound Programming Questions - Dara Jones, Compuserve:

71055,1113 or Midi-net and Fido-net. The local BBS is the Nightfly in

Dallas: 214-342-2286.

SD-1 Questions - John Cox, 609-888-5519, (NJ) 6 - 8 pm EST.

SQ-80 Questions - Robert Romano, 607-533-7878. Any oT time.

Hard Drives & Drive Systems, Studios, & Computers - Rob Feiner,

Cinetunes. 914-963-5818. 11 am - 3 pm EST. Compuserve: 71024,1255.

EPS, EPS-16 PLUS, & ASR-10 Questions - Garth Hjelte. Rubber

Chicken Software. Pacific Time (WA). Call anytime. If message,

24-hour callback. (206) 821-5054.

ESQ-1 AND SQ-80 Questions - Tom McCaffrey. ESQUPA. 215-

830-0241, before 11 pm Eastern Time.

3

ESQ-1 Questions - Jim Johnson, (503) 684-0942. 8 am to 5 pm Pacific

Time (OR).

EPS/MIRAGE/ESQ/SQ.80 M.U.G. 24-Hour Hotline - 212-465-

3430. Leave name, number, address. 24-hr Callback.

Sampling & Moving Samples - Jack Loesch, (908) 264-3512. Eastern

Time (N.J.). Call after 6:00 pm.

MIDI Users - Eric Baragar, Canadian MIDI Users Group, (613) 392-

6296 during business hours. Eastern Time (Toronto, ONT) or call

MIDILINE BBS at (613) 966-6823 24 hours.

Mirage Sampling - Mark Wyar, (216) 323-1205. Eastern time zone

(OH). Calls between 6 pm and 11 pm.

SD-1, sound programming, sequencing, & MIDI - Eric Olsen,

Pegasus Sounds, (616) 676-0863. Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: 4 pm to 9:30

pm Eastern Time. Sat: 12 to 10 pm. (No calls on Wednesday please!)

SQ-1, KS-32, & SD-1 Questions - Pat Finnigan, 317-462-8446. 8:00

am to 10:00 pm EST.

' ESQ-1, MIDI & Computers - Joe Slater, (404) 925-7929. Eastern time

zone.

HYPERSONIQ

NEW PRODUCTS

Q Up Arts announces the release of "All Drums," 70 minutes of

DDD acoustic and electronic drum tracks with various ambience

and effects. Produced by Michael Welch, the All Drums CD-Audio

disk contains grooves from every genre: Jazz, Urban, World Beat,

Bossa Nova, Samba, Fusion, Carnival, Burlesque, Techno, Myster

ious Moods, Blues, Mickey Hates Jazz, Electro and Rock & Roll. In

addition to the standard snares, toms, full drum sets, mallets,

brushes, etc., the set also includes unique comedy fills. The pur

chase price includes lifetime ownership with no additional licens

ing. Q Up is also releasing "Trails and Reflections" - 20 minutes of

wet-only samples on audio CD. Every sample was captured using

the AES digital in/out on the Lexicon 300 Digital Effects System -

the cleanest reverb in the world. Samples include stadium, long and

short gates, plates and reverse effects. Designed to be combined

(blended, layered, morphed, mixed, merged, etc.) with your current

library of dry sounds. No samples were compressed, equalized or

re-digitized. Either disk;$99.00. For more information, contact: Q

Up Arts, P.O. Box 1078, Aptos, CA 95001. Phone: 408-688-9524.

HACKER BASEMENT TAPES

Tape: Seraphim.

Artist: Bruce Lehrer.

Contact: Ashlay Music, 3908 Georgia Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN

55427.

Organic Seraphim — The Works of Bruce Lehrer

Equipment: EPS and JVC tape deck.

This is an instrumental tape that fits squarely into the round

hole of new age music. It is light and airy. It is bells and

strings and keyboards. It is sparse percussion. However, more

than any of these, it is listenable music that Bruce has

breathed life into in a variety of ways.

Here we have moody head music with a light, rather intro

spective sensibility. When I say Bruce breathed life into this

work, I want to give you a sense that almost literally there is

a living pulse that ebbs and flows. This is achieved partly

with a low cello or bass string voice that bows in and out of

several of the pieces.

One sound of particular interest is what I would call Big Ben.

It is a huge bell sound that sets off JUGGLER on side two.

Even on my Mordaunt-Short speakers (4 out of 5 reviewers

prefer this speaker) this huge bell was magnificent.

Bruce relies on a very symphonic palette, with sprinkles of

bells and vocal pads. It is amazing that with all of the

thousands of sounds available on these instruments most ar

tists really do whittle their choices down to a small group of

sounds from which they play. I suspect it is human nature to

restrict or manage the number of choices.

Daniel Monde!

I think that one way Bruce might expand in the future would

be to explore the uses of more varied sounds within a work

such as this. Many of the pieces contained in Seraphim seem

to overlap. That is what makes the moment of the large bell

sound so special — it breaks up what has already been es

tablished.

Bruce passes my rule of thumb for analyzing sequences. If I

am agonizingly aware of their presence, then something went

wrong. Nothing has gone wrong here. I am more drawn to lis

ten to the flow of the music than to zone in on an underlying

sequence.

Bruce wrote in, "I have spent about 1 112 years on the EPS

coming up with the material for "Seraphim." The equipment

is simple but so versatile. So far I have an offer from ACRA

records in LA, but since I sent out 30 or so copies, I'm still

waiting for all the offers to come rolling in."

Finally I will leave you with some words of wisdom from

Bruce that explain why you should get in touch with him and

listen to his tape: "Sounds can sometimes say what words can

n o t . " M

If you want your tape run through the ringer, err. Hacker, just

mail it off to: Basement Tapes, Tran-

soniq Hacker, 1402 SW Upland Dr.,

Portland OR 97221.

Bio: Daniel Mandel is a songwriter,

sound designer, and has sold pro

audio and keyboard equipment and

produced demo tapes for local

bands.

4

UNAUTHORIZED BREAK-IN

New WAVeBOY disk exposes direct audio input to EPS-16 PLUS Effects

Send any signal through the EPS effects processor, with the new

WAVeBOY Audio-In Effects Disk. Guitar, mic, or line level

audio. Works with all 13 factory algorithms. Disk also includes

Plate Reverb, Non-linear Reverb, and 3-voice Pitch-shifter that

can process external audio and internal sounds. Just $39.95

Also available, the amazing WAVeBOY Parallel Effects Disk.

Four different effects at once. Also only $39.95.

"A Genius-at-work kind of product... I can't imagine any

I EPS-16 PLUS owner who wouldn't want to have this disk..."

-Craig Anderton, TH review, April, '92

Order now! Overseas add $6. PA Residents Add 6% sales tax.

Mastercard or Visa accepted. To order call (215) 251-9562.

Or send cashier check or money order to:

WAVeBOY, P.O.Box 233, Paoli, PA 19301

A V f t R O Y

I N D U S T R I E S

V F X Q u a s i - A n a l o g " R E Z 99

Dara Jones aka 71055,1113

I believe it's prudent to have a variety of analog and digital

synths in order to achieve your own particular sound. You want

a digital sound, you use a digital synth, for an analog sound you

always use an analog. Right? Well....not always. For you analog

purists, I gotta admit there's nothing like a real analog box to

deliver that real analog sound. But the VFX does some mighty

fine tricks that almost sound real enough to be the real thing.

Not to mention the fact that the VFX's a lot more progranunable

and versatile than a lot of these fine antiques. The VFX, how

ever, is different from an analog in many ways. For instance,

there's no "Q" knob to adjust the emphasis on the filter cutoff

frequency. You may find that you have had to hunt in different

places to find that effect. The transwaves are a good place to

look as the waves themselves can be modulated to change their

timbres. This, in conjunction with a modulated filter cutoff, can

be very effective in giving a resonant type sound.

First, select a patch to write over, press SELECT VOICE and

press the button over the first voice twice quickly to solo it.

Then press COPY and select default. This will give us a basis

on w hich to star t. Press WAVE and selec t RESONA NT-3 from

the Trans wave waveforms. You should already begin to hear an

analogish sound and you've barely gotten started! Next, select

ENV1 as the modsource and +99 as the modulation amount.

I wanted to get a nice smooth sweep from ENVl, which can be

tricky as it can tend to sound choppy so I used my trusty Oview

program to give me something graphic to look at. However,

since not everyone reading this will be using Oview, I've writ

ten the parameters as they appear in the VFX:

E N V 1 P a g e 1 : L E V E L S I N I T I A L = 0 0 P E A K = 9 9

BREAK1=94 BREAK2=47 SUSTAIN=21

P a g e 2 : T I M E S A T T A C K = 5 2 D E C A Y 1 = 4 1

DECAY2=70 DECAY3=47 RELEASE=65

Page 3: Change the mode to "Finish"

E N V 3

Page 2 <only>:Change release to +56

OUTPUT

page 1 <only>: Change volume to 72

5

Try it out in the middle register. You should be hearing what

sounds like a resonant filter sweep. Remember, we haven't even

touched the filter yet. But it does need something more, so press

FILTER and set filter 1 up like this:

LO-PASS/2 CUTOFF=077 KBD=+25

M0DSRC=ENV1 M0DAMT=+61 ENV2=00

Leave filter 2 alone. It's already set to its default and won't af

fect the parameters.

I like big fat sounds sooooo...press SELECT WAVE, then press

COPY and select MAKE COPY. Press SELECT WAVE again

and press the button over voice 2 twice quickly to solo the

voice. Press COPY again and select RECALL. This should ef

fectively make a carbon of all voice 1 parameters. Press WAVE

and change the wavesample to PULSE. 1-X from the transwave

waveforms. Try it out and you should notice a very different

timbre than the previous RESONANT-3 wave. Envelope 1 is

modulating this wave and it sounds as if the pulse wave is ac

tually changing shape. Notice how it seems to "close up" for

part of the filter sweep. I wanted to tweak the filter cutoff a bit

for this voice, so press FILTERS on page 1:

LO-PASS/2 CUTOFF=069 KBD=+23

M0DSRC=ENV1 MODAMT=+99 ENV2=+00

Now, press EFFECTS and select the 8-VOICE CHORUS. 1. For

simplicity's sake, I just use the default parameters here, but that

doesn't mean that you programming wizards have to be so

limited. The sky, so to speak, is the only limiting factor on this

here synth.

On page 2 of OUTPUT, set PAN to 87. Press SELECT VOICE

and underline RES0NANT3. Make sure both it and PULSE.l-X

are not in parentheses and that the other four voices are. Go

back to page 2 of OUTPUT and set voice I's pan to 18. You

should notice a nice analogoid sweep and get a nice stereo ef

fect from the differing pan settings.

Press PITCH and set FINE to +5 or so, whatever sounds right to

you.

For a little more bite on the attack try this. Press SELECT

VOICE and underline voice 3. A second press will remove the

parentheses. Press COPY and select default. Press WAVE and

select POTLID-HT from the tuned percussion waveforms. On

page 1 of OUTPUT set the volume to 90. On page 2, select FX2

for the destination bus.

You might want to try pressing the patch select buttons and set

ting different combinations of voices 1 through 3 to sound for

each patch select. Also, try using other transwaves in place of or

in addition to the ones I've suggested.

It's not an Xpander, but it's a decent sound from a more than

decent synth. I wonder what else we can make it do? Hmm... ■■

Bio: Dara works as a horticulturalist by day, analog-hog by

night. She plans to do film editing in the next year or so.

M I D I M a r k S a m p l e s

Bryce Inman

For: EPSs and ASR-lOs.

Product: Sound Disks.

Price: $8 per disk or 6 disks for $35 plus $3 S/H; Demo disk $5, catalog

is free.

From: MIDI Mark Productions, P.O. Box 217, Whittier, CA 90608.

In this day and age when we seem to feel it's necessary to put

warning labels on everything, I would like to propose that En-

soniq warn consumers about the insatiable appetite of the

samplers they sell. Although my EPS-I6 Plus already has

thousands of samples from which to choose, it still begs for more

and leaps joyously whenever I insert a new disk. I just fed my

keyboard six new disks from MIDI Mark Productions and got it

to take a nap. So, let's try to get through this review before it

wakes up again and wants more.

First, let's take a look at disks #82 and #83 — both of which con

tain a number of absolutely marvelous stereo effects with names

like ALIEN CAR ALARM, CRAZY WA and CYBER BUG.

Take note that the operative word here is stereo. Tricks such as

detuning layers and using differing sample start points have been

employed very effectively so that, when heard in a stereo en

vironment, these sounds come alive as they appear to dance

across a three dimensional field. These are all synthesized sound

effects (as opposed to realistic effects such as door slams, car en

gines, etc.) You hear sounds like these in science fiction flicks.

Disks #79 and #80 contain a number of synths: Quark D, Acid

Pad and Happy Meals to name just a few. Most of these are ag

gressive, in-your-face sounds that would work as lead synths or

would provide rhythm keyboards that cut through walls of soimd.

Unfortunately, some of the samples on these disks are looped

poorly — lots of clicks and wobbly loops.

Disk #81 contains 15 separate bass sounds. All of the basses on

this disk are punchy synth basses suited for dance/pop music.

These bass sounds have been sampled well, but none are looped.

I guess it's assumed that you won't need a sustained bass for this

type of music.

A drum set titled "TI/T3 Megadrums" is on disk #91. Most of

6

these sounds have been sampled with reverb and they're all

clean, bright and pack a punch. The patch selects are used to

select backwards-type effects.

I was pleased to find that a number of sounds on these disks have

been programmed so that velocity controls the filters. We're all

familiar with the technique of programming the envelopes so that

the velocity with which a key is struck controls how loud or soft

the soimd is played. The folks at MIDI Mark have gone a step

further and programmed a number of these sounds so that

velocity also controls the opening of the filters. This little adjust

ment gives a lot more character to the sounds. Nice touch.

Beside a few bad loops on the synth disks, the only other gripe I

had was a lack of variations for the patch select buttons. Other

than the drums, there were no variations on any of the sounds.

The final disk I received was MIDI Mark's demo disk. This disk

MIRAGEFREQ

A Design for a Mirage Sampling Tool

This series of articles discusses how to write a program that will

aid in producing tones to help produce good loops on your

Mirage. It also tells you how to get your hands on such a program

for the C=64/128 for the right price (free).

Those of us still in possession of that now somewhat quaint

beast, the Mirage have learned how to deal with restrictions. But

constraint is often the source of inspiration, and creativity (which

leads to weirdness, but that's another thing...).

Anyway, one of the constraints of the Mirage, and all samplers, is

a finite number of sampling rates. This becomes more of an issue

with the Mirage because of the way short loops work. Wouldn't

it be great to be able to get a synth to produce just the right pitch

so that your loops would work out great? Well, read on...!

What I've done is to write a program that generates a pitch on my

C=128 SID chip that I can play to, so that my short loops would

work out right. I later adapted the program to generate MIDI note

and pitch bend commands to make any synthesizer serve the

same purpose (this has the added advantage of making it much

easier to sample a synth directly).

This series of articles is about how I wrote the program and hope

fully how you can write a similar program if you're so inclined.

contains a synth, an organ, a vocal pad, a bass, a drum loop (the

drum loop is from the "Dance Construction Set Sampling CD"

also available from MIDI Mark) and three effects. And, there's

actually a demo sequence on this disk... demo sequences sure are

becoming a dying art. I highly recom

mend that you order this disk. The in

f o r m a t i o n I r e c e i v e d i n d i c a t e s t h a t

MIDI Ma rk ha s app roxi mate ly 90

disks in their catalog. Obviously, I've

only heard a few of their sounds, but

the soimds on the demo disk are pretty

indicative of MM's general style and

quality, mt

Bio: Bryce Inman is a free-lance music

editor and arranger. Although he has

decided to make Texas his home, he

refuses to say "y'all" or "fixin'."

