Ensoniq Corporation Transoniq Hacker Archive Issue #152 Th 152

Ensoniq Corporation Transoniq Hacker Archive Issue #152 th_152 Ensoniq Corporation - Transoniq Hacker Archive - Issue #152

User Manual: Ensoniq Corporation Transoniq Hacker Archive Issue #152 Ensoniq Corporation - Transoniq Hacker Archive - Issue #152

Open the PDF directly: View PDF .
Page Count: 16

-

Postcards

from

PARIS

Craig

Anderton

Seriously,

PARIS is here - a

cross-platform, hardware/soft-

ware

combo

that consists

of

a choice

of

audio interfaces,

EDS-I000

PCI card (with Mac

and Windows drivers), Control

16

"human

inter-

face," and hard

disk

recording software.

The hardware is a joy. The 20-bit audio interface

sounds great and also offers SPDIF I/O. The Con-

trol

16

is

a compact, ergonomic hardware control

____

c,

__

_

',-

,-

_

~...rJ

____

......

_.

_.--0

__

__

.~...c.._\

The hardware

is

a joy. The 20-bit audio interface

sounds great and also offers SPDIF I/O. The Con-

trol 16

is

a compact, ergonomic hardware control

surface with 16 long-throw channel faders, master

fader, jog/shuttle/editin

g!

data entry wheel, trans-

port buttons, keypad,

EQ

/aux send/pan adjust-

ments, and numerous buttons for functions such as

mute, solo, punch, loop set,

jump

to auto-location

markers, etc.

Two

nulling LEDs simplify automa-

tion (sliding the fader until the

LED

s go

out

matches the

fader's

physical position with the

programmed value). Overall, it 's a joy to use.

The

PCI

sound card includes six 24-bit DSP chips.

These are the engines behind PARIS's onboard

signal processing, real time action, and smooth

"feel." Using dedicated hardware is far more

powerful than making the host computer processor

do everything. When you move a fader,

change

The

Independent

Newsletter for Ensoniq

Users

In This Issue

..

. .

Articles:

Postcards from PARIS

Craig Anderton ................................

cover

ASR-X versus ASR,IO

Eric Montgomery .

....

................

..

............. 4

Weaving the Wave el-Cheap-o

J.

D.

Ryan ....

..

....

....

..

..

............................. 5

Beating a Creative Block

Jeffrey Fisher ..........

......

..

..

..

..

..

............... 6

Reviews

:

AudioWrx.: Piano Sample Collection

Pat Finnigan ..................................

..

...... 3

Basement Tapes: Dirk Nusink

Steve Vincent ........................

..

................ 7

Regular

stuff

:

Random Notes ........................................ 2

Hypersoniq

....

....................................

..

..

..

2

The Interface ...................

..

: .................... 9

Classifieds ...... ............... ....

..

.

..

..............

13

Random Notes

..

...................................... 2

Hypersoniq ..........................................

....

2

The

Interface ..............

..

.

....

: .................... 9

Classifieds

..

. ..................

..

..

.....

..

...

..

.......

13

Hacker Booteeq .................................... 14

EQ, pan, or whatever, the action

is

instan-

taneous. Couple this with the Control 16, and

the result

is

a system that can please

even

the

impatient.

Software

You'll

need a big monitor running

at

1024 X

768 -just fitting the mixer on screen takes a

lot

of

space. PARIS can open Sound

De

signer

II

and W A V files, as well as the nati ve PAR

IS

Postcards

from

P

S

‘

Articles:

A

Craig

Anderton

,._

one

h

e-0

Craig

Anderton

..............................

..

cover

313

was

C

a\“'

i

here

1

1119'

e

1“

.

at

Sgt

us

°am

on1‘*“e

an‘?

145

13

£138

e

E115

main

{X13

5.“

91$

X1’

-33'.

the

R“

1

flag,

5°

“d

the“

than

ASR-X

VETSUS

ASR-10

-

'

T\

\-16

oi!

1-,6

.-

3

but

5

.

;1¢'

a'<-*0

x

-

ht

.

11°

_

e9

'\',v

<33‘

6

and

s

6

to

,,ac_

5

“wee

ted

rm

to

than

Clio;

acheg

1

out

oi

Eric

Montgomery

..................................

..

4

o

-

e

‘r\3-

ca

_

<18

1

r.iI-

n

6

Dear

J

a"

'

6

?\_afin

d

£0-L‘

T’

‘room

‘.0

tail

‘Ci

aroufld

and

-£63

d

'

-he

T2;

to

S63

O»:

1

eaule

Owl

we

ogwq

hose

{we

9,

e°

0“

““

185°“

all»

“

W‘

e

1°

¢ee¢

-me‘

an°

""

~

Weaving

the

Wave

el-Cheap-o

‘

'

5

J

a

3'

J.

Du

R

an

I

0 o o

u

o

0

0

0

o

0

I

u

uuunnmanunouloo

o

o u

Q

Q

u u

Q

u

n

oouoovlo

5

Minna

‘

Ova;

we

got

1

p

iount‘-3

um?

P-as

a

I93

1“,-e

°5i_e,¢

no

J’

.

I

N»

e

1366

df-3-fie

3'1-Y‘

fleqaf-at

9

I

he

‘H

‘

-

.

Bung-,'5

ea

Iobxe

a

he

P13“

:91

the

eoi“?3'et

on

the

Sun

‘*3

Se.

Y"

aovr“

lea

W1

,;<,er>°-

:8

as

he

as!

O0

t\\“°

¢1a‘~'-'>°

W;

Beating

aCreative

Block

Q

P

s\'-“twin

to-°"""'

in

°i

a

n‘-5

are

ex

broke

a

Pro?

elwq

anti?‘

iiectu

c\\°d

t

so"

f°““n

1

Pie

ea‘

x435

t

cl‘

the

8

ar°"‘

acre‘

“age

*

the“-i

‘L

1

fee

Jefirey

Fisher

..

..................

.......

..6

there

11.

‘ha

d\).'-ting

Dd

tn

1;

Bqen

13-nq

me

Oi.

5|

bu

';_b‘I'

from

3%

‘=3?-‘.33-5

_

_

oi‘-*1’

awnaolenl

-10¢)

":“%ous-

so

»¢_ar15*“q

_

rfifle

C

'LQt-

O

utliu

-Le

3-

t

X

6

W

und

‘LO

i

I

a

Pea

1e

‘mi

3'05

“O

yiaC

ani

w

“is

wee

37‘?

RQV'"9W$.

15

'15

11$‘

“qhtt

k

poi’.-T‘

an

a

6

mo-g8

ta’

AR

a

no

e

?

e

wt

o 1

1

1e

5963

‘na"°

D

\‘°‘

a

W’

Q80?

here

a5

1

AudioWrx:

Piano

Sample

Collection

se@“°

aioun

Se

‘Lite

and

t

tgafds

gave“

@3116’

6,3.

Ia

905

I

me‘

PatFinnigon

....................

..................

..

3

Lit!-1°

table

h

_

q

You

moacgei

£0

cot1\i°i

be

geniunat

\-Joe

B

1'11

rY°“e

‘.131-1|

5-

to

e‘-'6

gal?

h

‘Lou-[S

t

crew

'.+3;1':.1:;;5*_--

-;‘:'e~

_

‘

Ti

'

'

iii.

.1.

-:-

‘I’

"T

'

"

'

_

.-_:;:-

_.__-

- i

-I

.

Seriously,

PARIS

is

here

-—

a

cross-platform,

hardware/s0ft-

ware

combo

that

consists

of

a

choice

of

audio

interfaces,

EDS-1000

PCI

card

(with

Mac

and

Windows

drivers),

Control

I6

“human

inter-

face,"

and

hard

disk

recording

software.

The

hardware

is

a

joy.

The

20-bit

audio

interface

sounds

great

and

also

offers

SPDIF

I/O.

The

Con-

trol

I6

is

a

compact,

ergonomic

hardware

control

_--..c,

.._._--.1.-.-v.1

_1_---

-.~..........¢

.....--.<

.4:-...t

-

The

hardware

is

a

joy.

The

20-bit

audio

interface

sounds

great

and

also

offers

SPDIF

I/O.

The

Con-

trol

I6

is

a

compact,

ergonomic

hardware

control

surface

with

16

long-throw

channel

faders,

master

fader,

jog/shuttle/editing/

data

entry

wheel,

trans-

port

buttons,

keypad,

EQ/aux

send/pan

adjust-

ments,

and

numerous

buttons

for

functions

such

as

mute,

solo,

punch,

loop

set,

jump

to

auto-location

markers,

etc.

Two

nulling

LEDs

simplify

automa-

tion

(sliding

the

fader

until

the

LEDs

go

out

matches

the

fader’s

physical

position

with

the

programmed

value).

Overall,

it's

a

joy

to

use.

The

PCI

sound

card

includes

six

24-bit

DSP

chips.

These

are

the

engines

behind

PARIS’s

onboard

signal

processing,

real

time

action,

and

smooth

“feel.”

Using

dedicated

hardware

is

far

more

powerful

than

making

the

host

computer

processor

do

everything.

When

you

move

a

fader,

change

The

Independent

Newsletter

for

Ensoniq

Users

I

_

__

\

Postcards

from

PARIS

Basement

Tapes:

Dirk

Nusink

,

Steve

Vincent

...................

..................

..

'7

I

Regular

Stuff:

u

0

V

I

0

O

0

I

n

u

I

0

0

0

I

i

0

1 0

I

0

I

Q

0

0

I

Q

-

0

n

'

I

0

0

I

Q

I

u

9

0

I

-‘

'

0

Random

Notes

.............................

Hypersoniq

.

.

......

..

The

Interface

...............................

..

Classifieds

...........................................

..

I3

Random

Notes

.........

.......

2

t

Hypersoniq

..........

.........................

2

‘

I

The

Interface

........................................

..

9

Classifieds...

....................................

13

Hacker

Booteeq

.......

l4

I

‘

t

\

‘

i

I

EQ,

pan,

or

whatever,

the

action

is

instan-

taneous.

Couplc

this

with

the

Control

16,

and

the

result

is

a

system

that

can

please

even

the

impatient.

Software

You'll

need

a

big

monitor

running

at

I024

X

768

-—

just

fitting

the

mixer

on

screen

takes

a

lot

of

space.

PARIS

can

open

Sound

Designer

II

and

WAV

files,

as

well

as

the

native

PARIS

format. Although there is no substantial audio

editing, the Mac version

of

PARIS comes

with

BIAS's

Peak

LE

and the Windows ver-

sion with Steinberg's Wavelab Lite.

Although there are several windows, you'll

mostly use the Editor, Mixer, and Mini

Mixer. The Editor is pretty standard, with a

few nice touches like scroll bars that can also

zoom, an "objects bin" that shows all bits

of

audio used

in

a project, and 32 clipboards

that can store groups

of

audio segments (not

justindividual parts).

A more unusual option is a choice

of

"con-

strained" or "free form" track layouts.

In

con-

strained mode,

16

tracks tie to the

16

faders.

In

free form mode, each fader controls

an

In-

strument, which

can

consist

of

an almost un-

limited number

of

virtual tracks. Free form

is

primarily for constructing composite tracks

and saving alternate takes, as only one virtual

track can play through its associated fader at

any time.

Mixer

This window looks and acts like a regular

hardware mixer, with faders, panning, 4-band

parametric EQ, up to 8 aux sends, a master

section, channel inserts, meters, and so on.

What keeps

it

from becoming hopelessly

cluttered

is

that you can hide/show just about

anything -

if

you're

in

an EQ-adjusting

mood, show all 4 stages and hide the aux

sends and inserts. Faders, mutes, and panning

Ensoniq

News

The acquisition

of

Ensoniq by Creative Tech-

nology (announced here last month) has been

Ensoniq

News

The acquisition

of

Ensoniq by Creative Tech-

nology (announced here last month) has been

completed. Now we wait...

One good · sign: Ensoniq

is

at NAMM this

month and rumors are flying about a new

keyboard announcement.

We'll

have more

news next month.

Hypersoniq -New

Products

Syntaur

Productions

Releases New Effects

Disks for Ensoniq Samplers

In many instances, a sound can really be

taken into a new dimension simply by the ap-

plication

of

carefu lly crafted digital effects.

Syntaur Productions now has a stellar collec-

tion

of

effects programs available, for both

are automatable; EQ and

DSP

settings are

not.

The Mini Mixer is simply a scaled-down ver-

sion

of

the main mixer that takes up less

space, but still shows most

of

what you need.

DSP

PARIS ships with several editable, real-time

plug-ins: mono and stereo compressor/ex-

pander/ gate, chorus, delay, long delay , tap

delay, plate reverb, room reverb, and

non-linear reverb. Dynamics and delay can

insert

in

individual channels; all effects work

with the aux busses. One PCI card supports 8

stereo or

16

mono effects.

I was particularly impressed by the reverb;

the dynamics processing

is

also fine, al-

though rudimentary (e.g., no multiband com-

pression). Add all this to the

EQ

, and PARIS

delivers some pretty potent processing.

MIDI Options

PARIS currently has no MIDI capabilities,

but can sync with sequencers such as Vision,

Cubase, etc. running

in

the background.

Check with the Ensoniq web site (www.en-

soniq.com) for details on compatibility with

particular sequencers.

The

Bottom

Line

While getting acquainted with PARIS, I ran

Front

Panel

the Ensoniq ASR series and EPS-16 Plus

samplers.

It

is a simple procedure to copy any

of

the effects files from Syntaur's Pro Effects

Disk

onto a sampled instrument,

to

add a

wah-wah pedal

to

a guitar sample, for in-

stance, to apply a "telephone" filter to a vocal

line,

to

fatten up an analog synth patch, or

to

VI

un

.•

"'11\.-\.-t.~

IJJ'I,...;)

llVIU

UI]UU1UI

~ l 1 v

J.jjjr:.

... ,,,)

Disk

onto a sampled instrument,

to

add a

wah-wah pedal to a guitar sample, for in-

stance, to apply a "telephone" filter to a vocal

line,

to

fatten up an analog synth patch, or to

"decimate" a sample tastefully into a lo-fi

"street" sound.

John Gould and Sam Mims did most

of

the

effects programming, with additional pro-

grams by Todd Speer and Kyle Kee. The Pro

Effects

Disk

for the EPS-16 Plus contains 20 .

effects programs

of

a wide variety, while the

ASR disk contains 38 (the 20 EPS-16 effects,

plus

18

more utilizing the

ASR's

more pow-

erful algorithms).

The

new programs go far

beyond simple

"tweaks"

of

reverb patches -

they each add a unique quality to a sample or

to

a live processed sound. Full documentation

is included, describing the program itself, the

modulators used, and the effects produced at

each of the three output buses.

into several minor bugs and a couple major

ones. I felt the software was released prema-

turely, but when I brought these bugs to the

attention

of

Intelligent Devices (the company

responsible for the application; Ensoniq

covers the hardware and drivers), they were

extremely responsive and started working on

fixes for the bugs I found. In any event, de-

velopment is ongoing, and free updates are

available from the PARIS web site.

Ensoniq is promising a lot for the future, and

it's

all very enticing -but given the nature

of

vaporware, can

be

risky for the consumer.

Fortunately, with Creative

Labs'

. recent ac-

quisition

of

Ensoniq, I feel confident that not

only will any shortcomings be ironed out, but

Ensoniq will deliver on their promise

to

grow

the system.

PARIS isn't a budget system, as

it

competes

more with Pro Tools than, for example,

Cubase VST. However, the hardware

is

rock-solid; once the software matures, PARIS

is going to be a major force to contend with

in

the world

of

hard disk recording. Even in

its early form,

it's

extremely impres

sive._

Bio: Craig

Andert

on

warus fa

ra

ke these

few

lines

t(;

plug his ire On AOl. ( "Craig Ander-

ton's

SOu.

nd, Studio, an Sr e." keyword:

SSS). It has

for

ums,

dnno

software, over

40

megabytes

of

sa

mp

le.!.

anicles

. cale

ndars

,

and

much

more. Way

co

ol.

The Pro Effects Disks (

SI6.

95 for the EPS-16

version, $22.95 for the ASR version) are

available from Syntaur Prod

uct

ions, 500 W.

Prairie Ave., Eagle Lake, TX 77434; call

(409) 234-2700 or (800) 334-1288.

aVCUlaVI'-'

HUH1

~JlIlaUI

rl

uu

u

....

u

uU:),

JUU

VY

.

Prairie Ave., Eagle L

ak

e, TX 77434; call

(409) 234-2700 or (800)

33

4-1288.

Sound

Engineering

announces:

Ensoniq ASR-X Drum Patterns

Sound Engineering, a leader in sound and

sample design since

1991

,

is

proud

to

an-

nounce the availability

of

100 drum beats for

Ensoniq's

newest sampler, the ASR-X. The

new library

is

available at a special introduc-

tory price

of

just $29.95 (less than 30 cents

per pattern).

"The ASR-X's built in drum sounds and ef-

fects,

in

combination with these groovy new

drum beats, make an instant party," said

Noam Sane, head Gizmologist. "These

a11-

new drum beats, like most

of

the sample and

synth patch material

we've

developed over

_

format.

Although

there

is

no

substantial

audio

editing,

the

Mac

version

of

PARIS

comes

with

BlAS’s

Peak

LE

and

the

Windows

ver-

sion

with

Steinberg’s

Wavelab

Lite.

Although

there

are

several

windows,

you'll

mostly

use

the

Editor,

Mixer,

and

Mini

Mixer.

The

Editor

is

pretty

standard,

with

a

few

nice

touches

like

scroll

bars

that

can

also

zoom,

an

“objects

bin”

that

shows

all

bits

of

audio

used

in

a

project,

and

32

clipboards

that

can

store

groups

of

audio

segments

(not

justindividual

parts).

A

more

unusual

option

is

a

choice

of

“con-

strained”

or

“free

form”

track

layouts.

In

con-

strained

mode,

I6

tracks

tie

to

the

16

faders.

In

free

form

mode,

each

fader

controls

an

In-

strument,

which

can

consist

of

an

almost

un-

limited

number

of

virtual

tracks.

Free

form

is

primarily

for

constructing

composite

tracks

and

saving

alternate

takes,

as

only

one

virtual

track

can

play

through

its

associated

fader

at

any

time.

Mixer

This

window

looks

and

acts

like

a

regular

hardware

mixer,

with

faders,

panning,

4-band

parametric

EQ,

up

to

8

aux

sends,

a

master

section,

channel

inserts,

meters,

and

so

on.

What

keeps

it

from

becoming

hopelessly

cluttered

is

that

you

can

hide/show

just

about

anything

—

if

you’re

in

an

EQ-adjusting

mood,

show

all

4

stages

and

hide

the

aux

sends

and

inserts.

Faders,

mutes,

and

panning

are

automatable;

EQ

and

DSP

settings

are

n0t.

The

Mini

Mixer

is

simply

a

scaled-down

ver-

sion

of

the

main

mixer

that

takes

up

less

space,

but

still

shows

most

of

what

you

need.

DSP

PARIS

ships

with

several

editable,

real-time

plug-ins:

mono

and

stereo

compressor/ex-

pander/gate,

chorus,

delay,

long

delay,

tap

delay,

plate

reverb,

room

reverb,

and

non-Linear

reverb.

Dynamics

and

delay

can

insert

in

individual

channels;

all

effects

work

with

the

aux

busses.

One

PCI

card

supports

8

stereo

or

I6

mono

effects.

I

was

particularly

impressed

by

the

reverb;

the

dynamics

processing

is

also

fine,

al-

though

rudimentary

(e.g.,

no

multiband

com-

pression).

Add

all

this

to

the

EQ,

and

PARIS

delivers

some

pretty

potent

processing.

MIDI

Options

PARIS

currently

has

no

MIDI

capabilities,

but

can

sync

with

sequencers

such

as

Vision,

Cubase,

etc.

running

in

the

background.

Check

with

the

Ensoniq

web

site

(www.en-

soniq.com)

for

details

on

compatibility

with

particular

sequencers.

The

Bottom

Line

While

getting

acquainted

with

PARIS,

I

ran

into

several

minor

bugs

and

a

couple

major

ones.

I

felt

the

software

was

released

prema-

turely,

but

when

I

brought

these

bugs

to

the

attention

of

Intelligent

Devices

(the

company

responsible

for

the

application;

Ensoniq

covers

the

hardware

and

drivers),

they

were

extremely

responsive

and

started

working

on

fixes

for

the

bugs

I

found.

In

any

event,

de-

velopment

is

ongoing,

and

free

updates

are

available

from

the

PARIS

web

site.

Ensoniq

is

promising

a

lot

for

the

future,

and

it's

all

very

enticing

—

but

given

the

nature

of

vaporware,

can

be

risky

for

the

consumer.

Fortunately,

with

Creative

Labs’,

recent

ac-

quisition

of

Ensoniq,

I

feel

confident

that

not

only

will

any

shortcomings

be

ironed

out,

but

Ensoniq

will

deliver

on

their

promise

to

grow

the

system.

PARIS

isn’t

a

budget

system,

as

it

competes

more

with

Pro

Tools

than,

for

example,

Cubase

VST.

However,

the

hardware

is

rock-solid;

once

the

software

matures,

PARIS

is

going

to

be

a

major

force

to

contend

with

in

the

world

of

hard

disk

recording.

Even

in

its

early

form,

it’s

extremely

impressive.

—

Bio:

Craig

Artderron

wants

so

rake

these

few

lines

to

pl'u_t;'

his

site

on

AOL

I

“Craig

Ander-

ton’s

Sound,

Sritdin.

and

Stage."

keyword:

SSS).

It

ha_sfomm.i,

demo

sofrvrore,

over

40

megabytes

of

samples.

articles.

calendars,

and

much

more.

Way

coat.

RND

(tn)

The

acquisition

of

Ensoniq

by

Creative

Tech-

nology

(announced

here

last

month)

has

been

Ensoniq

News

The

acquisition

of

Ensoniq

by

Creative

Tech-

nology

(announced

here

last

month)

has

been

completed.

Now

we

wait...

One

goodsign:

Ensoniq

is

at

NAMM

this

month

and

rumors

are

flying

about

a

new

keyboard

announcement.

We’Il

have

more

news

next

month.

Hypersoniq

—

New

Products

Syntaur

Productions

Releases

New

Effects

Disks

for

Ensoniq

Samplers

In

many

instances,

a

sound

can

really

be

taken

into

a

new

dimension

simply

by

the

ap-

plication

of

carefully

crafted

digital

effects.

Syntaur

Productions

now

has

a

stellar

collec-

tion

of

effects

programs

available,

for

both

the

Ensoniq

ASR

series

and

EPS-16

Plus

samplers.

It

is

a

simple

procedure

to

copy

any

of

the

effects

files

from

Syntaur’s

Pro

Efleczs

Disk

onto

a

sampled

instrument,

to

add

a

wah-wah

pedal

to

a

guitar

sample,

for

in-

stance,

to

apply

a

“telephone”

filter

to

a

vocal

line,

to

fatten

up

an

analog

synth

patch,

Or

to

U1

\-ll\.n

\./l.l.\-v\.vl..O

l.ll\./O

LIUIII

LJJILLQUI

O

I

IU

LQJJCLSJ

Disk

onto

a

sampled

instrument,

to

add

a

wah-wah

pedal

to

a

guitar

sample,

for

in-

stance,

to

apply

a

“telephone”

filter

to

a

vocal

line,

to

fatten

up

an

analog

synth

patch,

or

to

“decimate”

a

sample

tastefully

into

a

lo-fi

“street”

sound.

John

Gould

and

Sam

Mims

did

most

of

the

effects

programming,

with

additional

pro-

grams

by

Todd

Speer

and

Kyle

Kee.

The

Pro

Ejjfects

Disk

for

the

EPS-16

Plus

contains

20

effects

programs

of

a

wide

variety,

while

the

ASR

disk

contains

38

(the

20

EPS-16

effects,

plus

I8

more

utilizing

the

ASR’s

more

pow-

erful

algorithms).

The

new

programs

go

far

beyond

simple

“tweaks”

of

reverb

patches

—

they

each

add

a

unique

quality

to

a

sample

or

to

a

live

processed

sound.

Full

documentation

is

included,

describing

the

program

itself,

the

modulators

used,

and

the

effects

produced

at

each

of

the

three

output

buses.

f\

The

Pro

Eflecrs

Disks

($16.95

for

the

EPS-16

version,

$22.95

for

the

ASR

version)

are

available

from

Syntaur

Productions,

500

W.

Prairie

Ave.,

Eagle

Lake,

TX

77434;

call

(409)

234-2700

or

(800)

334-

I288.

avauctuiv

nun:

uyutaur

rlUuuL-tIUll5,

JUU

W.

Prairie

Ave.,

Eagle

Lake,

TX

77434;

call

(409)

234-2700

or

(800)

334-

I288.

Sound

Engineering

announces:

Ensoniq

ASR-X

Drum

Patterns

Sound

Engineering,

a

leader

in

sound

and

sample

design

since

I991,

is

proud

to

an-

nounce

the

availability

of

I00

drum

beats

for

Ensoniq’s

newest

sampler,

the

ASR-X.

The

new

library

is

available

at

a

special

introduc-

tory

price

of

just

$29.95

(less

than

30

cents

per

pattem).

“The

ASR-X’s

built

in

drum

sounds

and

ef-

fects,

in

combination

with

these

groovy

new

drum

beats,

make

an

instant

party,”

said

Noam

Sane,

head

Gizmologist.

“These

all-

new

drum

beats,

like

most

of

the

sample

and

synth

patch

material

we’ve

developed

over

the years, really target the needs

of

the

UrbanlDance/Electronic music writer and

producer.

Best

of

all,

they're

studio tested."

The

100 drum beats, programmed by drum

beat maven Joel

B.,

is a fantastic tool for all

ASR-X owners.

ASR-X

Beats Volume 1 Overview: Ballad

Beats, Dance Beats,

Euro

Beats, Acid Beats,

Rock Beats,

Funk

Beats, R&B

Beats,

Beats, Latin Beats, and many more.

Pricing:

XB-OOO

Drum

Beats

Volume 1 is

$29.95, with Internet delivery available.

Sound has been a sound

design firm since 1991.

port for AKAI, Kurzweil,

Oberheim, Yamaha, and Peavey

It

offers a full line

of

synth patches,

floppies, and CD-ROMs. Online or-

dering and a catalog are available

online at:

Sound Box 2226, Southeastern

PA

19399,

610-5

1 9-WAVE.

Home

Run

First

Tim

at

t

The

AudioWrx Piano Sample Collection

For:

EPSI

16+1

ASRITS/X

Product:

The

AudioWrx

Series

Price:

$49.95 per 7 disk set and

$3 shipping

From:

AudioWrx, 508 West Texas, Iowa

Park, TX 76367 (800).687.0048 (VOX),

http://www.audiowrx.com.

Mark Twain said

"Everybody

talks about the

weather, but nobody does anything about

it."

The

same holds true

of

acoustic piano

sam-

ples: everybody has

an

opinion on it, but few

do

anything

about

it. And with good reason:

acoustic piano is the hardest sound to sam-

pleJeditimanage/massage into Even

veteran loopers cringe at the prospect

of

edit·

ing an instrument

of

50+ multi·

samples,

tweaking

loops to minimize the

static decay loop

after

the initial attack, and

then getting it small

enough

to fit into a

2X

expander.

Not

for the faint

of

heart ...

No,

let's

just

load the factory piano samples

and work with

what

little memory

is

left

available.

Kinda

tough to do

if

your

favorite

n;~""'A

;" thp.

1h

?\tfh

'l7_~_'Rt\T

nWTf\JH

fl"\r

No,

let's

just

load the factory samples

and work with what little memory

is

left

available. Kinda tough to

do

if

your

favorite

piano is the 16 Mb

"7-FT-BALDWIN"

for

the ASR,

ain't

it?

Kinda

impossible

jf

using a 4X in

your

EPS Classic

or

16+,

ain't

it?

So

you load the 1500+ block

Steinway into the box and deal with it...

Well, not any more, my little pretties:

AudioWrx

has

just

released a series

of

7·disk

sets for all Malvern that may very

alternative to

with

your

new

company

(see

AudioWrx

kicks

off

their entry into the market with these

7·disk

DSDD (thanx you!) sets that load into

all the Malvern they

do

Pat

other audio

stuff

as well (check their web-

site). Without further ado,

let's

dissect both

the

Acoustic

and

the Electric Piano sets ...

All acoustic samples load in under

2000 blocks.

This

may

not

seem like much

unless you own

an

EPS

Classic

or

16+;

it's

very convenient for a 16+ with the Flash-

RAM

option. Why? Any

of

these pianos will

load into Flash with enough memory

headroom to install the OS. Very cool to boot

your 16+ from Flash and load the acoustic

without shuffling

any

disks ...

Well thought out: the 1960-block

"Bright

Grand"

is tru

ly

different from the 1834-block

"Traditional

Grand."

Above G3 the former

sparkles and is guaranteed to cu t through a

mix without taking it over. No undamped

above F5: a implementation

but may take offense: kinda

like B-3 samples with heavy

EQ

processing

to remove the 60-cycle hum in those induc-

tive beasts (much better sounding, but not

f".l

1

t'hfn

1

fA

t'hp

ArtCf;n~n

Th.o. "f)<;trv

nT?nrF'

(IMHO),

but

purists may take offense: kinda

like B-3 samples with heavy

EQ

processing

to remove the 60-cycle hum in those induc-

tive beasts (much better sounding, but

not

faithful to the original).

The

"Dark

Grand"

doesn't

appear

to be a velocity-edited

"Bright"

or

"Traditional"

grand:

harder

velocities play

louder

without a

different into play. Mod wheel grate-

fully nonfunctional:

no

LFO

leaking into

your

acoustic emulations here.

All acoustic sets avoid the

"woodiness"

in the

midrange area

of

the Ensoniq Steinway; it

would appear that keyrange required 400+

more blocks to eradicate Uudging by the

block count).

Good

level

on

all samples:

no

tweaking the

"Boost"

parameter

(EPS Classic users take note). Discernible

split points but no glaring harmonic distrac-

lion between them. Very transportable instru-

ments: sound quality was as close to identical

across the board when I auditioned these in-

struments

on

an EPS Classic, a 16+ (with

Flash), and an ASR-IO.

Given

the sonic dif-

ferences between the 13-bit Classic vs. 16-bit

16+/

ASR playback, I discerned virtually no

harmonic differences; this leads me to

believe Digidesign massage has been

em-

ployed here.

The

"Electric Piano Series" is very

com-

prehensive: Classical Rhodes, Dyno-Rhodes,

DX, Roland MKS-series and

SA-type

pianos

are represented.

There're

even a

coupla

Korg

as well as

D-50

piano samples as well.

Well-rounded representations at memory-

conservative sizes in the EP set.

The

MKS-20

3 (652 blocks) replaced my OX

sample

for

Robin

Ford's

"Talk

to your

Daughter":

well

done,

no

editing required.

The

MKS-20

2

suffered from a funny

amp

envelope: for-

tunately, Ensoniq included those 19 preset

envelopes, so two buttons later. life

was

good.

The

D50

EP's

aliased in the top two

octaves and were

just

too granular

for

my

taste,

but

D50's

are

way too granular

for

my

taste anyway. With the

"Chorus

&

Reverb"

FX

algorithm selected

on

the 16+ and ASR,

they really cleaned

up

and became palatable,

but EPS Classic

owners

beware.

The

Thorns

Acoustic Pianos still suffer from

the

"1-

second static

decay"

loop syndrome. Not a

problem for the 16+ and newer; a very slow

and light chorus will enhance credibility, but

veteran

EPS

Classic users

don't

have this

hardware luxury.

Still,

it's

a

far

sight better

than the

112

second loop decay

of

most

3rd

party piano samples. Minimal patch select

variations. Only patch selects I caught muted

velocity-switched layers: OX muted hard

velocity layer,

XO

muted softlnormal

velocity layer. Possible

moot

point, but glar-

ing oversight for veteran Ensoniq tweakers

like us ...

Rhonpc

c~mnl;:»~

;n

t'hP<

k'lcl"tri"

P;n¥tr'l

~/}t

velocity layer. Possible

moot

but glar-

ing for veteran Ensoniq tweakers

like us ...

Rhodes samples in the Electric

Piano

Set

have

an

unusual volume

about

1/4 second into the initial attack. After re-

this anomaly,

it's

exactly in keep-

ing with the Rhodes the tine

fork/tone

doesn't

actually settle

down

into linear harmonic behavior for, yep,

you

got

it, around

114

second after the ham-

mer

hits it. Dead on the money, but distract-

another

case where accuracy

may

be

counter

to what you expect.

VCA

en-

velope tweak will

correct

this if it grates

your

sensibilities.

As

is

the Wurlitzer EP: 847 blocks is a

bit

for

a reed

Then

the

years,

really

target

the

needs

of

the

Urbant’DancelE.lectronic

music

writer

and

producer.

Best

of

all,

they’te

studio

tested.”

The

ldb

drurn

beats,

prograrnrned

by

drurn

beat

eleven

loel

S,

is

a

fantastic

tool

for

all

ASR-X

owners.

ASR-X

Seats

t/olusse

Z

Overview:

Sallad

Beats,

Dance

Beats,

Euro

Seats,

Acid

beats,

Rock

Beats,

Funk

Beats,

RS8

Beats,

Straight

Seats,

Latin

Beats,

and

rnany

inure.

Pricing:

XS-S63

Brute

Seats

‘Volume

1‘

ts

S29.S5,

with

Internet

delivery

available.

Sound

Engineering

has

been

a

leading

sound

design

flnn

since

i991.

Gffeting

intense

snp~

port

for

AKAI,

Kutawetl.

Peavey,

Roland,

Gberheirn,

Sequential,

Yarnaha,

and

Peavey

products.

it

offers

a

full

line

of

synth

patches.

sarnpler

floppies,

and

CE»R$lvls.