Johnny Klonaris

If you'd like to write such a program, you'll need to know how to

read and write bytes to the MIDI interface of your computer

(often harder than it sounds). Other than that, the ideas should

apply to your computer.

The Restriction...

For the Mirage output hardware to work well, the length of a

short loop has to be a power of two and the start page number

should be evenly divisible by the length of the loop. The upshot

of all this is essentially that one, two, and four page loops are

probably most common for short loops. Much above that and it's

difficult avoid subharmonics. The Advanced Sampler's Guide has

more on this and I highly recommend that you get one of these if

you plan on doing much sampling.

The problem with all of this is that for the vast majority of

pitched samples, we generally want the pitch of the looped por

tion to match the pitch of the attack portion. This puts very

specific constraints upon the pitch of the sound being sampled. In

fact, there are exactly two factors involved:

♦ Input sample rate (Parameter [73])

• Number of waves per page

Given these two, there is exactly one pitch that meets these

criteria. However, of the 80 sample rates available on the Mirage

(without the Input Sampling Filter) only three are within 5% of

an equal tempered scale (however two of these are within 1%!).

This means that you either limit your sampling to A's and Bb's,

or you need to produce sounds that are in between the notes on

an equal tempered scale.

- P a r t i

Notation Notes: Some of my notation might be confusing. For

hexadecimal numbers, I either explicitly say "hex" or I use the

C-language construct of starting with "Ox." My use of subscripts

in formulae is fairly arbitrary and I seem to like to use C=64 to

refer to the Commodore C=64 computer. Deal with it!

Introduction: Huh?

7

So, how do you know what this pitch is and how do you go about

producing it?

One way to do this is to use some device to play a tone that

matches this frequency which you can then tune to. I used the

Commodore SID chip and that program is available.

The other way to do it is use MIDI key numbers and pitch bend

to produce the tone. The advantage of this is that you can then

use it to sample directly from the synth in question (and it can be

implemented on a computer that doesn't have a SID chip). We'll

ta k e a l o ok at th i s i n a b it mor e d eta il lat er.

A B e t t e r L o o k a t t h e P r o b l em

So, the problem looks like it can be broken down into the follow

ing pieces:

• Getting the current sample rate [73] from the Mirage

• Converting this to a frequency

• Producing this frequency

• Communicating with the user

The first three are actually pretty simple and the last one isn't too

bad either since the program has such a well-defined and limited

purpose (famous last words).

Getting the Sample Rate From the Mirage

If you're planning on programming this, you hopefully have done

some MIDI programming before. If not, this may be a bit big for

your first project. Anyway, getting the sample rate breaks down

into three parts:

• Send the Configuration Parameters Dump Request message

• Receive the results from the Mirage (handling errors)

• Convert the data into a sample rate

limit yourself to either reading or writing but not both at the same

time. In this case bothering to send the 0xF7 can cause you to

miss the first byte sent by the Mirage. In any case, so long as you

only have a Mirage connected running MASOS 2.0, there does

not appear to be a need to send the 0xF7. (I send it, but making it

work was not as simple as it seemed.)

...and then receiving It.

This is simply a matter of getting the bytes sent by the Mirage.

The message you will receive is the Mirage Configuration Dump

Data message. This message consists of a four byte header (just

like the one that we sent, except the fourth byte is a 2 instead of a

0), followed by 56 bytes of data. For the purposes of this pro

gram, we're only interested in some of these: specifically the

Sample Time [73], the Input Filter Frequency [74], and the

Cartridge Filter Frequency [93]. The filter values are for some

helpful fun we'll get into later. The offsets for these are shown in

t h i s t a b l e :

Offset Description

0-3 Header (Hex: FF OF 01 02)

4-15 First six values (12 bytes) (not used)

16-17 Sample rate value [73]

18-19 Internal filter value [74]

20-55 more of the message — unused

56-57 external filter value [93]

58-62 last few bytes.

Note that the values are stored in two bytes. Since SysEx mes

sages cannot have the high order bit set (otherwise it would be a

command) the data are sent as two nybbles, lower then upper, as

two MIDI bytes. Calculating the values we need then becomes:

parm73 = bytel7 *16-1- bytel6

parm74 = (bytel9 *16-1- bytel8 ) / 2

parm93 = byte57 *16-1- byte56

Asking for data...

To get the Mirage to send us the parameters we need, we must

first ask for them. The MIRAGE running MASOS 2.0 will send

the sample rate as part of its Configuration Dump Data message.

We have to send a Configuration Parameters Dump Request mes

sage. That message consists of four MIDI bytes:

Hex

FO

OF

01

00

Decimal

240

15

1

0

SysEx start

Ensoniq code

Mirage code

Configuration parameters dump request

The Mirage documentation does not show a SysEx end byte

(0xF7) and in fact the Mirage starts sending as soon as the fourth

byte is received. Whether or not to send the SysEx end depends

on how your are doing your MIDI I/O. If your interface/com

puter/software can send and receive at the same time, I would say

send the byte. However, on simple interfaces, like the Com

modore's the choice is to write an interrupt handling routine or to

or, in C, with the table above in an array named "data," you'd

have maybe something like:

sample_rate = data[17]*16 -i- data[16];

int_filter = (data[19]*16 + data[18])/2;

ext_filter = data[57]*16-i-data[56];

Note that the value sent from the Mirage for parameter 74 is

twice that displayed, thus the division by 2.

It would be a good idea for the program to check the data to

make sure that the message is correct. For example, my program

simply throws away all data until it see the SysEx start (OxFO)

and stops collecting data when it gets all of the data, or a byte is

received that is greater than 127 (0x7F). Actually, this part of the

program (and making it work on two computers with two dif

ferent interfaces!) caused me the most problems. Have fun.

So, now we have the data we need, we can proceed.... ■■

Next installments: using this info to produce a frequency.

8

Understanding Envelopes in the SD

a n d V F X S y n t h s

Part I — Basic Concepts

Robby Berman

A few months ago, a masseuse I know who owns a VFX

called me up and asked if I'd explain envelopes to her in ex

change for a massage. Having once struggled to understand

them myself, I said sure, and before she stopped by for her

lesson I thought of how I might best make the whole sordid

mess clear for her. All to no avail. After several hours of my

labyrinthine analogies, we both had headaches, and I'm not

sure I brought her any closer to imderstanding when to use en

velopes, why or how. And my wife ended up with the mas

sage.

When the Hacker asked me recently to write an article on this

very subject, I shuddered and thought how wise must be other

Hacker writers to have avoided the subject all these years.

Still bothered by my imbroglio with the masseuse, however,

the challenge had some appeal and I accepted it.

In preparing to write this, the first thing I needed to figure out

was exactly why this subject is so confusing. In the shower

today, it came to me in a flash (well, maybe a splash). Here it

is, get ready: Envelopes are generally conceived and shown in

two-dimensional (height and width) terms, and the musical

notes we want to use them on exist only in the fourth — time.

Oooh, heavy. No wonder our heads hurt.

So let's try and ignore all this dimensionality and just say this:

Envelopes shape sound. In the VFX-sd and SD-1 they can

shape the volume of a sound, its pitch, the filtration of its fre

quencies or its place in the stereo field. In Part I of this mini-

series, let's just attempt to tackle this much.

Why don't we start by taking a few minutes to program my

RAW WAVES patch into your VFX/SD. I created this so that

I could audition the ROM waves in my keyboard without the

camouflage of effects, filtering, or enveloping. You might

find it interesting to go through the waves yourself by press

ing WAVE, underlining the upper left-hand field and scrolling

through them all. But do it later.

Anyway, for now, just get RAW WAVES together and play

middle C. What you're hearing is a plain STRINGS wave with

the filter wide open and no FX or enveloping. Notice that the

note will play at one volume from the moment you press the

key until the moment you let go, after which it immediately

switches off. This is because there is no enveloping being ap

plied to the volume of the wave. An envelope would take that

straight voliune line I set to 90 (on the Output page) and add

SD & VFX Prog: RAW WAVES

SELECT VOICEWAVES

Wave Strings 00 1

Wave Class StrlngSound 0* 1

Delay 000 *0 1

Start 00 •• 1

Vel Start Mod -fOO

Direction Forward

1ENV1

MOD MIXER

SRC-1

SRC-2

SRC-2 Scale

SRC-2 Shape

PITCH

Octave +0

Semitone -i-OO

Fine -1-00

Pitch Table System

PITCH MODS

MODSRC Off

MODAMT -

Glide None

ENV1 +00

LF01 +00

FILTER 1

Mode LP/2

Cutoff 127

KBD -(■00

MODSRC Off

MODAMT

ENV2 •fOO

FILTER 2

Mode HP/2

Cutoff 000

KBD ■fOO

MODSRC Off

MODAMT

ENV2 •(•00

OUTPUT

VOL 90

MODSRC Off

MODAMT

KBD Scale +00

LO/HLKej_ _C2-C7_

Dest Bus 5ry

Pan 50

MODSRC Off

MODAMT

Pre-Gain

Voice Prior

Vel Thresh -

FO 1

Rate 35

MODSRC Off

MODAMT

Level 00

MODSRC Off

Delat _oq

"Wavesha'pe" f riangle

Restart Off

Noise SRC RT 00

Initial

Peak

B r e a k 1

B r e a k 2

Sustain

Attack

Decay 1

Decay 2

Decay 3

Release

"KB~Dfrack'

Vel Curve

Mode

Vel-Level

Vel-Attack

ENV2

Initial

Peak

B r e a k 1

B r e a k 2

Sustain

'Attack

Decay 1

Decay 2

Decay 3

Release

'kbI) Track"

Vel Curve

Mode

Vel-Level

Vel-Attack

ENV3

initial 99

Peak 99

B r e a k 1 99

B r e a k 2 99

Sustain 99

"Attack 00

Decay 1 00

Decay 2 00

Decay 3 00

Release 00

KBD Track +00

Vel Curve Convl

Mode Normal

Vel-Level 00

Vel-Attack 00

P G M C O N T R O L

Pitch Table Off

Bend Range

Delay *1

Restrike 00

Glide Time 00

PERFORMANCE

Timbre 00

Release +00

9

shape to it, making it louder, or softer, at different times of

your choosing. It would even affect how quickly the volume

of the note dies away after you let go of the key.

The same type of thing is true of the filtering. As RAW

WAVES is programmed, the lowpass filter cutoff is at 127, so

you're hearing all the treble frequencies contained in the

STRINGS wave for as long as you hold the key down. There's

no shape to what's being allowed through the filter — it's just

wide open all the time. If all your patches were programmed

this way, things would start grating pretty quickly. You could

set the cutoff lower to reduce the high- end content of what

you hear, but suppose you wanted the attack of your note to be

nice and bright, and then wanted the rest of your note to settle

into something more creamy? What we're describing is — not

just filtering — but filtration that needs to be shaped.

The pan position of RAW WAVES is 50, smack dab in the

middle of the stereo field. While it's not unpleasant that it just

sits there, if you wanted it to, for instance, swing over to the

right (or left) after you struck the key, you'd need to add some

shaping to that straight line going up and down the middle of

your headphoned head.

With the pitch, it's the same thing. What you've got in RAW

WAVES is a plain old static pitch, which most times is fine.

But some instruments in the real world, like guitars, actually

go momentarily sharp when their strings are plucked. Some

instruments appear to flatten slightly as they fade away. To

simulate such things, you'd have to have a way to shape pitch,

other than just playing a key on the keyboard. Ooh, envelopes.

Anyway, let it be noted that the common thread here is that

something that's static, a straight line if you will, can be

turned into something more curvy. So much for my attempt at

non-dimensionality. That straight line could be the volume

level of a wave, which left alone is just a flat line that

switches on when you press a key down and abruptly stops

when you let go. It could be a filter cutoff setting, a pan posi

tion or a pitch — all straight lines until you shape them.

That's what envelopes do.

Next time we'll start actually

working with the dang things. ■■

Bio: Robby Berman has escaped

the soybean fields of southern Il

linois and is back in his beloved

Hudson Valley. He's still a

musician, though. His latest

album is "Rings and Rings."

H o w S o u n d s W o r k

Part III: Ttie Perfect Piano

Mark Clifton

Many of you own (or like me) have upgraded to an SQ-1

Plus, and are wallowing in ecstasy over those spectacular

16-bit piano waves. So as a public service, I present to you

lucky SQ-1 Plus (and SD-1) owners this little guide to getting

the most out of those soimds.

This month we'll look at the patch "Something Grand" from

Volume 1 of Latter Sounds "Hardwire" Collection (what

else is new?). This is my all-purpose, super-realistic grand

piano sound, and it took me literally months of tweaking to

perfect. I've noticed in the past that many piano sounds out

there lack the life and responsiveness of the real thing, so I

loaded this patch down with all kinds of spiffy features, such

as super velocity response and simulated keyboard-tracking

auto panning. So without further ado, we shall dive in and see

what this baby's got.

One of the main features that stands out on this patch is the

velocity response. This is an area that I've found lacking in

most sounds, so I decided to make the velocity sensitivity on

this patch the same as a real piano. This means you should be

able to play the entire dynamic range of the piano without

touching the volume slider. The way this was accomplished

was by programming a great amount of velocity sensitivity

in to th e fi lt ers as we ll as vo lume. You 'l l n ot ic e t ha t I 've as

signed the filter MODSCR to VELOCity as well as increase

the Vel-Level of envelope 2 (which I'm using to sculpt the

sound of the filter) to 99. This means that the sound will be

very soft and mellow at low velocity levels, and will become

brighter and punchier as harder playing opens the filters. The

Vel-level of the AMP envelope is set to a fairly high level

too, matching the sensitivity of the filters so that both volume

and brightness change realistically.

Another standout feature is simulated auto-panning. If you

listen to the sound in stereo and play a gliss up the keyboard

from left to right, you'll notice that the panning of the sound

shifts from left to right as well, following your movements.

Normally, to achieve this effect on a synthesizer, you would

program keyboard position to modulate panning. The

10

ENV1 1 2 3

Initial

Peak

Break

Sustain

Attack

Decay 1

Decay 2

Release

Vei-Levei

Vei-Attack

Vei Curve

Mode

KBD Track

ENV2

initial 99 99 99

Peak 99 99 95

Break 60 60 53

Sustain GO 00 00

Attack 19 19 19

Decay 1 48 48 45

Decay 2 99 99 99

Release 30 30 30

Vei-Level 99 99 99

Vel-Attack 00 00 00

Vei Curve Convex Convex Convex

Mode Normal Normal Normal

KBD Track +14 +14 +14

HALL REVERB

FX-1 36

FX-2 25

D e c a y T i m e 2 5

Diffusion 58

Detune Rate 40

Detune Deptfi 12

HF Damping 33

HF Bandwidtti 93

L F D e c a y + 1 1

M O D ( D e s t ) F X - 1 - M i x

B Y ( M O D S R C ) M o d p e d

MODAMT +43

problem is, the SQ doesn't have a pan modulation parameter,

so I had to create a simulation of thi s eff ect. So wha t I d id

was create two oscillators (1 and 2) panned slightly left and

slightly right (in this case, -28 and +28). The two oscillators

are nearly identical except that the one panned left is tweaked

to play more realistically on the lower part of the keyboard,

and the on panned right to play realistically on the upper part.

Then oscillator 1 (the one panned left) is programmed

through the KBD Scale parameter to fade out gradually

toward the upper range of the keyboard, then vice-versa for

oscillator 2. Now, as you play across the keyboard from left

to right, the sound will slowly fade from oscillator 1 to oscil

lator 2, simultaneously changing in character and panning

position. Oscillator 3, which is panned at dead center, was

created to smooth out the transition between oscillators.

using stranger effects can really liven up your sound. Most

piano patches will benefit from a little chorusing, which adds

fullness and sparkle. Just be careful not to overdo it, though.

Too much chorusing can turn the sound muddy, or can create

an undesirable swirling effect if the Rate and Depth are set

too high. For a little funk, feed it through the flanger. For

even more funk, turn the Input invert on. For a sound not un

like a pedal steel, feed it through the Phase Shifter with the

Input invert on. The key here is experimentation. Don't be

afraid to get a little weird and nerdy every once in a while.

After all, synth programmers are the coolest types of com

puter nerds, right? Right.

That's it for now. Next time — lots and lots o' gee-tars! h

Here's a couple more tips. If you want a thinner sound with

more pronounced auto-panning, simply mute oscillator 3.

You can also control the width of the panning by increasing

the pan amounts on oscillators 1 and 2. The modwheel is set

for detuning. To control brightness, change the FCl and FC2

cutoff on all the filters. The sound will get thinner and punch

ier as you increase it, and mellower and fuller as you

decrease it. Also, try feeding the sound through different ef

fects. This patch is fed through a simple Hall reverb effect for

maximum realism (the modpedal increases the reverb), but

Bio: Mark Clifton is a player and composer of Jazz, New

Age, Orchestral and Rap (yes. Rap!) music and an aspiring

Cyberpunk writer who also wouldn't mind going into sound

design or film scoring. His favorite color is the infinite,

star-speckled blackness of space.

11

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F r o m E n s o n i q

Tony Ferrara

Hello, this is Tony Ferrara once again. As always, the ex

planations found here are drawn from questions that Dennie

Edwards and I (as well as other product specialists at En

soniq) have found to be asked most frequently by callers to

the Customer Service line. Although my column this month

was written in response to a number of specific questions

asked by SD-1 users, the following information applies as

well to other current and recent Ensoniq workstations, includ

ing the KS-32 and SQ series, as well as the EPS, EPS-16

PLUS, and ASR-10 samplers. I hope that this installment

helps clear up some confusion about a frequently mis

understood topic, using MIDI clocks versus MIDI Time Code

when synchronizing your sequencer to a multi-track tape re

corder. The following is a typical caller's question:

"How do I get my SD-1 to synchronize with my TASCAM

644/688 multi-track cassette Midistudio?"

Before answering this question, I'll briefly define some of the

terms involved, so that we are all in sync, so to speak. I real

ize that the following explanations only touch upon these

ideas, but hopefully they contain enough information so that

we can distinguish between them, in order to answer the

caller's original question. Since the following topics are

deserving of discussion in much greater detail, a series of

follow-up articles giving somewhat more specific discussion

of each of these MIDI (and other) concepts and their relation

ship to Ensoniq products is in order. Stay tuned. At least for

now, here goes:

MIDI Clocks are part of the MIDI specification, and deal

with the parameters of measures, beats, and sixteenth notes;

the duration of which is relative to the particular tempo. The

SD-l's sequencer transmits MIDI clocks (with Song Position

Pointer data) by means of the "MIDI Out" port, enabling the

SD-I to function as the master to another MIDI instrument

(such as a drum machine) which will follow along as a slave.

In this way, many MIDI instruments can be slaved to the se

quencer of the SD-1, which functions as the master clock.

The SD-1 can also respond in a passive role to such data,

serving as a tone generator.

Song Position Pointer is a form of MIDI Clock information

which instructs a passive device as to exactly where in a song

to begin. It allows the sequencer to "chase" and locate to any

point at which the tape is started. Information is sent such as

measure number, beat, and sixteenth note.

FSK stands for frequency shift keying, a technique that al

lows tempo information to be recorded onto tape, for the pur

pose of driving an external sequencer. It consists of a high-

pitched audio signal, which is recorded onto the last track of

a multi-track format. This can then be converted to MIDI

clocks. A FSK-to-MIDI converter will read back and convert

the sync track, and send MIDI clocks out to the sequencer.

"Smart" or intelligent FSK supports MIDI Song Position

Pointer information.

MIDI Tape Sync is a technology that allows a multi-track

tape deck to lock in with a sequencer. This is done by con

verting the FSK tone (usually recorded onto the tape's last

track) into MIDI clocks that can be used to control a sequen

cer. This allows analog tape tracks to be played back simul

taneously with the sequencer's virtual tracks, with the tape

transport functioning as master to the sequencer.

Midi Time Code is a direct translation of SMPTE timecode

into the MIDI language and protocol. It serves as a conver

sion process between the absolute time measurements of

SMPTE (hours, minutes, and seconds), and the relative

values of MIDI Clocks (measures, beats, and sixteenth notes),

the length of which are contingent upon the song's particular

tempo. MTC differs from both in that it is not actually

recorded to tape; it is generated by an external converter that

outputs MIDI Clocks, which can then drive a sequencer.

SMPTE is a timing code which deals with absolute time in

terms of hours, minutes, and seconds. It is generally striped

to tape and used to synchronize video to audio in a multi

media production.

Now, back to the first part of the caller's original question,

which demands more immediate explanation:

The SD-1 syncs to MIDI clocks with Song Position Pointer

(SPP), not MIDI Time Code. It's easy to confuse these two

terms, as they do sound very similar. By using the SD-1 as a

tone-generator with the internal sequencer's virtual tracks

following MIDI clocks for synchronization, you can lock in

with the analog tracks on the Tascam multi-track tape deck.

Unlike the ESQ-l/SQ-80 synthesizers (which generate their

own tape- sync tones), more recent Ensoniq workstations re

quire MIDI clocks with Song Position Pointer in order to lock

in with live instruments recorded to audio tape. Both the Tas

cam 644 and 688 models have a built-in MIDI Tape Synchro

nizer that will convert the MIDI clocks sent to the "MIDI In"

port of the MIDISTUDIO into FSK tones, which are recorded

to tracks 4 or 8, respectively.

13

The Tascam decks generate smart FSK with SPP, which al

lows the SD-l's sequencer to "chase" to the precise location

in the song at which the tape is started, down to the exact six

teenth note. An external converter (such as the UNITOR 2 by

Emagic, the SYNCMAN III by Midiman, or the Tascam

MIDiiZER) is needed in order to have your instrument

respond to other synchronization protocols, such as Midi

Time Code and/or SMPTE.

Keep in mind that it is far quicker and more accurate to have

the sequencer chase and lock to the tape transport of the Tas

cam 644/688, rather than the other way around. Make sure to

place a high-quality tape in the 644; tape quality is not the

place to compromise sonic quality for the sake of a few cents.

Use one cassette per song and stripe the entire tape with the

MIDI TAPE SYNC (FSK) tone, so that if you later decide to

add additional sections to your tune, you will be more than

covered.

Because of the technical limitations of FSK, however, you

will not be able to change the tempo of the song after you

have striped the tape. Also, there is no need to use the Tas-

cam's DBX noise reduction feature on the sync track, as it is

not an audio track that will be monitored through your sys

tem. Additionally, noise reduction has been known to oc

casionally interfere with FSK, so leaving it off while striping

would avoid any possible snag.

Striping the tape

• Set the Tascam 644/688 to SAVE.

• Set clocks on the SD-1 for INTERNAL on the first SEQ

Control page; the clock source should read CONTROL

CLOCK=INT.

• Put a MIDI cable into the MIDI Out port of the SD-1, with

the other end going to the MIDI In port of the MIDISTUDIO;

The SD-1 automatically transmits MIDI clocks, so you don't

need to worry about enabling the MIDI Clock, as the Tascam

manual alerts you to do.

• Set the SYNC switch on the 644/688 to MIDI.

• Press the SAVE/LOAD switch above the SYNC switch to

SAVE.

• Press the RECORD button for track four to ON.

• Press PLAY and RECORD at the same time.

• A few seconds later, press the PLAY button of your SD-1.

• Set Loop = ON on the SD-l's SEQ Control page, if you

plan to continue to stripe through to the end of the tape.

• Rewind the tape after striping is completed.

Driving the SD-1 's sequencer from the Tascam

• Set the sequencer to receive MIDI Clocks on the first page

of the SEQ Control page; the clock source should read CON

TROL CLOCK=MIDL This puts your SD-1 into passive

mode, whereby the sequencer will be driven by the MIDI

clocks (with Song Position Pointer) converted from the FSK

that you just striped to Track four of the 644, or track eight of

the 688.

• Connect a cable from the MIDI Out port of the 644/688 to

the MIDI In port of the SD-1.

• Turn the Record button of track four on the Tascam to OFF.

• Press the SAVE/LOAD button to LOAD.

• Press PLAY on the 644/688, and (after a few seconds) the

SD-l's sequencer will begin to play; you have now success

fully synchronized the tape tracks to the virtual tracks of your

sequencer.

Do not press PLAY or STOP-CONTINUE on the SD-1 while

receiving external MIDI clocks, as it will not re-start or

chase-lock to the current song position pointer; use your tape

deck as the "master" for control of your virtual tracks (other

than volume), as the sequencer is now slaved to the FSK

tones on track four. This will now allow you to continue

refining your SD-1 tracks by making changes such as editing

effects and busses, switching programs, or even controlling

external modules from the MIDI Out port for timbral variety

and greater polyphony.

I hope this has helped those of you who have been confused

about the SD-1 and MIDI tape sync. I can't really close this

article properly without extending thanks to the following

people at Ensoniq for their help and suggestions in its writ

ing; Bill Whipple, Bert Neikirk, Steve Coscia, Roy Elkins,

and Jerry Kovarsky. As always, more information is only a

phone call away! You all know where to reach me, so I'll be

talking to you soon. Over and out for this month. ■■

Bio: Anthony dreams of a ten record

deal with a major label, a beach front

house in Malibu, and a Ferrari Tes-

tarossa. He presently settles for a

black Ford Probe, and an independ

ent release on his own label, which

was reviewed in the July '92 Hacker.

Although a long-time resident of

Philadelphia, he still refuses to say

"youse."

Surfin' with TOM:

The SQ-Series Talking Owner's Manual

Fon All SQ keyboard variants.

Product: Talking Owner's Manual.

Price: $13.95 + $3 shipping (mail order only).

From: Talking Owners Manuals, 21405 Brookhurst Ave., Huntington

Beach, CA 92646. FAX: (714) 631-5695.

As you probably know by now, I'm one of the SQ answerfolk

of the Transoniq-net. And it's great to see all the applications

and uses people have for Ensoniq gear, especially those people

from other countries (New Zealand, Australia, Finland).

People from Japan even call for information, primarily for

SysEx header codes and stuff (guess what postage on six

poimds of MIDIspec info from Malvern to Japan costs?). Here

in the states, most questions I answer are actually in the

Musician's Manual, albeit coded or buried somewhere. Ques

tions like "How do I change the sound on a track to a ROM

card sound?" to "What does 'Unexpected Event ID=XXX

mean?"' surface occasionally. Even Ed Shaughnessey (Johnny

Carson's drummer) called last week to ask how to turn the

click track off while recording (he's a polyrhythmic SQ-2

kinda guy). So while I ask you Ensoniq surfers to keep those

cards and letters coming, I'd like to suggest an alternative.

These are personal and professional observations, no Slinkard

is intended.

It has come to my attention that A, B, and C below are often

the case.

(A) It's pretty well known Americans aren't the most literate

society on this blue ball. Our newspapers are written at the 5th

grade level, designed to entertain us for about 15 minutes. The

Foy Readability Index, a standard measurement formula, sup

ports the above. Some people's daily reading challenge is their

T V Gu i d e .

(B) You just paid 1.5 bazillion dollars for your SQ. Who'll

admit to reading the manual before they plugged it in and

started tinkering? Sure you did (NOT!)! Only when I couldn't

figure out how to change the effect on a track did I approach

the manual. And it's not the same as (A); we've memorized

what's on cable this month.

(C) The SQ-series of Ensoniq keyboards (as well as their other

products) are highly technical pieces of hardware masquerad

ing as simple musical instruments. Although the manuals are

descriptive, well organized and illustrated, and simpler to use

than any other manufacturer's manuals, they still represent a

technical document to a highly specific technical piece.

Weighting down that left brain-right brain flux with a large

Pat Finnigan

reference book takes more time than most of us are willing to

spend, not only because it's an interruption of the creative

process, but by the time you find out what you're looking for

you've lost that musical idea that took you to the manual in

the first place. Trial and error is, for relative purposes con

cerning the learning curve of musical hardware, successive ap

proximation; no mistakes, no learning. Coming from this

educational perspective, I guess it shows that I was once a

high-school biology teacher.

Enter the Talking Owner's Manuals.

Dan Hakala and associates have not only spent a great deal of

time doing that left brain-right brain dance for you, they've

documented it and recorded it, step by step. They've gone

through numerous brain spasms absorbing the operations of all

Ensoniq equipment, hierarchically organized these operations

into a logical and operable flow, and then recorded a narrative

of these myriad button-presses in a tutorial fashion so that

your brain won't vent. These are so well-produced and docu

mented they carry the official Ensoniq logo.

And did I mention thorough? The introduction consists of

identifying not only the buttons, but how they are organized

into sections, a fact very often overlooked by the most veteran

of users (yeah, me). This introductory tour is performed

without turning the unit on or plugging any cables or pedals

in...

The operation of your SQ-x is then explained in a step-

by-step fashion. You're instructed to set your cassette recor

der's tape coimter to 000 and note where the sections are lo

cated so that you can stop, tinker in one area and explore. If

you get stuck, just rewind the cassette to XXX and begin

again. By the time you're done with side A you'll have al

ready memorized the "direct-dialing" concept of parameter

identification. The sequencer operations are dissected into

both sequence, song and effect functions, and kudos are due to

the effects routing section, the track transpose and muting

operations, and "Edit Song Steps" tutorials. In the "track

copy" tutorial, you're not only exposed to copying data from

one track to another, but clock shifting and transposing the

clone tracks. All of this is presented in a reassuring and

friendly maimer by confident narrator, Tom Piggott. Explana

tion of why the "Dirt Guitar" doesn't sound so dirty when in

serted into a preset with "Warm Chamber" effects is a "branch

and flow" chapter of effects processing, presets and track

zones. Some very slick examples of layering sounds with dif

ferent keyzones, volume, and pan positions are the most

powerful sections of the tape: each step is documented and

demonstrated, then the next key layer is added, zoned and

15

panned, also documented and demonstrated, next track added,

zoned, layered, panned, well, you get the picture. Clear and

concise without being demanding: good stuff here. These guys

use Ensoniq gear in their own post-house; they know it

firsthand...

This tape is a must for all SQ owners; if the other TOMs are as

thorough, I can recommend them wholeheartedly. The TOM

for the SQ would have saved me a ton of work had it been

available in 1990; it tutors slick tricks that took me months to

get to. All in about 90 minutes (your own personal mileage

may vary depending on driving habits). Scott Frankfurt's

original SQl demo, "Tuning in to KSQl" is included (maybe

that's why the Ensoniq logo is present; hmmm?), as is a

3-minute fusion jazz loop in Eb (so, as the manual says, "you

can vamp on just the black keys") and jam a la music-

minus-one (or your kids can pound sharps and flats). I wish

there were more high end on the tape, but after 25 years of

wars with Marshalls and HiWatts I wish everything had more

16k. The tapes are mastered on DAT and duped to commer

cial-grade tape and shells.