Saline

on

daring

and

a

cornplete

catalog

are

available

online

at:

http;o’www.soundengine.cotnf.

Sound

Engineering,

Sou

2226.

Southeastern

PA

W399,

etc-sts~wa.vn.

“W

For:

EPS1’

l

6+1’

ASSJTSKX

Product:

The

Audiolllrx

Sttntplerl

Piano

Series‘

Price:

$49.95

per

7

disk

set

and

$3

shipping

Front:

Audiowrs,

568

West

Texas,

lows

Park,

TX

76367

(8@0).6S7.Q94S

(WBX),

hnp:_fiwww.audiowr>t.cont.

Mark

Twain

said

“Everybody

talks

about

the

weather,

but

nobody

does

anything

about

it.”

The

same

holds

true

of

acoustic.

piano

sam»

ples:

everybody

has

an

opinion

on

it,

but

few

do

anything

about

it.

And

with

good

reason:

acoustic

piano

is

the

hardest

sound

to

sane

pie/edit/ntanage./rnussage

into

being.

Even

veteran

loopers

cringe

at

the

prospect

of

edit»

ing

an

instrument

comprised

of

She»

n'tulti~

samples,

tweaking

loops

to

tninirniae

the

static

decay

loop

after

the

initial

attack,

and

then

getting

it

stnall

enough

to

fit

into

a

2X

expander.

Not

for

the

faint

oi‘

heart...

No,

let’s

just

load

the

factory

piano

sarnples

and

work

with

what

little

rnernury

is

left

available.

Kinda

tough

to

do

if

your

favorite

nionn,

in

clap

ifi

kfiix

“"?c‘§?"i*._‘iQ$¥

l‘s‘t.§.?¥'ts3’t

gm?“

No,

let’s

just

load

the

factory

piano

saraples

and

work

with

what

little

nternory

is

left

available.

Kinda

tough

to

do

if

your

favorite

piano

is

the

l6

Mb

“"l~FT-S.nL§Wlhl”

for

the

ass.

ain’t

it?

Kinda

trnposstble

if

you’re

using

a

dX

in

your

BPS

Classic

or

lbs».

ain’t

it?

Se

you

just

load

the

asset

block

factory

Steinway

into

the

boa and

deal

with

it...

ll/ell,

not

any

snore,

ray

little

pretttes:

nudtowra

has

just

released

a

series

of

7-dtsk

sets

for

all

lvialvern

leopbcses

that

rosy

very

well

comprise

the

only

efieeuvs

alternative

to

the

factory

piano

sataples

shipped

with

your

instrurnent.

A

relatively

new

company

(see

their

ad

in

the

Sauteed),

nudtowra

locks

off

their

entry

into

the

Ensoniq

ntarket

with

these

7-disk

DSDD

(titans

youl)

sets

that

load

into

all

the

Malvern

loopboses.

appears

they

do

E

in

2

auuut

____________________________________________________________

W

"i

l

t

The

Audiorx.

Piono

Sump

e

Co

fill

For

Finnegan

other

audio

stuff

as

well

(check

their

web-

site).

llifitlsout

farther

ado,

let’s

dissect

both

the

Acoustic

and

the

Electric

Piano

sets...

Tiifi

SSSSS

All

acoustic

piano

sarnples

load

in

under

Zddb

blocks.

This

may

not

scent

like

rnuch

unless

you

own

an

EPS

Classic

or

l6-t-;

it’s

very

convenient

for

a

I61»

with

the

Flash-

RAM

option.

Why‘?

Any

of

these

pianos

will

load

into

Flash

with

enough

memory

headroom

to

install

the

CIS.

Very

cool

to

boot

your

16+

from

Flash

and

load

the

acoustic

piano

without

shuffling

any

disks...

Well

thought

out:

the

1960-block

“Bright

Cirand”

is

truly

different

from

the

I834-block

“Traditional

Grand.”

Above

G3

the

former

sparkles

and

is

guaranteed

to

cut

through

a

rnis

without

taking

it

over.

No

undarnped

sarnples

above

F5:

a

grateful

implementation

(llvillfi),

but

purists

rnay

take

offense:

kinda

like

SW3

sarnples

with

heavy

EQ

processing

to

tetnove

the

6d=-cycle

hunt

in

those

induc~

tive

beasts

(cinch

better

sounding,

but

not

goitbfvti

in

time

rsrirvincilh

'-lfll-tr‘-=~

“l-‘lath’

t‘“3¢'ro.r't.ri”

(IMHO),

but

purists

may

take

offense:

kinda

like

EMS

sarnples

with

heavy

EQ

processing

to

tensove

the

6d=-cycle

hunt

in

those

induc~

live

beasts

(utuctt

better

sounding,

but

not

faithful

to

the

original).

The

“Dark

Grand”

doesn’t

appear

to

be a

velocityedited

“bright”

or

“Traditional”

grand:

harder

velocities

play

louder

without

roswitching

a

different

sarnple

into

play.

Mod

wheel

grate-

fully

nonfunctional;

no

LPG

leaking

into

your

acoustic

cavulattous

here.

an

acoustic

sets

avoid

the

“woodtness”

in

the

tntdrange

area

of

the

Ensoniq

Steinway;

it

would

appear

that

keyrange

required

too».-

rnore

blocks

to

eradicate

{judging

by

the

block

count).

Good

level

on

all

sarnplcs:

no

tweaking

the

“Boost”

paransetet"

required

(BPS

Classic

users

take

note).

Discernible

split

points

but

no

glaring

harrnonic

distracw

lion

between

them.

Very

transportable

instru-

rnents;

sound

quality

was

as

close

to

identical

across

the

board

when

l

auditioned

these

in-

struments

on

an

BPS

Classic,

a

16+

(with

Flash),

and

an

ASR-I6.

Given

the

sonic

dif-

ferences

between

the

l3-bit

Classic

vs.

l6-bit

lbe./ASR

playback,

l

discerned

virtually

no

harmonic

differences;

this

leads

rne

to

believe

Dtgidesign

rnassage

has

been

ent-

ployed

here.

The

“Electric

Piano

Series”

is

very

corn-

preheusive:

Classical

Rhodes,

Dyno-Shades,

DX,

Roland

MKS-series

and

Sn.-type

pianos

are

represented.

There’re

even

a

couple

liotg

as

well

as

D-50

piano

santples

as

well.

Well-rounded

representations

at

tnernory~

conservative

sizes

in

the

EP

set.

The

llviliS~2G

3

(d52

blocks}

replaced

rny

DX

sarnple

for

Robin

Fordls

“Talk

to

your

§uughter”:

well

dune,

no

editing

required.

The

MKS-SQ

2

suffered

frorn

a

funny

arnp

envelope;

for»

tunately,

Ensoniq

included

those

l9

preset

envelopes,

so

two

buttons

later,

life

was

good.

The

D50

EP’s

aliased

in

the

top

two

octaves

and

were

just

too

granular

for

any

taste,

but

D5tl’s

are

way

too

granular

for

ray

taste

anyway.

With

the

“Chorus

dc

Reverb”

PX

algorltiun

selected

on

the

lot»

and

ASR,

they

really

cleaned

up

and

because

palatable,

but

EPS

Classic

owners

beware.

The

Thorns

Acoustic

Pianos

still

suffer

front

the

“l-

second

static

decay”

loop

syndrome.

Not

s

problem

for

the

16+

and

newer;

a

very

slow

and

light

chorus

will

enhance

credibility,

but

veteran

EPS

Classic

users

don’t

have

this

hardware

luxury.

Still,

it’s

a

far

sight

better

than

the

l/2

second

loop

decay

of

rnost

3rd

party

piano

samples.

Minimal

patch

select

variations.

Only

patch

selects

I

caught

rnuted

velocity-switched

layers;

GK

muted

hard

velocity

layer,

X9

routed

soft/notrnal

velocity

layer.

Possible

moot

point,

but

glut»

ing

oversight

for

veteran

Ensoniq

tweakers

like

us...

Qltrttrioo

$21’-§t’t"tt‘§ia<’§Q

its

tine

piofifrf/*

S32’/is-1n

Q/at

velocity

layer.

Possible

ntoot

point,

but

glan-

ing

oversight

for

veteran

Ensoniq

tweakers

like

us...

Rhodes

satnples

in

the

.Eiecrrit*

Piano

Set

have

an

unusual

volurne

envelope

drop

about

ifs

second

into

the

initial

attack.

after

re»

searching

this

anotnaly,

it’s

eaactly

in

keep

ing

with

the

Rhodes

personality:

the

tine

forkftune

barfgenerator

doesrft

actually

settle

down

tutu

linear

hatntonie

behavior

for,

yep,

you

got

it,

around

ltd

second

after

the

hare»-

user

hits

it.

Eead

on

the

ntoney,

but

distraco

ing:

another

case

where

accuracy

ruay

be

counter

to

what

you

aspect.

Supple

vca.

en»

velope

tweak

will

cunzect

this

if

it

grates

your

sensibilities.

do

is

the

Wurlitzer

ES:

Se?

blocks

is

a

bit

large

for

a

rnultisatnpled

reed

piano.

Then

again,

if

you're a "Breakfast In America"

type, you

wouldn't

settle for anything less.

But

you'll

need to tweak the velocity switch

point: mine switched to hard reed buzz way

too soon for my taste. Then again, I keep my

keys set to a soft to normal toucb in the

global pages, so might just be me. At any

rate,

at

least you

won't

break any reeds

if

you

really get inspired.

The

Deal

AudioWrx has kicked

off

their season, as

well as 1998, with a very respectable and af-

fordable set

of

acoustic pianos that would do

credit

to

any sampler's arsenal. No hunting

up a CD player to load samples into a 16+ or

ASR, saving to low-D diskettes to load into

your 16+ or EPS Classic to feverishly edit to

size required. Disk labels indicate these guys

are pre.tty Mac-savvy:

I'd

surmise they've

done some Sound Designer tweaking ...

This

set does not represent the commensurate

acoustic (or electric) piano library, nor does

it

market itself as such. Rather, this is a robust

and memory-conscious set

of

emulations for

Ensoniq owners who

don't

wish to lose 75%

of

available memory by loading a reasonable

piano facsimile into their instrument or ca-

bling up an outboard module.

An excellent first time out:

we'll

be hearing

more from these guys. Time to oil up that

glove and play deep centerfield,

'cause

that's

where most

of

these pitches land ... _

A SR

-X

ve

r

sus

ASR-

1 0

Lots

of

questions have been posed about the

ASR-X going from sequencing to file man-

agement to sample file conversions. One

question that seems to come up quite a bit in

music stores

is

"What

is

the difference be-

tween the ASR-I0/88 and the ASR-X?" The

only way I can answer that

is

by

pointing out

the differences in capabilities and specs and

just plain practical use

of

both units.

I suppose we can start with the simple fact

that the X has

13

velocity sensitive pads. The

ASR-IO has

61

keys or 88 weighted action

keys. (I guess you knew that.)

In

the effects section the ASR-IO has 50

ROM effects and has the ability to load addi-

tional effects algorithms from floppy

or

a

hard drive. This

is

a really unique feature.

Waveboy has designed additional effects to

do some very neat things with an

ASR-I0

t.hat

it was not canahle

of

doing before (mv

tional effects algorithms from floppy or a

hard drive. This

is

a really unique feature.

Waveboy has designed additional effects to

do some very neat things with an

ASR-I0

that it was not capable

of

doing before (my

favorite is the RES Filter type stuff).

The

X

has a resonant filter built

in

as a part

of

the

programming architecture. They both have a

bussing system that allows the user to route

certain sou nds through different effects

bu

s-

ses. The 10 has 1 effects processor that has a

total

of

3 busses.

The

X has 5 effects busses

consisting

of

1 Insert bus, 3 reverb buses and

a dry

bus.

On the X there are 40 insert ef-

fects. This

is

very, very cool. Now the user

has the ability

to

use (for example) distortion,

digital delay and tremolo as an insert effect

on one or more sounds, then pan other sounds

or tracks to a big reverb, medium reverb,

light reverb or to a dry bus setting. With that

kind

of

separation

it

will sound like

you've

Eric Montgomery

been to a studio!

The

sequencers in the 10 and the X are com-

pletely different from each other. The ASR-

10 sequencer

is

like that

of

the EPS and 16+

families with 16 tracks. The X has a 16 track

linear sequencer like that

of

the MR family.

The ASR-IO

is

8 part multitimbral and the X

is

16

part multitimbral. I suppose I have said

something contradictory. The

ASR-I0,

EPS

and 16+ are 8 part multitimbral so how could

they have 16 track sequencers? Song Mode

(8sequence and 8 song tracks, pattern based).

The

ASR-IO song mode

is

only a means

of

telling the ASR to play certain sequences in a

certain order. Once it

is

in Song Mode you

can overdub on top

of

the same sounds with

new sequence data. The X song mode does

not have the ability

to

overdub over the same

tracks, but

it

is

16 part multitimbral. The X

has 32 notes

of

polyphony and the 10 has

31

notes max. Polvnhonv in the ASR-IO de-

new sequence data. The X song mode does

not have the ability

to

overdub over the same

tracks, but it

is

16 part multitimbral. The X

has 32 notes

of

polyphony and the 10 has

31

notes max. Polyphony in the ASR-IO de-

pends on what the effects processor is set to.

If

the effects are set to 44K then you have

23

notes, 30K you have

31

notes

of

polyphony.

There are sequencer editing features in the

10

like quantize and event editing. Quantizing

just

shifts the note start times to ones that fit

into a "grid" so to speak.

If

you are quantiz-

ing to 16th notes then the ASR will try to

shift the note to the closest line on the grid

that it thinks will work. The event editing

is

mostly used for deleting notes that you

don't

want or maybe inserting program changes or

controllers per track.

The

X has some unique quantizing features

Bio:

Pat's

not having much luck leading a

normal life.

Pat's

wife recently had a baby

boy. During all the hoopla she claims she

vaguely recalls receiving SysEx messages

from him, but that was months ago.

called Humanize, Tighten and Delta quantiz-

ing. Humanize quantizing does a random

shifting

of

notes to give the track a better or

more random

"feel."

Tighten quantizing

shifts the notes closer to perfect but not so

much as to make the data sound mechanical.

Delta quantizing is a method

of

quantizing

that

is

exclusive to Ensoniq.

It

was first intro-

duced in the MR family

of

workstations. This

procedure actually keeps the sequence data

(rhythmic value

of

the notes and space be-

tween each note) intact and shifts the whole

track forward or backward to help make

it

fit

the rest

of

the sequence. Imagine if what you

played was rhythmically accurate but not in

time with the rest

of

the sequence -Delta

quantizing to tbe rescue.

In the X there

is

no event editing.

To

combat

not having this much-needed feature the En-

soniq designers decided to put in some-up-to-

date cool real-time editing called Scoop edit-

ing.

For example: Assume you are recording a

drum track. You record the kick, snare and

hi-hat, but you found that while recording the

snare you made a mistake. While recording,

For example: Assume you are recording a

drum track. You record the kick, snare and

hi-hat, but you found that while recording the

snare you made a mistake. While recording,

Call For Writers!

In spite

of

their

current

god-Hke status,

writers

for

the

Hacker

were

once

mere

mortals

-

just

like you!

If

you're

noodling

around

with

Ensoniq

gear,

you

too

can

join

their

elite

ranks.

We're

always

looking

for

new writers,

and yes,

there

is

actual

payment

involved.

If

you're

toying

with

an

idea

for

an

article,

how

about

giving

Editrix

Jane

a

call

at

1-503-227-6848

and

listening

to

her

soothing

words

of

encouragement?

again,

if

you’re

a

“Breakfast

In

America”

type,

you

wouldn’t

settle

for

anything

less.

But

you’ll

need

to

tweak

the

velocity

switch

point:

mine

switched

to

hard

reed

buzz

way

too

soon

for

my

taste.

Then

again,

I

keep

my

keys

set

to

a

soft

to

normal

touch

in

the

global

pages,

so

might

just

be

me.

At

any

rate,

at

least

you

won’t

break

any

reeds

if

you

really

get

inspired.

The

Deal

AudioWrx

has

kicked

off

their

season,

as

well

as

1998,

with

a

very

respectable

and

af-

fordable

set

of

acoustic

pianos

that

would

do

credit

to

any

sampler’s

arsenal.

No

hunting

up

a

CD

player

to

load

samples

into

a

16+

or

ASR,

saving

to

low-D

diskettes

to

l.oad

into

your

16+

or

EPS

Classic

to

feverishly

edit

to

size

required.

Disk

labels

indicate

these

guys

are

pretty

Mac-savvy:

I’d

surmise

they’ve

done

some

Sound

Designer

tweaking...

This

set

does

not

represent

the

commensurate

acoustic

(or

electric)

piano

library,

nor

does

it

market

itself

as

such.

Rather,

this

is

a

robust

and

memory-conscious

set

of

emulations

for

Ensoniq

owners

who

don’t

wish

to

lose

75%

of

available

memory

by

loading

a

reasonable

piano

facsimile

into

their

instrument

or

ca-

bling

up

an

outboard

module.

An

excellent

first

time

out:

we’ll

be

hearing

more

from

these

guys.

Time

to

oil

up that

glove

and

play

deep

centerfield,

’cause

that’s

where

most

of

these

pitches

land...

—

Bio:

Pat's

not

having

much

luck

leading

a

normal

life.

Pat's

wife

recently

had

a

baby

boy.

During

all

the

hoopla

she

claims

she

vaguely

recalls

receiving

SysEx

messages

from

him,

but

that

was

months

ago.

4

Y-rir-aw‘-5

—£._...

ASR-X

versus

ASR-l0

Lots

of

questions

have

been

posed

about

the

ASR-X

going

from

sequencing

to

file

man-

agement

to

sample

file

conversions.

One

question

that

seems

to

come

up

quite

a

bit

in

music

stores

is

“What

is

the

difference

be-

tween

the

ASR-10/88

and

the

ASR-X?”

The

only

way

I

can

answer

that

is

by

pointing

out

the

differences

in

capabilities

and

specs

and

just

plain

practical

use

of

both

units.

I

suppose

we

can

start

with

the

simple

fact

that

the

X

has

13

velocity

sensitive

pads.

The

ASR-10

has

61

keys

or

88

weighted

action

keys.

(I

guess

you

knew

that.)

In

the

effects

section

the

ASR-10

has

50

ROM

effects

and

has

the

ability

to

load

addi-

tional

effects

algorithms

from

floppy

or

a

hard

drive.

This

is

a

really

unique

feature.

Waveboy

has

designed

additional

effects

to

do

some

very

neat

things

with

an

ASR-10

that

it

was

not

canahle

of

doing

before

(mv

tional

effects

algorithms

from

floppy

or

a

hard

drive.

This

is

a

really

unique

feature.

Waveboy

has

designed

additional

effects

to

do

some

very

neat

things

with

an

ASR-10

that

it

was

not

capable

of

doing

before

(my

favorite

is

the

RES

Filter

type

stuff).

The

X

has

a

resonant

filter

built

in

as

a

part

of

the

programming

architecture.

They

both

have

a

bussing

system

that

allows

the

user

to

route

certain

sounds

through

different

effects

bus-

ses.

The

10

has

1

effects

processor

that

has

a

total

of

3

busses.

The

X

has

5

effects

busses

consisting

of

1

Insert

bus,

3

reverb

buses

and

a

dry

bus

.

On

the

X

there

are

40

insert

ef-

fects.

This

is

very,

very

cool.

Now

the

user

has

the

ability

to

use

(for

example)

distortion,

digital

delay

and

tremolo

as

an

insert

effect

on

one

or

more

sounds,

then

pan

other

sounds

or

tracks

to

a

big

reverb,

medium

reverb,

light

reverb

or

to

a

dry

bus

setting.

With

that

kind

of

separation

it

will

sound

like

you’ve

Eric

Montgomery

been

to

a

studio!

The

sequencers

in

the

10

and

the

X

are

com-

pletely

different

from

each

other.

The

ASR-

10

sequencer

is

like

that

of

the

EPS

and

16+

families

with

16

tracks.

The

X

has

a

16

track

linear

sequencer

like

that

of

the

MR

family.

The

ASR-10

is

8

part

multitimbral

and

the

X

is

l6

part

multitimbral.

I

suppose

I

have

said

something

contradictory.

The

ASR-10,

EPS

and

16+

are

8

part

multitimbral

so

how

could

they

have

16

track

sequencers‘?

Song

Mode

(8sequence

and

8

song

tracks,

pattem

based).

The

ASR-10

song

mode

is

only

a

means

of

telling

the

ASR

to

play

certain

sequences

in

a

certain

order.

Once

it

is

in

Song

Mode

you

can

overdub

on

top

of

the

same

sounds

with

new

sequence

data.

The

X

song

mode

does

not

have

the

ability

to

overdub

over

the

same

tracks,

but

it

is

16

part

multitimbral.

The

X

has

32

notes

of

polyphony

and

the

10

has

31

notes

max.

Polvnhonv

in

the

ASR-10

de-

new

sequence

data.

The

X

song

mode

does

not

have

the

ability

to

overdub

over

the

same

tracks,

but

it

is

16

part

multitimbral.

The

X

has

32

notes

of

polyphony

and

the

IO

has

31

notes

max.

Polyphony

in

the

ASR-10

de-

pends

on

what

the

effects

processor

is

set

to.

If

the

effects

are

set

to

44K

then

you

have

23

notes,

30K

you

have

31

notes

of

polyphony.

There

are

sequencer

editing

features

in

the

10

like

quantize

and

event

editing.

Quantizing

just

shifts

the

note

start

times

to

ones

that

fit

into

a

“grid”

so

to

speak.

If

you

are

quantiz-

ing

to

16th

notes

then

the

ASR

will

try

to

shift

the

note

to

the

closest

line

on

the

grid

that

it

thinks

will

work.

The

event

editing

is

mostly

used

for

deleting

notes

that

you

don't

want

or

maybe

inserting

program

changes

or

controllers

per

track.

The

X

has

some

unique

quantizing

features

called

Humanize,

Tighten

and

Delta

quantiz-

ing.

Humanize

quantizing

does

a

random

shifting

of

notes

to

give

the

track

a

better

or

more

random

“feel.”

Tighten

quantizing

shifts

the

notes

closer

to

perfect

but

not

so

much

as

to

make

the

data

sound

mechanical.

Delta

quantizing

is

a

method

of

quantizing

that

is

exclusive

to

Ensoniq.

It

was

first

intro-

duced

in

the

MR

family

of

workstations.

This

procedure

actually

keeps

the

sequence

data

(rhythmic

value

of

the

notes

and

space

be-

tween

each

note)

intact

and

shifts

the

whole

track

forward

or

backward

to

help

make

it

fit

the

rest

of

the

sequence.

Imagine

if

what

you

played

was

rhythmically

accurate

but

not

in

time

with

the

rest

of

the

sequence

—

Delta

quantizing

to

the

rescue.

In

the

X

there

is

no

event

editing.

To

combat

not

having

this

much-needed

feature

the

En-

soniq

designers

decided

to

put

in

some-up-to-

date

cool

real-time

editing

called

Scoop

edit-

ing.

For

example;

Assume

you

are

recording

a

drum

track.

You

record

the

kick,

snare

and

hi-hat,

but

you

found

that

while

recording

the

snare

you

made

a

mistake.

While

recording,

For

example:

Assume

you

are

recording

a

drum

track.

You

record

the

kick,

snare

and

hi-hat,

but

you

found

that

while

recording

the

snare

you

made

a

mistake.

While

recording,

Call

For

Writers!

In

spite

of

their

current

god-like

status,

writers

for

the

Hacker

were

once

mere

mortals

—

just

like

you!

If

you’re

noodling

around

with

Ensoniq

gear,

you

too

can

join

their

elite

ranks.

"

We’re

always

looking

for

new

writers,

and

yes,

there

is

actual

payment

involved.

If

you’re

toying

with

an

idea

,

for

an

article,

how

about

giving

Editrix

Jane

a

call

at

I-503-227-6848

and

listening

to

her

soothing

words

of

encouragement‘?

hold the record

bu

tton and press the snare

pad, the X will start erasing that instrument

out

of

the sequence as long as that particular

pad

is

being held down. Cool!

Let's

try the

same scenario + a cowbell, and that cowbell

just

won 't do. Stop recording, press and hold

record, now play the cowbell pad. The X will

then ask you if you want to erase all

of

that

note on the whole track. Answer yes and it is

done. Quick and eas

y.

Wheo it comes to reading file types the ASR-

10/8

8 will read EPS, EPS-16+, Akai

S-l

000

1

I 100 and Roland S-700 series formats. The X

reads

ASR-I0

, Akai

S-10001II00

, Roland

S-700 series, AIF (Mac) and .wav

(Window

s)

formats.

The

X

al

so has 1 EXP slot for using

maybe the Urban/Dance expansion board that

many people use in the MR-61176 and MR-

Rack. Keep

in

mind that when the ASRs read

other formats, they also read the patch data

too. You will not just get a sample and

that's

it, you'll

get

as close as possible to the patch

data (the way pitch, key maps, amplitude, fil-

ters etc. would have been programmed on

that patch). The ASRs will

do

conversion

of

other manufacturers' sounds only via SCSI.

The

question was raised that there was some

concern that the X may not be able to read

.

wav's

or

aif's

from some other SCSI source

like a CD-ROM. Why not? The X writes its

sounds as

aif

files.

To

lay the thought to rest [

tried

it

and it does work. There is also some

concern that the X cannot read EPS/16+

sounds. Well, if you have a software version

that is 2.05

or

less than it does not. If you

have access to an ASR-IO or Giebler's EDM

you can load the sound into

an

ASR -10

or

into EDM then write the sound back to a new

DSHD

floppy and the X will read

it.

In

the

near future there will be software that will

allow you to read EPSI16+ directly from that

disk! The new software

will

also give you a

song mode and a pattern play mode. The song

mode

is

pretty clear, you can now assemble

your sequences into one big playlist. The pat-

tern play mode now allows you to audition

the patterns by playing them and

just

select-

ing the next pattern, the X will automatically

play the next pattern without missing a beat.

The

last thing I should mention is that the

ASR family does have sample editing para-

meters like truncate, time compression/ex-

pansion, normalize and many others. The

ASR-10/

88

does have a few extra tools like

bowtie crossfade and crossfade to name a

few. Those extra features do allow more con-

trol over the actual sample .

W

eaving

t

he

Wav

e

el-Cheap-o

Sometimes

I'm

a bit

of

a technophobe when

it comes to plugging this computer

in

to use it

as a recording system. Perhaps it

is

the

machine's Taiwanese heritage that

make

s it

so quirky (under the "you get

what

you pay

for" doctrine). Perhaps it is my fear that

I'll

end up three somersaults across the room

with a blackened hand bemoaning my fried

AQh.

rI

""

tpf'tfnn

thp.

f~int

(;:mpll

of

n7.()n

p.

~5:

mv

so quirky (under the "you get

what

you pay

for" doctrine). Perhaps it is my fear

that

I'

ll

end up three somersaults across the room

with a blackened hand bemoaning my fried

486, detecting the faint smell

of

ozone as my

pupils re-dilate from the the brilliant blue

crackling spark that did this to me. Nah .

..

never happen. Bzzzz!

Since my EPS 16+ has no digital outs I

don't

mind a bit encoding it right through the el-

cheapo 16-bit stereo soundcard aboard my

board.

It

is

calJed

an

OptiMAD 16 Pro, and if

ou have one

of

these consumer-level cards

you may have never tried to push it due to its

low promise for studio application. When

you want to put some audio on your web-

pa

ge, bowever, you begin to realize that your

pristine all-digital-domain masterpiece

is

gonoa get played back on ...

OHMYGA

WD!

oot a

pa.ir

of

$6.95 computer speakers!?

J.

D. Ryan

Nor do these cheap cards wanna give up any

performance .

..

you have to work at it. You

will need:

I)

A stereo phono plug cord from your source

to the soundcard input (more

on

this later)

2) Stereo female-phono to male-miniplug.

(Mavbe the card will take it

in

mono,but I

ai

-

l)

A stereo phono plug cord trom your source

to the soundcard input (more on this later)

2) Stereo female-phono to male-miniplug.

(Maybe the card will take it

in

mono,but I al-

ways use two-channel cabling just in case

and it makes monitoring more pleasant.)

3) Headphones and your Ensoniq

or

other

sound source (tape deck, etc.)

4) A computer wlsoundcard that has mic and

line inputs and speaker output.

5) Any software that will record and play-

back your new .WAY

or

AIFF file (CoolEd it,

HQ9000, etc.) and we are ready to patch in.

If your soundcard

is

anything like mine, it

may have these protruding plastic rings

around the miniplug in/outs. It's almost as if

As you can see, the ASR-

I0

is great in some

areas and the X has strengths

of

its own.

They both have excellent sound quality and

are very user friendly. Obviously if you are

trying to decide between them each scenario

is

different and

ha

s to be weighed according-

ly

.

If

you already own one

or

the other and

are thinking about adding another sampler to

your rig then maybe this article can help

in

the decision making process. Both ASRs are

among (in

my

opinion) the most user-friendly

and best sounding samplers in the world. _

Bio: Eric Montgomery

is

a upandcoming

song writer/producer who has published his

work with Salt Records, Integrity Music and

several local compilation CDs in Gary Ind.

and in CAMS

a/Chicago

Ill.

these are designed to make it difficult be-

cause the weight

of

the cords with adaptors in

place wants to mess up the connection as the

plug gets pulled down by the cord and

gravity. You may even have to build a little

support arm

or

wedge it with a book or such

but

we're

gonna

get

digital conversion

out

of

this thing yet!

Okay, boot up and bring your software re-

corder to screen

(I

use CoolEdit) with its YU

meters switched on and run the source cable

to

the "mic" or

"line"

input

as

required by

your card. You may wish to tum

off

any

screensavers

or

other potential interrupts. I

usually take signal right out

of

a headphone

iack on a tape

deck

(hence the stereo feed)

to me

mil:

UI

II

lit:

IllJ.lUl

'"

ICLjUIICU

uy

your card. You may wish to tum

off

any

screensavers

or

other potential interrupts. I

usually take signal right out

of

a headphone

jack on a tape deck (hence the stereo feed)

and one would expect the "line" input to

render adequate Signal, maybe, maybe not.

The easiest way to determine this

is

to let

your source play and put your soft recorder

into "record" or "record pause" mode and

watch for signal as you plug in. There may

be

a mixer section in your software that could

require attention too. When you see signal

you must stabilize the input until you are

satisfied that you have a secure connection.

Now we want to

get

signal

in

our phones to

monitor the "take." My soundcard does not

let me monitor the digitized signal while I

'm

recording and it

doesn't

even present the sig-

nal to the speaker outs

of

the soundcard so I

hold

the

record

button

and

press

the

snare

pad,

the

X

will

start

erasing

that

instrument

out

of

the

sequence

as

long

as

that

particular

pad

is

being

held

down.

Cool!

Let’s

try

the

same

scenario

+

a

cowbell,

and

that

cowbell

just

won’t

do.

Stop

recording,

press

and

hold

record,

now play

the

cowbell

pad.

The

X

will

then

ask

you

if

you

want

to

erase

all

of

that

note

on

the

whole

track.

Answer

yes

and

it

is

done.

Quick

and

easy.

When

it

comes

to

reading

file

types

the

ASR-

l0l88

will

read

EPS,

EPS-16+,

Akai

S-l000/

l

I00

and

Roland

S-700

series

formats.

The

X

reads

ASR-10,

Akai

S-l000/1100,

Roland

S-700

series,

AIF

(Mac)

and

.wav

(Windows)

formats.

The

X

also

has

1

EXP

slot

for

using

maybe

the

Urban/Dance

expansion

board

that

many

people

use

in

the

MR-61/76

and

MR-

Rack.

Keep

in

mind

that

when

the

ASRs

read

other

formats,

they

also

read

the

patch

data

too.

You

will

not

just

get

a

sample

and

that’s

it,

you’1l

get

as

close

as

possible

to

the

patch

data

(the

way

pitch,

key

maps,

amplitude,

fil-

ters

etc.

would

have

been

programmed

on

that

patch).

The

ASRs

will

do

conversion

of

other

manufacturers’

sounds

only

via

SCSI.

The

question

was

raised

that

there

was

some

concern

that

the

X

may

not

be

able

to

read

.wav’s

or

aif’s

from

some

other

SCSI

source

like

a

CD-ROM.

Why

not?

The

X

writes

its

sounds

as

aif

files.

To

lay

the

thought

to

rest

I

tried

it

and

it

does

work.

There

is

also

some

concern

that

the

X

cannot

read

EPS/16+

sounds.

Well,

if

you

have

a

software

version

that

is

2.05

or

less

than

it

does

not.

lf

you

have

access

to

an

ASR-10

or

Giebler’s

EDM

you

can

load

the

sound

into

an

ASR-10

or

into

EDM

then

write

the

sound

back

to

a

new

DSHD

floppy

and

the

X

will

read

it.

In

the

near

future

there

will

be

software

that

will

allow

you

to

read

EPS/16+

directly

from

that

disk!

The

new

software

will

also

give

you

a

song

mode

and

a

pattern

play

mode.

The

song

mode

is

pretty

clear,

you

can

now

assemble

your

sequences

into

one

big

playlist.

The

pat-

tern

play

mode

now

allows

you

to

audition

the

patterns

by

playing

them

and

just

select-

ing

the

next

pattern,

the

X

will

automatically

play

the

next

pattern

without

missing

a

beat.

The

last

thing

I

should

mention

is

that

the

ASR

family

does

have

sample

editing

para-

meters

like

truncate,

time

compression/ex-

pansion,

normalize

and

many

others.

The

ASR-l0/88

does

have

a

few

extra

tools

like

bowtie

crossfade

and

crossfade

to

name

a

few.

Those

extra

features

do

allow

more

con-

trol

over

the

actual

sample.