So, for $17 TOM will give you individualized instruction for

your SQ-1 on call. Available for all Ensoniq products (except

the DP/4; ASR-10 coming soon), a real boon to novices and

veteran hackers alike. Well conceived, executed and produced,

no Ensoniq owner should be without one. How about your

own private SQ teacher, available any time, all the time, for

$17? These TOMs are such a necessary element of the Ensoniq

foodchain, I wouldn't be surprised if Malvern started includ

ing them with their keyboards in the near future; it would cer

tainly ease Customer Service's load. I held off buying an EPS

Classic until the infamous "Road Test" came along: the

tutorial tape had me up and running in under an hour. TOMs

are not a substitute for the manual, but an enhancement for

SQ, SD, VFX hackers, and an aid you'll use frequently when

you're standing on the 0,0 intercept of the learning curve look

ing east. I personally guarantee (for what that's worth) that

you'll discover shortcuts about your SQ operations that you

wouldn't have discovered anywhere else, and faster than you

could've located it in the

own e r's m anu a l, t m

Bio: Pat Finnigan is a

service tech turned musi

cian who writes secret mes

sages in sequences on his

EPSs, wondering how

much harder he can push

this Malvern silicon before

it reverts back to sand.

C a s e s f o r

biswUi Eq^^eni

Now available direct from factory (except in current dealer

areas) our full line of ATA cases Category I and II

Keyboards: EPS, EPS-16 PLUS, VFX, VFX-sd,

SQ-80, SQ-1, SQ-1+, SQ-2

Module rack cases: 3-space, 4-space, 5-space, 6-space.

(2-space racks available with surface

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Mention the (TH) code number 839 when inquiring to

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16

FINALLY... Y O U R K E Y B O A R D ' S IN S T R U C T I O N S

Y O U D O N ' T H A V E T O R E A D !

As you listen and learn step-by-step, we explain the functions, use

and potentials of your keyboard. With Talking Owner's Manuals^" instruc

tions, you'll quickly learn the layout logic and operational commands

without trial and error to unleash your SQ's full capabilities and power.

Created and presented in a totally different order than your

Musician's Manual, a Talking Owner's Manual™ will save you time,

frustration and struggling to operate, sequence and perform to the max

with your ENSONIQ SQ-1 or SQ-2 keyboard. You listen as your hands

are directed to navigate through the controls so you will be up to full

speed in the shortest time possible.

All content is approved and edited by ENSONIQ to make understand

ing your keyboard clear and easy.

Please Print Clearly

FA S T S E RV I C E VI A U.S . All

COPY and MAIL or FAX this complete

1RMAIL

(ted f o r m t o ;

Talking Owner's Manuals

21405 Brookhurst, #151, Huntington Beach, OA 92646

Make check or money order payable to T.O.M. (US funds only)

□ Send me your Talking Owner's Manual for the SQ-1 and SQ-2 Personal

Music Studio - 90 minute stereo cassette... $13.95 + $3 (S&H) = $16.95

California Residents add tax (7.75%);

Mailing outside US/Canada - Add $4.00:

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ORDER BY PHONE, lillAIL OR FAX - 7 DAYS PER WEEK • PHONE (714) 968-7009 • FAX (714) 965-2145 "Ask for T.O.M.'

Write for ordering information on KS-32, EPS-16 Plus, SD-1, SD-1-32 Voice, and VFX-sd Talking Owner's Manuals^"

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Bill Sethares

Product: Wordsynth.

For: EPSs and ASR-lOs.

Price: $36.95.

From: Ensoniq, 155 Great Valley Parkway, Malvem, PA (215) 647-3930

or contact your local Ensoniq dealer.

For all you recession weary musicians who have stood drool

ing in envy at the latest MACs, IBMs, or ATARIs, unable to

purchase a computer, now you don't need to. Ensoniq has

come out with the ultimate upgrade — Wordsynth. With this

innovative software, you can turn your sampler into a word

processor. Using the keyboard, you type directly on your EPS!

The editing keys allow all the usual cutting, pasting, and for

matting operations that you expect from a moderately priced

word processor. Using the special connector (included in the

purchase price) you can connect almost any printer directly to

the MIDI-out port. "Does it work?" you ask. Well, boys and

girls, I typed this review with nothing more than my old EPS

classic and an Epson dot matrix printer.

Getting Started

Instead of loading in your EPS operating system, you load the

special Wordsynth operating system. This disk also contains

the program and a few demonstration files. After initializing

the keyboard, a special set of characters appears on the EPS

display. This is the Wordsynth main menu, from which you

can load, save, and edit your document files.

All the file access commands work exactly as you might ex

pect. To load a file, hit LOAD, scroll through the files on the

disk using the up and down arrows, and then press ENTER/

YES. Similarly, saving files is the same as when you are deal

ing with sample (or sequences) files. In fact, all the operations

went so smoothly that I hardly needed to read the manual.

The keyboard becomes your typewriter. In its default con

figuration, the twenty six letters are stretched alphabetically

from C2 to G5. The white keys map to lower case letters, but

if you hit any black key along with a white key, then it is capi

talized. There are also several alternate layouts for the key

board. My favorite placed the vowels and all the most common

letters in the center, leaving letters like "z" and "q" on the

fringes. The manual claims that with a little practice, you can

type as fast as on a regular typewriter. Since I'm a slow typist

anyway, that's not saying a lot.

Editing

The biggest test of any word processor is its ability to easily

let you move text around. Wordsynth shines in this area,

primarily because the EPS has numerous buttons that are as

signed to tasks like "highlight, "cut and paste," "search," "find

and replace." Each of the ten buttons to the left of the data

slider is dedicated to one operation, and the documentation in

cludes a plastic label template that slides over the buttons so

you don't really need to remember which button does what. Of

course it takes a few minutes to get oriented, but it's fast once

you learn your way around. Some of the buttons call up sub

menus which select among various fonts, font sizes, italics,

bold, etc. The usual array of word processing features are

available.

Special Features

Wordsynth is more than just a word processor. Using the spe

cial "play text" feature, you can listen to your document. A

special map file assigns letters of the document to specific

samples. The pitch and duration of each sound changes with

textual context, and the overall feel of the document can be

mellow, middle of the road, or rambunctious, depending on the

samples you use and the specifics of your document. The

results can be saved as a MIDI sequence file for later play

back. I had problems getting the sequences to record on the

correct channel. When I called Ensoniq, they agreed there was

a small bug in the code. This will be fixed in version 1.04,

which should be available by the time you read this review.

Gripes

My biggest gripe with Wordsynth is the screen. You can only

see a small portion of your text at any given time. Of course,

this is not the program's fault as it is limited by the undersized

EPS screen. Nonetheless, it makes it hard to get an overview

of the document. On the plus side, the data slider was a fast

and responsive way of scrolling through the text.

Is It Right For You?

Wordsynth is not for everyone. If you already have a word pro

cessor you like, you'll find Wordsynth's capabilities redun

dant. If you don't have a good word processor, then you owe it

to yourself to give Wordsynth a try. The price is right and the

interface is unusual but workable (and might be great with a

bigger display). Using the keyboard to type was surprisingly

easy, and it only took a few hours to learn the program and

type my first letter. The ability to listen to your text files is the

most innovative feature I have seen on a word processor in

years. It's not often that such a groundbreaking new concept is

realized in such a clean and useful form, h

18

/

B u s i n e s s A s U n u s u a l

Garth Hjelte, Rubber Chicken Software

For Starters

With the economy as it is, many more people are turning to

the American dream — starting their own business. If you go

to any financial seminar, this way to financial prosperity is

highly recommended. There are advantages to working for

your own profits instead of someone else's, providing a tax

shelter for your "hobby," having additional income to finance

your musical ambitions, and providing a venue for meeting

people and making yourself known. Or maybe you've got this

great idea that you know people would need, and you want to

profit from your work.

In this two-part series, I want to introduce you to the basics

of starting your own business, in particular, starting a

third-party or music-related company. This is what I am in

volved with with Rubber Chicken Software, and I prefer to

stay within my field of expertise. This month, I'll focus on

the basics of business administration and what it takes to start

and maintain a business like this. Next time, I'll get into

focusing on the technical particulars, with tips on making

your product or service unique.

My Story

I'm not intending to toot my own horn, but I've been ruiming

Rubber Chicken as owner for four years as an EPS third-party

sample company — making us the longest running EPS-

exclusive sample-maker. It's been a long journey. Boy, I feel

like I've seen everything under the sun! (You wouldn't

believe the things I've seen...) I have been completely in

volved with the business, from doing the samples to writing

sales receipts to answering the phone. And I've enjoyed it

(most of the time).

Whatcha got?

Well, if you're going to sell something, you gotta sell some

thing. What's your idea? Is it going to be something people

will need? And how many? Will it be worth your time? These

are all questions that will make the biggest difference in your

enterprise.

Obviously, if you've spent the last six months hacking the

EPS's OS, and you've reverse-engineered it to the point of

customizing some new functions into it, well, that will sell.

There are thousands of EPS owners, and most would be will

ing to pay a reasonable sum for something different, if for no

other reason than to do something different. Look at Wave-

Boy's product. It is usable to a large user base, so with a

small ad and a good review, it is doing quite well. Converse

ly, look at EPS-Sense, a remote EPS parameter programmer

for the PC family. How many EPS owners really program

their own samples to make this product worthwhile? Not

many, as the program's author found out.

Somebody's got to buy your product. Who is it going to be?

If you are going to sell sound samples, give it something uni

que, like make a 10-disk set of Mongolian gongs. As soon as

grunge-rock moves out of the mainstream, and Mongolian

music moves in, you'll have a big wiimer on your hands.

For heaven's sakes, don't be in it for just the money. People

last a lot longer than things do, and always remember, you

are selling to people. Do what you do well. I think there are

certain expected standards for every product to qualify it to

be on the market. Samples should be optimized, computer

programs should be compatible and crashless. Hardware

products shouldn't be fragile or unroadworthy.

B u s i n e s s B a s i c s

Actually, I only want to stress one principle here. Maximize

profit and minimize expenses. And for someone just starting ,

up, that means doing most of the work yourself.

There are some things you have to contract out, like copying,

camera-ready ad-output (Linotronics are expensive!), and

paying the Mongolian Gong player for bringing his antique

gong into your studio. But don't pay someone for stuff you

could easily do. Having your own computer with the proper

software helps a great deal here. Rather than paying for print

ing (which is an bottomless pit for $ to fall into), I produce

final drafts of all my product catalogs, design my own ads,

systemize my mailing list, and even print my own disk labels

in-house. The extra time I spend doing this is manifested in

profit.

Shop around for materials. Can you believe retail stores sell

3.5 DS/DD disks for $1.50 — $2.00 a disk? I buy my disks

bulk (minimum order 25) for 35 cents apiece! For bubble-

wrap disk mailers, it'll cost you 30 cents apiece at the post

office. You can buy them 250 at a time for 15 cents (that's

50% less)! Ask around — people are more than willing to

help you find the best wholesale deals. Although I'm not into

freeloading (everybody should be compensated for their ef

forts in some way), borrow what you can from people (ideas,

gear loaned for better recording. Alchemy for an occasional

sample tweak, etc.), and remember to give back when they

ask you for something.

Setting Up

After you have your product, and feel reasonably sure there's

a demand for it, it's time to set up. First, get the product

ready. Make it look good. Would you buy it? Would you be

happy with it? Give it to a couple of friends, or perhaps be

bold and send it to the Hacker, and seek advice. Next, adver

tise somewhere. If the people you're selling to don't know

you're selling anything, it doesn't do you any good. Now I'll

toot the Hacker's horn. I wouldn't be in business at all if I

had to pay Keyboard Magazine's display ad rates. Since I

only sell Ensoniq-related products, the Hacker is all I have to

advertise in and I'm sure I'm reaching probably 80% of my

market. If you are selling for other instruments (or maybe

you're selling an instrument), try to get mailing lists from

companies who sell to your target-market. It'll cost you, but

those companies aren't making anything holding onto their

lists, either (unless you're competing with them).

Get a business license from your state. It only costs around

$20, and that allows you to go to your bank and open an ac

count under your company name. Otherwise, you have a

bunch of uncashable checks on your hands when you start

selling. And think of a proper (that's the main word here)

company name. Rubber Chicken has been a blessing and a

curse for me. People notice it because it's silly, but I get hung

up on frequently, believe it or not. Make it short and sweet

and catchy, so it will be remembered.

'And consider the following:

• 800 phone nmnber for orders

• Computer invoices

• Separate phone line to keep your business separate

• Separate line for product info only

• Fax/modem download possibilities

• Small business loans from banks

• VISA merchant accoimt with your bank

• Voice mail/pager

• Get familiar with the mail system

• Dealership contacts

Having a Visa/Mastercard account can be a real advantage as

it makes it considerably easier for people to order your pro

duct. Getting a merchant account when you're mailorder only

or first starting can be a bit tough, but it can be done.

Taxes

A principal benefit of running your own business is being

able to write off your expensive gear as a business expense. I

have to have my EPS for my business, so now I can subtract

the cost of that from the income I make. If you're a sole pro

prietor, your business income is considered your personal in

come. If I sell $30,000 in my business, and say I make

$25,000 in my regular job, there is $55,000 I have to pay

taxes on — unless I decrease that figure somehow. You do

that through keeping track of all (we mean all) your expen

ses, taking advantage your personal deductions, and so on.

The main point I'm getting at is that your personal life and

business life blur together, and you can turn what you might

have considered as personal into something that is business-

related, thus giving you an opportunity to decrease what you

report as income. This can be abused, but there are plenty of

legal ways to take advantage of what the government will

allow. You think this is crazy? I do! The government has a

heavy hand in trying to influence what business does, and

"blackmail" within the tax code is one of the ways that it

does it.

Here's a couple final thoughts

Start small. My business, for the last couple of years, sells

about $50,000 a year. That's a lot, but I never expected that.

The best way to approach a business is to start with one

thing, and see what the reaction is. Be encouraged by what

you see, and then do it again and do it better.

Give good customer service. Listen to people and give them

what they want. Be prompt, and (I can't help the cliches here)

show random acts of kindness and selfless giving. Answer

questions but don't be a know-it-all. Learn from everybody,

and always know you have plenty to learn yourself. Do things

for the customer the same way you would want to be treated.

The best attitude a business can have is to be a servant for the

customer. Those businesses succeed in one way or another

every time.

Next installment we'll talk about

some of the technical aspects of

this way of life, h

Bio: Garth Hjelte is owner of Rub

ber Chicken Software, where they

are hard at work developing the

first 16-track digital answering

machine.

BACK ISSUES

Back issues are $2.00 each. (Overseas: $3 each.) Issues 1-38, 61, 67 -

72, and 82 - 84 are no longer available. Subscriptions will be extended

an equal number of issues for any issues paid for that are not available at

the time we receive your order. ESQ-1 coverage started with Issue

Number 13. SQ-80 coverage started with Number 29, (although most

ESQ-1 coverage also applies to the SQ-80). EPS coverage got going

with Number 35 (and also applies to the ASR-10). VEX coverage

(which also applies to the SDs) got started in Number 48. The SQs got

going in Number 63. (SQ articles also apply to the KS-32.) DP/4 cover

age started in #88 (much of which also applies to the ASR-10). Permis

sion has been given to photocopy issues that we no longer have

available — check the classifieds for people offering them. A free back

issue index is available which contains the tables of content for aU is

sues since Number 43.