As

you

can

see,

the

ASR-10

is

great

in

some

areas

and

the

X

has

strengths

of

its

own.

They

both

have

excellent

sound

quality

and

are

very

user

friendly.

Obviously

if

you

are

trying

to

decide

between

them

each

scenario

is

different

and

has

to

be

weighed

according-

ly.

If

you

already

own

one

or

the

other

and

are

thinking

about

adding

another

sampler

to

your

rig

then

maybe

this

article

can

help

in

the

decision

making

process.

Both

ASRs

are

among

(in

my

opinion)

the

most

user-friendly

and

best

sounding

samplers

in

the

world.

In

Bio:

Eric

Montgomery

is

a

upandcoming

song

writer/producer

who

has

published

his

work

with

Salt

Records,

Integrity

Music

and

several

local

compilation

CD5

in

Gary

Ind.

and

in

CAMS

of

Chicago

Ill.

__

rt

__

Weaving

the

Wcive

el-Chec1p—o

Sometimes

I’m

a

bit

of

a

technophobe

when

it

comes

to

plugging

this

computer

in

to

use

it

as

a

recording

system.

Perhaps

it

is

the

machine’s

Taiwanese

heritage

that

makes

it

so

quirky

(under

the

“you

get

what

you

pay

for”

doctrine).

Perhaps

it

is

my

fear

that

I’ll

end up

three

somersaults

across

the

room

with

a

blackened

hand

bemoaning

my

fried

/IQA

rlnipntinn

the

faint

QmPll

nf

n7.nnP.

as

mv

so

quirky

(under

the

“you

get

what

you

pay

for”

doctrine).

Perhaps

it

is

my

fear

that

l’l1

end

up

three

somersaults

across

the

room

with

a

blackened

hand

bemoaning

my

fried

486,

detecting

the

faint

smell

of

ozone

as

my

pupils

re-dilate

from

the

the

brilliant

blue

crackling

spark

that

did

this

to

me.

Nah...

never

happen.

Bzzzz!

Since

my

EPS

16+

has

no

digital

outs

I

don’t

mind

a

bit

encoding

it

right

through

the

el-

cheapo

16-bit

stereo

soundcard

aboard

my

board.

It

is

called

an

OptiMAD

l6

Pro,

and

if

you

have

one

of

these

consumer-level

cards

you

may

have

never

tried

to

push

it

due

to

its

low

promise

for

studio

application.

When

you

want

to

put

some

audio

on

your

web-

page.

however,

you

begin

to

realize

that

your

pristine

all-digital-domain

masterpiece

is

gonna

get

played

back

on

...Ol-IMYGAWD!

no-t

a

pair

of

$6.95

computer

speakersl‘?

J.

D.

Ryan

Nor

do

these

cheap

cards

wanna

give

up

any

performance

...you

have

to

work

at

it.

You

will

need:

1)

A

stereo

phono

plug

cord

from

your

source

to

the

soundcard

input

(more

on

this

later)

2)

Stereo

female-phono

to

male-miniplug.

(Mavbe

the

card

will

take

it

in

mono,but

I

al-

1)

A

stereo

phono

plug

cord

from

your

source

to

the

soundcard

input

(more

on

this

later)

2)

Stereo

female-phono

to

male-miniplug.

(Maybe

the

card

will

take

it

in

mono,but

I

al-

ways

use

two-channel

cabling

just

in

case

and

it

makes

monitoring

more

pleasant.)

3)

Headphones

and

your

Ensoniq

or

other

sound

source

(tape

deck,

etc.)

4)

A

computer

w/soundcard

that

has

mic

and

line

inputs

and

speaker

output.

5)

Any

software

that

will

record

and

play-

back

your

new

.WAV

or

AIFF

file

(CoolEdit,

I-IQ9000,

etc.)

and

we

are

ready

to

patch

in.

If

your

soundcard

is

anything

like

mine,

it

may

have

these

protruding

plastic

rings

around

the

miniplug

in/outs.

It's

almost

as

if

these

are

designed

to

make

it

difficult

be-

cause

the

weight

of

the

cords

with

adaptors

in

place

wants

to

mess

up

the

connection

as

the

plug

gets

pulled

down

by

the

cord

and

gravity.

You

may

even

have

to

build

a

little

support

arm

or

wedge

it

with

a

book

or

such

but

we’re

gonna

get

digital

conversion

out

of

this

thing

yet!

Okay,

boot

up

and

bring

your

software

re-

corder

to

screen

(I

use

CoolEdit)

with

its

VU

meters

switched

on

and

ntn

the

source

cable

to

the

“mic”

or

“line”

input

as

required

by

your

card.

You

may

wish

to

turn

off

any

screensavers

or

other

potential

interrupts.

I

usually

take

signal

right

out

of

a

headphone

jack

on

a

tape

deck

(hence

the

stereo

feed)

£0

[I16

mlt

U1‘

uut:

input

as

tcquitcu

uy

your

card.

You

may

wish

to

turn

off

any

screensavers

or

other

potential

interrupts.

I

usually

take

signal

right

out

of

a

headphone

jack

on

a

tape

deck

(hence

the

stereo

feed)

and

one

would

expect

the

“line”

input

to

render

adequate

signal,

maybe,

maybe

not.

The

easiest

way

to

determine

this

is

to

let

your

source

play

and

put

your

soft

recorder

into

“record”

or

“record

pause”

mode

and

watch

for

signal

as

you

plug

in.

There

may

be

a

mixer

section

in

your

software

that

could

require

attention

too.

When

you

see

signal

you

must

stabilize

the

input

until

you

are

satisfied

that

you

have

a

secure

connection.

Now

we

want

to

get

signal

in

our

phones

to

monitor

the

“take.”

My

soundcard

does

not

let

me

monitor

the

digitized

signal

while

I

‘m

recording

and

it

doesn't

even

present

the

sig-

nal

to

the

speaker

outs

of

the

soundcard

so

I

have to

monitor

the source

signal

from

some-

where

else

on the system

(such

as the head-

phone

out

on

your Enson.iq

keyboard

or

even

the

speakers

of

your

analog

sound/playback

system.)

In

preparing

your

segment

for the web, re-

member

that at 44.1 kHz

samples

per

second,

you're

encoding

about

10

megabytes

per

minute

per

stereo side. I guarantee you that

no-one

(well,

maybe

your mom) out there is

going

to bother to

download

anything

that

takes more than five

minutes

or

so.

Your

source

signal

should

have few red

(0

db)

peaks

in it on its way to

your

analog

/digital

converter

(card).

When

you are satisfied that you have

cap-

tured the

segment

you want you

have

to

check

it now in playback. I have

my

head-

phones

plugged

into the

speaker-out

on

the

back

of

the

soundcard

when

recording

digital

audio

so

that I

don't

have to run

over

to

switch

anything

over

on

the

system.

CAU-

TION:

Just

drape the

phones

around

your

neck

for

the first listen. You may be

glad

you

did ...

Your

newly captured

waveform

file

should

be on the

screen

and your

software

may re-

quire

you to name

or

save

it now,

or

you

may

just

be

able

to hit

"PLAY"

and

hear it

through

the headphones.

There

it

is!

If

it's

in-

telligible

and

entirely intact

at

playback

that's

about

as

good

as

it's

gonna

get

(and

that

can

be

surprisingly

acceptable

for

uploading

to

your

webpage). Keep it

short

and

sweet

and trim

it

to the max.

If

there is

too much background hiss,

crackle,

or

hum

that

wasn't

there as you recorded it, you

may

be able to filter/

enhance/normalize

it

some

depending

on the

editing

capabilities

in

your

software

but as the say,

"You

get

what

you

play

for!"

Remember

too, that most

of

these

cards

are

MIDI

MPU-401 interface

equipped

and will provide many

hour

s

of

Ensoniq

MIDI

fun on your way up the

learning

curve

to

a

Soundscape

Elite

or

other

studio

quality

cards

are

MIDI

MPU-401

interface

equipped

and will provide many hours

of

Ensoniq

MIDI

fun

on

your way up the learning

curve

to

a

Soundscape

Elite

or

other

studio

quality

soundcard.

Next:

Converting

your

Ensoniq

format

samples

directly to .

WAY

files

aboard

your

Pc._

Bio:

With apologies to Mr. Paul Simon,

JD.,

t/a The Bros. Ryan, is still crazy after all

these years ...

(If

you

don't

believe him

or

if

you

want to check

out

his honest results on

the el-cheapo soundcard please go to http://

home.dmv.co

ml-brosryan

and

download

one

of

Ihe

.WAV

or

.zIP

files. He

answers

ALL

his e-mail

at

the address

you'll

find

there

too.)

Beating

a

Creative

Bl

oc

k

It

happens. You simply run out

of

ideas. What

should you do when

you've

exhausted every

possible means to wrench more music from

your soul? Here are a few techniques I use

consistently to overcome this terrible afflic-

tion.

Too many people believe they must be in a cer-

tain mood to compose.

If

the mood's not there,

they procrastinate. You must fight being

seduced by this unfortunate behavior. You just

need to start.

If

you let your inner voice

of

judgment interfere with your creative flow,

you severely inhibit your work as an artist.

Tum

off

the messages in your head and let go.

Sit down at the keyboard, call up your favorite

patch, play that chord

or

riff you always play

when you first touch the keys, and then see

what happens. Often I'll just put the sequencer

into record and play ... and play ... and play ... and

play. Then I'll listen back to

see

if

anything

is

useful. Often nothing worthwhile happens

other than I get in some practice. But some-

times a little flourish sparks

my

imagination

and suddenly the

composer

in

me

wakes up

and starts creating.

If your well

of

creativity really dries up, you

might enlist some help from

your

PC. Art Song

is a terrific algorithmic music composition pro-

gram that helps you create original MIDI se-

quences. This unique program produces

musical passages by tracing a path

over

any

Windows bitmap file. Art

Song

converts pic-

tures

to

music by turning colors into MIDI

notes.

I've

found the program inspiring.

Though you get lots

of

unusable material, you

do get the occasional passage that is very

clever.

I've

generated few stand-alone sequen-

ces, but

I've

used bass lines and wacky chord

.c::p:oJlP:nr.p:

.

c:;

~s

thp.

h~

.

c:;i

.

c:;

for

other

.c:;n

n(1s

. A Iittlp:

Though you get lots

of

unusable material, you

do get the occasional passage that is very

clever.

I've

generated few stand-alone sequen-

ces, but

I've

used bass lines and wacky chord

sequences as the basis for

other

songs. A little

tweaking here and there, an overdub

or

two

of

my own, and soon

I've

written some new

music.

If

you need a little help

to

generate an

idea

or

two

th

at you

can

transform into your

own

musical creation, Art Song is worth

checking out.

Typically

I'll

load a picture bitmap into the

program, select a tracing pattern, and choose a

style. Another mouse click and the music

flows.

I'll

doodle around for some time loading

different pictures, changing the programs

various setting, and so forth. I always save the

most interesting bits as standard MIDI files.

After an hour

or

so,

I'll

convert the sequences

to my Ensoniq

SD-l

using that infamous con-

version utility from Giebler Enterprises. Next,

Jeffrey P. Fisher

I'll

call up the sequences

in

the

SD-I

and make

changes, add bits, fiddle with sounds ... you

know, all those little things we

do

to breathe

life into

our

music.

Soon

I'll

have a few

com-

plete tunes and lots

of

ideas for other musical

passages. This

is

all I usually need to spark my

mind during a creative block.

Digital Expressions, W6400 Firelane 8,

Menasha, WI 54952, (414) 733-6863, stroh-

been@aol.com.

Giebler Enterprises,

26

Crestview Dr.,

Phoenixville, PA 19460 (610) 933-0332.

Creative lyrics

Here are two exercises I use when faced

wi

th

the blank page. First,

it's

very important for

you to ignore your temporary writer's block.

Grab a writing instrument, paper, and begin.

You don 't need to be structured, jus t start wri

t-

ing what

comes

naturally. If the sheer act

of

doing something ... anything ...

doesn't

stimu-

late your mind, try this next idea.

I think a useful tactic is to take wild ramblings

and force them into a structure.

If

you first

write down what comes into your mind and

then whittle, twist, and squeeze the words into

a specific form, you will arrive at a' new

thought altogether. Start writing some Haiku.

You remember,

don't

you? Three line poems

consisting

of

five syllables, seven syllables,

and then five again. The economy

of

words

creates a focused abstraction. And the rhythm

of

the words

is

instantly musical.

It

's five seven five

That's

all you really need know

As a path to use

It's

five seven five

That's

all you really need know

As a path to use

Creativity

Look:

beyond the obvious

Unleash it right now

Creativity is all around us.

It

is both inside and

outside. Though you

can

name creativity (in-

spiration, muse, discovery, understanding) you

cannot define it. You cannot grasp it, nor

can

you learn it. Creativity is. And you can harness

it

in your life. It can guide you, fulfill you,

help you, and hurt you. You cannot control it

and

it

cannot control you.

It

is

there to be used,

it denies nothing, asks for nothing and

demands nothing. It

just

is. While the physical

world has its advantage,

it's

often the indis-

cernible and invisible that becomes truly use-

ful. You should use these principles to free

have

to

monitor

the

source

signal

from

some-

where

else

on

the

system

(such

as

the

head-

phone

out

on

your

Ensoniq

keyboard

or

even

the

speakers

of

your

analog

sound/playback

system.)

In

preparing

your

segment

for

the

web,

re-

member

that

at

44.1

kHz

samples

per

second,

you’re

encoding

about

10

megabytes

per

minute

per

stereo

side.

I

guarantee

you

that

no-one

(well,

maybe

your

mom)

out

there

is

going

to

bother

to

download

anything

that

takes

more

than

five

minutes

or

so.

Your

source

signal

should

have

few

red

(0

db)

peaks

in

it

on

its

way

to

your

analog/digital

converter

(card).

When

you

are

satisfied

that

you

have

cap-

tured

the

segment

you

want

you

have

to

check

it

now

in

playback.

I

have

my

head-

phones

plugged

into

the

speaker-out

on

the

back

of

the

soundcard

when

recording

digital

audio

so

that

I

don’t

have

to

run

over

to

switch

anything

over

on

the

system.

CAU-

TION:

Just

drape

the

phones

around

your

neck

for

the

first

listen.

You

may

be

glad

you

did...

Your

newly

captured

waveform

file

should

be

on

the

screen

and

your

software

may

re-

quire

you

to

name

or

save

it

now,

or

you

may

just

be

able

to

hit

“PLAY”

and

hear

it

through

the

headphones.

There

it

is!

If

it’s

in-

telligible

and

entirely

intact

at

playback

that’s

about

as

good

as

it’s

gonna

get

(and

that

can

be

surprisingly

acceptable

for

uploading

to

your

webpage).

Keep

it

short

and

sweet

and

trim

it

to

the

max.

If

there

is

too

much

background

hiss,

crackle,

or

hum

that

wasn’t

there

as

you

recorded

it,

you

may

be

able

to

filter/enhance/normalize

it

some

depending

on

the

editing

capabilities

in

your

software

but

as

the

say,

“You

get

what

you

play

for!”

Remember

too,

that

most

of

these

cards

are

MIDI

MPU-401

interface

equipped

and

will

provide

many

hours

of

Ensoniq

MIDI

fun

on

your

way

up

the

learning

curve

to

a

Soundscape

Elite

or

other

studio

quality

i./Au]

nus.

A

\

v

A

A

l

\/lJl\/\dl

svv,

L L

l

u

L

1 L

Luau

V1

I.ll\.v0'v

cards

are

MIDI

MPU-401

interface

equipped

and

will

provide

many

hours

of

Ensoniq

MIDI

fun

on

your

way

up

the

learning

curve

to

a

Soundscape

Elite

or

other

studio

quality

soundcard.

Next:

Converting

your

Ensoniq

format

samples

directly

to

.WAV

files

aboard

your

PC.

1

Bio:

With

apologies

to

Mr.

Paul

Simon,

J.D.,

r/a

The

Bros.

Ryan,

is

still

crazy

after

all

these

years...

(If

you

don’t

believe

him

or

if

you

want

to

check

out

his

honest

results

on

the

el-cheapo

soundcard

please

go

to

http://

h0rrte.dmv.corn/~brosryan

and

download

one

of

the

.WAV

or

.ZlP

files.

He

answers

ALL

his

e-mail

at

the

address

you’ll

find

there

too.)

Beating

0

Creative

Block

It

happens.

You

simply

run

out

of

ideas.

What

should

you

do

when

you’ve

exhausted

every

possible

means

to

wrench

more

music

from

your

soul?

Here

are

a

few

techniques

I

use

consistently

to

overcome

this

terrible

afflic-

IIOI1.

Too

many

people

believe

they

must

be

in

a

cer-

tain

mood

to

compose.

If

the

mood’s

not

there,

they

procrastinate.

You

must

fight

being

seduced

by

this

unfortunate

behavior.

You

just

need

to

start.

If

you

let

your

inner

voice

of

judgment

interfere

with

your

creative

flow,

you

severely

inhibit

your

work

as

an

artist.

Turn

off

the

messages

in

your

head

and

let

go.

Sit

down

at

the

keyboard,

call

up

your

favorite

patch,

play

that

chord

or

riff

you

always

play

when

you

first

touch

the

keys,

and

then

see

what

happens.

Often

l’ll

just

put

the

sequencer

into

record

and

play...and

play...and

play...and

play.

Then

I’ll

listen

back

to

see

if

anything

is

useful.

Often

nothing

worthwhile

happens

other

than

I

get

in

some

practice.

But

some-

times

a

little

flourish

sparks

my

imagination

and

suddenly

the

composer

in

me

wakes

up

and

starts

creating.

If

your

well

of

creativity

really

dries

up,

you

might

enlist

some

help

from

your

PC.

Art

Song

is

a

terrific

algorithmic

music

composition

pro-

gram

that

helps

you

create

original

MIDI

se-

quences.

This

unique

program

produces

musical

passages

by

tracing

a

path

over

any

Windows

bitmap

file.

Art

Song

converts

pic-

tures

to

music

by

turning

colors

into

MIDI

notes.

I’ve

found

the

program

inspiring.

Though

you

get

lots

of

unusable

material,

you

do

get

the

occasional

passage

that

is

very

clever.

I’ve

generated

few

stand-alone

sequen-

ces,

but

I’ve

used

bass

lines

and

wacky

chord

seniienrtes

as.

the

hasis

for

other

srmos.

A

little

Though

you

get

lots

of

unusable

material,

you

do

get

the

occasional

passage

that

is

very

clever.

I’ve

generated

few

stand-alone

sequen-

ces,

but

I’ve

used

bass

lines

and

wacky

chord

sequences

as

the

basis

for

other

songs.

A

little

tweaking

here

and

there,

an

overdub

or

two

of

my

own,

and

soon

I’ve

written

some

new

music.

If

you

need

a

little

help

to

generate

an

idea

or

two

that

you

can

transform

into

your

own

musical

creation,

Art

Song

is

worth

checking

out.

Typically

I’ll

load

a

picture

bitmap

into

the

program,

select

a

tracing

pattern,

and

choose

a

style.

Another

mouse

click

and

the

music

flows.

I’ll

doodle

around

for

some

time

loading

different

pictures,

changing

the

programs

various

setting,

and

so

forth.

I

always

save

the

most

interesting

bits

as

standard

MIDI

files.

After

an

hour

or

so,

I’ll

convert

the

sequences

to

my

Ensoniq

SD-1

using

that

infamous

con-

version

utility

from

Giebler

Enterprises.

Next,

Jefirey

P.

Fisher

I’ll

call

up

the

sequences

in

the

SD-1

and

make

changes,

add

bits,

fiddle

with

sounds...you

know,

all

those

little

things

we

do

to

breathe

life

into

our

music.

Soon

I'll

have

a

few

com-

plete

tunes

and

lots

of

ideas

for

other

musical

passages.

This

is

all

I

usually

need

to

spark

my

mind

during

a

creative

block.

Digital

Expressions,

W640O

Firelane

8,

Menasha,

WI

54952,

(414)

733-6863,

stroh~

been@aol.com.

Giebler

Enterprises,

26

Crestview

Dr.,

Phoenixville,

PA

19460

(610)

933-0332.

Creative

lyrics

I-Iere

are

two

exercises

I

use

when

faced

with

the

blank

page.

First,

it’s

very

important

for

you

to

ignore

your

temporary

writer’s

block.

Grab

a

writing

instrument,

paper,

and

begin.

You

don’t

need

to

be

structured,

just

start

writ-

ing

what

comes

naturally.

If

the

sheer

act

of

doing

something

...anything

...doesn’t

stimu-

late

your

mind,

try

this

next

idea.

I

think

a

useful

tactic

is

to

take

wild

ramblings

and

force

them

into

a

structure.

If

you

first

write

down

what

comes

into

your

mind

and

then

whittle,

twist,

and

squeeze

the

words

into

a

specific

form,

you

will

arrive

at

anew

thought

altogether.

Start

writing

some

Haiku.

You

remember,

don’t

you?

Three

line

poems

consisting

of

five

syllables,

seven

syllables.

and

then

five

again.

The

economy

of

words

creates

a

focused

abstraction.

And

the

rhythm

of

the

words

is

instantly

musical.

It’s

five

seven

five

That’s

all

you

really

need

know

As

a

path

to

use

It’s

five

seven

five

That’s

all

you

really

need

know

As

a

path

to

use

Creativity

Look

beyond

the

obvious

Unleash

it

right

now

Creativity

is

all

around

us.

It

is

both

inside

and

outside.

Though

you

can

name

creativity

(in-

spiration,

muse,

discovery,

understanding)

you

cannot

define

it.

You

cannot

grasp

it,

nor

can

you

learn

it.

Creativity

is.

And

you

can

harness

it

in

your

life.

It

can

guide

you,

fulfill

you,

help

you,

and

hurt

you.

You

cannot

control

it

and

it

cannot

control

you.

It

is

there

to

be

used,

it

denies

nothing,

asks

for

nothing

and

demands

nothing.

It

just

is.

While

the

physical

world

has

its

advantage,

it’s

often

the

indis-

cernible

and

invisible

that

becomes

truly

use-

ful.

You

should

use

these

principles

to

free

your mind and open up your true pathway to

endless and boundless creativity.

To

overcome your temporary impasse, look

outside the boundaries. Don '( stay tied to a

single way

of

doing things. Try many different

approaches. You'll find the solution if you

open

up

your mind to all

the

infinite pos-

sibilities. Leaving your comfort zone

is

the

doorway to your best work. You will find the

true creativity within. Do you really want to

risk shutting out this world and stifling your

musical talent? Then what are you waiting for?

Grab Jeffrey's new edition

of

his popular book,

How

To

Make Money Scoring Sound tracks

And Jingles, and

!Urn

your musicaltalems inro

cash. Write Fisher Creative Group, 323 Inner

Circle Drive, Bolingbrook, IL 60490; e-mail

fishercg@mcs.com; visit www.mcs.net/-fish-

ercg; or call (630) 378-4109.

HACKER

BASEMENT

TAPES

Steve Vincent

TRANZIT

Voyage

DirkH.J.

Nusink

CD:

TRANZIT-

Voyage (c) 1997.

Artist:

Dirk H.J. Nusink.

Contact

Info:

Dirk Nusink, p.a.

NUSEMUSIC NL, Toldijk 28, 3209 BD,

Hekelingen, Netherlands; Phone:

0181-633387; Distributor's website

(Groove Unlimited):

http://www.mcs.nllgroove/ .

Equipment:

Ensoniq EPS-16+,

ESQ-l,

Yamaha TG-55, Roland Juno 60, MC-303

Groove Box, XP-50, Korg WaveStation,

Digitech DSP-16, Ibanez DM-500 delay,

Boss RRV-IO digital reverb, D & R model

2 analog spring reverb, Alecto EQ-2400

graphic equalizer, Atari I 040STf running

Cubase v2.0 I, Fostex MC-I 02 keyboard

mixer, Sony amplifiers, Goodmans

Maxim, Beyer DT-440 and DT-811

monitoring, Aiwa XD-S260 DAT.

"TRANZIT

"

is

Dirk Nusink, who brings us

his version

of

"synthesizermusic"

from the

Netherlands on his first CD, entitled

"Voyage." This CD

is

packed (almost 72

minutes) with trancey European electronic

music in the tradition

of

Jean Michael Jarre

__

_ ,

rT"

• •

__

_ _ :

___

T""II.

__

,..

__

_

Netherlands on his first CD, entitled

"Voyage."

This

CD

is

packed (almost 72

minutes) with trancey European electronic

music in the tradition

of

Jean Michael Jarre

and Tangerine Dream.

From the

CD

liner notes (with some slight

editing to aid the translation from Dutch to

English): "Dirk Nusink got most

of

his in-

fluences out

of

the'

70s

and'

80s ties. Having

listened

to

different styles

of

music while

growing up, he started on guitar in several

rock bands. A few years later he switc

hed

over

to

play

percussion in fusion and dance

music. Although satisfied playing percussion,

there still was a

need

for

expressing his

own

ideas and independence, so the digital do-

main brought the solution, and selling up a

home studio was

th

e answer 10 his needs. He

first explored the area

of

New Age music and

finally

he

came into contact with Cue

Records (Groove Unlimited). Because

of

the

tremendous amount

of

electronic music that

is released by Cue Records, he started with

an

old

love, and that is synthesizermusic."

Although

most

of

Dirk's

sound sources are

digital, he manages to coax wonderful ana-

log-sounding timbres from them. The produc-

tion quality on "TRANZIT -Voyage" is

superb

and

the mix

is

excellent, showing

Dirk's

great engineering chops. Composition-

ally,

"TRANZIT

-Voyage" has that "tight"

European

electronic music feel, but within

these bou ndaries floats an emotional and

dreamy feeling that entrances the listener.

Let's

take a Voyage into

Dirk's

music

..

.

Lowlands -Arpeggiating harp samples

create

the repetitive focus that induces the

trance on this tune, with a single synth note

filter-sweeping over and over. Percussion

finally floats

in

about

2:30

minutes into the

song,

along with a melodic line and bell-like

accoutrements. Finally the track settles into

its groove after 4 minutes with a flute-like

melody line. A wonderful, evolving, mellow

song,

along with a melodic line and bell-like

accoutrements. Finally the track settles into

its groove after 4 minutes with a flute-like

melody line. A wonderful, evolving, mellow

dreamscape.

Nostalgia -This dark, dreamy free-form

track haunts with wind-noise in the back-

ground

and wine glass and bell hybrid sounds

weaving a nostalgic fabric over which float

string lines.

Desertdust -Cool, repetitive percussion

and

an 8th-note octave pulse provide the transpor-

tation for this long (12:20) musical journey

during which suspended fourths are resolved

into major chords over and over, building

then resolv ing the slightest tensions, propell-

ing the entire experience in a forward direc-

tion. One could imagine this as a soundtrack

to a travel documentary.

Rick's

Theme -A departure from

Dirk's

electronic synth formula, this

song

uses

acoustic piano as its main instrument. Digital

bells add to the dreamy piano melody later

in

the track. Although the

song

never departs

from the alternating two-chord progression,

its repetitiveness is not boring; on the con-

trary, its simplicity frees the mind to wander.

Quiet Waters -Lush sweeping pads wash

over

a crisp analogue-ish arpeggio, with an

almost

subliminal vox-type

"melody"

hinting

at ideas in the background.

Toward

the end

of

the song, synthesized

chirping

sounds

emu-

late birds, insects, and other creatures

coming

to drink at this virtual stream.

Alexandria -Interesting percussion adds a

world-music feel

to

this middle-eastern in-

fluenced track. Dirk apparently does

not

at-

tempt at finding

"real"

samples

of

ethnic

instruments, but uses analog (or digitally

produced, analog-sounding)

emulations

of

real instruments. I have always favored this

"emulative"

approach;

one

need only

"sug-

gest"

the particular sound, and the human

ear

forgivingly compensates, and (speaking for

my own ears only here) actually prefers to

use its own imagination, rather than

suffer

the artifacts

of

an instrument being played

outside its

"real"

range,

or

even

worse, the

pain

of

listening to the nasty aliaSing that oc-

curs when an instrument is poorly multi-

sampled.

Two

thumbs up to

emulative

production!

CryplOnite -Here

is

crisp European elec-

tronic dance music that,

perhaps

due to sug-

gestion from its title, conjures images

of

a

busy chemical factory, but without any

noxious associations.

After Age -Piccolo snare hints at a hip-hop

beat, bringing synthesizermusic into the

nineties. Very cool bass timbres used

in

this

syncopated, rhythmically intriguing track.

Synth chords

chop

out percussive lines

reminiscent

of

Information

So

ciety.

1 1:'

()

_

de

th"..

titlp

(,Hoopetc

n;

...

Ir

-::.

nirn-::.tPo('

syncopated, rhythmically intriguing track.

Synth

chords

chop

out percussive lines

reminiscent

of

Information Society.

L.F.O. -As the title suggests,

Dirk

animates

his syntbs with every filter, envelope, and

L.F.O

. trick

in

the book, leading us into a

wonderful exploration

of

timbral com-

plexities. Anyone who thinks that electronic

sources

of

music are boring shou ld listen to

this track. Beautiful sounds are woven

together to create another entrancing ex-

perience. There

is

a slightly dark

edge

to this

track, with a very low male-sounding voice

saying

"aahh

..

" in a Darth Vader-like spirit.

Haunting. We also get to

hear

some

of

Dirk's

soloing chops as be breaks

out

of

the patient,

slow-building mold periodically to

give

us

some

of

his lead-synth licks.

Anklung -Not to

be

outdone by "L.F.O.",

your

mind

and

open

up

your

true

pathway

to

endless

and

boundless

creativity.

To

overcome

your

temporary

impasse,

look

outside

the

boundaries.

Don’t

stay

tied

to

a

single

way

of

doing

things.

Try

many

different

approaches.

You’ll

find

the

solution

if

you

open

up

your

mind

to

all

the

infinite

pos-

sibilities.

Leaving

your

comfort

zone

is

the

doorway

to

your

best

work.

You

will

find

the

true

creativity

within.

Do

you

really

want

to

risk

shutting

out

this

world

and

stifling

your

musical

talent?

Then

what

are

you

waiting

for?

Grab

J

efirey's

new

edition

of

his

popular

book,

How

To

Make

Money

Scoring

Soundtracks

And

Jingles,

and

turn

your

musical

talents

into

cash.

Write

Fisher

Creative

Group,

323

Inner

Circle

Drive,

Bolingbrook,

IL

60490;

e-mail

fishercg@mcs.com;

visit

www.mcs.net/~fish-

ercg;

or

call

(630)

378-4109.

J3

TRANZ/T

—-

Voyage

Dirk

H.J.

Nusink

CD:

TRANZIT—

Voyage

(c)

1997.

Artist:

Dirk

H..l.

Nusink.

Contact

Info:

Dirk

Nusink,

p.a.

NUSEMUSIC

NL,

Toldijk

28,

3209

BD,

Hekelingen,

Netherlands;

Phone:

0l8l-633387;

Distributor‘s

website

(Groove

Unlimited):

httpzl/www.mcs.nllgroove/.

Equipment:

Ensoniq

EPS-16+,

ESQ-l,

Yamaha

TG-55,

Roland

Juno

60,

MC-303

Groove

Box,

XP-50,

Korg

WaveStation,

Digitech

DSP-16,

lbanez

DM-500

delay,

Boss

RRV-10

digital

reverb,

D

&

R

model

2

analog

spring

reverb,

Alecto

EQ-2400

graphic

equalizer,

Atari

lO40STf

running

Cubase

v2.01,

Fostex

MC-I02

keyboard

mixer,

Sony

amplifiers,

Goodmans

Maxim,

Beyer

DT-440

and

DT-81

I

monitoring,

Aiwa

XD-S260

DAT.

“TRANZIT”

is

Dirk

Nusink,

who

brings

us

his

version

of

“synthesizermusic”

from

the

Netherlands

on

his

first

CD,

entitled

“Voyage.”

This

CD

is

packed

(almost

72

minutes)

with

trancey

European

electronic

music

in

the

tradition

of

Jean

Michael

Jarre

..

.-

.1

PT‘.

..

_

....I-_

_

‘I'\__{._..__

Netherlands

on

his

first

CD,

entitled

“Voyage.”

This

CD

is

packed

(almost

72

minutes)

with

trancey

European

electronic

music

in

the

tradition

of

Jean

Michael

Jarre

and

Tangerine

Dream.

From

the

CD

liner

notes

(with

some

slight

editing

to

aid

the

translation

from

Dutch

to

English):

“Dirk

Nusink

got

most

of

his

in-

fluences

out

of

the

’70s

and

’80s

ties.

Having

listened

to

different

styles

of

music

while

growing

up,

he

started

on

guitar

in

several

rock

bands.

A

few

years

later

he

switched

over

to

play

percussion

in

fusion

and

dance

music.

Although

satisfied

playing

percussion,

there

still

was

a

need

for

expressing

his

own

ideas

and

independence,

so

the

digital

do-

main

brought

the

solution,

and

setting

up

a

home

studio

was

the

answer

to

his

needs.

He

first

explored

the

area

ofNew

Age

music

and

finally

he

came

into

contact

with

Cue

Records

(Groove

Unlimited).

Because

of

the

tremendous

amount

of

electronic

music

that

is

released

by

Cue

Records,

he

started

with

an

old

love,

and

that

is

synthesizermusic."

Although

most

of

Dirk’s

sound

sources

are

digital,

he

manages

to

coax

wonderful

ana-

log-sounding

timbres

from

them.

The

produc-

tion

quality

on

“TRANZ1T

—

Voyage”

is

superb

and

the

mix

is

excellent,

showing

Dirk’s

great

engineering

chops.

Composition-

ally,

“TRANZ1T—-

Voyage”

has

that

“tight”

European

electronic

music

feel,

but

within

these

boundaries

floats

an

emotional

and

dreamy

feeling

that

entrances

the

listener.

Let’s

take

a

Voyage

into

Dirk’s

music...

Lowlands

—

Arpeggiating

harp

samples

create

the

repetitive

focus

that

induces

the

trance

on

this

tune,

with

a

single

synth

note

filter-sweeping

over

and

over.

Percussion

finally

floats

in

about

2:30

minutes

into

the

song,

along

with

a

melodic

line

and

bell-like

accoutrements.

Finally

the

track

settles

into

its

groove

after

4

minutes

with

a

flute-like

melody

line.

A

wonderful,

evolving,

mellow

Jmnnvwqnnnvnn

song,

along

with

a

melodic

line

and

bell-.ike

accoutrements.

Finally

the

track

settles

into

its

groove

after

4

minutes

with

a

flute-like

melody

line.

A

wonderful,

evolving,

mellow

dreamscape.

Nostalgia

—

This

dark,

dreamy

free-form

track

haunts

with

wind-noise

in

the

back-

ground

and

wine

glass

and

bell

hybrid

sounds

weaving

a

nostalgic

fabric

over

which

float

string

lines.

Desertdust

—

Cool,

repetitive

percussion

and

an

8th-note

octave

pulse

provide

the

transpor-

tation

for

this

long

(12:20)

musical

journey

during

which

suspended

fourths

are

resolved

into

major

chords

over

and

over,

building

then

resolving

the

slightest

tensions,

propell-

ing

the

entire

experience

in

a

forward

direc-

tion.

One

could

imagine

this

as

a

soundtrack

to

a

travel

documentary.

Rick’s

Theme

—

A

departure

from

Dirk’s

electronic

synth

formula,

this

song

uses

acoustic

piano

as

its

main

instrument.

Digital

bells

add

to

the

dreamy

piano

melody

later

in

the

track.

Although

the

song

never

departs

from

the

alternating

two-chord

progression,

its

repetitiveness

is

not

boring;

on

the

con-

trary,

its

simplicity

frees

the

mind

to

wander.

Quiet

Waters

-

Lush

sweeping

pads

wash

over

a

crisp

analogue-ish

arpeggio,

with

an

almost

subliminal

vox-type

“melody”

hinting

at

ideas

in

the

background.

Toward

the

end

of

the

song,

synthesized

chirping

sounds

emu-

late

birds,

insects,

and

other

creatures

coming

to

drink

at

this

virtual

stream.

Alexandria

-

Interesting

percussion

adds

a

world-music

feel

to

this

middle-eastern

in-

fluenced

track.

Dirk

apparently

docs

not

at-

tempt

at

finding

“real”

samples

of

ethnic

instntments,

but

uses

analog

(or

digitally

produced,

analog-sounding)

emulations

of

real

instruments.

I

have

always

favored

this

“emulative”

approach;

one

need

only

“sug-

gest”

the

particular

sound,

and

the

human

ear

forgivingly

compensates,

and

(speaking

for

my

own

ears

only

here)

actually

prefers

to

use

its

own

imagination,

rather

than

suffer

the

artifacts

of

an

instrument

being

played

outside

its

“real”

range,

or

even

worse,

the

pain

of

listening

to

the

nasty

aliasing

that

oc-

curs

when

an

instrument

is

poorly

multi-

sampled.

Two

thumbs

up

to

emulative

production!

Cryptonite

—

Here

is

crisp

European

elec-

tronic

dance

music

that,

perhaps

due to

sug-

gestion

from

its

title,

conjures

images

of

a

busy

chemical

factory,

but

without

any

noxious

associations.

After

Age

--

Piccolo

snare

hints

at

a

hip-hop

beat,

bringing

synthesizermusic

into

the

nineties.

Very

cool

bass

timbres

used

in

this

syncopated,

rhythmically

intriguing

track.

Synth

chords

chop

out

percussive

lines

reminiscent

of

Information

Society.

I

E‘

/1

_

Ac

tlwn

whip

culnnpcic

I'\irl.-

emimmpe

syncopated,

rhythmically

intriguing

track.

Synth

chords

chop

out

percussive

lines

reminiscent

of

Information

Society.

L.F.O.

—

As

the

title

suggests,

Dirk

animates

his

synths

with

every

filter,

envelope,

and

L.F.O.

trick

in

the

book,

leading

us

into

a

wonderful

exploration

of

timbral

com-

plexities.

Anyone

who

thinks

that

electronic

sources

of

music

are

boring

should

listen

to

this

track.

Beautiful

sounds

are

woven

together

to

create

another

entrancing

ex-

perience.

There

is

a

slightly

dark

edge

to

this

track,

with

a

very

low

male-sounding

voice

saying

“aahh..”

in

a

Darth

Vader-like

spirit.

Haunting.

We

also

get

to

hear

some

of

Dirk’s

soloing

chops

as

he

breaks

out

of

the

patient,

slow-building

mold

periodically

to

give

us

some

of

his

lead-synth

licks.

Anklung

-—

Not

to

be

outdone

by

“L.F.0.”,

this track starts with a fast sample-hold

or

ar-

peggiating synth, morphing into a wash

of

beau tiful chords which are fascinatingly

molded by pitch-bend and/or detuning to

move

us slightly out

of

the surgically-clean

world

of

synth music into a more human

dimension

.

The

CD

ends with this rootle

ss

,

dreamy

trance fading into silence.

Dirk Nu sink displays

great

patience in build-

ing compositional tension over long periods

of

time in his tracks; many

of

his pieces are 7

to 12 minutes long. He will often use the first

one to three minutes

of

a track to slowly add

instruments without any melody, percussion,

or

direction, before bringing in these anchors.

Then

it may sometimes be another three to

five minutes before any melody even kicks

in.

This

creates a very dreamy and relaxing

mood

which departs from the frantic world

of

pop music and its frequent attempts to hook

us in the first few seconds

of

a song. Dirk's

mus

ic

is a generous, slow-building, laid-back,

entrancing

soundscape which helps the mind

and soul to release tension, not unlike pro-

gressive muscle relaxation techniques that

have you slowly tense up, then release, every

muscle

group

in your body, until your entire

being is totally relaxed (usually you fall as-

leep before

you're

finished!).

"TRANZIT-

Voyage"

is

a musical equivalent

of

this ap-

proach to relaxation.

Dirk

included a copy

of

Dutch

National

Radio's

(KRO-Ararat) response to his CD.

For

you Dutch speakers in the

Ha

cker crowd,

they said: "Beste Dirk, Dank voor toezending

van

je

CD "Tranzit-voyage" . Met je typering

"kosmische synthesizermuziek" heb

je

geen

wo

o

rd

teveel gezegd.

lk

vind hem zeer de

moeite waard in zal proberen hem

in

de

Ararat-uitzending van 8 decenber a.s. onder

de

aandacth te brengen, en wellicht daarna

ook nog eens.

lk

wens

je

veel succes met deze

CD en eventuele toekomstige plannen. Met

vriendelijke grot, Sylvia Bodnar, samensteller

KRO-Ararat. "

I think they liked it.

You

can

listen to a sound clip

of

track 7,

"Cryptonite," (39 sec., 269k)

at

Groove

Unlimited's

website (http:

//

www.mc

s.nl!

groove

!). Look up Dirk's music in the catalog

under

"

TRANZIT

-

Voyage"

(you

won't

find it under "Nusink"). Since soundclips

from this website are in .mp3 (instead

of

.wav) format, you will need to download the

shareware program

Winamp

in order to listen

to it (this is a painless

download

at

271k, and

it 's a cool little program with

excellent

sound

quality; check it out).

To

download

Winamp,

go

to http://winamp.lh.nel. You

can

order

"TRANZIT -Voyage" directly from the

Groove

Unlimited website, which also has

~ti.Cilse

'.SIIS'II'

11111"11.;11,.;'11111.'

OPTI-CASE, like the

great

pyramids, built to last and protect.

Now available direct from factory (except

in

current dealer

____

_ \

_.

_ _

.c

._

111~

___

C

JoFT'1Jt.

_ . _

__

'""

. •

___

. T

•.•

..:1

TT

OPTI-CASE, like the

great

pyramids, built to last and protect.

Now available direct from factory (except in current dealer

areas) our full line of AT A cases Category I and II

Models available for all Ensoniq

keyboards and racks!

tons

of

other CDs.

It's

a

great

place to

browse

for electronic music. Lots

of

sample

sound clips for the listen-before-you-buy

crowd.

Now I'm going to put on my headphones and

trance out to "TRANZIT -Voyage" ...

Thanks,

Dirk._

If

you want

your

tape run through the

wringer, err, Hacker,

just

mail it

off

to: Base-

ment Tapes, Transoniq Hacker, 1402

SW

Upland Dr., Portland

OR

97221. Please in-

clude your e-mail address!

Bio: Steve Vincent produces demos and

CD

s

at his home- based Portent Music, and can be

reached via email at vincents@harbor-

net.com, or at his website at htrp:

!/

www.ks-

pace .com/ vincent.

Mention the (TH) code number 839 when inquiring to

receive our special factory direct pricing.

Shown: 4-space

rack

with

EPS-16 PLUS maduIe,

2-space rack, Eagle-I VFX-sd case

CALL US AT 1-800-637-6635

8:00 am to 4:30 pm CT, Mon. -Fri.

We accept: COD, Visa, Mastercard, American Express.

Dealer

Inquiries

Welcome!

Th

.E

OpTiMUM

PROTECTioN

•

IN

OPTI-CASE • 1175 CR

481

West, Henderson, TX 75654 • FAX: 903-657-6030

this

track

starts

with

a

fast

sample-hold

or

ar-

peggiating

synth,

morphing

into

a

wash

of

beautiful

chords

which

are

fascinatingly

molded

by

pitch-bend

and/or

detuning

to

move

us

slightly

out

of

the

surgically-clean

world

of

synth

music

into

a

more

human

dimension.

The

CD

ends

with

this

rootless,

dreamy

trance

fading

into

silence.

Dirk

Nusink

displays

great

patience

in

build-

ing

compositional

tension

over

long

periods

of

time

in

his

tracks;

many

of

his

pieces

are

7

to

12

minutes

long.

He

will

often

use

the

first

one

to

three

minutes

of

a

track

to

slowly

add

instruments

without

any

melody,

percussion,

or

direction,

before

bringing

in

these

anchors.

Then

it

may

sometimes

be

another

three

to

five

minutes

before

any

melody

even

kicks

in.

This

creates

a

very

dreamy

and

relaxing

mood

which

departs

from

the

frantic

world

of

pop

music

and

its

frequent

attempts

to

hook

us

in

the

first

few

seconds

of

a

song.

Dirk’s

music

is

a

generous,

slow-building,

laid-back,

entrancing

soundscape

which

helps

the

mind

and

soul

to

release

tension,

not

unlike

pro-

gressive

muscle

relaxation

techniques

that

have

you

slowly

tense

up,

then

release,

every

muscle

group

in

your

body,

until

your

entire

being

is

totally

relaxed

(usually

you

fall

as-

leep

before

you’re

finishedi).

“TRANZIT

—

Voyage“

is

a

musical

equivalent

of

this

ap-

proach

to

relaxation.

Now

available

direct

from

factory

(except

in

current

dealer

OPTI-CASE,

like

the

great

pyramids,

built

to

last

and

protect.

Now

available

direct

from

factory

(except

in

cunent

dealer

areas)

our

full

line

of

ATA

cases

Category

I

and

II

Models

available

for

all

Ensoniq

keyboards

and

racks!

flllll

C888

ilecfronic

iqvljnnenf

OPTI-CASE,

like

the

great

pyramids,

built

to

last

and

protect.

Dirk

included

a

copy

of

Dutch

National

Radio’s

(KRO-Ararat)

response

to

his

CD.

For

you

Dutch

speakers

in

the

Hacker

crowd,

they

said:

“Beste

Dirk,

Dank

voor

toezending

van

je

CD

“Tranzit-voyage”.

Met

je

typering

“kosmische

synthesizermuziek”

heb

je

geen

woord

teveel

gezegd.

Ik

vind

hem zeer

de

moeite

waard

in

zal

proberen

hem

in

de

Ararat-uitzending

van

8

decenber

a.s.

onder

de

aandacth

te

brengen,

en

wellicht

daarna

ook

nog

eens.

Ik

wens

je

veel

succes

met

deze

CD

en

eventuele

toekomstige

plannen.

Met

vriendelijke

grot,

Sylvia

Bodnar,

samensteller

KRO—/lrarat.

"

I

think

they

liked

it.

You

can

listen

to

a

sound

clip

of

track

7,

“Cryptonite,”

(39

sec.,

269k)

at

Groove

Unlimited’s

website

(http://www.mcs.nl/

groovel).

Look

up

Dirk’s

music

in

the

catalog

under

“TRANZIT

_

Voyage”

(you

won’t

find

it

under

“Nusink”).

Since

soundclips

from

this

website

are

in

.mp3

(instead

of

.wav)

format,

you

will

need

to

download

the

shareware

program

Winamp

in

order

to

listen

to

it

(this

is

a

painless

download

at

271k,

and

it’s

a

cool

little

program

with

excellent

sound

quality;

check

it

out).

To

download

Winamp,

go

to

http:llwinamp.lh.net.

You

can

order

“TRANZIT

-

Voyage“

directly

from

the

Groove

Unlimited

website,

which

also

has

tons

of

other

CDs.

It’s

a

great

place

to

browsefor

electronic

music.

Lots

of

sample

sound

clips

for

the

listen-before-you-buy

crowd.

Now

I’m

going

to

put

on

my

headphones

and

trance

out to

“TRANZIT

-

Voyage"...

Thanks,

Dirk.—

If

you

want

your

tape

run

through

the

wringer,

err,

Hacker,

just

mail

it

off

to:

Base-

ment

Tapes,

Transoniq

Hacker,

1402

SW

Upland

Dr.,

Portland

OR

97221.

Please

in-

clude

your

e-mail

address!

Bio:

Steve

Vincent

produces

demos

and

CDs

at

his

home-

based

Portent

Music,

and

can

be

reached

via

email

at

vincents@harbor-

net.com,

or

at

his

website

at

http.'//www.ks-

pacecomlvincent.

(use:

for

Mention

the

(TH)

code

number

839

when

inquiring

to

Sh°wm

4'sPa°°

rack

with

EPS'16

PLUS

m°d“Ie'

receive

our

special

factory

direct

pricing.

2-space

rack,

Eagle-I

VFX-sd

case

CALL

US

AT

1-800-637-6635

THE

OPIiMUM

i~

8'00

am

to

4'30

pm

CT

Mon

—

Fri

l

We

accept;

COD,

Visa,

Mastercaird,

American

Express.

Dealer

Inquiries

Welcome!

OPTI-CASE

-

1175

CR

481

West,

Henderson,

TX

75654

~

FAX:

903-657-6030

TH-

My name

is

Alvaro Carrino and

I'm

leaching

"MIDI

Production"

at the La Salle University

of

Cuernavaca

(Mexico).

We

use

an

BPS (with a 4X

memory

expander

cartridge) as

our

MIDI trigger,

We

have a lot

of

stock

EPS

sample files (on floppy disks), and

we

need to get

the 4x-SCSI cartridge to connect a

SCSI

drive

to

the

sam-

pler

and

store all

of

our

sOWlds in

one

safe, large capacily

drive, Perhaps you can help

answer

some

questions:

1.

Where

can

we

buy, via mail

(bener

by e-mai!

Or

web

on-line service), an Ensoniq EPS 4x-SCSI cartridge?

2. What kind and models

of

SCSI

drives

work

with the

EPS sampler?

3.

Is it possible to change Ihe

drive

(factory built in the machine) a

new

Mb floppy drive?

if

it exists, an EPS O.S. that

handles

that kind disks).

lng,

Alvaro

Carrillo

acarrill@lyoneLcvca,ulsa,mx

(PF

-Alvaro:

(I)

The

EPS SCSI inlerface has been oul

of

production

for

years. Ensoniq doesn't make them any-

more, and

no

olher 3rd parties have continued 10

manufacture

Ihem,

Since have

Ihe

genuine Ensoniq

4X

Memory Expander,

POSI

email 10 groups like

all.music,midi

10

Iry

10 focale Hen's leelh come 10

mind here."

(2)

JUSI

aboul all Macintosh-compalible SCSI hard drives

work fine wilh the EPS, long

as

Ihe

EPS

is

running

O,S>

V.

2,49

and

ROM Version 2,40, See

Ihe

"Lisl

of

Ap-

proved Drives" in

/he

flacker for details. Garlh fljelte

of

RCS (hllp:llwww.soundcenlral.coml-chickeneps) has a

lis

ling as well.

(3) No, only

Ihe

BOOk

drives will operate correclly in

Ihe

EPS, The ASR·IO and ASR-X are Ihe only Ensoniq

samplers Ihal Ulilize

alA

Mb

flD

floppy.

Good luck in your search!}

(PF -Lale news: Rubber Chicken Software

NOW

markels

a SCSI inlerface for

Ihe

EPS

and

16+. II's only $147 plus

shipping, so check

il

out, II's Ihe ONLY SCSI inJerface

Good luck

in

your search!]

(PF -Lale news: Rubber Chicken Software NOW markelS

a SCSI inlerface for

Ihe

EPS

and

16+, II's only

$147

plus

shipping, so check

il

oul, II's the ONLY SCSI inJerface

available for the EPS and 16+ anymore ... ]

Hello,

Is there any way to change the

controiler

or

xRPN numbers

on

Series? I

am

having a heck

of

a time trying to figure this

one

ouL

Thanks,

Terence

Jones

jonestl@uturn-records,com

(PF Terence: Conll1c/ Ensoniq directly

at

610,647.3930

and request

Ihe

SysEx documentalion for the

MR,

This

doc demySIij/es whal sysex codes

10

selld 10 emulale

bUI-

Ion

presses

on/he

MR's

from

paneL

I

Hello Hackers,

A while back, I had mentioned that I was unable to record

a

PC

,wav file with a loop,

Since

then, I have found

out

about a company called Sonic Foundry. market a

called

Sound

4.0, There a

demo

http://www.sfoundry.comi

The

full version is not

exact·

cheap,

bUI

if

il does what it does,

I'll

waste

00

in getting it. Finally,

I'll

able to put

'looping'

.wavs inlo my MR·76's Flash

Sample

Board, and maybe

have an patch

or

two that

doeso'(

sound like a Casio

when above C4.

By

the way,

if

using AOL,

the browser

woo't

let you login

10

the server

10

DL

the

demo. I had to use Netscape to get

it

demo

won 'I

record,

or

save a file, but will let you

check

out

all the

editing lools on ,wavs you already have,

Tim Roche

Erie, PA.

TRWEBBS@aol.com

[PF Tim: Sound Forge 4,0 is THE for PC digital

audio. I Ihink Roy Elkins (the

ex

for En-

soniql is working Ihere now. Yeah, ii's $495 MSRP,

bUI

il

does wave manipuJalion SOOO fasl

it's

lin believable. Any

readers oul Ihere know

of

a cheaper shareware/freeware

alternalivefor Tim here?]

Haynes (jhaynes3@snel,nel) Hello everyone,

as

Soundforge

is,

I'd

Ira

vel

10 hup:/lwww,syntril-

lillflt,com and download CoolEdit, II's shareware thaI will

do a deal

ofwhal

Soundforge con many less

The demo is fully funclional only two

of

many oplions available

at

any lime, choosable upon open-

ing the program).

It

will certainly loop

If

you

like the program

it

COl!

be regislered for only

BeSI

of

luck.!

{PF Jamie: Duly noted and posled, The real beauly

of

SoundForge

is

ill

ils raw SPEED, Given, it's

10

limes

Ihe

price

of

CoolEdil ii's

50

limes faSler al performing any

number

of

given opera lionS. II's sooo fasl

it

should

be

downrighl

illegaL

I

TH

I'm

a new subscriber and just read the las!

year

of

issues.

Great info! I felt compelled to respond to Anon letter

on

page

18

of

Issue #147.

This

person was berating Ensoniq

for selling him

an

expensive

MR·61

that had some bugs

I'm

a new subscriber and juS! read the las!

year

of

issues,

Great info! I felt compelled

to

respond to Anon letter

on

page

18

of

Issue #147,

This

person was berating Ensoniq

for selling him an expensive

MR·61

thaI had

some

bugs

in version 1.64, I have a solution,

Don't

buy a new

board

when

it

initially

comes

out.

You'l!

save

money

the kinks will be mostly worked ouL I brand

new MR·61 with version 2.01 for

$1200

in 97'

A second solution. Go back to a pencil, paper, and electric

piano, Technology,

or

anything

for

!hal maller, will never

be perfect. Deal wilh

il

and accept

it

or

don't

use it, but

don't

complain about

your

prOblems to the rest

of

world. Example: when Windows 95 first

came

out

there were problems with it. I

chose

to stay with

my

3.11

for a while

and

Ie!

everybody else work the out

so

I

didn't

have 10, Leave

it

10

those who enjoy ae··qulrKlng

technology, I think Ensoniq

must

have

good

products to

have the

of

• publication like TH,

If

Ihey waited

for it to be

they'd

release a new keyboard

20

(Maybe slight exaggeration ... )

If

it

was

would Ihink

it

was perfect and

they'd

slOp

working to it.

Ken

Hoffman

kjhoff@execpc,com

(PF Webers: "Never buy

V,

1.0

of

anylhing," And yes,

people who rely

all

Ihe lechnology ra/her than their

OWII

abilily are merely fooling themselves, And yes,

if

en-

gineers ran companies, Ihey'd

be

so busy improving the

lecnn<noi~y

and adding new fealUres il would

;ever

gel

oUlthe

TH-

I have an MR·61

and

a IBM PC. I do ev"rvltnU,Q

on

the

MR-61 but

would

like to take the disk and

my

music

Out

on

the

Pc.

My music

is

contemporary

jazz

(sax, bass,

keys, guitar, drums),

Is

there a recommended notation

software

Ihat's

easy

to learn, simple to

and

generally well with the MR-61 withoul too

many

complications'!

Ken

Hoffman

kjhoff@execpc.com

(PF Ken: II's no/ so much what software works well

wUh

Ihe

MR, as you're lalking about anolher box han-

dling

Ihe

dala and

Ihe

Iranseriplion. Avoid Finale

if

you're looking for something easy, Finale is

Ihe

BMW

of

transcriplion programs (ii's

aCluaJJy

lermed an "engrav-

ing" program),

and

sooner or laler you'll

be

doing

0/1

YOllr

work

in

Ihere, as all session charls for recording use

or publicalion are done in Finale because

ii's

Ihe

only

Iranscription application

0111

Ihere (hence

Ihe

program)".

Bul Ihe faslesl way from here

10

Ihere

is

Encore, IMflO,

II's quick and dirty, there're no EVU's (Eniga Variable

Units) 10 cOlilend wilh. you don'l have 10 sel

lip

blank

sheel music for four hours before YOII gel busy,

BUI

again, lhis is jusl my $.02 wonk. Programs like

Musicalor, Nighlingale, elc., work very well, are MUCH

cheaper

Ihan

eilher Encore or Finale, Cakewalk 4,0

and

above will spil oUllead sheets and pariS, If's mOre a ques-

lion

ofwhal

/0

do with these charls once Ihey're

done Ihal's real question.

If

you plan 10 dis/ribute

Ihem 10 professional musicians and siudio players, any-

Ihing less

Ihon

the quality

and

finesse

of

Finaie charlS are

verbOlen,

If

all you

10

do

is 10 hand

off

these charls

10

guys in your MOTU's Freestyle does

bOlh

se-

quencing

and

nolalion for both Mac and PC 01

(1

fraction

of

Ihe

cos/

of

Cakewalk (FreeS lyle

/iSIS

for $200, bUilypi-

Ihing less

Ihan

Ihe

quality and finesse

of

Finale charls are

verbOlen,

If

all you plan 10 do is 10 hand

off

Ihese charts

10

guys in

YOllr

band, MOTU's Freestyle does both se·

quencing

and

nolation for

bOlh

Mac and

PC

al a fraction

oflhe

coSI

ofCakewulk

(FreeSlyle /ists for $200, bUllypi-

cully sells in

Ihe

$75

rOllge

from music slores

and

so ii's more a question

of

what you

10

do with chans ralher than a

of

what works best.1

TH-

Is

there

any

to

hookup

or

hardwire something like a

zip disk

to

my

Also, do you have a list

of

back

is·

sues available with info

on

how

to

gel the mosl 0,,1

of

an

original EPS with 4X?

Thanx in

advance

for

your

answers,

cilixen@ix21-ix.netcom.com

[PF -DC: The EPS follows the SCSI-l protocol. As the

Zip drive is a SCSJ-2 device

il

wfll

1101

work.

only vacuum-sealed SCSI canislers work with

Ihe

and thai's only

if

il

has

Ihe

SCSI interface,

If

it doesn'l,

you may be aul

of

luck, as

Ihe

SCSI inlerface for Ihe EPS

wenl

OUI

of

produclion years ago, And no

Dlher

3rd par-

TH-—

isiy

name

is

Aieeto

Csttsiio

ssd

i’ttt

teeeltittg

“tsttot

Production”

at

the

Ls

Selle

University

of

Ceetztsvsee

ieeeztieojs.

We

use

est

E95

{with

s

es

teestory

eseseeet

eststiegejl

es

ees

sttet

ttigges

see

tteee

e

tot

ef

steels

E93

sample

{ties

{en

floppy

disks),

tee

see

eeee

to get

the

es~S€S§

esstttdge

te

eotteest

e

Sfifii

oriee

to

the

sees»

pier

and

store

eii

oi‘

out

eotteds

in

oee

safe,

serge

eepeeity

drive.

Perhaps

you

eestz

help

answer

some

questions:

1.

Where

emit

we

buy,

vie

mail

(better

by

e-mail

or

web

on-line

service),

sn

Ensoniq

EPS

4s~SCSIt:a1-tridge?

2.

Went

kind

and

ntoeeis

of

SCSE

drives

work

with

the

fi?S

sentptet‘?

3,.

is

it

possible

to

essttge

the

ettgieel

BS-29

floppy

otiee

{feetety

eeiit

its

the

eteeetse}

for

e

eesv

B$~§~§§

its

tee

tteeey

ettee‘?

(Qeeieesty

if

it

exists,

se

EPS

8.8.

teat

needles

that

sled

of

fertttetting

oisks}.

Eng.

Alvaro

Carrillo

ecan*iii@Eyonet.evea,ulse,ms

[PF

--

Alvaro:

(1)

The

EH35

SCSI

interfizce

fins

been

ow‘

of

proalncstion

for

years.

.PIn:sonit;:

d0'esn’J

make

them

any

more,

and

no

other

3rd

pttrrfes

have

continued

to

manufacture

tfzenz.

Since

you

save

the

genuine

Ensoniq

4X

Metnotj;

Expander,

I’?!

post

eetoiz‘

to

grasps

iiée

sf:.etss£e.e:§d§

so

tee

so

ioeete

tree.

fies’;

tee???

eeeze

to

esieai

itere...

{2}

fest

eeoet

est

ts/feeietess:~eest,eet§e£e

SS5?

he-re?

eriees

were

fine

with

the

EPS,

es

Zesg

:25‘

the

EPS

Z5

rtzneéeg

9.5’:-*»

V.

2.49

and

Rfitl/Y

Version

2.49.

See

size

“List

offl.e-

proved

£}rives”

in

the

Hacker

for

o‘eZs£Es,

Gerri?

Hjeite

of

RC5

(hrrp:ffwwwts0und€enrra£teo:nf~t3f:i€keneps)

has

a

Ifsfing

as

weii.

(3)

No,

oniy

the

889;:

drives

tviit’

operate

eorreetéy

in

the

E295.

The

A$R~i8

eee’

ASR~X

ere

size

otzfy

Ensoniq

seteeters

feet

tttiéize

e

5.4

sts

fififleeptx

Good

ttttrit

te

yea?

seereité?

1'

FF

-~

Late

news:

Eeeoer

Cstfekee

Sofiteere

t*s’O§@£*’

rnorftets

ti?

.$CS,?

interface

for

tee

E33’

one’

26+.

ifs

012$;

SE4?’

pits?

skipping,

so

check

it

om‘,

it’s

Isle

QNLY

SCSY

trtjerfeee

nu-nzflrngfiifl

far

tgsn

F5?

nu!’

like

/‘snvuvwhwfi

F

Goon’

set

in

your

seercfzfj

[PF

-

Late

news:

Rnboer

Chicken

Software

NGEF5/'

markets

o

343$!

inierfczcefor

tee

EFS

and

16+.

ifs

onty

$24?’

pins

shipping,

so

cheek

it

ottit

ifs

{fie

Q’l‘J£,}’

$513?

trtterfoce

eseifseiefor

tee

EPS

one

toe

ett;.ve2ere...,?

Hesse,

ls

teete

any

way

to

eheege

the

tossing

of

PX

vie

tsiifit

somroiier

or

xR?t*t

netsosts

on

the

MR

Series‘?

1

am

having

a

heck

of

a

time

trying

to

l’igu.t*e

this

one out.

Thanks,

Terence

Jones

jonest

l@nmm-receros.eont

{PF

-

’?‘ereet;e:

Contact

Essoeie

elisestty

es

eso.e4;t.29se

set!

seeeest

tee

Sysfis

eeesetestetéee

for

tee

see.

tee

doe

steetssttfies

west

ssses

eoetes

to

seed

to

eetttéete

tet-

tee

presses

es

tee

§s‘R’s

frost

ssseimi

sisllo

Heesete,

A

while

back,

I

had

mentioned

that

lwas

unable

to

record

s

PC

.w/av

file

with

a

loop.

Sinee

ti-tee,

E

have

found

otn

seoet

s

eotttpeny

eaiied

Sonic

Foundry“

”§’ney

eterket

e

ptegtettt

esiiee

Sound

Forge

set

“these

is

s

free

éettto

sssiiseis

st

their

website:

ittto;iietetss.st'eeedry.eotn?

esgeefeseeeetsidetttostetetit

Ttte

fttii

eetsiee

is

set esees

ly

esese,

ettt

if

it

does

whet

it

ssys

it

eess,

t’tt

sesste

eo

time

is

getting

it.

Fiestty,

fit

be

sells

te

pet

*Eeooieg*

assess

into

my

§lf§R-?6’s

Fleets

3etnpEe

§103i'§,

end

maybe

hsse

so

organ

patch

or

two

1;hatooes1t’t

senate

like

n

Casio

when

pissed

above

C4.

By

the

wsy,

if

you’re

using

ASL,

the

browser

won’:

let

you

iogin

to

the

ftp

server

to

DL

the

demo.

I

had

to

use

Netscape

to

get

is

The

demo

won’:

sseord,

or

save

a

file,

but

will

let

you

sheelt

out

all

the

editing

tools

on

.wavs

you

already

have.

‘Ties

Roslte

Erie,

Res.

'"§'R‘*§s"88ES@eetteeet

{FF

»

’?“z'et:

§oe2s:2

Forge

4.6

is

‘Z1853

see

for

Ffi‘

eigitat

seeliot

3

tstss

Roy

Efitins

(Ike

ex

“seeoe£:nester”

for

Ett-

soeio}

is

working

there

noes.

Yeeiz,

ifs

$4935“

MSRP,

ee!

it

does‘

wave

ntanipztfotion

SQQC3

fast

ifs‘

unbelievable.

Any

readers

out

there

know

of

at

cheaper

sheretvareifieetvare

a!!emsrive

for

‘Tint

!2ere?]

{footie

Haynes

(_§3to}*ne$3@s:teI.r2e!)

W

fietto

eeetyone.

Gene‘

es

Sotmaffirge

53,

Fa‘

Rove?

ft?

5?t€;):iiww1ez$yn!r§£~

Zéesmorn

sea‘

downioocf

cmeett.

Isis

sksrewars

site:

W52‘?

do

e

good

den?

of

who:

Sotznctforge

tree

do

for

messy

fess

tiofsttrs.

’3"»‘2e’

demo

is

fidfy

fztnetionei

(testis

oe§}=

nee

of

essay

ogs:£oes

svni£e2.=£e

at

any

sites,

ckoossefs

eeoe

open-

ing

the

program).

it

win‘

certainty

too;

twee

flies

.€fyo:;t

iise

fete

program

Z1

we

be

regtsierealfstr

oeiy

$.§°&,

Bet‘;

of

isesxj

{PF

~»

Jessie:

Duiy

nofed and

posted.

The

res!

beauty

of

Sounr!Forgs

is

in

its

raw

SPEEZ).

Given,

ifs

16

times

the

price

of

iiioolfinit

-~

it-‘s

5:9

times

faster

at

performing

any

messes

of

given

operotfoes.

ifs

seoe

fest

£t

shoefe’

be

dotessigst

iflegei...

}

WW

Yet

s

eest

seesetiees

see

jest

tese

the

lest

yess

of

isseee.

Qtest

info?

I

felt

compelled

to

respond

to

sees

letter

on

page

E8

of

tsetse

#3411‘,

This

person

was

eetetisg

Ensoniq

for

selling

him

an

expensive

KER-61

that

had

some

bugs

Q

m

q

v

m

»»n;r\:»~c

I

.§::'§

3‘

Basra

n

nralautza-saw

1.‘/°¢h'$’§‘

keen!

0°:

Hmvuv

3+"-"iv

I’nt

a

new

subscriber

and

jest

read

the

lest

yesr

of

issues.

Greet

info!

I

felt

compelled

to

respond

to

sees

letter

on

page

18

of

issue

em‘.

This

person

tees

beretiztg

fissoeiq

for

sellisg

sits

est

eseeesise

ZsiR~6t

test

see

setee

begs

is

eesséos

tee.

i

esee

e

sotttties.

fies?

eey

s

sets

seg-

boeté

ezisett

Zt

tttitieiiy

eoetes

ottt.

‘t’ott’tt

seve

mosey

see

the

sizzles

sejttt

its

teostty

worked

oett

l

eettget

ttty

etseo

ttese

ease;

tsite

version

2&1

{es

$t2fi@

ts

Qeteeet

9%’.