20

t

Classifieds

EQUIPMENT

$999 EPS;4x/SCSI, all original accessories.

(319) 242-6377.

EXTREMELY RARE "SQ-80 M" - Ensoniq

factory-modified ESQ-M with SQ-80 wave

ROMs. Ensoniq reports fewer than ten were

made. Plays all SQ-80 and ESQ-1 patches.

Includes 2,000 ESQ-1 and SQ-80 public

domain patches on disk format of your choice.

Best offer. Tom McCaffrey. (215) 830-0241.

SQ-80, mint condition. Includes manual,

beautiful hard case, and tens of thousands of

sounds! $1000. Ask for Tom at (315) 442-

6705.

Mac Plus, mouse, kbd., stnd. kbd., pad, docs,

disks, $400. Yamaha PSR-500M w/AC adapt

er, pedal, docs, $400 obo. Spectra Acoustics

EQ, $75. Roland Studio M wAMb expansion,

disks, docs, $950 obo. Buying ASR-10. Call

Pat at 317-462-8446 EMI.

Wanted: EEPROM RAM cartridge for an En

soniq VFX. Also interested in an Alesis Data

Disk or simiUar gizmo that has sys

tem-exclusive recording capability through

MIDI. Call Dave, (302) 368-7324.

EPS with 4x expander, disks, and manuals,

$1000/B0. EPS 4x Expander, SCSI, and

80-Meg SCSI drive $400/B0. Rick, (603)

885-0628.

Ensoniq KMX-8 MIDI Patch Bay. New - Not

Used! $175 OBO. Vias/MasteiCard accepted.

Call after 5 pm. (703) 988-7442.

U S E R G R O U P S / C O N TA C T S

The International Samplers Cooperative is

available for aU sampler users to meet and

trade non-copyrighted, proprietary and non

proprietary samples. We also offer user sup

port via MusoBBS (818) 884-6799, Midilink,

and FidoNet. Check out our newsletter, "The

Loop." For details write: ISC, 20920-47 Ven

tura Blvd, Suite 293, Woodland Hills, CA

91364. Voice: (310) 455-2653.

SAMPLES

Wanted: Roland JD800 samples for EPS-16

Plus, especially stock and custom electronic

piano, pad, and brass sounds. Bill Groener,

15940 SE Arista Dr, Milwaukie, OR 97267.

EPS, EPS-16+, ASR-10 samples you can real

ly use: Grand Piano, B-3, Rhodes, Flute,

Nylon Guitar, Pedal-Steel, etc. Quality not

quantity. Tweaked for months. Minimal

blocks. For sound list write: "Little Buddy

S o u n d s , " P. O . B o x 2 5 4 , S a n d y, U t a h

84091-0254.

Blow-out sale! This is your last chance to get

the complete SoundProcess library for Mirage

with the run-time O.S. on each Disk. I have

the "Lush," "X," "DeMity," "Addy," "Turbo,"

"Keyboard," and now a 1-bank disk of

"SQ-1+" sounds, normally a $160 value, for

$79! Also, used MIDI equipment for sale.

Send a SASE for my list. Bob Spencer, 703

Weatherby Ln., Greensboro, NC 27406.

B I G M I R A G E S A M P L E B L O W O U T ! T h e

famous MINOTAUR 8-disk set of Medieval

and Renaissance instruments is available for

only $80.00! Lutes, viols, harps, bells, krum-

homs, much more! Get 'em while they last!

Minotaur Studios, 52 State St., Canton, NY

13617.

A S R S T E R E O S A M P L E S I N N E E D O F

GOOD HOME! Barry Carson of Transoniq

Hacker and Minotaur Studios fame is looking

for someone interested in buying the rights to

a set of Highest Quality, Stereo ASR samples

of acoustic instruments. Call (315) 379-9763.

ECCENTRIC SAMPLES (Mirage and EPS).

Ethnic, Ancient Greek, Medieval instruments;

Partch creations; Industrial Percussion &

more. Mirage demo tape: $3. EPS demo tapes

(Vol. II or Vol. Ill): $6 each. U.S. funds only.

Demo tapes include disk list. For lists alone,

send SASE to: NIGHTWIND Sound, 170 Mar

Monte Ave., La Selva, CA 95076.

Mirage samples: Plus moving wavesamples all

over. 7 sounds in one bank, much more. List

ings: $1.00. Demo tape: $6.00 (includes list

ings). Mr. Wavesample, 162 Maple Place,

Keypoit, NJ 07735. 908-264-3512. Make

checks payable to Jack C. Loesch.

ASR-10 Hacker desperately seeking sax ...sec

tions, that is. Memphis horns, brass sections

th at re -c r ea te st ax so un d. Wou ld li ke to co r

respond and trade with other Hackers. Brian

Reardon, 595 Theodore Dr., Merritt Island, FL

32952, Call collect (407) 452-7201.

MI RAG E O WNE RS : So Ud S ou ndP ro c es s

patches from DIGITAL DREAMS! Disks

contain runtime version of SP operating sys

tem. Four-disk set including - VOLUME I,

V O L U M E I I , T H E S T U D I O S E T , a n d

SOUND STUDIO 2 for $59.95. Each disk

available seperately for $17.95. Make check/

M.O. payable to Bruce Wallbillich, 18449

Lakefield Ave., Baton Rouge, LA 70817.

MIRAGE SAMPLES. 57 n ew samples for

$30. Most are unusual. 5 disks, $6 each (US

funds). Demo $3. SASE for free listing. Tree-

house Sound, PO Box 18563, Boulder, CO

80308- 8563.

S U P E R B E P S - 1 6 P L U S S A M P L E S o f E - m u

Procussion, Minimoog, K-4, and more, fi:om

the Hacker's Sam Mims, $9.95 per disk.

Post-production quality sound effects samples

for EPS -16 Plu s, a ll f rom dig ita l so urce

recordings, $5.95 per disk, $5.45 each for six

or more. Mirage Disk 1, samples from Mini

moog, DX-7, and VFX, for $7.95. Send SASE

for free listing to: Syntaur Productions, 2315

Mid Lane #44, Houston, TX 77027, or call

(713) 965-9041.

PATCHES/SOUNDS

Wanted: VFX users wanting to trade sounds.

Please send Alesis Data Disk format to : Dave

Musumeci @ 202 Catalina Drive, Harmony

Hills, Newark, DE 19711 or phone (302).

368-7324.

The Hacker's Jack Tolin presents CrossWave

Sounds: The classic drums of the HR-16

(2-disk set; 49 sounds); SYNTH-BITS! - turn

your EPS-16+ or ASR-10 into a synthesizer

with these low-memory samples - Ml Series

(5-disk set; 50 sounds). All disks are $5 each

(foreign s/h - add $5.) To: Jack Tolin, 23 E.

Elm Ave., Quincy, MA 02170.

60 VFX-sd patches created by Jim Grote.

Wide variety of sounds with complete docu

mentation. Call for free Information Packet, or

send $30 for VFX-sd disk to: Jim Grote, 3721

Frances Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45211. Phone:

(513) 661-8885.

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. Also available for the ESQ and SQ-80

are Soundsets 1, 2, and 3. Forty patches per

set, each with 22-page booklet of program

ming notes and performance tips, for $17.95.

Send SASE for free literature. Syntaur Produc

tions, 2315 Mid Lane #44, Houston, TX

77027, or call (713) 965-9041.

SEQUENCES

"Anthony Ferrara, Contemporary Guitarist,"

audio cassette, reviewed in July '92 Hacker.

Send $5.50, check or m.o., payable to: An

thony Ferrara, P.O. Box 14503, Philadelphia,

PA 19115. 24-Hour demo line: (215) 742-

0738.

R A G T I M E A N D N E W O R L E A N S R & B S E

QUENCES on SD-1, VFX-sd DISK: Joplin,

Eubie Blake, Jelly Roll Morton, Professor

Longhair, James Booker, Dr. John. Ten for

$30 + $2 P&H. Perfect for gig break - or fun.

Check or MO to Joel Simpson, 902 Montegut

St., New Orleans. LA 70117. Phone: 504-

943-7321

SOFTWARE

For IBM: Cakewalk 4.0 sequencer, and Dr.

T's Copyist Professional music notation pro

gram. Complete original programs with

manuals. $75 each or $135 for both. Steve,

(206) 565-4701.

21

Trade software for SD-1/32; MIDI for PC

compatibles, software for Bachmanti WS2.

Write to: Sansilvestri Claudio, Via Origoni 9,

Barasso (Varese) 21020, Italy.

Midicastcr is stiU available. The way-cool

operating system that turns your Mirage into a

very capable System Exclusive data librarian,

a 20,000-note sequence player, a disk copier/

formatter, and wave-draw synthesizer is still

av ailable for a limit ed time. For more i nforma

tion, or to order, contact Tim Martin, 1510 S

5th W, Missoula, MT 59801. Phone: 406-

542-0280 And thank you for your support.

O U T - O F - P R I N T B A C K I S S U E S

M.U.G. will provide Out-of-Print issues for

cost of materi^s and postage. M.U.G. Hotline:

212-465- 3430 or write: G-4 Productions, PC

Box 615TH, Yonkers, NY 10703. Attn: TH

Back Issues. Phone: (212) 465-3430.

Photocopies of out-of-print past issues of the

Hacker can be obtained by calling Jack

Loesch, 908-264-3512 after 6 pm EST.

Folks in the New York City area can get

copies of unavailable back issues of the Hack

er - call Jordan Scott, 718-983-2400.

F R E E C L A S S I F I E D S !

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 is

sues. While you're welcome to resell

copyrighted sounds and programs that you no

longer have any use for, ads for copies of

copyrighted material will not be accepted.

Sorry - we can't take ad dictation over the

phone!

ESQ & SQ-80 Hackerpatch

SQ-80 PROG: DLYSET

The Patch: a drum kit with a delay built in. The mod wheel

makes the echoes "ping-pong" in stereo. Playing the hihat with this

delay can yield some really propulsive patterns that work great for

dance music.

The Hack: This patch uses the envelopes to modulate both the

pitch and the amp sections of the synth. Try eliminating one or the

other to see how both parts are necessary to the patch. It is possible

to change the delay times by altering the T2 value on ENVl and 2.

Values of above 50 don't really seem to work, though. There is no

real way to alter this patch for use on the ESQ since it uses the

DRUMS! wave, but it can be used somewhat less effectively with

synth waveforms. SQ-80 owners should try replacing the DRUMS!

SQ-80 PROG: DLYSET B Y : To m S h e a r

O C T S E M I F I N E W A V E M 0 D # 1 D E P T H M 0 D # 2 D E P T H

0SC1 -1 00 00 DRUMSl OFF OFF

0SC2 -1 00 00 DRUMSl ENVl + 6 3 ENVl + 6 3

0SC3 -1 00 08 DRUMSl ENV2 + 63 ENV2 + 63

LEVEL OUTPUT M0D#1 DEPTH M0D#2 DEPTH

DCAl 63 ON OFF OFF

DCA2 50 ON ENVl +63 OFF

DCA3 44 ON ENV2 +63 OFF

FREO 0KEYBD M0D#1 DEPTH M0D#2 DEPTH

FILIbH 1 127 231 OFF OFF 1

FINAL VOL PAN PAN MOD DEPTH

OCA 4 11 " 8LFOl +63 1

FREO RESET H U M A N W A V L 1 D E L A Y L2 MOD

LF01 17 ON OFF SAW GO 01 63 WHEEL

LF0 2

LF0 3 -

LI UL3 L V T I V T1 T2 T3 T4 TK

ENVl -63 -63 00 00 00 00 21 00 00 00

ENV2 -63 -63 00 00 00 00 27 00 00 00

ENV3

ENV4 63 00 00 40L 00 00 54 00 40 00

SYNC AM MONO GLIDE V C E N V O S C C Y C

MODES OFF OFF OFF 00 OFF ON OFF ON 1

SPLIT/LAYER S/LPRG LAYER LPBG SPLIT S PRO SPLIT KEY

OFF OFF OFF ^ ^

G u e s t H a c k e r : To m Sh e a r

wave on all three oscillators with attack transients... all the same for

a delay effect, or different ones on each oscillator for some pretty

weird synth sounds. To tweak the level of the delays, alter the

LEVEL on the DCAl and 2 pages. To get rid of the delay entirely,

turn DCA2's output OFF and do the same for DCA3.

SQ-80 PROG: THUNDER

This patch is Robby Berman's answer to a patch request.

The Patch: This patch, when mixed into a track, sounds fairly

real. Alone, it's somewhat less effective. Experiment with short and

longer keystrokes. Note how the thunder travels across the stereo

field.

SQ-80 PROG: THUNDER BY: Rcbby Berman

OSCI

0SC2

0SC3

O C T S E M I F I N E W A V E M 0 D # 1 D E P T H M 0 D # 2 D E P T H

-2 00 00 N0ISE2 ENV2 + 63 ENV2 + 6 3

-3 00 02 NOISEl ENV2 + 63 ENV2 + 6 3

-3 00 04 NOISEl ENV2 + 63 ENV2 + 63

LEVEL OUTPUT M0D#1 DEPTH M0D#2 DEPTH

DCAl 63 ON OFF OFF

DCA2 63 ON ENVl + 6 3 E N V l + 63

DCA3 63 ON ENV2 +63 OFF

FREO QKEYBD M0D#1 DEPTH M0D#2 DEPTH

FILTER 1 127 00 32 ENV2 +63 OFF 1

FINAL VOL PAN PAN MOD DEPTH

DCA4 1 " 08 LF02 + 63 1

FREO RESET H U M A N W A V L 1 D E U Y L2 MOD

LF01 -

LF0 2 07 ON OFF TRI 63 00 0 0 E N V 3

Lf0 3

L1 L2 L3 LV TIV T1 T2 T3 T4 TK

ENVl + 63 -63 + 20 OOL 00 00 00 63 20 09

ENV 2 -63 -58 -63 OOL 00 00 00 31 63 00

ENV 3 + 6 3 00 -63 08L 00 00 00 13 20 04

ENV 4 + 63 + 63 -63 OOL 54 34 34 54 42 00

MODES 1 SYNC AM

1 M O N O GUDE VC ENV OSC CYC

OFF ON OFF 00 OFF OFF OFF OFF 1

S P U T / U Y E R S / L P R G L AY E R L P R C S P U T S P R O S P U T K E Y

I O F F ^ O F F ^ O F F

22

SQ-1/2 & KS-32 Hackerpatch

Prog:Fog - Surf - Gull

Jeffrey Rhoods

By: Jack Carder

Notes; Play a single note in the zone for each voice. Fog (zone

C2 - G3): This fog horn sound drops in pitch with key release.

Lower velocity brings the sound closer, higher velocity moves it

away. With Gull, the opposite is true — lower velocity moves

the sound further away. The pitch changes are a function of the

length of "key down."

WAVE 1LFO

Select Voice On On On

Wave Class Breath Waveform Inharmonic

Wave WoodFlute Clarinet NolseLoop

Delay Time 0 0 0

Wave Direction Forarard

Start Index 0.

MODSOR LFO

MODAMT 0

Restrk Decay 20 41 20

ITCH 123

Octave -2 +3 -2

Semitone 0+07 0

Fine 000

ENVl +99 -30 0

LFO 0+01 0

MODSOR Off LFO Off

MODAMT 0.