A

seeese

solution.

Go

beet:

to

e

pencil,

paper,

see

electric

piese,

Teehselogy,

or

anything

for

that

tttsttet,

will

never

be

perfect.

{fleet

with

it

and

accept

it

or

don’t

use

it,

but

please

eon’:

complain

about

your

problems

to

the

rest

of

the

world“

Example:

when

Windows

95

first

came

out

there

were

problems

with

it.

I

chose

to

stay

with

my

3.!

E

for

s

while

seal

let

everybody

else

were

the

begs

out

so

I

dietft

ease

to,

sesse

it

to

those

who

enjoy

eeesisking

teeteteiegy.

E

tease

Ensoniq

most

tteee

good

steoeets

te

ltsee

the

seewtt

of

e

peeiieettoe

like

sts

If

they

teettee

for

it

to

ee

oerfeet

teeyd

setesse

s

sees

seyeesse

esesy

to

yeetst

(sseyee

sttgst

eseggesetioe...}

if

it

sees

sttteeet

flees,

tees

sens

titieit

-it

was

eeefeet

see

tsetse

stop

etesitittg

to

izttpsove

it.

Ken

Heffmstt

kjhoff@es

eepeeem

{PF

-~

slieoeesr

‘Weser

st;

V.

t’.§

of

eeyt3t£eg.”

est}

yes,

peoeie

wee

set}:

on

the

ieefzeoiogy

reteet‘

tees

tests

owe

ebitfty

see

ezsreiy

footing

titeetseiees,

see

yes,

if

est»

gieeers

see

eoetpeetes,

t5tey’e‘

st

so

easy

Zetergsieg

site

tsekeeiegy

ens?

seeing

eeet

feetttres

it

tsoeial

sever

get

est

the

eeorttti

"i'"I"§»-=~

I

have

an

mnt-fist

end

21

IBM

PC.

I do

everything

on

the

MR»-6l

but

would

like

to

take

the

disk

and

print

my

tsttsie

out

on

the

?(3.

My

music

is

eoztteznporery

jest:

(sets,

esss,

keys,

getter,

deems).

is

these

e

recommended

sotstios

softsesre

esessge

tltst’s

eesy

to

teettt,

sietpie

to

ese,

see

geeetetty

etesss

sell

with

the

see-et

ettteest

tee

tssey

eeetettesttess‘?

Ken

Heffetss

sjno?f@eseeos.eoet

{PF

-

Ken:

ifs

not

so

meek

what

safiwnre

works

veel!

wiih

the

MR,

as

you’re

Zaikittg

abou!

another

ens

has»

diing

the

dare

and

the

fmrt5c.ripti0n.

Avoid

Finals

if

you’re

looking

for

something

easy.

Finaie

is

the

sens

of

transcription

programs

(ifs

oezeaiiy

termed

eta

“eng:~ss~

Eng"

progress},

see?

sootter

or

Eater

_sott’§i

be

eleisg

sit’

yon:

were

in

titers,

es

oi?

semen

eizerts

for

resonating

see

or

eeéiieeiioe

ere

eioee

in

Fieefe

éteeeese

£t’s

ties

eréy

24§§a‘p€

ireescripiioe

£i;?p§i€‘<3§'§0!§

on:

the-re

{érenee

size

fem:

“engraving”

;:e‘ogreet)=..

Be:

the

fastest

wsy

from

sere

so

there

is

Eneore,

.£Mi::'(3.

ifs

etties

one

dirty,

tltereflee

no

£3/U’s

{Beige

Varfosis

Units}

to

eoetsed

with,

you

don’:

have

to

set

up

blank

sheet

mnsieforfoer

hours

before

you

get

busy.

But

again,

ihis“

is

just‘

my

$.62

worth.

Programs‘

Zike

flrfnsifiotor,

eiigittiegeiet

eta,

were

very

teeit’,

are

MGCH

cheaper

thee

either

Efseors

or

F5-note.

essessst

4.8

eed

eseve

teiii

set‘:

est

tees’

seests

one

pests.

ifs

tee:-e

st

eees»

ttoe

of

tees;

see

sees

to

eo

see

teese

eiterts

oeee

t§2ey’se

dose

tees’;

tee

sees

esesttee.

if

see

esee

to

esstrtssts

tees:

to

ssefessieeei

etesieiees

ese’

stseie

piejsees,

easy»

tkéeg

fess

than

the

essitry

eeeifitresse

offleeée

cizerst

are

seroetes.

tf

est

yee

else

to

do

£5

to

heed

efi

these

esorts

to

guys

ts

yosr

sorta’,

M{Z??"£l£’s

Freeszyie

does

oath

se~

eneneing

and

notation

for

£21213:

Mac

and

PC

at

a

fraeiion

oftize

eosr

ofCskstst:b’<

(Frsefiyie

lists

for

$200,

but

typi~

/Ira,’-:\.\

\i:vA‘=£jv'\-..J:.»+..W

.4r£¢.M..

.q":?§Cv...

aw-r\‘wv\‘*<n

£‘%\l"f’-°\.nuIIOi'1Q:£§rI\|U)>flW'Y'£i,

“wow;

J

thing

Zest“

than

the

qssiiry

ondfinesse

0fFino£e

charts

ere

verbotee.

If

oil

you

pies

to

de

Es

to

hone?

off

these

tximrts

to

guys

its

yew‘

best},

teotm~

Freestyie

does

sent

es»

eeeneieg

tutti

eotettoe

for

sets

setze

ewe‘

Pi?’

st

e

feeetios

oftize

eost

efCesesset’i<

(Freefityte

ttsts

for

$2§t?,

est

tyeti»

eats);

setés

is

tee

$2?

reege

from

etttsie

stores

see‘

eetesgeeeps},

so

£t’s

store

e

eeesttee

of

wees

you

piss:

to

do

sent

tstsse

essrts

sszees

teen

e

reeeteeeeeeetiee

of

teitat

e*0r.es

eestij

\

TH-

Is

there

any

way

to

hookup

or

hsrdwire

something

like

s

zip

disk

to

my

EPS’?

else,

do

you

have

a

tie:

of

bees

is~

sues

available

with

nee

ott

ltew

to

get

the

most

net

of

sat

original

EPS

with

4X‘?

Teens

ie

eesettee

Yet

yees

eesszets,

etttsee@is2

t

.is.eeteetsteee't

1’

PF

-

QC:

’3'?2e

EPS

foiiottis

the

SCSI-E

protaeoi.

As

the

Zip

drive

is

e

5‘C5'1~2

tieviee

it

wiii

not

worit.

Sasieasty,

only

vaenum».teeIee'

SCSI

canisters

work

with

the

EPS,

and

theft

only

ifs’:

fans

the

SCSZ

interface“

if

it

doestft,

you

may

be

our

of

leek,

as

the

.S'(.YSl'

interface

for

the

EPS

went

on;

ofpredueiios

years

ago.

Ann’

no

oteer

3rd

per-t

ties manufacture them anymore as well.

so

unless you

knoll'

of

a source for

Ihe

SCSI expander Ihis journey will

prove fruilless.

As

for

back issues, scroll

10

Ihe

lOp

or

bOllom

of

Ihis page

and click on

Ih

e "Back Issue Index"

..

. }

[PF -Addendum: RCS (hllp:llwww.soundcenlral.coml

-chickeneps)

has

picked up

Ihe

slack and has avaiillble

NOWa

SCSI in/erface for

bOlh

Ihe

EPS and Ihe 16+ for

$147 plus shipping. Alas,

il

won'l make a Zip drive work

wilh the EPS,

bUI

il

will alWw a

16+

10 access a Zip

drive. Jusl Ihe

fOCI

Ihal Ihere

's

an inlerface available

again should prove revitalizing for

EPS

owners who

couldn

't

afford Ihe original Ensoniq SCSI interface.

Check oul

RCS

's

home

page

from our "Relaled Links"

head

er

allhe

lap

of

Ihis forllm ... }

.fchickenEPS@Willmar.com -Merry Chrislmas, Pal ...

how's

Ihe new kid? By

Ihe

lime Ihis

is

prinled

I'll

have

mine ... ahem.

AClually,

Ihe

reason

Ihe

Original EPS is

nOI

compaJible

wilh Ihe ZipDrive is

nOI

because

of

Ihe SCSI-lJSCSI-2 dif-

ference.

Ali

SCSI pro lOcals are upward and downward

compatible by design.

Wh

y isn'l il? I don'l know -Ihe

reason I give

is

Ihal "SCSI as implemented by

Ihe

Original

EPS

is simply primilive;

il

does nol sllpporl

CD-ROM Drives nor cerra

in

modern hard drives." (Nole:

Ih

e Syquesl EZ-F/yer

is

compalible wilh Ihe Original EPS,

based on

Our

leslS, and is Ihe same price as Ihe Zip

as

of

Ihis wriling.)

Also worlhy

of

nOle:

Be

looking

for

Ihe

Casllewood Orb

drive, due

10

be introduced firsl

quaner

1998.

2.lgig,

SCSI, $199. I really Ihink Ihe

Zip's

days, allhough good,

are limiled.}

[PF -Garlh: Thanx for

Ihe

heads up. The EPS

is

compal-

ible wilh

Ihe

Syquesl 135? I'li have

10

fry

Ihal -Ihal could

make

for

an inlereSling inlernal cart drive. How does Ihe

EPS

reaclwhen

yOu

swilch carts?

The way Alan Smilh described

Ihe

EPS SCSI expander be-

havior was Ihal

il

used aboul

12

of

Ihe

19 original Apple

prolocols (one

of

which

il

didn'l implemenl was Reqllesl

AI/enlion, which is why 1 asked my previous queslion).

This probably explains

Ihe

CDROM issue.

BTW

, I no

li

ce

you've

gal a 4-drive

CD

jukebox for $150!

Whal

me

chanisms are inslalled? VERY inferesled.

Keep up

Ihe

good

work: I see Disk Tools now xlates

SM

F'

s

10

Ensoniq formal. Looks like

ii's

only going

10

gel

beller. Any word

on

Ihe

new Ensoniq board coming oul in

January?}

Hi.

Great magazine. [ just purchased

an

MR-61 (great key-

h

.......

..

.i

f

,)'r.r(,.c-t"t;r.."

Tt..,..,

h'llv;nn

nrnhlptTI<:

,.h'llnn;nn

<:nllnti-:

Hi

.

Great magazine. [ just purchased

an

MR-61 (great key-

board/workstation

).

I'm having problems changing sounds

in

a SMF. They play back fine, but

in

GM mode. The

sounds

in

Ihe

MR-61 (non-GM mode) are much

\:>etter.

I

Iry

to

change

Ihe

sounds, but when I

hit

the play button

Ihe

sounds revert back

to

the

GM

mode. [

am

using

2.

JO

OS.

I'm told they're now

at2

.

11.

What's the difference?

Thanks,

ANA YV@aol.com

[PF -Ana: An

SMF

has

Ihe

palch info, volume info,

and

olher pertinenl frock info embedded. Jusl changing

Ihe

sound

oflhe

MR frock

il

plays does

NOT

change

Ihe

pG/ch

info

Ihe

SM

F sends oul when

Ihe

sequence slarls -hence

Ihe reversion

10

a GM sound on

Ihe

Iracks you've changed

Ih

e sounds on.

Whal 10

do

is

10

resave Ihe song

in

MR

formal, Ihen load

iI, make

[he

nec

essary changes

YOIl

wan! on the "aF

flicled"

Ira

cks, and THEN resave

in

MR

formal. Then

whenever you load

Ihe

song,

Ihe

proper palches will be

sent out.

V.

2. 1 I fixes some liming anomalies when punching

in

and

punching oul

of

a sequence,

as

well as punching

in

alld

aUf

of

Ihe

exacl

illioUI

poinlS. I guess 2.1 was a lillie

sloppy

about this under some obscure

or

arcane silua-

lions,

bUf

Ensoniq, none/he/ess, fell

il

was an imporlOnI

eJwugh

maim

eM

nce revision

10

chrislen

il

2.11.}

{chickenEPS@wilbnar.com -

JuS(

as a nole: check

hllp:llwww.ensolliq.comlbillarylrhylhmbuilder.zip.

II

is

a

new lillie program wrillen for Will95 (32-bi/, I Ihink) Ihal

allows you

10

make drum

pallems

complele wilh fills and

variations for Ihe MR. Check

OUI

Ihe new MR Unisyn

profile as well.}

TH-

I have a VFX-SD that will, whenever

il

decides

10

,

pl

ay

random notes

al

ear blasting levels. Once this happens,

it

refuses

to

listen

to

MIDI Note Off messages (i.e., PANIC

bUlton)

sent

from

my

8-port SE. This problem seems

to

happen more when there has been a temperature change.

Sometimes

it

can happen when the unit

is

hil

under the

display. I have heard Ihal there

is

an

upgrade I,hal can

be

installed that

wiH

up

the polyphony and sounds.

If

Ihis

upgrade

is

slill available, will I still have

to

deal wilh Ihis

goofy intermittent problem

??

Thanks for your lime!

Kevin Newman

agrdude@mail.sage.net

[PF -Kevin : The SD-1132 upgrade was disconlinued

Iwo

years ago this coming February. As

for

Ihe

problem

01

hand,

['

d suggesl opening

Ihe

lid

and

resealing

01/

Ihe

cables on Ihe wiring harness from one end

of

Ihe

inslru-

menl

10

Ihe

olher. The display conneclors

Gre

suspeci

(since you can hil it

Ih

ere and Ihe problem slops).

If

YOI/'re leery aboul popping

Ihe

hood on your VFXsd, lake

ilia

an Ensoniq dealer

10

perform Ihes e lips for

YOIl.

Beller rhan

90%

of

Ensoniq keyboard problems revolve

around oxidizedJimermil/em conneclors. Once Ihey're

eleaned and reconneCled, your inslrumenl

should

be as

good

as

new ... }

[Dave P (shelby@micro-nel.com)- You should also check

oul a

documentl

found

on

lhe web daled Jan.16, 1996 ...

"VFX Keyboard Recalibralion Errors." Visit: hllp:Jlwww.

cs.colorado.eduf-mccrearylvjxl -all aboul

Ihe

conneclor

problem.}

TII-

Just got

an

EPS-16 Plus.

TS-I0

can'l read samples

[made

on the EPS. Says "Disk

not

Formatted." Disk was for-

mailed for EPS

10

make sound. TS-IO manual says r

should

be

able

to

read these disks. I can read sounds made

by

Ensoniq for

Ihe

EPS

on

my TS-IO.

l-lp\1"\...tTlP\

on

Ihe

EPS. Says "Disk

nOI

Formatted."

Disk

was for-

mailed for EPS

10

make sound. TS-IO manual says I

should

be

able

to

read Ihese disks. I can read sounds made

by

Ensoniq for the

EPS

on

my

TS-IO.

Help

me!

YesMcKay@aol.com

{PF -Yes McKay: Use DSDD floppy -

NOT

DSHD. EPS

and

16+

nOI

like DSHD.

NOI

make

sound

using DSHD.

EPS-16+

and

TS-IO

nollike

disks wilh

/Wo

holes

in

Ihem.

Feed TS-IO and EPS-16+ one hole disks. Fonnal single

hole disk on EPS or

16+,

save

EPS

or

16+

sound

10

single hole disk, and feed TS-IO single hole disk. Disk will

make sound ... All beller now ... }

TH-

I subscribed

to

TH

from

198

6

to

1990 after purcha

si

ng

an

ESQ-\.

AI

that lime, I

was

using a Commodore 64

to

slore sequences

and

sounds. [ now have a 486 laplop and

also plan

On

buying a desktop

PC

with a soundcard among

other oplions.

I.

Can you te

ll

me

whal I would need

to

store ESQ-I se-

quences and sounds

to

a

PC

withoul needing

to

spend a

101

on

fancy software and interface hardware? J have

100

s

of

soundbanks saved

on

disk using

Ihe

C64. I figure I can

transfer sounds I want to keep

from

my

(C-64) discs back

to the ESQ-I and then

to

my

Pc.

2. I want

to

buy a sound module.

Do

you see

any

disad-

vantage wilh using

my

ESQ-I

as

a conlroller due

10

Ihe

faCI

Ihat

it

is

10-year-old technolog

y?

3. I recently heard a Korg NS5R half rack that

was

super.

Is there

an

Ensoniq sound module I should check oul?

Thanks,

rkreid@juno.com

[PF -RK: Answers,

in

order-

(I)

Any number

of

generic librarians will do Ihis

for

your

ESQ-I. Check

aUf

www.soundcenlral.com for a share-

warelfreeware sysex librarian Ihe's PC compalible.

You

'd

need a MIDI inlerface card

for

your PC (or a soundcard

whose joys/ick

pan

doubles

as

a MIDI inlerface using a

gamepon-Io-MIDI cable)

10

conneCilhe ESQ

10

Ihe com-

puler

10

do

Ihese Sysex

lramjers

once you gel

Ih

e ESQ-I

info xferred from the C64. Alas, no C64-PC conversion

utililies

are

ou.!

there

tha/I

'm

aware

of: readers?

(2) The ESQ-I makes a fine MIDI conlroller: jusl because

il

doesn'l have polyphonic afrenouch jusl means Ihal it's

exaclly like 97%

of

Ihe

currelll keyboards oul there. Plus

Ihe fact Ihal

it's

capable

of

xmilling

On

any

of

16 MIDI

channels is a bonus ...

(3) The MR-Rack comes 10 mind, but Ihe real beauty

of

Ihe NS5R

is

Ihal il also has an expansion port infernally

10

add a Yamaha Waveforce daughlercard, expanding

il

10

96 voices

of

polyphony. Plus you gel

bOlh

GMI

GS

and

XG compalibility

in

one box. As long as you can locale

an

In

slrumem Definilion Table

(if

you plan

10

use Cakewalk

or

olher professional sequencing applicalion), eilher will

work fine ...

Good

Luck!}

["mall & corey" (m5012@gorilla.llel) -This man needs

Ihe ESQI-specific edilor/librarian

(jr~eware)

which can

be downloaded from Aaron Rodden's excel/enl ESQI

page. The URL is: www.olemiss.edul-aaronlesqI.hlnl!.

You're welcome.

-mallhew (ESQI fan)]

{PF -Mall, RK: Correclion: URL

is

hllp:llwlVW.

olemiss.edu

l-

aaronfesq-I.hlml, and ii

's

a lillie flaky

lVhen

dumping

afull64k

of

sequence

dOlO

if

your ESQ-I has

Ihe

SQX -70 inslal/ed. Don' l know

if

ii's

a program buffer

overJlow

or

if

il

has

Ih

e same problem Cakewalk does

wilh

Ihe

lOOms

delay be/Ween

Ihe

l7-byle header

and

Ihe

dOlO

dump,

bU1

il look

six

Iri

es for me 10 move a full 64k

sequence load

inlO

my PC successfUlly. Then again,

it's

free, so ... }

TH-

dala dump,

bU1

il look six Iries for

me

10 move a full 64k

sequence load into my PC successfully. Then again,

it's

free,

so

... }

TH-

Just purchased

an

MR-

76

and need a bit

of

guidance.

There are

new

paradigms

in

this board

[hal

require some

rethinking. I'm using a TS-12 wilh

an

SQ-2. The SQ will

be

replaced

by

the

MR

as soon

as

I can figure out all the

changes I need

10

make

to

my

sequences

on

the TS. It

controls the SQ.

I. How/where can I obtain a version of the Steinway 1

sound

Ihat

came wilh the TS

Ihat

will work

OIl

the

MR?

It

's perfect for

my

needs, and I haven't fallen

in

love wilh

any

of

the

MR

ROM

pianos.

2.

My

present

use

is

heavy into church service work. I

usually load 30-40 sequences into my TS-12 and take

il

on

the road.

II

appears thai

Ih

e

MR

doesn'l allow any

more than 24 sequences compared

to

60 for the TS. A

workaround appears

to

be

to

make songs that can hold 24

apiece

and

load

Ihem

up

to

the available memory.

But

does that mean that I can no longer have the sequences

play one

at

a time? Or do I have

10

program a 5 second

ties

manufacture

them

anymore

as

well,

so

unless

you

know

of

a

source

for

the

SCSI

expander

this

journey

will

prove

fruitless.

As

for

back

issues,

scroll

to

the

top

or

bottom

of

this

page

and

click

on

the

“Back

Issue

Index"...

]

[PF

-

Addendum:

RCS

(http://www.soundcentraI.com/

-chickeneps)

has

picked

up

the

slack

and

has

available

NOW

a

SCSI

interface

for

both

the

EPS

and

the

l6+

for

$147

plus

shipping.

Alas.

it

won’t

make

a

Zip

drive

work

with

the

EPS,

but

it

will

allow

a

l6+

to

access

a

Zip

drive.

Just

the

fact

that

there's

an

interface

available

again

should

prove

revitalizing

for

EPS

owners

who

couldn't

afford

the

original

Ensoniq

SCSI

interface.

Check

out

RCS's

home

page

from

our

“Related

Links"

header

at

the

top

of

this

forum...]

[chickenEPS@willmar.com

—

Merry

Christmas,

Pat...

how's

the

new

kid?

By

the

time

this

is

printed

l’ll

have

mine...

ahetn.

Actually,

the

reason

the

Original

EPS

is

not

compatible

with

the

ZipDrive

is

not

because

of

the

SCSI-I/SCSI-2

dif-

ference.

All

SCSI

protocols

are

upward

and

downward

compatible

by

design.

Why

isn't

it?

l

don’!

know

-

the

reason

I

give

is

that

"SCSl

as

implemented

by

the

Original

EPS‘

is

simply

primitive;

it

does

not

support

CD-ROM

Drives

nor

certain

modern

hard

drives.”

(Note:

the

Syquest

EZ-Flyer

is

compatible

with

the

Original

EPS,

based

on

our

tests,

and

is

the

same

price

as

the

Zip

as

of

this

writing.)

Also

worthy

of

note:

Be

looking

for

the

Castlewood

Orb

drive,

due

to

be

introduced

first

quarter

I998.

2.Igig,

SCSI,

$199.

I

really

think

the

Zip's

days,

although

good,

are

limited]

[PF

-

Garth:

Thanx

for

the

heads

up.

The

EPS

is

compat-

ible

with

the

Syquest

I35?

I'll

have

to

try

that

—

that

could

make

for

an

interesting

internal

cart

drive.

How

does

the

EPS

react

when

you

switch

carts?

The

way

Alan

Smith

described

the

EPS

SCSI

expander

be-

havior

was

that

it

used

about

12

of

the

I9

original

Apple

protocols

(one

of

which

it

didn’t

implement

was

Request

Attention,

which

is

why

I

asked

my

previous

question).

This

probably

explains

the

CDROM

issue.

BTW,

I

notice

you've

got

a

4-drive

CD

jukebox

for

$150!

What

mechanisms

are

installed?

VERY

interested.

Keep

up

the

good

work:

I

see

Disk

Tools

now

xlates

SMF’s

to

Ensoniq

format.

Looks

like

it’s

only

going

to

get

better.

Any

word

on

the

new

Ensoniq

board

coming

out

in

January

?]

Hi.

Great

magazine.

I

just

purchased

an

MR-61

(great

key-

I-\nnrr|.'l\)t/'\_|rl-rcfI:l'ir\r\\

'l"n-1

in-auinn

nrnhlpmc

rhanninn

cnunrlc

Hi.

Great

magazine.

I

just

purchased

an

MR-61

(great

key-

board/workstation).

l’m

having

problems

changing

sounds

in

a

SMF.

They

play

back

fine,

but

in

GM

mode.

The

sounds

in

the

MR-61

(non-GM

mode)

are

much

better.

I

try

to

change

the

sounds,

but

when

I

hit

the

play

button

the

sounds

revert

back

to

the

GM

mode.

I

am

using

2.10

OS.

l’m

told

they’re

now

at

2.II.

What’s

the

difference?

Thanks,

ANAYV@aol.com

[PF

—

Ana:

An

SMF

has

the

patch

info,

volume

info,

and

other

pertinent

track

info

embedded.

Just

changing

the

sound

ofthe

MR

track

it

plays

does

NOT

change

the

patch

info

the

SMF

sends

out

when

the

sequence

starts

-

hence

the

reversion

to

a

GM

sound

on

the

tracks

you've

changed

the

sounds

on.

What

to

do

is

to

resa

ve

the

song

in

MR

format.

then

load

it,

make

the

necessary

changes

you

want

on

the

"af-

flicted"

tracks,

and

THEN

resave

in

MR

format.

Then

whenever

you

load

the

song,

the

proper

patches

will

be

sent

out.

V.

2.II

fixes

some

timing

anomalies

when

punching

in

and

punching

out

of

a

sequence,

as

well

as

punching

in

and

out

of

the

exact

in/out

points.

I

guess

2.1

was

a

little

sloppy

about

this

under

some

obscure

or

arcane

situa-

tions,

but

Ensoniq,

nonetheless,

felt

it

was

an

important

enough

maintenance

revision

to

christen

it

2.11.]

[chickenEPS@willmar.com

-

Just

as

a

note:

check

http:/twww.ensoniq.comIbinary/rhythmbuilder.zip.

It

is

a

new

little

program

written

for

Win95

(32-bit,

I

think)

that

allows

you

to

make

drum

patterns

complete

with

fills

and

variations

for

the

MR.

Check

out

the

new

MR

Unisyn

profile

as

well.

]

TH-

I

have

a

VFX-SD

that

will,

whenever

it

decides

to,

play

random

notes

at

ear

blasting

levels.

Once

this

happens,

it

refuses

to

listen

to

MIDI

Note

Off

messages

(i.e.,

PANIC

button)

sent

from

my

8-port

SE.

This

problem

seems

to

happen

more

when

there

has

been

a

temperature

change.

Sometimes

it

can

happen

when

the

unit

is

hit

under

the

display.

I

have

heard

that

there

is

an

upgrade

that

can

be

installed

that

will

up

the

polyphony

and

sounds.

If

this

upgrade

is

still

available,

will

I

still

have

to

deal

with

this

goofy

intermittent

problem'?‘?

Thanks

for

your

time!

Kevin

Newman

agrdude@rnaiI.sage.net

[

PF

-

Kevin:

The

SD-H32

upgrade

was

discontinued

two

years

ago

this

coming

February.

As

for

the

problem

at

hand,

I’d

suggest

opening

the

lid

and

resenting

all

the

cables

on

the

wiring

harness

from

one

end

of

the

instru-

ment

to

the

other.

The

display

connectors

are

suspect

(since

you

can

hit

it

there

and

the

problem

stops).

If

you’re

leery

about

popping

the

hood

on

your

VFXsd,

take

it

to

an

Ensoniq

dealer

to

perj/brm

these

tips

for

you.

Better

than

90%

of

Ensoniq

keyboard

problems

revolve

around

oxidized/intermittent

connectors.

Once

they're

cleaned

and

reconnected,

your

instrument

should

be

as

good

as

new...)

{Dave

P

(shelby@micro-net.com)

—

You

should

also

check

out

a

document

[found

on

the

web

dated

Jan.l6,

I996...

“VFX

Keyboard

Recalibration

Errors.”

Visit:

http:llwww.

cs.colorado.edul~mccrearylvfic/

-

all

about

the

connector

problem.

j

T]-]_

Just

got

an

EPS-I6

Plus.

TS-10

can’t

read

samples

I

made

on

the

EPS.

Says

“Disk

not

Formatted.”

Disk

was

for-

matted

for

EPS

to

make

sound.

TS-IO

manual

says

I

should

be

able

to

read

these

disks.

I

can

read

sounds

made

by

Ensoniq

for

the

EPS

on

my

TS-IO.

Ha-ln__mPl

_

on

the

EPS.

Says

“Disk

not

Formatted.”

Disk

was

for-

matted

for

EPS

to

make

sound.

TS-I0

manual

says

I

should

be

able

to

read

these

disks.

I

can

read

sounds

made

by

Ensoniq

for

the

EPS

on

my

TS-I0.

Help

me!

Yes

Mc

I(ay@a0I.com

[PF

—

Yes

M

cKay:

Use

DSDD

floppy

—

NOT

DSHD.

EPS

and

I

6+

not

like

DSHD.

Not

make

sound

using

DSHD.

EPS-16+

and

TS-I0

not

like

disks

with

two

holes

in

them.

Feed

TS-I0

and

EPS-l6+

one

hole

disks.

Format

single

hole

disk

on

EPS

or

l6+,

save

EPS

or

16+

sound

to

single

hole

disk,

and

feed

TS-I0

single

hole

disk.

Disk

will

make

sound...

All

better

now...

]

TH-

I

subscribed

to

TH

from

I986

to

I990

after

purchasing

an

ESQ-l.

At

that

time,

I

was

using

a

Commodore

64

to

store

sequences

and

sounds.

I

now

have

a

486

laptop

and

also

plan

on

buying

a

desktop

PC

with

a

soundcard

among

other

options.

l.

Can

you

tell

me

what

I

would

need

to

store

ESQ-l

se-

quences

and

sounds

to

a

PC

without

needing

to

spend

a

lot

on

fancy

software

and

interface

hardware?

I

have

I005

of

soundbanks

saved

on

disk

using

the

C64.

I

figure

Ican

transfer

sounds

I

want

to

keep

from

my

(C-64)

discs

back

to

the

ESQ—l

and

then

to

my

PC.

2.

I

want

to

buy

a

sound

module.

Do

you

see

any

disad-

vantage

with

using

my

ESQ-I

as

a

controller

due

to

the

fact

that

it

is

I0-year-old

technology?

3.

I

recently

heard

a

Korg

NSSR

half

rack

that

was

super.

Is

there

an

Ensoniq

sound

module

I

should

check

out‘?

Thanks,

rk

reid@jlU'lO.C0m

[PF

--

RK:

Answers,

in

order

-

(

I

J

Any

number

of

generic

librarians

will

do

this

for

your

ESQ-l.

Check

out

www.soundcentral.com

for

a

share-

warelfreeware

sysex

librarian

the’s

PC

compatible.

You’d

need

a

MIDI

interface

card

for

your

PC

(or

a

soundcard

whose

joystick

port

doubles

as

a

MIDI

interface

using

a

gameport-to-MIDI

cable)

to

connect

the

ESQ

to

the

com-

puter

to

do

these

Sysex

transfers

once

you

get

the

ESQ-I

info

xferred

from

the

C64.

Alas,

no

C64-PC

conversion

utilities

are

out

there

that

I'm

aware

of:

readers?

(2)

The

ESQ-I

makes

a

fine

MIDI

controller:

just

because

it

doesn’t

have

polyphonic

uftertouch

just

means

that

it’s

exactly

like

97%

of

the

current

keyboards

out

there.

Plus

the

fact

that

it’s

capable

of

xmitting

on

any

of

I

6

MIDI

channels

is

a

bonus...

(3)

The

MR-Rack

comes

to

mind,

but

the

real

beauty

of

the

NS5R

is

that

it

also

has

an

expansion

port

internally

to

add

a

Yamaha

Waveforce

daughtercard,

expanding

it

to 96

voices

ofpolyphony.

Plus

you

get

both

GM/GS

and

XG

compatibility

in

one

box.

As

long

as

you

can

locate

an

Instrument

Definition

Table

(if

you

plan

to

use

Cakewalk

or

other

professional

sequencing

application),

either

will

work

fine...

Good

Lucklj

[“matt

&

corey”

(m50I2@gorilla.net)‘

—

This

man

needs

the

ESQ!-specific

editor/librarian

(freeware)

which

can

be

downloaded

from

Aaron

Rodden’s

excellent

ESQ!

page.

The

URL

is:

www.olerniss.edu/~aaron/esql.html.

You’re

welcome.

-rnatthew

(ESQ!

fan)]

[PF

—

Matt,

RK:

Correction:

URL

is

http://www.

olemiss.edu/-aaron/esq-l.html,

and

it’s

a

littleflaky

when

dumping

afull

64k

ofsequence

data

ifyour

ESQ-I

has

the

SQX-70

installed.

Don’!

know

if

it’s

a

program

bufler

overflow

or

if

it

has

the

same

problem

Cakewalk

does

with

the

I00ms

delay

between

the

l7-byte

header

and

the

data

dump,

but

it

took

six

tries

for

me

to

move

a

full

64k

sequence

load

into

my

PC

successfully.

Then

again,

it’s

free,

so...

]

TH

-

data

dump,

but

it

took

six

tries

for

me

to

move

afitll

64k

sequence

load

into

my

PC

successfully.

Then

again,

it’s

flee,

so...

]

TH-

Just

purchased

an

MR-76

and

need

a

bit

of

guidance.

There

are

new

paradigms

in

this

board

that

require

some

rethinking.

I'm

using

a

TS-I2

with

an

SQ-2.

The

SQ

will

be

replaced

by

the

MR

as

soon

as

I

can

figure

out

all

the

changes

I

need

to

make

to

my

sequences

on

the

TS.

It

controls

the

SQ.

l.

How/where

can

I

obtain

a

version

of

the

Steinway

I

sound

that

came

with

the

TS

that

will

work

on

the

MR?

It’s

perfect

for

my

needs,

and

[haven't

fallen

in

love

with

any

ofthe

MR

ROM

pianos.

2.

My

present

use

is

heavy

into

church

service

work.

I

usually

load

30-40

sequences

into

my

TS-I2

and

take

it

on

the

road.

It

appears

that

the

MR

doesn’t

allow

any

more

than

24

sequences

compared

to

60

for

the

TS.

A

workaround

appears

to

be

to

make

songs

that

can

hold

24

apiece

and

load

them

up

to

the

available

memory.

But

does

that

mean

that

I

can

no

longer

have

the

sequences

play

one

at

a

time?

Or

do

I

have

to

program

a

5

second

period

of

silence at the

end

of

all my

sequences

so I

can

run

over

to the keyboard and hit STOP?

3.

How

does the

memory

for

sequences

translate?