KBD Ptch Track Off Off On

Glide Off Off Off

Glide Time 000

iNV1 123

Initial 00 27 53

Peak 56 00 00

Break 56 43 00

Sustain 38 00 00

Attack 00 00 00

Decay 1 00 03 00

Decay 2 15 47 00

Release 16 17 00

Vel-Level 026 0

Vel-Attack 006 0

Vel Cunre Convex Concave Convex

Mode Normal Normal Normal

KBD Track 000

LFO Speed 038 35

Noise Rate 79 0 0

Level 26 26 0

Delay 53 53 0

MODSRC Wheel Wheel Wheel

Wave Sine Sine Triangle

Restart On On On

ILTER 12 3

Fil t e r 1 2Lo 2Lo 2L0

F i l t e r 2 2Lo 2HI 2HI

FCl Cutoff 055 0127

ENV2 -47 +99 0

FCl KBD +16 +19 0

MODSCR Off LFO LFO

MODAMT 0+10 0

FC2 Cutoff 072 0 0

ENV2 +65 0 0

FC2 KBD 0+28 0

FCl MOD-FC2 Off On On

;nv2 12 3

Initial 94 00 00

Peak 60 74 00

Break 35 82 00

Sustain 00 01 00

Attack 36 14 00

Decay 1 45 10 00

Decay 2 48 99 00

Release 50 22 00

Vel-Level 93 40 66

Vel-Attack 00 06 66

Vel Cun/e Linear Convex Convex

Mode Normal Normal Normal

KBD Track 0+70 0

,MP 12 3

Initial 94 82 28

Peak 99 99 99

Break 59 93 76

Sustain 00 93 02

Attack 23 03 51

Decay 1 60 24 49

Decay 2 73 55 60

Release 49 16 72

Vel-Level 00 19 19

Vel-Attack 00 86 00

Vel Cunre Convex Quikrise Convex

Mode Normal Normal Normal

KBD Track 0+98 0

)UTPUT 12 3

VOL 75 90 69

Boost Off Off Off

MODSRC Off LFO Pitch

MODAMT 0+05 0

KBD Scale Zone Zone Zone

Key Range C2-G3 C6-C7 C4-G5

Output Bus FX2 FX2 Dry

Priority Medium Medium Medium

Pan +98 -98 -98

Vel window 00 0

E F F E C T S —

C H O R U S A N D R E V E R B

(See text)

FX-1

Decay time

Chorus Rate

Chorus Center

Chorus Level

15 FX-2 15

10 HF Damping 12

15 Chorus Depth 20

33 Feedback -40

40 MOD (Dest) Level

Pedal MODAMT 63

The Hack: Obviously a fan of Sun & Surf, Jack's come up

with a pretty good Martha's Vineyard sort of sound. He's chosen

to zone this patch with just a couple of "dead" keys in-between

voices — a nice touch. Here are some ideas that might boost the

realism just a bit. While making these changes, remember Jack's

high and low velocity uses. For the "Gull" — Voice 2: In the

pitch section change ENVl to -91, then alter ENVELOPEl's

shape: INIT 93, PEAK 35, BREAK 50, SUSTAIN 99, ATTACK

55 , DEC AY l 8 5 , D E CAY2 0 8, a nd R ELE A SE 7 4. S tri k e e a ch

key for about one second — unless you want to play with the en

velopes some more! This produces that "screaming" hungry

sound these birds are known for. For the "Fog" — Voice 1:

Simply go to the output section and turn up VOL to 90 and

BOOST to On. (To obtain even more power, you can change FCl

Cutoff to 75.) For "Surf — Voice 3: In the filter section adjust

FCI Cutoff to 078 and FCl Keyboard to -10. And since Jack

decided to let us find our own settings for global effect, I've

added mine to the chart. These settings are not intended for

realism... they just sound good.

Jeffrey Rhoads

Bio: Jeffrey Rhoads has been a key-

boardist!composer on the Philadel

phia Jazz and R & B scene for a

period of time resembling forever. He

h a s a n i n t e r e s t i n c i n e m a a n d h a s

developed some film courses. Jeff still

believes in magic and longs for city

lights.

Hackerpatch is intended to be a place where patch vendors can show their wares and musicians can share their goodies and impress their

friends. Once something's published here, it's free for all. Please don't submit patches that you know to be minor tweaks of copyrighted

commercial patches unless you have permission from the copyright owner. All submitted patches are subject to consideration for mutilation

and comments by Sam Mims and Jeffrey Rhoads — our resident patch analysts. If you send in a patch, please include your phone number.

Requests for particular patches are also very welcome.

Pending Hacker-Requests: SQ-1/2 - An "Elton John" Oberheim Bass patch — like in Rocket Man.

SD/VFX - A sitar patch.

23

SD & VFX Hackerpgtch S a m M i m s

SD & VFX Prog: SAMS*PIANO

By:Sam S. Mims, Syntaur Productions

NOTES: Here is an acoustic piano patch that will hopefully satisfy the pending Hacker Re

quest for "a piano patch better than the standard Classic Piano." It is a modification of

SAMS-PIANO, which was published in Issue #64, but which had several typos that had quite

an adverse effect on the sound (corrections in #65 & #66). The patch uses the standard VFX

piano waveform, but does some pitch shifting (via ENV 1) in Voices 3 and 4 to slide beyond

the normal split points of the multisample. I think youMl like the result The 0* patch select

gives an acoustic piano an octave lower, the *0 select gives an electric piano, and the ** select

combines both grand and electric. The mod wheel turns the grand into an out-of-tune upright.

W A V E S 1 2 3 4 5 6

Wave GrandPno GrandPno GtrHarmo GrandPno GrandPno DpnoTlne

Wave Class StringSnd StrlngSnd StrlngSnd StrlngSnd StrlngSnd Waveform

Delay 000 000 000 000 000 000

Start 44 44 44 00 00 -

Vel Start Mod -46 -46 -46 00 00

Direction Forward Forward Forward Forward Forward -

OD MIXER 123456

SRC-1 .

SRC-2 . .

SRC-2 Scale .

SRC-2 Shape - -

ITCH 123 4 5 6

Octave • + 0 -1 +0 +0 +0 +0

Semitone +00 +00 +00 +05 -07 +00

Fine +00 +00 -06 -28 -28 +06

Pitch Table System System System System System System

rrcH MODS 12 3 4 5 6

MODSRC Off Off Off Wheel Wheel Off

MODAMT - . +16 +16

Glide None None None None None None

ENV1 00 00 00 -29 -29 00

LF01 00 00 00 00 00 00

FILTER 1 12345 6

Mode 3LP 3LP 2LP 3LP 3LP 2LP

Cutoff 014 014 002 021 021 002

KBD +04 +04 +00 +20 +20 00

MODSRC Velocity Velocity Velocity Off Off Velocity

MODAMT +13 +13 +13 +13

ENV2 +78 +78 +75 4-68 +68 +75

I LT E R 2 123456

Mode IMP IMP 2HP 1HP IMP 2HP

Cutoff 059 059 000 63 63 000

KBD +00 +00 +00 +00 +00 +00

MODSRC Off Off Off Off Off Off

MODAMT .

ENV2 +00 +00 +00 +00 +00 +00

OUTPUT

VOL

MODSRC

MODAMT

KBD Scale

_L^HLK^_ _

DesFius

Pan

MODSRC

__ MODAMT.,

Pre-Gain

Voice Prior

Vel Thresh

74

Off

00

74

Off

00

FX1 FX1

50 50

Keybd Keybd

.±20_ +20,__

On On

Med Med

000 000

74

Off

00

"fxi"

50

LFO

-99

"On "

Med

000

74

Off

CO

"FX2"""

50

Keybd

4-20

On

Lo

000

74

Off

00

"FX2"""

50

Keybd

-1-20

On"""

Lo

000

74

Off

00

*fxF"

50

LFO

-f99

On""

Med

000

LFO

Rate

MODSRC

MODAMT

Level

MODSRC

Delay^

19

Off

99

Off

19

Off

99

Off

Waveshape Tri TrI

Restart On On

Noise SRC RT - 00 00

THE HACK: I like this piano patch because it has the sustain that the SD-1

pianos seem to lack. I tried substituting the PIANO-16 waves from the SD-1

(or Mega-Piano VFX-sd) and still liked the original better. For the electric

piano sound, however, the EPNO-SOFT and EPNO-HARD waves from the

SD-1 work nicely replacing the DPNO-TINE of Voice 6.1 also had fun re

placing this waveform with CHIFFLUTE, OCARINA, VOX-OGOHS,

MARIMBA, KALIMBA, SYN-PLUCK, PLINKHORN, and 1+2 HARMS (all

horn the standard VFX). That should give you a pile of new sounds!

- Sam Mims

00 1 4

0* 2 5

•0 36

•• 1 3 6

•NV1 1 2 3 4 5 6

Initial 99 99

Peak 99 99

Br e ak 1 99 99

B r e a k 2 99 99

Sustain 00 00

Attack 99 99

Decay 1 99 99

Decay 2 99 99

Decay 3 99 99

Release 99 99

KBD Track 00 00

Vel Curve Cnvx2 Cnvx2

Mode Norm Norm

Vel-Level 00 00

Vel-Attack -00 00

CM>Z 123456

Initial 99 99 99 99 99 99

Peak 99 99 99 79 79 99

Br e ak 1 49 49 49 49 49 49

B r e a k 2 30 30 30 30 30 30

Sustain 00 00 00 00 00 00

Attack 00 00 00 34 34 00

Decay 1 66 66 66 66 66 66

Decay 2 58 58 58 58 58 58

Decay 3 72 72 72 72 72 72

Release 52 .-5_2__. 52 52

KBD Track 00 00 00 00 00 00

Vel Curve Convx2Convx2Convx2Convx2Convx2Convx2

Mode Norm Norm Norm Norm Norm Norm

Vel-Level 44 44 44 44 44 44

Vel-Attack 00 00 00 00 00 00

ENV3

initial

Peak

Br e ak 1

B r e a k 2

_Sustain_

Attack

Decay 1

Decay 2

Decay 3

Release

Wofrack"

Vel Curve

Mode

Vel-Level

Vel-Attack

99

99

89

55

op

00

40

65

80

36

+~28

Convxl

Norm

17

00

99

99

69

55

00

00

40

65

80

-36 __

+28

COnvxl

Norm

17

00

99

99

75

56

op

00

45

60

80

36 __

+28

Convxl

Norm

17

00

99

99

64

53

op

"oo"

33

65

80

36

99

99

64

53

00

00

33

65

60

36

99

99

71

50

00

00

29

63

80

36

+28 +28 +28

Convxl Convxl Linear

N o r m N o r m N o r m

17 17 28

00 00 00

P G M C O N T R O L

Pitch Table Off

Bend Range 00

Delay X4

Restrike 18

Glide Time 00

E F F E C T S (1 )

Effect Choru8+Reverb2

Decay 41

FXI Mix 39

FX2MIX 25

E F F E C T S (2 )

E F F E C T S (3 )

Chorus Rate 20

Depth 06

Delay 015

Mod 00

Mod 00

Mix 50

Waveshape Sine

MODSRC Modpedal

R e v H F - C u t Off

PERFORMANCE

24

Timbre 00

Release 00

Pressure Chan

The Interfooe

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 - GBnie Network: TRANSONIQ, CompuServe: 73260,3353, 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 Clark Salisbury (CS). Letter publication is subject to space considerations.

Dear Hacker,

1. Hacker - 1 would love to see some articles

on using the EPS sequencer with tape sync. I

am in need of moving to virtual tracking in

my home studio and want to know the best

method of syncing the EPS Classic to tape.

Will any sync do? What kind of sync boxes

ha v e o th er H a c k e r s us ed w i t h s u c c e s s ? Is i t

true that "I syne, therefore I am"?

2. I really appreciate the reviews of samples

for the EPS. Those of us on a budget who

can't go out and buy all the sounds we want

depend on the opinions of the reviewers for a

general idea of the quality of the samples we

buy. Since most samples coming out

nowadays are done on and for the EPS-16+

and the ASR- 10, yet are claimed to be com

patible with the EPS Classic, 1 would ap

pr eci at e it if rev ie wer s w oul d i nc lud e a

"Classic" review also, meaning auditioning

the samples without the effects (as in Pat Fin-

nigan's review of the B3 samples in January,

'93 - thanks!) and, if possible, suggest

specific tweaks that we EPS Classic owners

will have to make to the samples for them to

work on our boards - filter and amp changes

most notably. This would make your

already-valuable reviews even more helpful to

us 13-b i tter s .

3. Ensoniq - A couple of years ago 1 pur

chased your SL-2 set for the EPS-16+ and

E P S C l a s s i c a n d d i s c o v e r e d t h e no w - f a m i l i ar

phenomenon of filter and amplitude incom

patibilities with the EPS Classic. After two or

three letters to Ensoniq, visits to the store

where I had purchased them and even tracking

down the artist who did the samples for En

soniq in the first place, I was still left without

some very basic information. What changes,

specifically, need to be made to 16+ samples

to make them compatible with and sound

good on an EPS Classic? Your packaging

clearly claims, "All sounds are compatible

with the EPS Performance Sampler." I think

that the least you could do would be to in

clude a paragraph in the docs explaining how

w e C l a s s i c o w n e r s c a n t w e a k t h e fi l t e r a n d

amp parameters to make them compatible.

Simply alerting us in the Hacker that we may

need to make some changes in filter and amp

settings is not enough as not all of us know

enough about hacking the filters to make it

sound right on our own. At forty bucks a pop,

1 don't feel 1 should have to do too much

work just to get the samples to play correctly.

1 also don't think it would take too much extra

work on your part to include demos on your

disks for the EPS Classic. If you're going to

call your products compatible, then please

make them compatible.

4. Ensoniq - Very simple yes or no question:

Are you ever going to release the long,

long-awaited OS 2.5 for the EPS? If so, any

guesses as to when? And, if so, how can we

EPS owners get a copy since none of the

music stores have EPS Classics anymore for

copying the OS disk?

Whiningly yours,

Steve Vincent

Tac oma , WA

[CS -1) The EPS should sync just fine to any

thing that sends MIDI clock, although devices

that send MIDI song position pointer will

offer an advantage in that they will allow you

to auto-locate to points within a piece of

music (the EPS will respond to song position

pointer). There are a number of tape sync

devices available from companies such as JL

Cooper, Anatek, and others, any of which

should do the trick.

2) Point well taken.

3) As you've found, there can be some anoma

lies when playing back EPS-I6 PLUS and

ASR-IO sounds on a standard EPS. The first

thing to check out is filter cutoff. On the

EPS-I6 PLUS and ASR-IO, filter cutoff goes

from 0 to ISO, whereas on the EPS it ranges

from 0 to 127. Consequently, if filter cutoff is

set higher than 127, the EPS may have trouble

interpreting the numbers. On the EPS classic,

try moving the filter cutoff point all the way to

0, then back up to a setting that sounds good.

The other problem has to do with the fact that

t h e E P S - I 6 P L U S a n d A S R - I O h a v e a n e w

gain boost parameter. If a programmer uses

this parameter to get a bit more volume out of

a sound, you may have trouble getting the

sound to play back at the correct volume on

the EPS classic. The solution is simply to

check and make sure that the volume for any

wavesample that seems too quiet is turned up.

I'd also like to mention that Ensoniq will soon

be releasing an applications note dealing with

this subject in some detail, along with ap

plications notes on a number of other topics. I

believe that you can request these notes

directly from Ensoniq; you should also be

able to get them from your local dealer.]