I've

ex-

panded my

TS

to

the 97,

000

note/event max. Sufficient

for my needs at present. I

don't

know how

many

KBytes

this works out to. I

see

that the MR has a max

sequencer

memory

of

about 200k. How does Ihis

compare

to my

TS?

4. Is

it

my imagination/lack

of

knowledge

or

does

the MR

seem

to

playa

lot quieter than the

SQ

and

TS?

My

other

boards

seem

twice

as loud

in

real-time play.

There

is

also

an option

on

the

SQ

called

BOOST

to allow

some

(l

think

12 DB)

output

boost Ihat allows

me

to have

greater

play-

ing range with

o"

t pounding on the keyboard.

Can

J

do

something

like Ihal in the MR?

['ve

already tried the

various velocity sensitivities without

success.

i've

been digging into the manual which is well-written. !t

is

a little shy about clearly listing

some

of

Ihe

shoncom-

ings

of

the board which would help

me

to decide the best

way

to use my rig. At present,

it

seems

thaI J

should

con-

tinue to use the

TS

as a

sequencer

and

have

it

control the

MR to take

advantage

of

the

MR's

sounds

and polypbony.

Any problems there?

Any thoughts/experience would be greatly appreciated.

Christmas

is

approaching

and

I'm anxious to get the new

gear

in

service.

Yours,

Greg,

jolicoeu@MNSLNet

[PF -Greg: Answers,

in

order:

(1)

You'll need

Ihe

4 Mb Wave expansion

cardfor

Ihe MR

10 do Ihis.

And

you'll need some sorl

of

compUler edilor

(like RCS's Ensoniq Disk Tools) 10 massage

Ihe

EPS 1900

block Sleinway samples

inlO

•. wav formal 10 load inlo

Ihe

MR. Or you can {weak

Ihe

MR's piano samples 10 lasle.

Eilher will require some work -if's more a queslion

of

your budgel,

as

Ihe

MR's

ROM

waveS are free;

Ihe

expan-

sion board is $499 .

..

(2) Yes,

Ihe

limilalion

of

Ihe

8 "seclion" bullons limes Ihe

Ihree "varia lions" are

Ihe

culpril here.

BUI

Ihal's whal

Ihe disk drive

is

for ...

(3) Good queslion.

I'm

only guessing here,

bUI

I'd

assume

iI's approximalely

Ihe

same as your TS (considering

nole·ons and nOle-offs are 1W0 messages for one evenO.

(4) Funny: I

find

Ihe

MR's

OUIPUIIO

be hOlier Ihan Ihal

of

my SD-I, which was roughly equivalenr 10 Ihe

OUlpur

of

my Irusly SQ-I

(nOI

a + model, BTW).

(5) See

Ihe

July or November issues

of

Ihe

Ha

cker's Imer-

face

for

Ihe delails ill using Ihe MR keyboards

in

conjunc-

lion wilh your TS (Issues 144 and 149 respeclively).

And

since

il

is

Ihe

holidav season. a subscrivlian la

Ihe

(5) See

Ihe

July or November issues

of

Ihe

Hacker's Infer-

face

for

Ihe delails ill using Ihe MR keyboards

in

conjunc-

lion wilh your TS (Issues 144 and 149 respeclively).

And

since

il

is

Ihe

holiday season, a subscriplion 10

Ihe

Hacker could be considered a

presenllo

yourself

..

]

[Greg Jolicoeur (jolicoeu@MNSi.Nel) -Thank you

for

your quick and considered replies. 1 have a MR-FLASH

expansion on order. 1f'1/ be nice

nollo

have 10 load waves

afrer I

ger

Ihem 10

rhe

poinl where I like Ihem,

bUI

Ihen I

have 10 reload sequences -6

of

J

half

a dozen

of

the

other. The sequences will

probably

take less rime

10

load.

Oh, BTW, I have a subscription 10 Ihe Hacker, for a

couple

of

years now. Thank you very much for the month-

ly updates. I have gone back and started to dig inro any

articles that mention the

MR.

II's nice 10 have the Hacker

on computer. I just string all the issues together and do a

search

for

the info.

Sort

of

like music; string sequences

to

make a song -

string issues

to

make a support community.

Thanks once again , Greg]

p -

TH-

Do you know

of

any plans to replace the keyboard lines

Ensoniq just

dropped?

Is there going to be

something

new

at

NAMM?

Patrick

Duff

pSduff@MIS.Net

[PF -Palrick: Latest news

is

Ihal Ensolliq plans 10 re-

lease a new keyboard some time

in

January. Slay tuned

..

']

TH-

Can J

get

more

sounds

for

my

TS-12

through you? Like a

belter sax, a mandolin, possibly a bag pipe???

Or

am [

just

blowin'

wind?

Thank

you,

JUD

JUDL

Y I@aol.com

[PF -Jud: Illdireclly, yes.

By

subscribing

to

the Tran-

soniq Hacker you are boarding a ship which

is

solely

driven by Ensoniq gear. MANY

3rd

parties hang here,

write articles, share tips and lricks, as well as offer

patches, sounds, etc.

for

exchange. Most

of

the elile En-

soniq

3rd

party people party here. Check through a

coupla back issues, or get that subscriplion going: besl

$14

you'll

ever spend ... ]

[chickenEPS@Willmar.com -

You'"

see many people

in

the mag (like Pat,

"PF")

lusting over TS's, because it is

able

to

load

in

EPSIASR samples, whereas the newer MR

doesn't. This capability makes the TS an open sound sys-

tem. really.

If

you like your TS, hang on

to

il

-make sure

you expand the RAM to 8megs, perhaps get the SCSI op-

tion, and check out the various EPSIASR sampled sound

libraries available. Using a computer and appropriate

soflWare, you can extract

any

sound

off

a CD-ROM, and

write it

to

a floppy

or

Ensoniq SCSI drive -even build

YOllr

own SCSI drivef,,11

of

material. Good luck!]

TH-

[ have an

EPS

Classic.

I've

enjoyed

it up to this point.

Lately,

I've

had

occasional

problems loading my System

disk into the unit.

It

seems

to

stan

and just

"hangs"

with

the words

"ENSONIQ

EPS"

on

the LCD. If I need a

repair

(Le., replace a disk

drive)

how much

should

that

cost? [s there a reputable repair

shop

in

Cleveland

tbat's

capable

of

handling this rype

of

prOblem?

Thanks,

ED,

erid@star2l.com

[PF -Ed:

If

you're

not getting to the "Please Insert

Disk" nrnmn{

or

thp.

r.F.D

intiirmnr

nn

p.

",,),

hlinZ-

nn

Inp

Thanks,

ED,

erid@star2l.com

[PF -Ed:

If

you're not getting to the "Please Insert

Disk" prompt

or

the LED indicator doesn'l blink on the

floppy when you start

il

up

, something is wrong

in

hardwareland.

If

it just lays there at the "Ensoniq EPS,"

it's

sli/l doing its hardware routines before the floppy

drive evell gets polled (hence the reason you

IVanna

see

if

the floppy LED indicator comes on

or

winks) ...

l've

seen this problem

in

fWo

other EPSs. One had power

supply problems (around a $50 fix), the other had a

looseiinlermittenr

floppy

power connector.

In

either case,

point your browser

to

http://wllw.ensoniq.comimid/

servlist.hlm to locale the closest dealer

in

your area.

It doesn't sound like a serious problem, bllt neither does a

flal tire until you drive it

Iii

the rim fractures...]

TH-

I've

reviewed

your

site

and

only

came

.across

one

reference to the

SQ-I

Plus

(apparently

it's

much

better

than the

SQ

-I) .... Anyway, I too am looking to conneCt

m v pr

~

p n

~m

IIl:inc'

-

Tunle-Beach

MultiSound sound card

-MidiSoft

Studio

-Win3.1

-DOS

v6.22

And all is well ...

except

I'm

in

the

dark

as to how J can

download

MLDJ

sequences

10 the keyboard.

Can

I?? I

can

generate

MlDI

sequences

on

the PC, but

[need

a

two-way

street.

What

am 1

doing

right/wrong?

Thanks

,

Jim

Stroeder

stroeder@ibl.bm

[PF -Jim: The SQ-I (or SQ-1+, for that mailer) does

NOT multitimbral record (like the SD-I). Consequently,

if

you want to move sequences into the

SQ-I

, you have two

options:

(A)

You

can record them

to

the

SQ

one track at a time,

arid (B) use

Gary

Giebler's

sequence

conversion utililies.

Gary's utilities are very cool, cost $40, and will let you

sysex sequences into your SQ keyboard. You can reach

him at 610.933.0332 voice. RCS also distributes his ap-

plications: check our "related links" page ... ]

Hello Hacker,

Great

mag,

I

haven't

gotten

it

in a while, but

since

I still

use Ensoniq, J will

sub

again.

Two

questions:

My

LCD

display went

out

on

my

EPS-16+

Rackmount.

Is

this a hard fix? First

and

only problem

I've

ever

had

with

it.

But

Ican

' t

do

squat

with it witllout a display.

One

of

the notes

on

my KS-32, middle C to be

exact

,

sometimes

plays twice when I strike it. Is this a hard fix ?

Unfortunately, the

sbop

that sells Ensoniq boards here has

a very

undependable

repair

facility, and I am reluctant

to

take my

stuff

there.

Glad

I

found

you again.

Thanks,

Armand

AJDNova@aol.com

[PF -Armand: Take

your

EPS·I6+

to the dealer and

have him replace the display driver xistors in

Ihe

power

supply. That' s all that's wrong with your

16+

unless

you've

banged the display tube and broken it. Just have

him check out the

power

supply -common failure

in

16+

Tacks.

The KS-32 needs

Ihe

middle C contact cleaned -some-

Ihlng is makillg

it

double Irigger, probably a speck

of

dust, cobweb, something minule yet maddening. Point

your browser to http://www.ensoniq.com/mid/servlist.htm

The KS-32 needs the middle C contact cleaned -some-

lhing is makillg it double trigger, probably a speck

of

dust, cobweb, something minule yet maddening. Point

your browser to http://www.ensoniq.com/mid/servlist.htm

to

find

a dealer in

your

area who you're more comfor/-

able with ...

j

Hackers,

Does

anyone

out

there know where I

can

find

Cakewalk

instrument definitions for

expanded

MR

Rack

? Any tips

using

these

two products together

would

be appreciated.

Thanks,

Bob Henderson (cashender@aol.com)

[PF -Bob: As nOled in las/ month's Interface coillmn

(you

ARE

a subscriber, aren't you?), point your browser

10 http://www.rain.org/-msavard/Sojrware/MR_ins.zip).

This

is

an IDF

for

the MR series with

rhe

Dance Expan-

sion Board option installed

..

.}

TH-

period

of

silence

at

the

end

of

all

my

sequences

so

I

can

run

over

to

the

keyboard

and

hit

STOP?

3.

How

does

the

memory

for

sequences

translate?

I’ve

ex-

panded

my

TS

to

the

97,000

note/event

max.

Sufficient

for

my

needs

at

present.

I

don’t

know

how

many

KByles

this

works

out

to.

Isee

that

the

MR

has

a

max

sequencer

memory

of

about

200k.

I-low

does

this

compare

to

my

TS?

4.

Is

it

my

imagination/lack

of

knowledge

or

does

the

MR

seem

to

play

a

lot

quieter

than

the

SQ

and

TS?

My

other

boards

seem

twice

as

loud

in

real-time

play.

There

is

also

an

option

on

the

SQ

called

BOOST

to

allow

some

(I

think

I2

DB)

output

boost

that

allows

me

to

have

greater

play-

ing

range

without

pounding

on

the

keyboard.

Can

I

do

something

like

that

in

the

MR?

I’ve

already

tried

the

various

velocity

sensitivities

without

success.

I’ve

been

digging

into

the

manual

which

is

well-written.

It

is

a

little

shy

about

clearly

listing

some

of

the

shortcom-

ings

of

the

board

which

would

help

me

to

decide

thc

best

way

to

use

my

rig.

At

present,

it

seems

that

I

should

con-

tinue

to

use

the

TS

as

a

sequencer

and

have

it

control

the

MR

to

take

advantage

of

the

MR’s

sounds

and

polyphony.

Any

problems

there?

Any

thoughts/experience

would

be

greatly

appreciated.

Christmas

is

approaching

and

I'm

anxious

to

get the

new

gear

in

service.

Yours,

Greg,

jolicoeu@MNSi.Net

[

PF

—

Greg:

Answers,

in

order:

(1)

You'll

need

the

4

Mb

Wave

expansion

cardfor

the

MR

to

do

this.

And

you'll

need

some

sort

of

computer

editor

(like

RCS’s

Ensoniq

Disk

Tools)

to

massage

the

EPS

I900

block

Steinway

samples

into

*.wav

formal

to

load

into

the

MR.

Or

you

can

tweak

the

MR’s

piano

samples

to

taste.

Either

will

require

some

work

—

it’s

more

a

question

of

your

budget,

as

the

MR’s

ROM

waves

are

free;

the

expan-

sion

board

is

3499...

(2

)

Yes,

the

limitation

of

the

8

"section"

buttons

times

the

three

“variations”

are

the

culprit

here.

But

that's

what

the

disk

drive

is

for...

(3)

Good

question.

I'm

only

guessing

here,

but

I’d

assume

it’s

approximately

the

same

as

your

TS

(considering

note-ons

and

note-offs

are

two

messages

for

one

event).

(4)

Funny:

I

find

the

MR’s

output

to

be

hotter

than

that

of

my

SD-1,

which

was

roughly

equivalent

to

the

output

of

my

trusty

SQ-I

(not

a

+

model,

BTW).

(5)

See

the

July

or

November

issues

ofthe

Hacker’s

Inter-

face

for

the

details

in

using

the

MR

keyboards

in

conjunc-

lion

with

your

TS

(Issues

I44

and

l

49

respectively).

And

since

it

is

the

holiday

season.

a

subscription

to

the

(5)

See

the

July or

November

issues

ofthe

Hacker’s

Inter-

face

for

the

details

in

using

the

MR

keyboards

in

conjunc-

tion

with

your

TS

(Issues

I44

and

l

49

respectively).

And

since

it

is

the

holiday

season.

a

subscription

to

the

Hacker

could

be

considered

a

present

to

yourself...

]

[Greg

Jolicoeur

(jolicoeu@MNSi.Net)

-

Thank

you

for

your

quick

and

considered

replies.

I

have

a

MR-FLASH

expansion

on

order.

It'll

be

nice

not

to

have

to

load

waves

after

I

get

them

to

the

point

where

I

like

them,

but

then

I

have

to

reload

sequences

—

6

of

I

half

0

dozen

of

the

other.

The

sequences

will

probably

lake

Iess

time

lo

load.

Oh,

BTW,

I

have

a

subscription

to

the

Hacker,

for

a

couple

of

years

now.

Thank

you

very

much

for

the

month-

ly

updates.

I

have

gone

back

and

started

to

dig

into

any

articles

that

mention

the

MR.

It's

nice

to

have

the

Hacker

on

computer.

I

just

string

all

the

issues

together

and

do

a

search

for

the

info.

Sort

of

like

music;

string

sequences

to

make

a

song

—

string

issues

to

make

a

support

community.

Thanks

once

again,

Greg]

IPF

-

(?rPo-

Th/mr

fnr

the

kin/I

wnrrlta.

I

TH-

Do

you

know

of

any

plans

to

replace

the

keyboard

lines

Ensoniq

just

dropped?

Is

there

going

to

be

something

new

at

NAMM?

Patrick

Duff

psduft'@

MIS.

Net

[PF

—

Patrick:

Latest

news

is

that

Ensoniq

plans

to

re-

lease

a

new

keyboard

some

time

in

January.

Stay

tuned...

]

TH-

Can

I

get

more

sounds

for

my

TS-12

through

you?

Like

a

better

sax,

a

mandolin,

possibly

a

bag

pipe???

Or

am

I

just

blowin’

wind?

‘Thank

you,

IUD

J

U

DLY

l@aol.com

[PF

—

Jud:

Indirectly,

yes.

By

subscribing

to

the

Tran-

soniq

Hacker

you

are

boarding

a

ship

which

is

solely

driven

by

Ensoniq

gear.

MANY

3rd

parties

hang

here,

write

articles,

share

tips

and

tricks,

as

well

as

ojffer

patches,

sounds,

etc.

for

exchange.

Most

of

the

elite

En-

soniq

3rd

party

people

party

here.

Check

through

a

coupla

back

issues,

or

get

that

subscription

going:

best

$14

you'll

ever

spend...]

[chickenEPS@willmar.com

—

You'll

see

many

people

in

the

mag

(like

Pat,

“PF

”)

lusting

over

TS’s,

because

it

is

able

to

load

in

EPS/ASR

samples,

whereas

the

newer

MR

doesn't.

This

capability

makes

the

TS

an

open

sound

sys-

tem.

really.

If

you

like

your

TS,

hang

on

to

it

-

make

sure

you

expand

the

RAM

to

8megs,

perhaps

get

the

SCSI

op-

tion,

and

check

out

the

various

EPS/ASR

sampled

sound

libraries

available.

Using

a

computer

and

appropriate

software,

you

can

extract

any

sound

ofl

a

CD-ROM,

and

write

it

to

a

floppy

or

Ensoniq

SCSI

drive

-

even

build

your

own

SCSI

drive

fitll

of

material.

Good

luck!

]

.

€

T‘H_

I

have

an

EPS

Classic.

I’ve

enjoyed

it

up

to

this

point.

Lately,

I’ve

had

occasional

problems

loading

my

System

disk

into

the

unit.

It

seems

to

start

and

just

“hangs”

with

the

words

“ENSONIQ

EPS”

on

the

LCD.

If

I

need

a

repair

(i.e.,

replace

a

disk

drive)

how

much

should

that

cost?

Is

there

a

reputable

repair

shop

in

Cleveland

that’s

capable

of

handling

this

type

of

problem?

Thanks,

ED,

erid@star2

I

.c0m

[PF

—

Ed:

If

you're

not

getting

to

the

“Please

Insert

Disk”

Dfflmnl

Or

the

LED

indicator

rIm>.t'n’t

hlink

rm

tho

Thanks,

ED,

erid@star2

l

.c0m

[PF

-

Ed:

If

you're

not

getting

to

the

“Please

Insert

Disk”

prompt

or

the

LED

indicator

doesn't

blink

on the

floppy

when

you

start

it

up,

something

is

wrong

in

hardwareland.

If

it

just

lays

there

at

the

“Ensoniq

EPS,”

it’s

still

doing

its

hardware

routines

before

the

floppy

drive

even

gets

polled

(hence

the

reason

you

wanna

see

if

the

floppy

LED

indicator

comes

on

or

winks)...

I’ve

seen

this

problem

in

two

other

EPSs.

One

had

power

supply

problems

(around

a

$50

fix),

the

other

had

a

loose/intermittent

floppy

power

connector.

In

either

case,

point

your

browser

to

http://www.ensoniq.cotnlmidl

set-vlist.htm

to

locate

the

closest

dealer

in

your

area.

It

doesn’t

sound

like

a

serious

problem,

but

neither

does

a

flat

tire

until

you

drive

it

til

the

rim

fractures...

]

TH-

I've

reviewed

your

site

and

only

came

across

one

reference

to

the

SQ-I

Plus

(apparently

it’s

much

better

than

the

SQ-1)....

Anyway,

I too

am

looking

to

connect

mv

I-tevhnard

tn

mv

Pf"...

and

have

rlnne

en

nnrl

am

mtino"

-Turtle-Beach

MultiSound

sound

card

-MidiSoft

Studio

-Win

3.1

-DOS

v6.22

And

all

is

well....

except

I'm

in

the

dark

as

to

how

I

can

download

MIDI

sequences

to

the

keyboard.

Can

1??

I

can

generate

MIDI

sequences

on

the

PC

,

but

I

need

a

two-way

street.

What

am

ldoing

rightlwrong?

Thanks,

Jim

Stroeder

stroeder@ibl.bm

[PF

-

Jim:

The

SQ-1

(or

SQ-1+,

for

that

matter)

does

NOT

multitimbral

record

(like

the

SD-1).

Consequently,

if

you

want

to

move

sequences

into

the

SQ-I,

you

have

two

options:

(A)

You

can

record

them

to

the

SQ

one

track

at

a

time,

and

(B)

use

Gary

Gieblefs

sequence

conversion

utilities.

Gary's

utilities

are

very

cool,

cost

$40,

and

will

let

you

sysex

sequences

into

your

SQ

keyboard.

You

can

reach

him

at

610.933.0332

voice.

RCS

also

distributes

his

ap-

plications:

check

our

“related

links”

page...

]

i

Hello

Hacker,

Great

mag,

I

haven't

gotten

it

in

a

while,

but

since

I

still

use

Ensoniq,

I

will

sub

again.

Two

questions:

My

LCD

display

went

out

on

my

EPS-16+

Rackmount.

Is

this

a

hard

fix?

First

and

only

problem

I’ve

ever

had

with

it.

But

I

can’t

do

squat

with

it

without

a

display.

One

of

the

notes

on

my

KS-32,

middle

C

to

be

exact,

sometimes

plays

twice

when

I

strike

it.

ls

this

a

hard

fiat?

Unfortunately,

the

shop

that

sells

Ensoniq

boards

here

has

a

very

undependable

repair

facility,

and

I

am

reluctant

to

take

my

stuff

there.

Glad

I

found

you

again.

Thanks,

Armand

AJDNova@aol.com

[PF

-

Armand:

Take

your

EPS-l6+

to

the

dealer

and

have

him

replace

the

display

driver

xistors

in

the

power

supply.

That’s

all

that’s

wrong

with

your

16+

unless

you've

banged

the

display

tube

and

broken

it.

Just

have

him

check

out

the

power

supply

-

common

failure

in

16+

racks.

The

KS-32

needs

the

middle

C

contact

cleaned

—

some-

thing

is

making

it

double

trigger,

probably

a

speck

of

dust,

cobweb,

something

minute

yet

maddening.

Point

your

browser

to

http://www.ensoniqcomlmid/sen/list.htm

ff]

find

/‘|'

rlpnlpr

;l'l

UIIIIT

ITPDII‘

Ulhfl

\In||'rn

vunwn

II/\\\-Hrnvf

The

KS-32

needs

the

middle

C

contact

cleaned

-

some-

thing

is

making

it

double

trigger,

probably

a

speck

of

dust,

cobweb,

something

minute

yet

maddening.

Point

your

browser

to

hltp://www.ensoniq.c0mln/tidlservlisl.hlm

to

find

a

dealer

in

your

area

who

you're

more

comfort-

able

with

...]

Hackers,

Does

anyone

out

there

know

where

I

can

find

Cakewalk

instrument

definitions

for

expanded

MR

Rack?

Any

tips

using

these

two

products

together

would

be

appreciated.

Thanks,

Bob

Henderson

(cashender@aol.com)

[PF

-

Bob:

As

noted

in

last

month's

Interface

column

(you

ARE

a

subscriber,

aren't

you?),

point

your

browser

to

http://www.rain.org/~msavardlSofiware/MR_ins.zip).

This

is

an

IDF

for

the

MR

series

with

the

Dance

Expan-

sion

Board

option

installed...]

TH-

A

ml-tilt:

nan

I

hporrl

r\F

a

‘Zn-I

fiqritr

¢-“Fm...-n-Q

rkm

....-.

I.-I

allow

you

to use the

EPS-16+

effects

in

realtime

via the

sample

input

jack

in thc

rcar

of

the keyboard.

Have

you

heard

of

this

as

well?

Where

could

I get this?

TIM,

lind0704@tc.umn.edu

[PF -Tim: The only source Jar alternate

FX

algorithms is

Waveboy. Point your browser

to

hllp:l/wwlV.soundcen-

tral.coml-chickeneps Jor an explanalion

on

Ihe

absence

oj

3rd

party FX Jar Malvern boxes, and call Waveboy In-

dustries at 610.408.8078

to

see iJ they have

an

input

plug-in Jar the 16+.}

[chickenEPS@Willmar.com -

Ilhink

the 610.408.8078 is

Iheir Jax number. Their voice # is 610.251.9562.

The disk you are looking Jar is the Audio InlTime Dicer

($39.95). I like il a lot

-I

can bring my 16-Plus (wi inler-

nal ZipDrive), my guirar,

power

cord, direct box, and

cwo

114"

cables

to

a solo gig, and I can play sequences as ac-

companisl and play great guirar tones with my guitar run-

ning Ihrough

Ihe

16-Plus's e!fecls, and il works greal.

Now iJ only I could sing ...

J

TH-

And

here's

something

everyone

might

be a little inter-

ested

ilL

..

"Creative

To

Acquire

ENSONIQ."

(Announce-

mentlink

-

See

last

month's

front

page article.)

[Kevin Cooler (kcooler@mail.iex.nel) -Congratulations,

Ensoniq. Nol

bad

Jar a "little" privale company. Let's

jusl hope Ihal sick Jeeling

in

my

slomach isn'l because

you're

selling

oUl

10

a

competing

conglomerate.

Perhaps

your

Juture prices

WON'T

be as compelilive,

bUI

thai's

nol really whal's bugging me. I

just

hope the Jamous En-

soniq quality and innovation can somehow limp Jorward

with Crealive. Best oJ wishes

10

our JUlure.}

[Eric Monlgomery (Ensoniq) -I would suggest,

to

everyone

who is

concerned

, 10

be

very

happy

and

excited

about

Ihe

Crealive Labs scenario.

II

is a good Ihing Jar

Ensoniq. Because

oj

Ihis silualian we are now pUlling oul

a new keyboard

01

NAMM. A

101

of

projects are going

10

move forward now. Gel ready for an exciting new year!

We

are

also

releasing

an EXP

board

and

new

OS

versions

for

the ASR-X and PARIS lhat have brand new features. I

am very excited about

Ihe

new producls

and

Ensoniq'S

presence

01

NAMM Ihis year. Everylhing looks very

promising!}

Help,

I have an

ESQ-I

from

the

very

early

years. I love

it

and

it

has

given

me

many

good

years,

but

now

I think

it's

trying

to send

me

to an

early

grave.

It

has

become

very unstable

and unreliable. It has,

of

course,

chosen

a

time

when

I'm

right in the

middle

of

a

big

project to

stan

acting up.

The

I have an

ESQ-I

from

the

very

early

years. I love

it

and

it

has

gi~en

me

many

good

years

,

but

now

I think

it's

trying

to send

me

to an

early

grave.

It

has

become

very unstable

and unreliable. It has,

of

course,

chosen

a time when

I'm

right in the

middle

of

a big project to

stan

acting up.

The

symptoms

are as follows (by the

way,

I'm

running 3.5):

I)

Sometimes

when

I

turn

it

on

after

it's

been

off

for an

extended

period

of

time

(a

couple

of

weeks)

nothing

hap-

pens, but

if

I

just

leave

the

power

switched

on and go

make

a

cup

of

coffee,

it's

on

when I

come

back.

2) It will work fine for

somewhere

between

20

seconds

and

several

hours and then

it

will

just

freeze up.

Some-

times

the display

is

blank,

sometimes

it

looks fine but

none

of

the buttons work.

3)

Sometimes,

while

I'm

playing

along

happily, the pitch

stans

to

"wobble."

If

I reinitialize

it

at this point

it

will be

fine again.

This

is

true

either

with the internal

sounds,

or

if

I'm

using

it

as a

MIDI

controller.

4)

Sometimes

it

sends

random

MIDI

data

to

external

se-

quencers

or

other

MIDI

devices.

This

has led to

many

long hours

trying

to

figure

out

why

some

piece

of

equip-

ment

is

not

making

any

sound

before

I realized that

my

darling

ESQ-I

has turned the

volume

down,

or

some

other

equally

random

and insidious bit

of

MID[

terrorism.

(Maybc

it

's

JUSt

jealous;

it

was my

only

keyboard

for

many

years).

Again

, reinitializing will fix this for a while.

I'm

not

sure

if

this

is

something

repairable,

or

if

it's

time

to send

it

off

to the glue factory.

Can

anyone

help

me?

David

Rubinstein

grubby@ibm.net

[PF -David:

/'

d have a keyboard lech clean every con-

tacI poillt

in

your

ESQ-I. EleClronic devices wilh any Iype

of

clock signal runnillg aroulld a logic board at 8

MHz

or

above are prone

10

Ihe

leasl lillie Ihing loppling Ihem

o!f

Ihe top.

I recommend a fWo-step procedure -(A) using a zero

residue

clf!aner to clean

all

connectors.

wiring

harnesses,

ele., alld

(8)

a subslallce called Cramolyn

....

hich is nol

only

QII

antioxidam

(10

prevenT

further

recurr

ences

of

Ihis

nature),

bUI

it's

a conductanl aid;

il

makes for a

bener

physical AND electrical contacl.

Earlier Ensoniq gear was VERY prone

10

vollage fluclua-

lions. Ensure the power supply in your ESQ-I

is

dead on

Ihe money

01

+5. -5.

+/2

and -12

V.

And

I don'l meall

-13.88 or

+4.76:

+12.00 is golden. A bil over is accept-

able,

bUI

undervollages simply make

Ihe

instrument ill.

Regulators can regulale vollages down,

bUI

the)'

can'l

pump

Ihem up. Are you using any type

of

line condilioner

(a

Radio Shack spike proteclor doesn't counl),

or

UPS-type

box

be/ll'een Ihe wall outlet

and

the

ESQ-l?

Mine was kinda noisy

unlill

Pili a

60

poulld Isobar line

condilioner on my eleclronic gear.

And

lastly, heal is an enemy

of

earlier Ensoniq gear. They

claimed

Ihe

heal sink prolrudillg out

of

lhe back

of

Ihe

ill-

strument mel UL and

CSA

specs: mine gel hal enough

10

the lauch

10

burn Ihings. Try a small clip-on

or

olher type

fan

10

circulale

air

around your inslrumenJ.

The combination

oj

all these lips should keep your

ESQ-I

running Iii Microsoft buys Crealive Labs ... }

Hello,

I have

several

questions

concerning

the

connection

of

two

samplers

10 a computer. Specifically,

the

samplers

are a

Emu

Emax

and

an

EPS.

Is

it

possible to

have

them

con-

nected

in

such

a way as to permit the

computer

to

control

sounds

on

both samplers? Also, how can the

Ensoniq

EPS

assign

different

instruments to different channels

within

the

MIDI

sequencing

software'

Wben the

Ensoniq

is

hook

ed up,

one

instrument works fine but

multiple

instru-

ments

cannot

be

accessed

simultaneously.

[

appreciate

your

time and help.

Thanks

,

Lindsay

Hunt

Imhunt@erols.com

your

time and

help

.

Thanks.

Lindsay

Hunt

Imhunt@erols.com

[PF -Lindsay:

Of

course. I scralched my head al Ihis

Iype

of

problem unlil I purchased a ,\10TU Micro Ex-

press. ANY mulliport MIDI interface will allow your com-

puler

to

address

both instruments

simultaneously

\'vhile

keeping

MI

DI

illformalion from one away from

Ihe

other.

The only reason J recommend

Ihe

Micro Express

is

Ihal

it's

Ihe cheapesl auf tltere ($299 lisl), alld comes will all

cabling Qnd so/nt,'

ore

10

work

Oil

eilher

(or

both,

in

my

case)

Ihe

PC

or

Macilltosh plalform ...

I

dOIl't

Ihink there are Sysex codes

10

emulale

double-clicking instrument logelher (Slacking),

bUI

you

could save a parlicular "Slack"

of

double-clicked inslru-

ments

as a "presel" and select the presel via sysex. Call

Malvern

10

order

Ihe

S)'sex documentalion for lhe

EPS

-it

was free

Ihe

lasllime

I looked ... }

Dear

Hackers -

I

own

an

ASR-X,

and I

have

a

question

concerning

my

confusion

of

the

ASR-X's

file structure.

When

I have

created

a

drum

kit by

importing

.wav files

and then saving this kit as an

ASR-X

sound,

the

wave

files are

stored

in the

"waves"

folder,

';'d

the

sound

name

and

wave

parameters

are

stored

in

the

"

sounds"

folder.

This

I understand.

What

I

don't

understand is why the

ASR-X

asks

me

if

I

want to replace all

of

the

wave

files

when

all I have

done

is

changed

some

of

the parameters,

or

just

renamed

the

drum

kit.

Shouldn't

the file

saved

in

the

"sounds"

folder

be the

one

to be replaced,

or

a

new

one

added

if

the

kit

is

renamed.

[s

there

something

I'm

missing

here?

My main

concern

here

is

disk

fragmentation.

If

I

am

using

the

same

drum

kit for different

songs

with

different

rout-

ings for each

wave,

this

means

that I

would

want

to

rename

this

drum

kit

each

time without

replacing

the

waves

each time. I

c"n',

do this.

Is it possible for the

ASR-X

to know that the

waves

have

not been

destructively

edited

and that all

is

needed

is

for

it

to

write

another

file into the

"sounds"

folder

pointing

to

the

same

waves

as

tb.e

some

of

tne

other

files?

This

would

allow

many

different

drum

kits to

be

created

based

on

a

large

number

of

waves

in the

"waves"

folder without

con-

stantly

re-writing the waves.

Can

I

create

my

own

file

structure

that

would

allow

this to

happen?

Any

help

would be

greatly

appreciated.

Sincerely,

John

Dougherty

houseman@earthlinlcnet

[PF -John: This

is

an argumenl Ihal has centered around

Ensoniq gear since

Ihe

EPS Classic days. Unlike Roland,

Akai,

or

other

samplers.

you

cannot

save

just

routing

and

keymap changes

on

an inslrument WITHOUT saving

Ihe

sound as well. I know Ihis makes a single sel

of

sample

files occupy

5-6

limes

Ihe

disk space

il

normally would

if

YOIl

could jusl save

Ihe

edits as pointers

10

Ihe

same sel

oj

samples (inslrumenl). No can do: you galla ch!wge the

name

of

the inSlrumenl by one characler and save

il

so

it's

a different

inslrumentthat

won't

overwrite

its parent.