[Ensoniq - 3) We have been working on a

more detailed document on editing EPS-I6

PLUS sounds to be played on the original

EPS. We have finished that document and are

sharing it with the Hacker to publish in an up

coming issue. It is also available from Ensoniq

- give us a call and we'll send it to you.

Not to belabor a point, but there are degrees of

compatibility. An Akai sample disk cannot be

loaded into an Ensoniq product, nor can SD-I

sequencer data be loaded into an EPS. That is

incompatibility. EPS-I6 PLUS sounds can be

loaded into an EPS, most with complete suc

cess. When labeling the packages we wanted to

c o m m u n i c a t e t h a t t h e s e s o u n d s c o u l d b e

loaded in, which is true. We did revise packag

ing to more clearly state "some editing re

quired" and now have a document to help you

achieve that goal. We're sorry for any con

fusion and/or frustration we may have caused

you.

4) We are not currently working on the SCSI

copylBackuplRestore functions for the original

EPS.

Regarding copying disks in general, because

our newer products use an HD drive does not

mean that they won't work with DD disks. You

can still copy disks from a newer keyboard that

will work on your unit. Just be sure to use DD

disks and use the "Copy Floppy" command,

which simply reads the total disk contents into

memory and then rewrites it to a floppy.]

Dear Trans,

I n I s s u e # 9 2 I s a w c o m m e n t s a b o u t " N e w

Models." After my blood pressure returned

from the stratosphere, I thought others might

benefit from my thoughts. I put out over

$10,000 between 1984 and 1987, "keeping

up." My last straw was a duplicate of the chap

in that issue who found the value of his

machine down the tube a week after his pur

chase.

All personal comments aside here's what it

took me five years to come to. In 1988 I

dumped all the gear and vowed "never again."

Well, we all make mistakes and I just com

pleted my studio. But now there's a difference.

I view technology as a rising column. Gear is a

form of bubble in that column. It sinks (repre

senting value) as time passes. My purchase ob

jective is to start as high in the column as

finances will allow. That means that (normal

ly) 1 can expect a good bit more life from my

bubble than if 1 bought cheap gear.

I put up what 1 consider a very sizable bubble

this time. I don't really care too much what

comes next since there's little 1 can't do and I

feel that this situation should last for years.

25

Why does this have such a profound effect?

Because nearly everyone in this country has

been conditioned to accept the Detroit

Syndrome, which says that unless your item,

car, computer, keyboard, whatever, is the

latest, you are not with it. Sorry to say it took

me a long time to realize this is rubbish.

The gut-wrenching feeling one has when he

perceives a NEW MODEL as something that

demeans his gear is a very inhibiting factor in

the creative torrent. That idea must be killed.

To do so is very hard. Being satisfied with

what one has is against human nature. This

situation is best described by the story of the

man in south Africa who went to college in

England to study soils. There he was told of

the black clay which contains diamonds. He

spent most of his life and a great deal of his

father's money traveling the world in search

of the clay. At last he returned to his father's

sheep ranch and was told by his father that it

was time he learned about sheep so that he

c o u l d c a r e f o r t h e r a n c h w h e n h i s f a t h e r

passed on. In a downcast mood he went out

and sat beneath a tree contemplating what he

felt was his failure to attain his goal. He dug

his heel into the earth and dislodged a lump of

black clay. What followed we know today as

Kimberly Diamond mines.

Since I finished the studio I have not exper

ienced this level of happiness in my entire

life.

$

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Another discovery I made was that it is a mis

take to use only one company's gear. My sys

tem contains products from Kurzweil,

Ensoniq, Kawai, Alesis, Sonetic, Mackie, JL

Cooper and one piece left over from Yamaha,

(in my opinion the worst offender in the New

Model racket).

If Ensoniq listens even closer they will recog

nize that my bubble concept is really very ac

tive among the buying public. I will never

own a brand new car, promise. Those folks in

Detroit refuse to listen.

In accord with your other readers I am disap

pointed not to see gangs of SD-1 info. But

hey! it's your magazine and there sure are a

lot of other models in the Ensoniq line so I

won't be piggish about it.

Finally, I was very pleased with the article on

event editing by Robby Berman. It helps

greatly to have such a complex subject dealt

with in a logical and concise manner. Good

stuff!

Cordially,

John A. Diehl

Not Yet Recording Studios

(Called "Not Yet" because I'm not yet in

operation.)

DearTH,

I'd like some information on mixing track

v o l u m e s w i t h th e E P S - 1 6 + . I h a v e t h e d a m-

dest time figuring out how best to deal with

this as I sequence and thought maybe one of

your readers or advisors can help.

When sequencing a Sequence Track (as op

posed to a Song Track) it appears that after I

lay down t he t rack I can not recor d an y

volume changes throughout the sequence. The

instrument stays at the volume level I used

during input unless I go back to the

record-add mode as per the manual and set a

new starting volume. Even so, in the "add"

mode, if I try to make volume changes, they

don't take - the volume just stays at the new

starting level.

However, at some points in the sequence, if I

don't record the new volume level all the way

through the sequence, the volume reverts back

to the old volume (usually where I've patched

in some changes) leading me to believe there

must be some way to effect volume changes

in the middle of sequences.

In the Song Tracks, I seem to be able to

record volume changes during sequences that

stick, but is it true that when editing a Song

Track, I have no way to go directly to a spot

in a sequence other than to move by song

steps? This seems very time-consuming if I

just want to add a quick change in the middle

of a long sequence. I have to go to the song

step and wait through the sequence until I

reach the desired spot.

On another matter, is it possible to record pro

gram change messages to my sequencer, to

load a new instrument during a sequence?

I've tried to loEid an instrument during a se

quence while recording in add mode, but the

system asks me to stop the sequencer first.

Thank you very much for your help. I apolo

gize if these questions have been addressed in

previous issues of your publication, but I am a

new reader. I very much appreciate your ser

vices and thank you for spending equal time

on samplers and synths.

Bob Werntz

Freeport, Illinois

[CS - Recording volume changes works dif

ferently for sequence tracks than it does for

song tracks. Whenever you first record a se

quence track, the initial Mix Volume setting

(as determined by the Data Slider and

Up!Down Arrow buttons) becomes the volume

for the track. If you wish to change this set

ting, you can re-record the track (as you've

learned, you'll need to be in ADD mode, or

you'll erase previously recorded notes and

other data), or you can edit the value for the

MV event you'll find at the beginning of the

sequence when viewing the track events using

t h e E VE N T E D I T T R AC K c o m ma n d.

You cannot, however, record Data Slider

moves into a sequence track to control the

track volume dynamically. You can record

volume pedal messages or external MIDI con

troller messages, though, which can be set up

to dynamically control track volume. In addi

tion, you can insert volume change messages

into a track at any point using the EVENT

EDIT TRACK command. Inserting either MV

(mix volume) or VL (volume pedal) events will

allow you to control volume changes at any

point in a track.

The Song Tracks are another story. Data

Slider moves can be recorded when using

Song Tracks. The single caveat here, though,

is that if you record track mix data this way,

then decide to re-record the mix info, the new

mix info will be added to the old mix info.

This can create a certain amount of con

fusion. Therefore, it's recommended that you

sp eci fic all y e ras e a ny pre vi o us mi x in fo

before recording a new mix.

Probably the easiest way to make a "quick

change" in the middle of a long song is to

select the individual sequence in which you

want the change to occur, enter EVENT EDIT

m o d e , a n d i n s e r t a V L o r M V e v e n t a t t h e

point in the sequence where you want to affect

the volume change.

26

As to your other question, you can record

program changes into your sequence, but they

ca n no t b e u s ed to loa d E PS - 16 PL U S I ns t ru

ments. They can, of course, be used to control

program selection on external MIDI sound

sources.]

DearTH,

I am not going to waste your valuable space

telling you how much I appreciate your

newsletter and how much helpful information

I get out of it. With your hints and ideas I am

learning more about the SQ-R than I ever

learned about any other synth. But remember,

I am not going to tell you any of this.

CS requested to write if we want a 76-note

version of Ensoniq's high-end instruments. I

am looking for at least a 73-key synth/

master-keyboard. The KS-32 would be a good

choice if it had a bigger display and sliders

and switches. In live performance there is

nothing like the four sliders that my old Akai

MX73 has to adjust volume or glide time, etc.

Ensoniq, in case you plan a new 76-note

(master-) keyboard please keep sliders and

swi t ches in min d .

Now for something completely different.

There is little third party support for the SQ.

But Ensoniq offers many ROM cards for only

about $140 (resale price in Germany.) Con

sidering that I like to change the patches, I

have to waste valuable INT space to save my

new expensive beautiful Ensoniq ROM

patches. If I buy two ROM cards because I

really like a few sounds I need a $140 RAM

card to store my customized patches. That

makes about $400 for my $1100 SQ-R. En

soniq, this is ridiculous. Most MIDI musicians

own a disk drive with a computer attached to

it. Please offer your patches on the inexpen

sive disk. What really annoys me is that many

sounds for the more expensive VFX/SD are

offered on disk for a reasonable price - 2

banks of 60 sound programs for $19.95 which

would probably be $25 in Germany.

TH, could you publish an article on how to

make an SQ sound put of a VFX/sd sound?

Then I could transfer your VFX/sd hacker-

patches to my SQ-R. And I am looking for a

really cool church organ patch. Could you

help me with that?

Sincerely,

Gerald P. Kaendler

Leichlingen, Germany

[CS - We get a lot of requests for a guide to

converting patches from various formats. This

is not a trivial undertaking, though. I'm not

even convinced that you could do a usable

guide to converting patches. But if someone

out there wants to give it a shot, the Hacker

would be more than happy to look into pub

lishing any articles that might be forthcom

ing.

About the church organs; have you checked

o u t t h e K S - 3 2 R O M s o u n d s ? T h e r e a r e a

bunch of church organ patches in the KS

ROM - if you found one you really liked, I'm

sure you could use the settings as a basis for

your own version.]

[Ensoniq - We also believe that using a MIDI

disk drive or computer for storing SQIKS

sounds and sequencer data is a very cost-

effective idea. To achieve the competitive

price points (and make some models that are

affordable to customers who can't spend over

US$2000) we have to make tough decisions

about features to leave out.

The problem for us in releasing sounds on

disk format is that there are too many formats

to support (IBM, Mac, Atari, PC, NEC in

Japan, AlesislPeaveylBrotherlRoland/Yamaha

disk drives etc., not to mention the various

software titles for each computer). We simply

are not prepared to do that. Since you have a

computer you can keep archiving Banks of

sounds on floppies and reload them into the

INT (RAM) memory as you need. Also please

keep in mind that at your conversion value

when you buy a card for $140 you are only

paying $0.87 per sound (140 divided by 160

sounds). You buy the card and then send it as

MIDI System Exclusive to your computer

(running any number of MIDI programs

available) and you have a very cost effective

system. In the worst-case scenario you add

the cost of $0.87 per sound for the RAM card

storage space and your total cost per sound is

$1.75. Is that really that expensive for new

sounds?]

Dear Hacker,

1 just purchased an SD-1/32 and have not as

yet come across any patches, presets or

whatever giving me a sound similar to the

heavily layered, thick textures intro keyboards

you hear on many pop and R&B songs (usual

ly ballads.) If any of your back issues have in

formation on this or if you can point me in a

direction, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Sincerely,

George Leinenweber

Atlantic Beach, FL

[CS - I'm afraid you'll need to be a bit more

specific about what you're looking for;

" h e a v il y l a y e r e d , t h ic k t e x t u r e s " c ou l d

describe any of a number of sounds.]

CD-ROM be hooked up to it? I called En

soniq and they didn't have an answer. I real

ize hooking it up may void the warranty but

compared to spending $800 for an external

ROM I think it might be worth it considering

the hundreds of sounds available from

CD-ROM. Also is there a way to add more

SIMMS memory to increase sample time for

hard disk type projects? Wouldn't it be nice to

have five minutes stereo 44:1 sample time?

Thanks,

Joe Van Orden

Union Beach, NJ

[CS - Most SCSI-based CD-ROM drives wili

work with the ASR-IO; this would include

most (but not all) CD-ROM drives marketed

for use with the Macintosh computer.

CD-ROM drives manufactured for use with

IBM-type machines (of which the Radio Shack

is one, I believe) will most likely not be SCSI

equipped, and will not work with the ASR-IO

(or EPS-16 PLUS, for that matter).

You can increase the ASR-IO's memory up to

16 meg by populating its four SIMM slots with

4-meg SIMMs.]

[Ensoniq - We support CD-ROM drives that

use Sony or Toshiba mechanisms only. The

Tandy drive does not, so it will not work. It

would take 53 Megabytes of RAM to offer 5

Sirs:

Recently I traded my EPS-16+ in for the new

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a Th 5

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. l e r s Wel c o m e !

minutes of stereo sampling at 44kHz! You

can, however, achieve a lot of production

value out of the ASR-lO's resampling technol

ogy. Create a verse "bed" using a variety of

sounds and then resample that to a new In

strument. Now you can erase the older Instru

ments and sequence and use this audio

snippet as a verse. By creating and resam

pling short sections or phrases you can get a

full-sounding production. That is the Re

corder part of the ASR-IO's name. We will be

sharing some application notes with the

Hacker in the future on tips and trick to take

advantage of this technique.]

De ar H ac ke r,

The last four times I was in Las Vegas, I

couldn't help but notice that nearly every key

board player in town plays an EPS or EPS-

16-F. Excellent choice, eh?

In my nineteen years as a full-time producer,

musician and entertainer I've bought more

keyboards than anybody I know. Two of my

most recent purchases were an EPS-16-F

Turbo and an ASR-10 with 10 meg memory

upgrade.

I was just curious if anybody out there knows

how many original EPSs there are in the

world. And how many EPS-16+s and ASR-

10s?

Sincerely,

Walt Gregory

Sandy, Utah

[CS - According to my scientific research,

conducted under stringent scientific condi

tions by my Lab Assistant, Max (actually,

more of a Lab Retriever than a Lab Assis

tant), and myself, the answer is "all of

them." J

[Ensoniq - While we won't release actual

sales figures we will say that in total there are

more than 60,000 and less than 100,000 En

soniq samplers making music today.]

DearTH,

I'm a VFX owner. As 1 go back to some older

Hacker volumes (mostly from 1990) 1 sec

som e in ter est ing patche s written for the

ESQ-1 and the SQ-80 that I'd love to be able

to convert to my VFX, but don't know how.

Most interesting to me were the programs

"PROPHET" from October, 1990, "ARP 1"

and "FUNORG" from that issue, "8' LES"

(September, 1990) which 1 believe is a Vox

organ, and "VOX 3" from February, 1990. Is

there any way to get these converted to VFX

programs? Also, has anyone ever written a

Rhodes electric piano patch that is published

anywhere?

Thanks for your help,

Dave Musumeci

Newark, DE

[CS-I'm ceroid that I know of no easy way to

"convert" ESQ-l and SQ-80 patches for use

on the VFX or SD series of instruments. If you

have a pretty good understanding of both

these types of instruments, you could probably

pull off pretty good approximations of a con

version, but then, if you had that kind of un

derstanding of these products you wouldn't

have written in the first place. Do write again,

though.]

[Ensoniq - The raw waveform that is used for

a sound on a wavetablelPCM-based instru

ment accounts for much of the sound's timbre.

Since the ESQ-I and SQ-80 have completely

different waveforms than the VFX it is highly

unlik ely th at you wi ll ach ieve t he sam e

results. Since the voice architectures are very

different there is no kind of "automatic" con

version possible.]