Bul I wouldn'l worry

100

much aboul disk fragmental ion

unless

you're

running a small SCSI drive. Garth Hjelle

jllsi released ASR Disk Tools for $60,

and

if

you've

gal a

PC compalible wilh a SCSI card

in

ii,

it'll

defragmenl all

your

dOlO

if

you do a simple backup and reSlore. Disk

fragmentarion used

10

be an issue

wh

en

we

only had

90

meg drives

10

funnel all our data in. These days, a J gig

drive is considered

100

small for mosl uses, and Ihe prices

refleci

Ihis

shift

..

·}

[Johll Dougherty -Even when I change

Ihe

name

of

Ihe

"sound" file,

Ihe

ASR-X looks

in

Ihe

"waves" folder for

,,\c;.,s''t.c, I

.....

"

(02

].\.,

......

..l

....

va.,

c.o4

..........

'

....

;<1<

..

"

..

''''''.f~1

.....

6'~6

drive is considered

100

small for mosl uses, and Ihe prices

refleci

Ihis

shift ... )

[Johll Dougherty -Even when I change the name

of

Ihe

"sound" file, the ASR-X looks

in

the "waves" folder for

duplicale

.aif

files and

Ihell

asks

me

if

I want

10

overwrile

Ihesefiles.

If

I say no,

Ihe

ASR-X does nOlhing. Evidently I

have no choice

bUI

10

overwrile Ihese files every time J

lise Ihem in a new "sound" file. The only work-around for

this

is

10

change Ihe name

of

the "wave" file as well. Or,

maybe I can creole sub-direclories wilhin Ihe "sounds"

folder or "waves" folder. I

haven'l

tried Ihis yel, so I

don'l

know

if

it will

>York.

I guess

I'll

end up spending

moSI

ofm)'

time naming files rather than creating music.

Garlh,

I'll

be contaclillg you soon Jar some

of

Ihat excel-

lenl software you keep pUlling oul. Hopefully il will make

things go a

101

quicker.

Thanks for

Ihe

help ... }

[PF -John: NOW I see the flaw -you galla change

Ihe

name

of

every

*.wav

file

as

well

to

avoid

overwriting

a

previous

"instrument"?

Glaring

oversight

on

Malvern's

pari. Hope I'm wrong ... }

[chickenEPS@Willmar.com-John'srighl.

Every lime you

allow

you

to

use

the

EPS-16+

effects

in

real

time

via

the

sample

input

jack

in

thc

rcar

of

the

keyboard.

Have

you

heard

of

this

as

well?

Where

could

I

get

this’?

TIM,

lindO'704@tC.umn.edu

[PF

-

Tim:

The

only

source

for

alternate

FX

algorithms

is

Waveboy.

Point

your

browser

to

http.'l/www.soundcen-

tral.com/~chickeneps

for

an

explanation

on

the

absence

of

3rd

party

FX

for

Malvern

boxes,

and

call

Waveboy

In-

dustries

at

610.408.8078

to

see

if

they

have

an

input

plug-infor

the

l6+.]

[chickenEPS@wt'llmar.com

-

I

think

the

610.408.8078

is

their

fat

number.

Their

voice

it

is

610.251.9562.

The

disk

you

are

looking

for

is

the

Audio

In/Time

Dicer

($39.95).

I

like

it

a

lot

—1

can

bring

my

I6-Plus

(wt

inter-

nal

ZipDrive),

my

guitar,

power

cord,

direct

box,

and

two

I/4"

cables

to

a

solo

gig,

and

I

can

play

sequences

as

ac-

companist

and

play

great

guitar

tones

with

my

guitar

run-

ning

through

the

I6-Plus's

effects,

and

it

works

great.

Now

ifonly

I

could

sing...)

TH-

And

hete’s

something

everyone

might

be

a

little

inter-

ested

in...

“Creative

To

Acquire

ENSONIQ.”

(Announce-

ment

link

—

See

last

month's

front

page

article.)

[Kevin

Cooter

(kcooter@mail.iex.net)

—

Congratulations,

Ensoniq.

Not

bad

for

a

“little”

private

company.

Let’s

just

hope

that

sick

feeling

in

my

stomach

isn't

because

you're

selling

out

to

a

competing

conglomerate.

Perhaps

your

future

prices

WON’T

be

as

competitive,

but

that’s

not

really

what's

bugging

me.

1

just

hope

the

famous

En-

soniq

quality

and

innovation

can

somehow

limp

forward

with

Creative.

Best

of

wishes

to

our

future.

]

{Eric

Montgomery

(Ensoniq)

-

I

would

suggest,

to

everyone

who

is

concerned,

to

be

very

happy

and

excited

about

the

Creative

Labs

scenario.

It

is

a

good

thing

for

Ensoniq.

Because

of

this

situation

we

are

now

putting

out

a

new

keyboard

at

NAMM.

A

lot

ofprojects

are

going

to

move

forward

now.

Get

ready

for

an

exciting

new

year!

We

are

also

releasing

an

EXP

board

and

new

OS

versions

for

the

ASR-X

and

PARIS

that

have

brand

new

features.

I

am

very

excited

about

the

new

products

and

Ensoniq’s

presence

at

NAMM

this

year.

Everything

looks

very

promising!)

Help,

I

have

an

ESQ-1

from

the

very

early

years.

I

love

it

and

it

has

given

me

many

good

years,

but

now

l

think

it’s

trying

to

send

me

to

art

early

grave.

It

has

become

vety

unstable

and

unreliable.

It

has,

of

course,

chosen

a

time

when

I'm

right

in

the

middle

of

a

big

project

to

start

acting

up.

The

I

have

an

ESQ-1

from

the

very

early

years.

l

love

it

and

it

has

given

me

many

good

years.

but

now

l

think

it’s

trying

to

send

me

to

an

early

grave.

It

has

become

very

unstable

and

unreliable.

It

has,

of

course,

chosen

a

time

when

I'm

right

in

the

middle

of

a

b.ig

project

to

start

acting

up.

The

symptoms

are

as

follows

(by

the

way,

I'm

running

3.5):

l)

Sometimes

when

I

turn

it

on

after

it’s

been

off

for

an

extended

period

of

time

(a

couple

of

weeks)

nothing

hap-

pens,

but

if

I

just

leave

the

power

switched

on

and

go

make

a

cup

of

coffee,

it’s

on

when

I

come

back.

2)

It

will

work

fine

for

somewhere

between

20

seconds

and

several

hours

and

then

it

will

just

freeze

up.

Some-

times

the

display

is

blank,

sometimes

it

looks

fine

but

none

ofthe

buttons

work.

3)

Sometimes,

while

I’m

playing

along

happily,

the

pitch

starts

to

“wobble.”

If

I

reinitialize

it

at

this

point

it

will

be

fine

again.

This

is

true

either

with

the

internal

sounds,

or

if

I’m

using

it

as

a

MIDI

controller.

4)

Sometimes

it

sends

random

MIDI

data

to

external

se-

quencers

or

other

MIDI

devices.

This

has

led

to

many

long

hours

trying

to

figure

out

why

some

piece

of

equip-

ment

is

not

making

any

sound

before

I

realized

that

my

darling

ESQ-l

has

turned

the

volume

down,

or

some

other

equally

random

and

insidious

bit

of

MIDI

terrorism.

(Maybe

it’s

just

jealous;

it

was

my

only

keyboard

for

many

years).

Again,

reinitializing

will

fix

this

for

a

while.

l‘m

not

sure

if

this

is

something

repairable,

or

if

it’s

time

to

send

it

off

to

the

glue

factory.

Can

anyone

help

me?

David

Rubinstein

grubby@ibm.net

[PF

—

David:

I'd

have

a

keyboard

tech

clean

every

con-

tact

point

in

your

ESQ-l.

Electronic

devices

with

any

type

ofclock

signal

running

around

a

logic

board

at

8

MHZ

or

above

are

prone

to

the

least

little

thing

toppling

them

off

the

top.

I

recommend

a

two-step

procedure

—

(A)

using

a

zero

residue

cleaner

to

clean

all

connectors,

wiring

harnesses,

etc.,

and

(B)

a

substance

called

Crarnolyn

which

is

not

only

an

antioxidant

(

to

prevent

further

recurrences

of

this

nature),

but

it’s

a

conductant

aid;

it

makes

for

a

better

physical

AND

electrical

contact.

Earlier

Ensoniq

gear

was

VERY

prone

to

voltage

fluctua-

tions.

Ensure

the

power

supply

in

your

ESQ-l

is

dead

on

the

money

at

+5.

-5.

+12

and

-12

V.

Andl

don’t

mean

-13.88

or

+4.76:

+I2.00

is

golden.

A

bit

over

is

accept-

able,

but

undervoltages

simply

make

the

instrument

ill.

Regulators

can

regulate

voltages

down,

but

they

can’!

pump

them

up.

Are

you

using

any

type

of

line

conditioner

(a

Radio

Shack

spike

protector

doesn’t

count),

or

UPS-type

box

between

the

wall

outlet

and

the

ESQ-I?

Mine

was

kinda

noisy

until

I

put

a

60

pound

Isobar

line

conditioner

on

my

electronic

gear.

And

lastly,

heat

is

an

enemy

of

earlier

Ensoniq

gear.

They

claimed

the

heat

sink

protruding

out

ofthe

back

of

the

in-

strument

met

UL

and

CSA

specs:

mine

get

hot

enough

to

the

touch

to

burn

things.

Try

a

small

clip-on

or

other

type

fan

to

circulate

air

around

your

instrument.

The

combination

of

all

these

tips

should

keep

your ESQ-I

running

til

Microsofi

buys

Creative

Labs...

]

Hello,

I

have

several

questions

concerning

the

connection

of

two

samplers

to

a

computer.

Specifically,

the

samplers

are

a

Emu

Emax

and

an

EPS.

Is

it

possible

to

have

them

con-

nected

in

such

a

way

as

to

permit

the

computer

to

control

sounds

on

both

samplers?

Also,

how

can

the

Ensoniq

EPS

assign

different

instruments

to

different

channels

within

the

MIDI

sequencing

software?

When

the

Ensoniq

is

hooked

up,

one

instrument

works

fine

but

multiple

instru-

ments

cannot

be

accessed

simultaneously.

I

appreciate

your

time

and

help.

Thanks,

Lindsay

Hunt

lrnhunt@erols.con:1

tttcttta

udtttlul.

UC

auucaacu

-DllllUl\(lltUUU.§l_y'.

1

ayptuvtntv

your

time

and

help.

Thanks,

Lindsay

Hunt

lmhunt@erols.com

[PF

-

Lindsay:

Of

course.

I

scratched

my

head

at

this

type

of

problem

until

1

purchased

a

MOTU

Mit;-ro

Ex-

press.

ANY

multiport

MIDI

interface

will

allow

your

com-

puter

to

address

both

instruments

simultaneously

while

keeping

MIDI

information

fi-om

one

away

from

the

other.

The

only

reason

I

recommend

the

Micro

Express

is

that

it’s

the

cheapest

out

there

($299

list),

and

comes

will

all

cabling

and

software

to

work

on

either

(or

both,

in

my

case

)

the

PC

or

Macintosh

platform...

1

don’t

think

there

are

Sysex

codes

to

emulate

double-clicking

instrument

together

(stacking),

but

you

could

save

a

particular

“stack”

of

double-clicked

instru-

ments

as

a

“preset”

and

select

the

preset

via

sysex.

Call

Malvern

to

order

the

Sysex

documentation

for

the

EPS

-

it

was

free

the

last

time

I

looked...)

Dear

Hackers

-

I

own

an

ASR-X,

and

I

have

a

question

conceming

my

confusion

of

the

ASR-X’s

file

structure.

When

I

have

created

a

drum

kit

by

importing

.wav

files

and

then

saving

this

kit

as

an

ASR-X

sound,

the

wave

files

are

stored

in

the

“waves”

folder,

ahd

the

sound

name

and

wave

parameters

are

stored

in

the

“sounds”

folder.

This

I

understand.

What

I

don’!

understand

is

why

the

ASR-X

asks

me

if

I

want

to

replace

all

of

the

wave

files

when

all

I

have

done

is

changed

some

of

the

parameters,

or

just

renamed

the

drum

kit.

Shouldn’t

the

file

saved

in

the

“sounds”

folder

be

the

one

to

be

replaced,

or

a

new

one

added

if

the

kit

is

renamed.

ls

there

something

I’m

missing

here?

My

main

concern

here

is

disk

fragmentation.

If

I

am

using

the

same

drum

kit

for

different

songs

with

different

rout-

ings

for

each

wave,

this

means

that

I

would

want

to

rename

this

drum

kit

each

time

without

replacing

the

waves

each

time.

I

can’t

do

this.

Is

it

possible

for

the

ASR-X

to

know

that

the

waves

have

not

been

destmctively

edited

and

that

all

is

needed

is

for

it

to

write

another

file

into

the

“sounds”

folder

pointing

to

the

same

waves

as

the

some

of

the

other

files?

This

would

allow

many

different

drum

kits

to

be

created

based

on

a

large

number

of

waves

in

the

“waves”

folder

without

con-

stantly

re-writing

the

waves.

Can

I

create

my

own

file

stmcture

that

would

allow

this

to

happen?

Any

help

would

be

greatly

appreciated.

Sincerely,

John

Dougherty

housema.n@earthlink.net

[PF

-

John:

This

is

an

argument

that

has

centered

around

Ensoniq

gear

since

the

EPS

Classic

days.

Unlike

Roland,

Akai,

or

other

samplers,

you

cannot

save

just

routing

and

keymap

changes

-on

an

instrument

WITHOUT

saving

the

sound

as

well.

I

know

this

makes

a

single

set

of

sample

files

occupy

5-6

times

the

disk

space

it

normally

would

if

you

could

just

save

the

edits

as

pointers

to

the

same

set

of

samples

(instrument).

No

can

do:

you

gotta

change

the

name

of

the

instrument

by

one

character

and

save

it

so

it’s

a

different

instrument

that

won’!

overwrite

its

parent.

But

1

wouldn’t

worry

too

much

about

disk

fragmentation

unless

you’re

running

a

small

SCSI

drive.

Garth

Hjelte

just

released

ASR

Disk

Tools

for

$60,

and

if

you've

got

a

PC

compatible

with

a

SCSI

card

in

it,

it'll

defragment

all

your

data

if

you

do

a

simple

backup

and

restore.

Disk

fragmentation

used

to

be

an

issue

when

we

only

had

90

meg

drives

to

fitnnel

all

our

data

in.

These

days,

a

I

gig

drive

is

considered

too

small

for

most

uses,

and

the

prices

reflect

this

shift...)

[John

Daugherty

—

Even

when

I

change

the

name

of

the

“sound”

file,

the

ASR-X

looks

in

the

“waves”

folder

for

|t‘s05"t4ttv:,..1

ft?

jtfirantzn.

tin-‘uni

uhnu

nt."'17ac...u-..

nu)»,

u-

1

5':/5

drive

is

considered

too

small

for

most

uses,

and

the

prices

reflect

this

shift...)

[John

Dougherry

-

Even

when

I

change

the

name

of

the

“sound”

file,

the

ASR-X

looks

in

the

“waves”

folder

for

duplicate

.aif

files

and

then

asks

me

if

I

want

to

overwrite

these

files.

If1

say

no, the

ASR-X

does

nothing.

Evidently]

have

no

choice

but

to

overwrite

these

files

every

time

I

use

them

in

a

new

"sound"

file.

The

only

work-around

for

this

is

to

change

the

name

of

the

"wave"

file

as

well.

Or,

maybe

I

can

create

sub-directories

within

the

“sounds”

folder

or

"waves"

folder.

I

haven’!

tried

this

yet,

so

I

don’t

know

if

it

will

work.

I

guess

1’Il

end

up

spending

most

of

my

time

naming

files

rather

than

creating

music.

Garth,

I'll

be

contacting

you

soon

for

some

of

that

excel-

lent

software

you

keep

putting

out.

Hopefully

it

will

make

things

go

a

lot

quicker.

Thanks

for

the

help...)

[PF

-

John:

NOW

Isee

the

flaw

—

you

gotta

change

the

name

of

every

*.wav

file

as

well

to

avoid

overwriting

a

previous

"instrument"?

Glaring

oversight

on

Malvern’s

part.

Hope

I'm

wrong...

I

[chickenEPS@willmar.com

—

John's

right.

Every

time

you

make a programming change in a I-SOUND

or

RAM-KIT,

Ihe ASR-X:

I)

looks

for

corresponding

AlF

files in

Ihe

WAVES directory and,

2)

ifil

finds Ihem,

iI

asks you

if

you

wanl

10

overwrile -

if

nOl,

il

wriles Ihem from memory,

3)

if

you say no, Ihe wrile is aborled. (This is currenl

10

as

2.03.)

Yeah, defrag is

an

issue,

bUI

I Ihink you are exhibiling

Ihe

.EPS/ASR emotions. The

DOS

disk formal (and probably

the ASR-X as file ops) are more robust,

and

you can

defrag Ihe disk very easily wilhin a PC using Win95' s

defrag or Norlon.

In

olher words, "juS( say YES"

10

the

overwrile prompt.

Going a lillie jurther, with the EPS/ASR,

we

were always

screaming about having the ability

10

edil Ihe parameters

wilhoUI

rewriting the whole file. The EPS/ASR

as

,

in

the

way it deals with files, didll' t allow

IhOi.

BUI

/lOW

, the

ASR-X stores

th

e the parameters

in

a separalefile (.SOU),

but

Ihe

as still doesn' I let Ihe syslem simply overwrile Ihe

.SOU file. Hopejully this will be coming

up

in

a new

as.

Lei's Ihank Ensoniq

for

continuing

10

update the ASR-X

consistently. Lei's also hope thaI Ihey will follow through

with

th

e inslrument

and

not stop short from making

it

what

it

could be,

JUJt

for correction, the ASR-X will

read.

WAV files, but

stores only

AIF

files. For education, Ihe probable reason

for

Ihis

is because .WAV files slore wavedata

in

Intel

processor file formal, whereas

AIF

files Slore

it

in

Motorola processor file

formal-

and the ASR-X is

01

least

a Motorola environment. Bul

Ihen

the ASR-X uses

Ihe

MS-DOS disk format.

ThO(

was smart, since Mac's usual-

ly read

bOlh

Mac

and

DOS

disk formalS, whereas PC's

read only DOS formal

and

not Mac. Wheww .... }

[PF -Garth: Eric MOIIIgomery explained

10

me

thallhe

reason the ASR-X saved in

-.aif

format was

to

allow in-

clusion

of

loop poilllers

and

stuff. II's VERY good

to

know

Ihal an ASR-X hard drive

is

DOS formatted -Norton's

Speed Disk should work famously on it. I wouldn' t trust

WIN95's Defrag -it leaves WAY

100

many orphaned bits

jloating around as unmovable bytes/sectors ... }

[John Dougherry (houseman@eaTlhlink.net) -I jusl

received

and

installed Ihe lalest ASR-X as (ver 2.53).

NOlhing has changed. The X still asks

if

you want to over-

write

.aif

files wilh Ihe same names.

If

you choose not

to

do so, the X does 1I0lhing. I

100

am

in

hopes thaI Ensoniq

will follow through wilh this instrumelll -especially con-

cerning this issue.

I would also like to take the time

10

Ihank all who con-

tributed

10

this thread.

It

's nice

10

know Ihal Ihe support

is there

for

those who ask. Cheers.}

[Eric Montgomery (Ensoniq) -So

for

as Ihe de frog and

file slructure situations I agree wilh all

of

the above.

If

you have 2.53 and you load a sound that has samples,

then make edils

10

that instrumelll

and

nOI

the samples,

then allempt

to

save Ihe new patch the X will ask you

if

you

11'0111

to overwrile the samples. ThaI is just a

Il!:TlC Montgomery (i!nsoniq) -

:;0

jilr as Ihe de frog and

file slruclure situations I agree wilh all

of

the above.

If

you have 2.53 and you load a sound Ihat has samples,

then make edils

10

that instrunlelll

and

not the samples,

then allempt

to

save Ihe new palCh Ihe X will ask you

if

you

11'0111

to overwrile the samples. ThaI is jusl a

safeguard so the X does nol assume thaI you wanl lhem

overwrillell.

Now,

if

you answer no to Ihal queslion (answer no by

pressing the Exil/No bUllo'IJ Ihe X will wrile the new

sound and continue

10

address

Ihe

old samples. I have

done it and

il

works fine.)

Hello.

I am rrying to record a

sync

track

on

a Tascam Porta one

and then trigger the

EPS

from this sync Irack. I have

an

Anatek Pocket Sync to translate the MIDI clock. I record

the track but when I play

it

back and try to use

it

to trigger

the sequencer there are invariably tempo glitches which

are impossible to work with. I have tried various record-

ing levels for the sync track.

There

is a red

LED

on

the

Anatek that blinks with the MIDI clock. This

LED

is

visibly not consistent tempo-wise during recording

of

the

sync track. Could

it

be that the MIDI clock from the EPS

is unstable?

If

so,

WOUldn

't this make the sequences play

badly when they are triggered internally too?

My

hook-up

is:

Midi-out EPS to Midi-in Pocket sync,

Midi-in EPS to Midi-out Pocket Sync, Headphone-out

Pona

one to Audio-in Pocket sync, Channel 4 input

Pona

one to Audio-out Pocket sync. Interchanging

Pona

one

Headphone-out and

Tape!

channel 4-out

doesn't

seem to

make a difference. The

sequencer

keeps running for about

a

second

after I

tum

off

the

Pona

one

if

I

tum

it

off

in the

middle

of

the sequence so I know that the

"lam

Sync

Time

Select" feature

of

the Pocket sync is working.

Can

you please

offer

me any suggestions

or

assistance?

Thank

you very much.

Howard

buiefam@ac.net

[PF -Howard:

Thefirslline

of

your configuralion pOillls

the presence

of

a MIDI loop: "Midi-oUl EPS

10

Midi-in

Pockel sync, Midi-in EPS

10

Midi-out Pockel Sync." This

is verboten. This is by definilion a MIDI loop where Ihe

MIDI out

of

the EPS is directly connecled

10

its own MIDI

In

Ihrough Ihe Pocket Sync.

Imagine the pockel sync as a simple MIDI cable connect-

ing the MIDI

In

to

the MIDI Oul. This is your conjigura-

lioll , which defines the te

rm

"MIDI loop."

Send Ihe MIDI out

of

the Pockel Sync

10

Ihe MIDI

In

of

the EPS.

Sellhe

EPS

10

follow External Clock

10

allow it

to sync

10

Ihe Po ckel Sync. And that shollid do

il

...

}

TH-

I have a

TS-IO

board and would like to download

sampled sounds

off

the internet, but I have no idea how to

go about that.

Could

you possibly tell me? But at any rate,

I'll

be goin ' .

Brendan

brendan@monitor.net

[PF -Brendan: The TS only reads ASRI EPS-formal disks.

To

get a

·.wav

file

inlO

a TS, you need a conversion pro-

gram

10

IransUJte

the *.wav file inlo a readable ASR for-

mal.

RCS's Ensoniq Disk Tools does this VERY well

(/ookfor

an upcoming review), cosls $60,

and

runs under Windows

95/3.1 withoul a hilch.

It

even formats blank jloppies illlo

ASR/EPSformat as well ... }

TH-

I have a trouble when

I'm

in 44kHz.

There

is

a soft delay

between the first signal in (micro) and the out (ampli out)

and sometimes the ASR-IO makes some noise as bad as a

vinyl!!! But no problem in 30kHz.

I have a trouble when

I'm

in 44kHz.

There

is

a soft delay

between the first signal in (micro) and the out (ampli out)

and sometimes the ASR-IO makes some noise as bad as a

vinyl!!! But no problem in 30kHz.

SCSI present, no digital out, as 3.5.3, ASR-IO 12903,

04/10/95.

Thanxxx,

Batcha, fua_batcha@hotmail.com

[PF -BalCha: Whal ROM revision? Check your firmware

version. Sounds as

if

you might be a rev

or

two behind the

current

V.

1.5.}

TH-

My

SQ-80

doesn' t love me anymore. :-(

Often when

I'm

playing it,

it

'

ll

'recalibrate'

itself. Fine,

but this unrequested recalibration process screws with

some

internal memory - I get funky readouts

on

the dis-

play like "TEMPO: B

IL,"

patch names change, my pitch

bend range becomes 0 to

50

(and it actually shifts

it

by

50

, too!), and so on.

Each time it recalibrates, something new happens and I

look forward with great anticipation to see what new

parameter

values my keyboard will

offer

me ... not.

I can re-initialize

it

(Record & Top-left soft-key) and

it's

fine again (well, I have to reload

everything

from

the

last

time I saved its internal memory 10 disk).

Does anyone have any experience with these types

of

problems, and what you went through to get them fixed?

While I have you ... My disk drive

is

a little screwed, too. I

have

to

tilt the keyboard back

at

a

90

degree angle for the

thing to work. Strange, huh?

Anyone have any repair experience for the

SQ-80

drives?

I know there's info on Mirage disk drives, but how about

the SQ-80?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks!

Alex Westner

..

westner@media.mit.

edu

[PF -Alex: YOll've gal an intermittent conneClion in your

SQ-80. Take

il

to

your music dealer

and

have him clean

all contaCl points and reseal all connectors.

If

your lech

uses a zero residue cleaner and

an

antioxidant on

all

con-

tact poinls, harnesses, and connectors

(a

Iwo-step

process) your SQ-80 will be golden

for

years

10

come.

The problem with your disk drive is

in

the power connec-

lor. II's equally intermillelll. While your tech is inside

your SQ-80, have him pull the righl cheekblock with

Ihe

drive and pilch/mod wheels and have him reseat

bOlh

the

data cable

and

power cable following Ihe above two-step

procedure.

I've

seen Ihis disk drive behavior on

my

own

EPSs. One

oflhem

slarted prompting

me

to "Please Insert

Disk" bUllhe drive light wouldn'l come on .

..

drive and pitch/mod wheels and have him re.eat both

Ihe

data cable

and

power cable following Ihe above two-slep

procedure.

I'v

e seen Ihi. di.k drive behavior on

my

own

EPS •. One

oflhem

slarted promptillg

me

10

"Please Insert

Disk"

butlhe

drive lighl wouldn'l come on ...

Clcssifieds

HARDWARE/SOFTWARE

EPS-16+

Turbo

keyboard. 2

Meg

RAM, 1 Meg ROM,

SCSI,

and

sound

disks.

Asking

$900. Phone:

330-928-5711, ext. 507,

330-699

-

0368

after 7 pm EST.

Ask for

Rocky

Lowther

or

leave message.

MR Rack.

Home

use only, $800. Contact Jonathan.

Daytime:

208-962-3271,

Eve:208-983-2876.

Ensoniq

TS-12

For

Sale.

$1500.

8 meg update,

case,

Library

(including

some

great analogue samples).

Great

shape

, mostly studio use.

Wayne

Thompson,

(503)

286-6389.

synsin@spiritone.com

FREE CLASSIFIEDS!

Well-

within limits.

We're

offering

free

classified

ad-

vertising (up to 40 words) for

your

sampled

sounds

or

patches. Additional words,

or

ads for

other

products

or

services, are $0.25/ word

per

issue

(BOLD

type:

$0.45/word).

Unless renewed, freebie ads are

removed

after

2 issues. While

you're

welcome

to resell

copy-

righted

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

(we

won't!)

take

ad

dictation

over

the phone!

make

a

programming

change

in

a

I-SOUND

or

RAM-KIT,

the

ASR-X:

I)

looks

for

corresponding

AIF

files

in

the

WAVES

directory

and,

2)

if

it

finds

them,

it

asks

you

if

you

want

to

overwrite

-

if

not,

it

writes

them

from

memory,

3)

if

you

say

no, the

write

is

aborted.

(This

is

current

to

OS

2.03.

)

Yeah,

defrag

is

an

issue,

but

I

think

you

are

exhibiting

the

EPS/ASR

emotions.

The

DOS

disk

format

(and

probably

the

ASR-X

OS

file

ops)

are

more

robust,

and

you

can

defrag

the

disk

very

easily

within

a

PC

using

Win95’s

defiag

or

Norton.

In

other

words,

“just

say

YES"

to

the

overwrite

prompt.

Going

a

little

fitrther,

with

the

EPS/ASR,

we

were

always

screaming

about

having

the

ability

to

edit

the

parameters

without

rewriting

the

whole

file.

The

EPSIASR

OS,

in

the

way

it

deals

with

files,

didn't

allow

that.

But

now,

the

ASR-X

stores

the

the

parameters

in

a

separatefile

(.SOU),

but

the

OS

still

doesn’t

let

the

system

Simply

overwrite

the

.SOU

file.

Hopefully

this

will

be

coming

up

in

a

new

OS.

Let’s

thank

Ensoniq

for

continuing

to

update

the

ASR-X

consistently.

Let’s

also

hope

that

they

will

follow

through

with

the

instrument

and

not

stop

short

from

making

it

what

it

could

be.

Just

for

correction,

the

ASR-X

will

read

.WAV

files,

but

stores

only

AIF

files.

For

education,

the

probable

reason

for

this

is

because

.WAV

files

store

wavedata

in

Intel

processor

file

format,

whereas

AIF

files

store

it

in

Motorola

processor

file

format

—

and

the

ASR-X

is

at

least

a

Motorola

environment.

But

then

the

ASR-X

uses

the

MS-DOS

disk

format.

That

was

smart,

since

Mac's

usual-

ly

read

both

Mac

and

DOS

disk

formats,

whereas

PC’s

read

only

DOS

format

and

not

Mac.

Wheww....]

[PF

—

Garth:

Eric

Montgomery

explained

to

me

that

the

reason

the

ASR-X

saved

in

"‘.aif

format

was

to

allow

in-

clusion

of

loop

pointers

and

stujffl

It's

VERY

good

to

know

that

an

ASR-X

hard

drive

is

DOS

formatted

—-

Norton’s

Speed

Disk

should

work

famously

on

it.

I

wouldn’t

trust

WIN95’s

Defrag

-

it

leaves

WAY

too

many

orphaned

bits

floating

around

as

unmovable

bytes/sectors...]

[John

Daugherty

(houseman@earthlink.net)

—

I

just

received

and

installed

the

latest

ASR-X

OS

(ver

2.53).

Nothing

has

changed.

The

X

still

asks

if

you

want

to

over-

write

.aif

files

with

the

same

names.

If

you

choose

not

to

do

so,

the

X

does

nothing.

I

too

am

in

hopes

that

Ensoniq

will

follow

through

with

this

instrument

-

especially

con-

cerning

this

issue.

I

would

also

like

to

take

the

time

to

thank

all

who

con-

tributed

to

this

thread.

It's

nice

to

know

that

the

support

is

therefor

those

who

ask.

Cheers.)

[Eric

Montgomery

(Ensoniq)

-

So

far

as

the

defrag

and

file

structure

situations

I

agree

with

all

of

the

above.

If

you

have

2.53

and

you

load

a

sound

that

has

samples,

then

make

edits

to

that

instrument

and

not

the

samples,

then

attempt

to

save

the

new

patch

the

X

will

ask

you

if

you

want

to

overwrite

the

samples.

That

is

just

a

ttsrtc

Montgomery

(Ensoniq)

—

So

for

as

the

defrag

and

file

structure

situations

I

agree

with

all

of

the

above.

If

you

have

2.53

and

you

load

a

sound

that

has

samples,

then

make

edits

to

that

instrument

and

not

the

samples,

then

attempt

to

save

the

new

patch

the

X

will

ask

you

if

you

want

to

overwrite

the

samples.

That

is

just

a

safeguard

so

the

X

does

not

assume

that

you

want

them

overwritten.

Now,

if

you

answer

no

to

that

question

(answer

no

by

pressing

the

Exit/No

buttorp

the

X

will

write

the

new

sound

and

continue

to

address

the

old

samples.

I

have

done

it

and

it

works

fine.

]

Hello.

I

am

trying

to

record

a

sync

track

on

a

Tascam

Porta

one

and

then

trigger

the

EPS

from

this

sync

track.

I

have

an

Anatek

Pocket

Sync

to

translate

the

MIDI

clock.

I

record

the

track

but

when

I

play

it

back

and

try

to

use

it

to

trigger

the

sequencer

there

are

invariably

tempo

glitches

which

are

impossible

to

work

with.

I

have

tried

various

record-

ing

levels

for

the

sync

track.

There

is

a

red

LED

on

the

Anatek

that

blinks

with

the

MIDI

clock.

This

LED

is

visibly

not

consistent

tempo-wise

during

recording

of

the

sync

track.

Could

it

be

that

the

MIDI

clock

from

the

EPS

is

unstable?

If

so,

wouldn't

this

make

the

sequences

play

badly

when

they

are

triggered

internally

too‘?

My

hook-up

is:

Midi-out

EPS

to

Midi-in

Pocket

sync,

Midi-in

EPS

to

Midi-out

Pocket

Sync,

Headphone-out

Porta

one

to

Audio-in

Pocket

sync,

Channel

4

input

Porta

one

to

Audio-out

Pocket

sync.

Interchanging

Porta

one

Headphone-out

and

Tape

channel

4-out

doesn’t

seem

to

make

a

difference.

The

sequencer

keeps

running

for

about

a

second

after

I

turn

off

the

Porta

one

if

I

turn

it

off

in

the

middle

of

the

sequence

so

I

know

that

the

“Jam

Sync

Time

Select”

feature

of

the

Pocket

sync

is

working.

Can

you

please

offer

me

any

suggestions

or

assistance?

Thank

you

very

much.

Howard

buiefarn@ac.net

[PF

—

Howard:

The

first

line

of

your

configuration

points

the

presence

of

a

MIDI

loop:

“Midi-out

EPS

to

Midi~in

Pocket

sync,

Midi-in

EPS

to

Midi-out

Pocket

Sync."