DearTH,

I enjoy much of the Hacker and occasionally

find helpful articles. I have owned an SD-1

for about a year now and have found it to be a

tremendous instrument. 1 have two questions.

What exactly is meant by a "pad"? What kind

of a sound or characteristics does a pad have?

Is anyone out there interested in trading se

quences. Either originals or commercial

well-known songs. If so, please write me.

1 would like to see more articles on the SD-1

in the Hacker.

Thank you,

Fred Bass

Worcester, MA

[TH - Watch those copyrights, folks!]

]CS - The term "pad" refers to a sound that's

generally used as a textural component, often

in the background in a composition. Pads are

often characterized by having a soft, slow at

tack and decay, and a mellow tone; think of a

mellow synth-string sound, and you'II have a

pretty good idea.]

[Ensoniq - Another characteristic of a pad is

that it is a sound that is meant to be sustained

to fill space, and to help define harmonic

structure.]

Oh Great Hacker,

I've just sold my EPS-16+ Turbo and just

purchased an ASR-10 with two 4 meg chips. I

have a couple of questions which 1 know are

answered in the manual but I just can't figure

them out.

1. How do you make your own patch select

samples and programs and how do you get

different samples on up key movements to

down key?

2. When changing sound timbres on instru

men ts is t h ere a r eso nan c e fi lte r th a t c an be

changed like on old analog synths?

3. Say you do your first sequence like so -

Drums on track-1, Bass on track-2, guitar on

track-3. Now you go to do sequence two, but

you want to continue to use the same drums

you laid on track-1 of the first sequence. How

can you jump just the drum sequence from 1

to sequence 2 without bringing along the bass

and the guitar?

4. How do you route instruments so you can

u s e d if fe r en t e f f e c t s o n d i f f e r e n t in s t r u m e n t s

while doing a sequence and how many dif

ferent effects at one time?

5. How can you have the ASR-10 sequencer

control another MIDI device on track 5, for

instance, while the other instruments are

ASR-10 s o u n d s on t r a c k 1-4?

6. How do you create your own drum patches

by taking bass drum from one disk, snare

from another and so forth?

7. What does the "10" stand for in ASR-10?

Thanks,

Lost in Manuals

[CS - I) There isn't enough space here to go

into detail about creating your own patch

select variations, but I will give you a brief

guide for creating patch select variations on a

sound you've sampled:

Sample a sound into a new layer of a new in

strument. This will default to Layer I.

Select Layer I for editing - hit EDIT, and un

derline LYR=I.

Co py th e PAR AM S ( no t PAR AM S+ DATA)

only of layer I back into the same Instrument

-press COMMAND, then LAYER, then scroll

to COPY LAYER. Hit ENTER and follow the

prompts.

Assign the new layer to a patch select - hit

E D I T a n d d o u b l e - c l i c k I N S T t o m o v e t o t h e

layer assign page.

As you hold one, the other, or both patch

select buttons, you will see which layers are

active in any given patch. Change these as

signments by scrolling to the layer you want

to turn on or off for the patch you're working

w i t h , an d u s e t h e UP / D O W N b u t t o n s t o tu r n

the layer on or off.

You can now use any of the ASR-10 program

ming tools to make variations for any of these

patch selects; simply program variations for

the layer(s) called up by any particular patch

select combination.

To change layers from key-up to key-down

layers:

Press EDIT, the INST.

Scroll right until you reach the KEYDWN

LAYERS= display.

Enable any layers you want to be keydown

layers by scrolling to their position in the list,

and hitting the Up Arrow button to turn the

layer on.

Scroll right until you reach the KEYUP

LAYERS= display.

Disable any layers you want to be keydown

layers by scrolling to their position in the list,

and hitting the Down Arrow button to turn the

layer off.

2) The ASR-10 includes a sophisticated

multi-mode filter for each wavesample in an

Instrument. These filters do not include

resonance. They can be controlled in rather

more complex ways than might typically be

associated with analog synthesis, although

they are based on standard analog (subtrac-

tive) systems.

3) To copy a track from one sequence to

another:

Select the sequence you wish to copy the track

to. Press Command, then Track, and scroll to

COPY TRACK. Hit ENTER.

Use the Slider or the Up/Down Arrow buttons

to iocate the sequence you wish to copy the

drum track from. When it is showing in the

display, hit ENTER.

P r e s s t h e I n s t r u m e n t - Tr a c k b u t t o n t h a t c o r

responds to the drum track. Press ENTER,

and set the measure range that you wish to

copy. Press ENTER; the ASR-10 should be

displaying the name of your target sequence.

Press ENTER, then select the track you wish

the copy to end up on. Press ENTER, and set

the bar at which you want the copy to start.

Press ENTER. The copy will take place, and

you will be presented with the audition page.

If all went well, you can press ENTER one

final time to KEEP the NEW version of the se

quence.

4) You can use one effect algorithm at a time.

Some algorithms have a number of effects that

they can do at once; your manual can tell you

29

which effects are present at which bus when

using these multi-effect algorithms. Instru

ments can be routed from a number of dif

ferent places. From within a sequence, you

might try hitting EDIT, then TRACK, and

scrolling until you reach OUT=XXXX. This is

the bus routing for whatever Instrument you

have selected. Use the UplDown Arrow but

tons to select among the various routings

available; use the Instrument-Track buttons to

select Instruments for routing.

5) The ASR-IO generally controls other in

strument via the use of MIDI Instruments. To

cr ea te a MI DI In st ru me nt t h at s en d s da ta o n

MIDI channel 5, and occupies track 5, do the

following.

Make sure that Instrument-Track 5 is empty.

Press COMMAND, then INSTRUMENT, and

s c r o l l t o C R E AT E N E W I N S T R U M E N T.

Press ENTER. The display will show SELECT

UNUSED INST=X. If it is showing some other

Instrument than 5, press the Instrument-Track

5 button. Hit ENTER. The MIDI Instrument is

now created.

Hit EDIT, then INSTRUMENT, and scroll to

MIDI OUT CHANNEL^X. Use the UplDown

Arrow buttons to set this to channel 5 (or

whatever MIDI channel you want to send on).

This new Instrument can now be used just like

any other Instrument - it can be saved,

loaded, and sequenced. The only difference is

that it will play no internal ASR-IO voices -

only external MIDI voices on channel 5.

6) I'm Just in the process of finishing an ap

plications note on creating custom drum and

percussion mappings. I'm afraid it's too much

information to reproduce here, but when it's

finished we'll see about running it in the

Hacker. Also, your dealer or Ensoniq should

be able to supply you with a copy once it's

available.

7) It stands for "ten." ]

[Ensoniq - 7) Some people have guessedias-

sumed that it stands for 10th anniversary

(1992 was our lOth year in business). Others

have said that it stands for 8 Instrument plus

the 2 Audio Tracks. We like Clark's answer as

well.]

DearTH,

Got a couple of mostly trivial questions and

requests:

1. I've acquired a couple of sound libraries

for my SD-1 called SSUPGA and SSUPGB.

Any idea where they are from?

2. Most of the programs for Ensoniq's demos

"Fusionaire," "Plaything," "Earcandy," etc.

are not on the SD/VFX sound library list.

Where is this stuff from and why aren't they

being offered in the accessories catalog. Are

there more of these mysterious programs

hiding somewhere?

3. What do the asterisks in names of some of

the VSD sound libraries indicate?

4. How can I create a tempo change at some

point within a sequence? How about a gradual

change at some point over the length of four

bars? How about making volume changes,

like a fade at the end of a song?

5. When sequencing, I often load sound disk

li braries in to in te rn al RAM in se ar ch of

sounds which I copy one by one to cartridge

before using. Since none of my sequences end

up using internal RAM programs this way, I

need a quick and simple trick to get both

cartridge programs and their associated tracks

t o " de f a u lt " to i nt er n a l R A M w h e n I ' v e e i t he r

completed a SEQ file or filled up the

cartridge. That way I can save the new con

figuration to disk as one file, use my cartridge

for another project, and later be able to reload

the old file without having to also look for the

additional program file and waste time trans

ferring it to cartridge. Is there a simple solu

tion to all this? If not, I'd like to see Ensoniq

i n c l ud e s u c h a "d e f a u l t " f e a t u r e o n th e n e x t

OS update.

6. I would like to have a realistic sitar pro

gram for the SD-1. I'm not aware of one on

any of the available libraries and would like

to see one in the Hackerpatch, if possible.

Tha n ks for the for u m,

Becky Dierkson

Lancaster, TX

[CS -I) Um, I kinda hate to bring it up here,

but these are programs created by Sound

Source Unlimited, and as such are copy

righted material. The programs may have

been released in an Ensoniq library, or in a

Sound Source library, but in either case you

may find yourself liable for copyright infr

ingement if you use them.

2) Often the sounds that are loaded and play

wi t h E n son i q d e mos are e di t s o f oth e r

programs in the library, or are created

specifically for the demo and were not in

tended for release in a sound library. If you

like any of the sounds, though, feel free to use

them. You may even want to collect your

favorites from the various demos together,

and save them as a separate file for easy ac

cess.

3) The asterisks generally indicate that the

sound(s) in question use newer expansion

waves, and as such may not be 100% compat

ible with earlier versions of the VFX.

4) The SD-I does not support tempo changes

within a sequence. The only way to affect

tempo changes is to use song mode to chain

together several sequences at different tem

pos. Fades can be handled in song mode as

well. Note that the SD-I does not record mix-

down or pan settings for a sequence track un

less the corresponding song track has been

defined. In other words, if you wish to record

mixdown information for track three of a se

quence which has been chained into song I,

you must be sure to define track three of song

I by placing a sound (any sound) into the

track. Also, I have found that the process

works best if you perform some steps in a

specific order, which is to select the

"Volume" page, begin recording, and then

select the track for which you want to record

volume changes. Make sure that "Record

Mode=Mixdown" and "Edit Tracks=Seq" on

the Seq Control page.

5) Unfortunately, there's no quick way to tell

the SD-1 to "default" to looking at the inter

nal RAM locations for track sounds that

originally came from a cartridge.

6) We'II pass your request along to Sam

Mims, who does the monthly SDIVFX Hacker

patch column.]

[Ensoniq - I) Those programs are the

property of Sound Source Unlimited, and we

must assume that by "acquired" you mean

copied or traded. We have never released or

distributed those sounds. You should contact

the dealer or friend who gave them to you and

let them know they are breaking the law. Then

contact Sound Source Unlimited (800)

877-4778 to arrange some sort of payment.

You didn't know better, but now that you do

we urge you to "do the right thing!"

2) When we release a demo for a product we

also release the right to use the sounds that

are created specifically for the demo. We

allow our dealers to freely distribute demos

(but not sound libraries!). Any demo that

comes with an Ensoniq product or is released

through our dealers are an added bonus for

you. We do not catalog those sounds, nor do

we require the developer to make them adhere

to our usual standards (using all Patch Select

buttons etc.). They are most times tweaks of

existing sounds to optimize them for the piece

of music that was written. Enjoy them!

5) Since the SD-1 can automatically load an

associated group of programs (either 30 or

60) when loading 30 or 60 sequences, we sug

gest that you use Programs that you store in

RAM rather than Cart. By saving programs

with the full sequencer data (not the I Seq op

tion) you will always bring in the correct

programs and sequencer data. When loading

one of our demos like "Plaything" you will

30

see a flashing "P" which shows that there is

associated Program data with that file.

There's actually more to this question than

can be addressed here - we hope to elaborate

on this in the next Interface.]

DearTH:

Any readers who happen to have a DP/4 and

Performer may be interested in the following:

Here is the DP/4 Dump Message and proce

dure f o r it to send i t s entire conte n t s to P e r

former. Create on e track on Performer a nd in

sert the sysex message; FO OF 40 00 00 14 F7

(hexadecimal). (See Appendix A page a-7

Sysex spec.) Create another track in Per

former and Record Enable while you play the

track with the sysex message you just in

serted. Performer will record the sysex dump

sent from the DP/4.

To send the dump back to the DP/4 all you

have to do is Play Enable the track with the

dump on it. Make sure you shut off the track

HACKER BOOTEEQ

with the dump message you inserted.

Sincerely,

Sal Centola

Lansdowne, PA

[CS - Thanks for sharing the info, Sal.]

[Ensoniq - Of course you must be sure that

the DPI4 and the track in Performer are set to

the same MID! channel.]

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we can change our records. This is a monthly publication.

Publisher; Eric Geisiinger

Editor: Jane Talisman

Our (somewhat regular) iiiusirious bevy of writers includes: Craig Anderton,

Rcbby Berman, Barry Carson, Mark Clifton, Gary Dinsmore, Dennie Edwards,

Rob Feiner, Anthony Ferrara, Pat Finnlgan, Charles R. Fischer, Gary Giebier, Jim

Grote, Garth Hjeite, Bryce Inman, John Loffink, Alan Macintosh, Daniel Mandei,

Sam Mims, Gary Morrison, Michael Mortiiia, William Pont, Jeffrey Rhoads, Brian

Rest, Clark Salisbury, Tom Shear, Joe Slater, Kirk Siinkard, Bob Spencer, and

J a c k To i i n .

Copyright 1993, Transoniq Hacker, 1402 SW Upland Drive, Portland, OR

97221. Phone: (503) 227-6848 (8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pacific Time).

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Subscriptions: 12 monthly issues. US: $23/year. Ail others: $32/year. Payable

in U S fu n d s.

Transoniq Hacker is the independent user's news magazine for Ensoniq

products. Transoniq Hacker is not affiliated 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

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

United States.

L. B. Music Sequence Offer

1 FREE Sequence With Every Order

Limited to 1 Free Sequence per Customer - Offer Expires May 1,1993

— Newest Sequences —

A Whole New World - P. Bryson/C. Dion

All Shook Up - E. Presley

Am I The Same Girl - Swing Out Sister

Boot Scoot Boogie - Brooks/Dunn

B r i c k h o u s e - C o m m o d o r e s

Can I Have This Dance - A. Murray

Can't Stop Myself From Loving You - P. Loveless

Ccm't Take My Eyes Off You - F. Valli

Dec e mbe r 1 9 63 - F o ur Seas ons

Do You Wanna Funk - Sylvester

End Of The Road - Boyz II Men

Fr ien ds In Lo w P la c es - G. Br o ok s

Georgia On My Mind - M. Bolton

Have I Told You Lately - R. Stewart

He al T he Wor ld - M. Jac ks o n

I Cross My Heart - G. Strait

I Feel Lucky - Mary-Chapin Carpenter

I Will Always Love You - W. Houston

If You Asked Me To - C. Dion

In This Life - C. Ray

Irish Washerwoman - (Irish Jig)

It's A Great Day For The Irish

It's Raining Men - Weather Girls

Layla - E. Clapton

Masterpiece - Atlantic Starr

Mills Brothers Medley

M o v e T h i s - Te c h n o t r o n i c s

No One Else On Earth - Wynonna

Passionate Kisses - M. C. Carpenter

Rhythm Is A Dancer - Snap

Shake Senora - H. Belafonte (Beetlejuice)

So Many Men, So Little Time - M. Brown

Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough

- P. Smyth/D. Henley

Su m m ertime — Standard

Summ e rtime In Ve nice - S tanda r d

Super Freak - R. James

The One - E. John

To Love Somebody - M. Bolton

Way You Look Tonight, The - F. Sinatra

Wishing On A Star - Cover Girls

YMCA - Village People

M U S I C A N D L Y R I C S N O W A V A I L A B L E ! !

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