This

is

verboten.

This

is

by

definition

a

MIDI

loop

where

the

MIDI

out

of

the

EPS

is

directly

connected

to

its

own

MIDI

In

through

the

Pocket

Sync.

Imagine

the

pocket

sync

as

a

simple

MIDI

cable

connect-

ing

the

MIDI

In

to

the

MIDI

Out.

This

is

your

configura-

tion,

which

defines

the

term

“MIDI

loop.

"

Send

the

MIDI

out

of

the

Pocket

Sync

to the

MIDI

In

of

the

EPS.

Set

the

EPS

to

follow

External

Clock

to

allow

it

to

sync

to

the

Pocket

Sync.

And

that

should

do

it...]

TH-

I

have

a

TS-10

board

and

would

like

to

download

sampled

sounds

off

the

Internet,

but

I

have

no

idea

how

to

go

about that.

Could

you

possibly

tell

me?

But

at

any

rate,

I'll

be

goin’.

Brendan

brendan@monitor.net

[PF

-

Brendan:

The

TS

only

reads

ASRIEPS-format

disks.

To

get

a

"‘.wav

file

into

a

TS,

you

need

a

conversion

pro-

gram

to

translate

the

‘.wav

file

into

a

readable

ASR

for-

mat.

RCS’s

Ensoniq

Disk

Tools

does

this

VERY

well

(look

for

an

upcoming

review),

costs

$60,

and

runs

under

Windows

95/3

.I

without

a

hitch.

It

even

formats

blank

floppies

into

ASR/EPS

format

as

well...

]

TH-

I

have

a

trouble

when

I’m

in

44kHz.

There

is

a

soft

delay

between

the

first

signal

in

(micro)

and

the

out

(arnpli

out)

and

sometimes

the

ASR-10

makes

some

noise

as

bad

as

a

vinyl!!!

But

no

problem

in

30!-cl-lz.

I

have

a

trouble

when

I'm

in

44kH2.

There

is

a

soft

delay

between

the

first

signal

in

(micro)

and

the

out

(ampli

out)

and

sometimes

the

ASR-10

makes

some

noise

as

bad

as

a

vinyl!!!

But

no

problem

in

30kHz.

SCSI

present.

no

digital

out,

OS

3.5.3,

ASR-I0

12903,

04/10/95.

Thanxxx,

Batcha,

fua_batcha@hotmail.com

[PF

—

Batcha:

What

ROM

revision?

Check

your

firmware

version.

Sounds

as

if

you

might

be

a

rev

or

two

behind

the

current

V.

I.5.]

TH

-

My

SQ-80

doesn’t

love

me

anymore.

:-(

Often

when

I’m

playing

it,

it’ll

’recalibrate’

itself.

Fine,

but

this

unrequested

recalibration

process

screws

with

some

internal

memory

—

I

get

funky

readouts

on

the

dis-

play

like

“TEMPO:

BIL,"

patch

names

change,

my

pitch

bend

range

becomes

0

to

50

(and

it

actually

shifts

it

by

50,

tool),

and

so

on.

Each

time

it

recalibrates,

something

new

happens

and

I

look

forward

with

great

anticipation

to

see

what

new

parameter

values

my

keyboard

will

offer

me...

not.

I

can

re-initialize

it

(Record

&

Top-left

soft-key)

and

it’s

fine

again

(well,

I

have

to

reload

everything

from

the

last

time

I

saved

its

intemal

memory

to

disk).

Does

anyone

have

any

experience

with

these

types

of

problems,

and

what

you

went

through

to

get

them

fixed?

While

I

have

you...

My

disk

drive

is

a

little

screwed,

too.

I

have

to

tilt

the

keyboard

back

at

a

90

degree

angle

for

the

thing

to

work.

Strange,

huh?

Anyone

have

any

repair

experience

for

the

SQ-80

drives?

I

know

there’s

info

on

Mirage

disk

drives,

but

how

about

the

SQ-80?

Any

help

appreciated.

Thanks!

Alex

Westner

..

westnet@media.mit.edu

[PF

-

Alex:

You’ve

got

an

intermittent

connection

in

your

SQ-80.

Take

it

to

your

music

dealer

and

have

him

clean

all

contact

points

and

reseat

all

connectors.

If

your

tech

uses

a

zero

residue

cleaner

and

an

antioxidant

on

all

con-

tact

points,

harnesses,

and

connectors

(a

two-step

process)

your

SQ-80

will

be

golden

for

years

to

come.

The

problem

with

your

disk

drive

is

in

the

power

connec-

tor.

It’s

equally

intermittent.

While

your

tech

is

inside

your

SQ-80,

have

him

pull

the

right

cheekblock

with

the

drive

and

pitchtmod

wheels

and

have

him

reseat

both

the

data

cable

and

power

cable

following

the

above

two-step

procedure.

I've

seen

this

disk

drive

behavior

on

my

own

EPSs.

One

of

them

started

prompting

me

to

“Please

Insert

Disk"

but the

drive

light

wouldrt’t

come

on...

drive

and

pitch/mod

wheels

and

have

him

reseat

both

the

data

cable

and

power

cable

following

the

above

two-step

procedure.

I’ve

seen

this

disk

drive

behavior

on

my

own

EPSs.

One

of

them

started

prompting

me

to

“Please

Insert

Disk"

but the

drive

light

wouldn’t

come

on...

HARDWAREISO

FTWARE

EPS-l6+

Turbo

keyboard.

'2

Meg

RAM,

I

Meg

ROM,

SCSI,

and

sound

disks.

Asking

$900.

Phone:

330-928-571

I,

ext.

S07,

330-699-0368

after

7

pm

EST.

Ask

for

Rocky

Lowther

or

leave

message.

MR

Rack.

Home

use

only,

$800.

Contact

Jonathan.

Daytime:

208-962-3271,

Eve:208-983-2876.

Ensoniq

TS-12

For

Sale.

$1500.

8

meg

update,

case,

Library

(including

some

great

analogue

samples).

Great

shape,

mostly

studio

use.

Wayne

Thompson,

(503)

286-6389.

synsin@spiritone.com

FREE

CLASSIFIEDS!

Well

-

within

limits.

We're

offering

free

classified

ad-

vertising

(up

to

40

words)

for

your

sampled

sounds

or

patches.

Additional

words,

or

ads

for

other

products

or

services,

are

$0.25!

word

per

issue

(BOLD

type:

$0.45tword).

Unless

renewed,

freebie

ads

are

removed

after

2

issues.

While

you’re

welcome

to

resell

copy-

righted

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

(we

won't!)

take

ad

dictation

Over

the

phone!

The above steps are recommended to bring your SQ-80

into spec after a/l these years. Even

if

it turns out to be

something eise, the above should be done as preventative

maintenance anyway ... J

TH

-

[ have an ESQ-) which has recently started acting up a

bit. The display sometimes blinks and many

of

the patch

names become unreadable.

[s there anything I can do? Do [ need to

change

the bat-

tery?

Please advise. Thanks.

Jim S.

JDSav@aol.com

(PF

-Jim: You've gal an intermitlenl display cable. The

older Malvern keyboards conlact pain

Is

get oxidized after

a

few

years and start behaving this way. Clean 0/1 contact

points and wiring harness connectors with a zero residue

cleaner.

If

you feel uncomfortable doing this,

by

a/l means

have your local keyboard tech do Ihis for you. It shollldn' I

take much longer than an hour on

fhe

bench ... J

TH-

[ have an SQ-) and I want

it

to play

Cakewalk

tracks.

What

do

) do? By the way my manual reads, they never

thought the Ensoniq would become

just

a voice instead

of

sequencer!

Thank

you for any reply you can give.

David

dapple@spectra.net

{PF -David: Convert the Cakewalk tracks from *.wrk

files to

".mid

files. Then purchase Gary Giebler's

SQI-SMF

sequence conversion llIility. It's $40

and

will

let you Sysex the converled seqllences into the SQ.

If

all

YOIl

want to

do

is

to

use Cakewalk to

play

your

SQ-I,

you simply need the

SQ

Instrument Definition Table

for

your version

of

Cakewalk. Check out the Twelve Tones

webpage

for

the details.

And,

of

course, your compUler needs a MIDI interface

to

do any

ofthis

... J

{PF

-Gang: The SQ-I (and SQ-2) Instrument Definition

File

for

Windows 3.1

is

available at hllp:!!www2.netdoor.

com/-rlallg/midimap.htm: nice site with lotsa utils...J

TH-

Never had this problem in the four years

I've

been using

my ASR-IO.

I've

noticed today that the the right channel

is

not

processing through the effects.

Example:

Instrument-l

L+2L,

effeCl~stereo

delay

Stereo delay time:

L-600

R-300.

Effect

is

applied

to

L-600,

but not applied to

R-300.

(I've

tried +increment and -increment.) I tried using other

effects and found the same. Right

is

not processed.

Please help ...

John C Gaiser

penehead@mindspring.com

{PF -Juhn:

I'd

call Ensoniq directly at 610.647.3930, as

I don' t know the rhyme

or

reason behind their FX al-

gorithms. They pretry much shlln people from developing

3rd

parry effecls

to to

the proprietary nalllre

of

their DSP

chipset, so

I'd

defer to Malvern

for

their explanation.

And

there might be the outside chance Ihat something

is

amiss

in

your

DSP

chip. Ensllre you're running

Ihe

most current

OS

. version

and

ROM

version

for

your

parlicular key-

board, as this could be suspect ... J

{Von Krogh (VonKrogh@aol.com) -Have you Iried dif-

ferent instruments? Perhaps both layers were assigned

to

the right channel,

or

the whale instrument has been set to

hard right pan on the edit-track page ...

Hope this helps, DerekJ

{Eric Montgomery (Ensoniq) -It is a random situation

that happens on ASR-/.Os. Please be sure

to

use 3.53

OS

on your ASR.

If

this siluation is chronic your

ASR

probab-

ly needs service. When I run into this situation I usually

power

down, wail a few seconds and then power up again

and

the trollble is gone.J

Hello.

[ use Cakewalk Pro Audio

5.0

to play my rack-mounted

EPS-)6+. [ know [ can

send

a patch change froro roy

computer

to the EPS so that it loads a specific file that

correspends with the patch number I send.

However, since [ usually reside

in

roy root directory

wbich contains only

fuJI

banks, [ (eally need to kind

of

move around my EPS until I

come

to

the directory tbat

contains my individual instruments.

THEN

[ can use the

computer

to load the specific instruwent

I'm

looking for.

Alas, I

haven't

had luck

doing

this. [s

it

pessible,

or

am [

limited to loading only those files that reside

in

whatever

particular EPS-16+ directory

I'm

in

at

the start

of

the

song?

Thanks

for your ideas.

Kevin

Cooter

kcooter@access.ie~.net

(PF -Kevin: This can be done. Whal you need

fa

do is 10

emulate but/on presses on the 16+ via Sysex. Feel free 10

call Ensoniq

al

610.647.3930 and reqllest a copy

of

the

EPS-16+ External Command Specification DOCllmenl.

This

is

the Sysex

do

cllment that describes whal sysex

codes are required 10 rem

01

ely navigate arollnd Ihe in-

strument.

At

last observation, Ensoniq offered this doclI-

menl free to interested individllals .. .]

{chickenEPS@Willmar.com -Actually, the bUllon presses

(VBP, Virtual Bllt/on Presses)

don't

work. 1 wish Ensoniq

wOllld

fix/alter the Sys-Ex behaviour

of

the VBP's, bllt

they have not done that.

Bllt

til

ere' re several ways

of

doing what

YOIl

want. When

the 16-Plus is

in

Multi-In Mode

YOIl

can send Program

Change commands (they are not Sys-Ex messages) and

load the corresponding

file

in

the current directory to the

16-Pllls memory. Also, Program Changes 100-127 will in-

voke Macros 1-28.

So

by using this information:

I)

Setllp a macro

to

go to File I (or any file)

of

each

directory on

YOllr

SCSI drive.

2) When you want to load a sound,

a)

Send the macro

Program Change (100-127)

to

go to the appropriate

directory, b) Send the Program Change for the file (1-38).

Make sure the

twO

Program Changes are spaced in time

long enough

for

the SCSI drive

to

respond.

Another fechllique

is

10

use Bank Files to load multiple in-

struments (16-Plus

OS

1

.3

only). Just go to the directory

where the Bank Files (can be the Root directory,

or

beller

yet, the FLOPPY!),

and

load the Bank File with a Pro-

gram Change.J

{Kevin Cooter (kcooter@mail.iex.net) -You gave me a

great, quick response. Thanks

for

the allention

and

help.

P.S.

I've

been a subscriber since the early days (I have

every Hacker

you've

pllblished!)

and

I'm

delighted

you've

taken the bold, necessary step

of

interacting with people

on the net. Grear job! Thanks.J

{PF -Kevin: That's the Hacker trust at work. Hope we

helped to resolve

your

problem!J

I Kevin Cooter (kcooter@TTUlil.iex.net) -Thanks. I tried

what Garth suggested

and

it works great!J

HACKER BOOTEEQ .

what Garth suggested

and

it works great!J

Alas, I

haven't

had luck

doing

this. [s

it

pessible,

or

am (

. HACKER BOOTEEQ .

MAKE

MONEY

o

Scorin

g

Soundtracks

and

Jingles

FREE report r'lveals all!

Fisher

Creative

Group

323

Inner

Circle

Drive

Bolingbrook,

IL 60440

(630) 378-4109

fishercg@mcs.com

www.mcs.net/-fishercg/

EPSjASR &

TS

Series

Keyboards

NEW!! NEW!!

AudioWrx

Electric

Pianos

Most

popular

70'5-90'5

keyboards

Acoustic Pianos

Brig

ht(TraditionaIjHonky-Tonk/Jazz

On(y

$49. 95

IJ:ach

!!!

7 -

Disk

sets

+ $

2.00

shipping

1-800-687-0048

Memory conscious multisamples

Demo files @ www.audiowrx.com

YO ADVERTISERS!

Try an economical size

ad

in

the Hacker. Our

one-twelfth page

ad

(the size

of

this

ad)

is

the

perfect size for testing the waters, moving up

from the

classifieds,

dropping

back

from

larger ads, or just maintaining visibility over

long periods with minimal expense.

2.251/

X 2.25" Only $30!

And

now -Booteeq Jumbo:

2.25" X 4.6" Only $45!

Transoniq

Hacker

1402 SW Upland Dr., Portland, OR 97221

503-227-6848

The

above

steps

are

recommended

to

bring

your

SQ-80

into

spec

after

all

these

years.

Even

if

it

turns

out

to

be

something

else,

the

above

should

be

done

as

preventative

maintenance

anyway...)

Tl-I-

I

have

an

ESQ-1

which

has

recently

started

acting

up

a

bit.

The

display

sometimes

blinks

and

many

of

the

patch

names

become

unreadable.

Is

there

anything

I

can

do?

Do

I

need

to

change

the

bat-

tery?

Please

advise.

Thanks.

Jim

S.

.IDSav@aol.com

[PF

—

Jim:

You've

got

an

intermittent

display

cable.

The

older

Malvern

keyboards

contact

points

get

oxidized

after

a

few

years

and

start

behaving

this

way.

Clean

all

contact

points

and

wiring

harness

connectors

with

a

zero

residue

cleaner.

If

you

feel

uncomfortable

doing

this,

by

all

means

have

your

local

keyboard

tech

do

this

for

you.

It

shouldn't

take

much

longer

than

an

hour

on

the

bench...)

TH-

I

have

an

SQ-1

and

l

want

it

to

play

Cakewalk

tracks.

What

do

1

do?

By

the

way

my

manual

reads,

they

never

thought

the

Ensoniq

would

become

just

a

voice

instead

of

sequencer!

Thank

you

for

any

reply

you

can

give.

David

dapple@spectra.net

[PF

—

David:

Convert

the

Cakewalk

tracks

from

*.wrk

files

to

*.mid

files.

Then

purchase

Gary

Giebler’s

SQ!-SMF

sequence

conversion

utility.

it’s

$40

and

will

let

you

Sysex

the

converted

sequences

into

the

SQ.

If

all

you

want

to

do

is

to

use

Cakewalk

to

play

your

SQ-I,

you

simply

need the

SQ

Instrument

Definition

Table

for

your

version

of

Cakewalk.

Check

out

the

Twelve

Tones

webpage

for

the

details.

And,

of

course,

your

computer

needs

a

MIDI

interface

to

do

any

ofthis...]

[PF

-

Gang:

The

SQ-1

(and

SQ-2)

Instrument

Definition

File

for

Windows

3.1

is

available

at

http:llwww2.netdoor.

com!--rlanglmidimap.htm.'

nice

site

with

lotsa

utils...)

TH-

Never

had

this

problem

in

the

four

years

I've

been

using

my

ASR-I0.

I’ve

noticed

today

that

the

the

right

channel

is

not

processing

through

the

effects.

Example:

Instrument-lL+2L,

effect=stereo

delay

Stereo

delay

time:

L-=60O

R=300.

Effect

is

applied

to

L=600,

but

not

applied

to

R-300.

(I’ve

tried

+increment

and

-increment.)

l

tried

using

other

effects

and

found

the

same.

Right

is

not

processed.

Please

help...

John

C

Gaiser

ponehead@mindspring.com

[PF

-

John:

I’d

call

Ensoniq

directly

at

610.647.3930,

as

I

don’!

know

the

rhyme

or

reason

behind

their

FX

al-

gorithms.

They

pretty

much

shun

people

from

developing

3rd

party

eflects

to to

the

proprietary

nature

of

their

DSP

chipset,

so

I’d

defer

to

Malvern

for

their

explanation.

And

there

might

be

the

outside

chance

that

something

is

amiss

in

your

DSP

chip.

Ensure

you’re

running

the

most

current

OS

-version

and

ROM

version

for

your

particular

key-

board,

as

this

could

be

suspect...)

[

Von

Krogh

(VonI(rogh@aol.com)

-

Have

you

tried

dif-

ferent

instruments?

Perhaps

both

layers

were

assigned

to

the

right

channel,

or

the

whole

instrument

has

been

set

to

hard

right

pan

on

the

edit-track

page...

Hope

this

helps,

Derek)

[Eric

Montgomery

(Ensoniq)

—

It

is

a

random

situation

that

happens

on

ASR-1-0s.

Please

be

sure

to

use

3.53

OS

on

your

ASR.

If

this

situation

is

chronic

your

ASR

probab-

ly

needs

service.

When

I

run

into

this

situation

I

usually

power

down,

wait

a

few

seconds

and

then

power

up

again

and

the

trouble

is

gone.)

Hello.

I

use

Cakewalk

Pro

Audio

5.0

to

play

my

rack-mounted

EPS-16+.

I

know

I

can

send

a

patch

change

from

my

computer

to

the

EPS

so

that

it

loads

a

specific

file

that

corresponds

with

the

patch

number

1

send.

However,

since

I

usually

reside

in

my

root

directory

which

contains

only

full

banks,

I

really

need

to

kind

of

move

around

my

EPS

until

1

come

to

the

directory

that

contains

my

individual

instruments.

THEN

I

can

use

the

computer

to

load

the

specific

instrument

I’m

looking

for.

Alas,

I

haven’t

had

luck

doing

this.

Is

it

possible,

or

am

I

I

HACKER

BOOTEEQ

what

Garth

suggested

and

it

works

great!)

fi-i

Alas,

I

haven’t

had

luck

doing

this.

Is

it

possible,

or

am

I

-ctozn

BOOTE

s

I

EPS/ASR

8<

TS

Series

Keyboards

NEW

!!

NEW

!!

Scoring

Soundtracks

I

and

Jingles

FREE

report

reveals

all!

Fisher

Creative

Group

323

Inner

Circle

Drive

Bolingbrook,

IL

60440

(630)

378-4109

f

i

shercg@mcs

.

com

www

.

mcs

.

net/

~f

i

shercgl

Electrtc

Ptanos

Most

popular

70's-90's

keyboards

Acoustic

Pia

nos

Brig

ht/Traditional/Honky-Tonk/Jazz

Onlitj

Zach

ll!

I

7-

Disk

sets

+

$200

shipping

1

-800-687-0048

Memory

conscious

muttisamples

Demo

files

@

www.audiowrx.c0m

limited

to

loading

only

those

files

that

reside

in

whatever

particular

EPS-l6+

directory

I'm

in

at

the

start

of

the

song?

Thanks

for

your

ideas.

Kevin

Cooter

kcooter@access.iett.net

[PF

—

Kevin:

This

can

be

done.

What

you

need

to do

is

to

emulate

button

presses

on

the

16+

via

Sysex.

Feel

free

to

call

Ensoniq

at

610.647.3930

and

request

a

copy

of

the

EPS-16+

External

Command

Specification

Document.

This

is

the

Sysex

document

that

describes

what

sysex

codes

are

required

to

remotely

navigate

around

the

in-

strument.

At

last

observation,

Ensoniq

ojffered

this

docu-

ment

free

to

interested

individuals...)

[chickenEPS@Willmar.com

—

Actually,

the

button

presses

(VBP,

Virtual

Button

Presses)

don’t

work.

1

wish

Ensoniq

would

fix/alter

the

Sys-Ex

behaviour

of

the

VBP’s,

but

they

have

not

done

that.

But

there're

several

ways

of

doing

what

you

want.

When

the

I6-Plus

is

in

Multi-In

Mode

you

can

send

Program

Change

commands

(they

are

not

Sys-Ex

messages)

and

load

the

corresponding

file

in

the

current

directory

to

the

I6-Plus

memory.

Also,

Program

Changes

100-127

will

in-

voke

Macros

I-28.

So

by

using

this

information:

I)

Setup

a

macro

to

go

to

File

I

(or

any

file)

of

each

directory

on

your

SCSI

drive.

2)

When

you

want

to

load

a

sound,

a)

Send

the

macro

Program

Change

(I00-I27)

to

go

to

the

appropriate

directory,

b)

Send

the

Program

Change

for

the

file

(I

-38).

Make

sure

the

two

Program

Changes

are

spaced

in

time

long

enough

for

the

SCSI

drive

to

respond.

Another

technique

is

to

use

Bank

Files

to

load

multiple

in-

struments

(16-Plus

OS

1.3

only).

Just

go

to the

directory

where

the

Bank

Files

(

can

be

the

Root

directory,

or

better

yet,

the

FLOPPYI),

and

load

the

Bank

File

with

a

Pro-

gram

Change.)

-

[Kevin

Cooter

(kcooter@mail.iex.net)

—

You

gave

me

a

great,

quick

response.

Thanks

for

the

attention

and

help.

P.S.

I’ve

been

a

subscriber

since

the

early

days

(I

have

every

Hacker

you’ve

published!)

and

I'm

delighted

you've

taken

the

bold,

necessary

step

of

interacting

with

people

on

the

net.

Great

job!

Thanks.)

[PF

—

Kevin:

That’s

the

Hacker

trust

at

work.

Hope

we

helped

to

resolve

your

problem!)

[Kevin

Cooter

(kcooter@mail.ie,r.net)

-

Thanks.

I

tried

what

Garth

suggested

and

it

works

great!

]

Try

an

economical

size

ad

in

the

Hacker.

Our

one-twelfth

page

ad

(the

size

ot

this

ad)

is

the

perfect

size

for

testing

the

waters,

moving

up

from

the

classifieds,

dropping

back

from

larger

ads,

or

just

maintaining

visibility

over

long

periods

with

minimal

expense.

2.25

”

x

2.25

"

Only

$30!

And

now

—

Booteeq

Jumbo:

2.25

"

X

4.6

"

Only

$45!

Transoniq

Hacker

I402

SW

Upland

Dr.,

Portland,

OR

97221

503-227-6848

SYNTAUR

PRODUCTIONS

500

W,

Prairie,

lake.

TX

77434

r----'---

PROFESSIONAL

QUALITY

Low-cost

sequences

for

I The EPS/EPS-1 SO-80, ESO-1,

VFX-sd, SO-1, Roland, IBM/DOS

Call

or

Write

Any

time,

24

Hours

Music

Magic

10541 EARL AVE.

BENNINGTON NE 68007

1-402·238·2876

ENSONIQ MANAGER

Use Ensoniq Disks

on

your

IBM-PC

Read/Write/FormatiCopy and more.

Supports

all

Disk Formats.

ENSONIQ MIDI MANAGER

Send

or

Receive

Data

through

MIDI

to your PC for these

KS-32

VFX

SO-1

SEOUENCECONVERTERS

Convert Standard MIDI Files to/from

Sequences for

these

T~-1

0/1

?

~()_1

,c:n-

i

IIJ:"Y

_",,-I

SEOUENCECONVERTERS

Convert Standard MIDI Files to/from

Sequences for

these

TS·10/12

so-so

KS-32

80-1

8D-1

EPS-16 EPS

KT-76/88 SO-2

VFX-sd

ASR-10

ESO-1

SO-1

TO

TS-10/12 CONVERTER

for VFX-sd

or

SD-1

sequences & songs.

Call now to order or for more information

on these and

other

software

pa\;t<.ages

19460

0) 933-0332 I

fN:l

933-0395

LooIldng

for

SOUNDS

and

other

Samples

on

the

Inl.lllli>lI"II'IIoIIId"I

*'It

Look

no

further

..

*

"fllIIIIIJItg/IIIWDDWHi

from

dDrtmI~/"

~trat.com

Why

rUJI

give

L.

B.

Music

a try

and

why

so many people love our sequences

and

keep coming back for more!!

Toll Free Order line: I-BOO-3LB-MUSIC

Visa, Mastercard. Amex.

Discover

Accepted

51

Charter Oak

PA 19073-3044

I Fax: 610-356-6737

CompuServe: 76255.3713

Internet: http://www.lbmusictech.com

IjJU,)i(

~

Sequences

L43.)\t!

10112, TS-10112

ndSD-1

All titles alSo available in

..

GM,

GS

standard

MIDI

Soniq Demolition Effects $39.95

Destroy audio on purpose

Resonant

Filter

Disk $39.95

Sweepable live analog fillers

TheVODER

$49.95

Vocal formant synthesis

Paralle Effects Disk $39.95

4 Different effects at once

44kHz $49.95

Hi-

fi

stereo limiter

Tempo $49.95

Delay time locks

10

song tempo

Transwave Sound Library $69.00

Modulation Synthesis Assortment

Call, write

or

fax for more info.

VISA/Me

acc!~pte<1.

WAVEBOY

WAVEBOY

FA 19301

Fax:

610-408-8078

,..

FA

19301

Fax:

610-408-8078

,..

"pp

-in

mmm

mum

mama-

mm»

19541

aemsmmNE E§§E Eif

1

..

fizia

Mfiii

.k§.ii§~?r

33

irzstrumegiifi

reai-ii

WE

c§§::*i?tml'.§§E&§f§

and

mew.

SYNT

a@@DU~“

amé

{agie

take

YX

??&

34

faifinake

Camfsyniaw‘

%)

V

QM‘

*

Q

'

fifiifié-ii

===================================================================........................==========_==========

----1---1

wwamwwuwwwwnwmw-~»»>w-<-“.--n.m.~..-¢.....

PRGFESSEGNEL.

QEJELETY

Law-cost

sequenees

fer

T318

EPSfEPS~'E§+~,

SQ~8fi,

ESQ-‘E,

VFX-$6,

S§-’i

,

......

..

am

(’5Gs,

Big

mm

-

E

Q?

Wfiifi

M

O

E3.

Music

ENSQNE

E

we

RQQWWY

Swww

an

Send

at

Ré¢a“E%.fe

“Data

tEh:‘d1JghEMEEEBEEEiE

ts

thaw

mybaardsz

K3i*+3l2?¥7iT’*£FX

SQ»?

SQ-2

ESQ-1

‘

SEQUENCE

CONEERTERS

E

Caravan

Stazzdam

MIDI

Files

is/frem

T.Q-1{‘3f"i

9

grim

\;~:EvE;¢aE

"

SEQUENCE

CONVERTERS

§:§'

....................

..'

................................

_::

'

Seq

U

9

E

C93

W;-.

.;;;;.

TS~1G!12

SQ‘-89

EES~"iE

EES

ESR~?§§

KS~32

KT-?E/88

I

$51-1

TO

TS~“E

W1

far

‘JFK-sd

azSD~1

"m'a'lImI.Q'QW

IQ

erder

fir

f@;f;:*mr§e

and

Wig?

E

cumugv

I

N

L]

-1;;;-...-

-(3-1-E1;_):'-Q3355;-1-3321.1;;:;-1;.;-;.;;;....-.5;-1:;:;:;-1;--

(Ef

:-

*§

'

,--.

Innnnnr

an-mm“-------llllll

W8“

é

mutating!

'

"

_

L.

.,

Nawmwn

E

5:

TS~‘mi‘§2

aésa

I

GM,

Q5

siarxdam‘

M593

as

wawfiis,

Eiua

'?én§§§§;

s,

main;

and

siassia

{ax

aw

32%;;

oz:

Ex

waaf

2&5

MEI

a:$:39*§5

$39.95

'

__

E

E$@9.§s

'

‘i.-$39,§5

4

Diffsyesi

e'Ff*a€£s

ai

{EH68

'

CG£¥':p1’$$SQI‘

$49.95

813??

m

3-£9

rmflns

wmpo

:$;;;§i§,1nd

Library

$69.Q%

Medaa-1;g§ii§;i§§z'==S§mth@sis

Asserzmem

Qali,

fax

far

mare

infe.

VISA!

E

E B

Q

Y

19301

619-408~sv?§>

mzifi

EA

mm

_,-Q

H

and

Pia}!

e

ces

E

51%-4»@s~s§?Es

ww'w,m:dsmark.mm

|‘v1l|

MARK

"‘".‘£".,'I'!!\*=I=IIII'I~Ir

*=.-III-.=r.=.'§-.=.-!=.§§=.

.-Aam.=§¢.=.s.=_§.=.s.=i.=e.=.'iI-.=.

.-

*r3i3i3i3&3i¥?3:':3i3ié3i?i3?i3i3§i-i;r#i@<§-vi-r-i

TRANSONIQ HACKER

1402 SW UPLAND DR., PORTLAND, OR 97221

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Postmaster: Please return Form

3547

as soon as possible so

we can change our records. This is a monthly publication.

Publisher: Eric Geislinger

Editrix: Jane Talisman

Our

(somewhat

regular)

illustrious bevy

of

writers includes:

Craig

Anderton,

Robby

Berman, Britton Beisenherz, Mark Clifton, Steve Curtin. Anthony Ferrara,

Pat

Finnigan, Jeffrey Fisher, Frank Fortunato, Duane FrybaJger, Garth Hjelte, Jeff

Jetton.

Dara

Jones, Johnny Klonaris,

Ray

Legnini,

Bob

Lang,

Sam

Mims, Eric

Montgomery,

Dan

Rohde,

J.

D.

Ryan,

Tom

Shear,

Kirk

Slinkard,

Jack

Tolin,

Tom

Tracy,

Joe

Travo.

Steve

Vincent

and

Garry Wasyliw.

Copyright 1998. Transoniq Hacker,

1402

SW Upland Drive, Portland. OR

I 97221. Phone: (503) 227-6848 (8 am

to

9 pm Pacific West Coast Time).

• &

Ensoniq

Management

Programs

for

Windows!

Turn

your

computer

into a

powerhouse!

•

Control

all

parameters

remotely

through

MIDI

•

Convert.

WAV'-AIFF

to

Ensoniq

format

via

MIDI

or

Disk

•

Use

the

SampleVue

to

view

and

edit

waveforms

•

Full

Floppy/SCSI

file

managment

-

create

or

edit

Banks!

~

~

frolll~

~39.95!~

~

•

Use

Naming

Wizard

to

name

everything

on

your

Instruments

For

Mac

OS'"

:EPSI

ASH

Visual

Elldlll

SJste

m"'!

For

tile

ASH-

X:

ASR-X

T

OOls

'"

so d

eIIIor

-

$59_95!

~

•••

'ft.,IIl..",

•

.,.

...

fIL_._

~_

..

_ ... _

-'-'J~""'~

_

..

"

......

Ir

......

~

.

.

.....

2

F r

Mac

OS'"

:EPSI

ASH

V"lSuai

Elldlll

System"'!

For

tile

ASH-

X:

ASR-

X T

OOls

'"

s

ound

eIIIor -

$59_

95!

SIMMMem

ory

for

your

ASR

or

TS

30-pin

8-chip

Guarnateed

l

Chi

cken CD-ROM

Drives

Open your world to DOZENS of sounds -

our drives are the best

in

value and price!

Limited Supplies available -ACT NOW!

All

drives

include

power

&

SCSI

cable.

installation

instructions,

and

caddy

(if

applicable).

nue!

EPS

SCSI

Interlace!

For live gigs this can't For

EPS

or 16+. Supports

be

beat! ZipDrives.

S2

19.95!

S141.00!

EPS/A

SR

Sampler

Guidel

S59.

95!

BULK RATE

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

PORTLAND, OR

PERMIT NO.

11

SUBSCRIPTION MATERIAL

DATED MATERIAL -TIME VALUE

Advertising rates: Please

send

for

rate card.

Rates for

authors:

Please

send

for writer-info card.

Subscriptions:

12

monthly issues.

US:

$23/year, All others: $32/year. Payable

in

US

funds.

Transoniq Hacker is the independent

user's

news magazine for Ensoniq

products. Transoniq Hacker is not affiliated

inany

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.

Rubber

Chicken

Software

Co.

Now

supp

o

rting

Ih

e

new

Enson

-q

ASR-

X!

All our sound libraries available on

AS

R-X format (with

all the new parameters!). And check out A.SR-X Tools

Windows Sound Edito

r!

The

,

Demos

eD-RIIII

Windows Sound Editor!

The

Demos

CD-R8M

from

Pelle

Piano!

The

pro

that

has

done

many

Ensoniq sounds and

demos now has his specialty on a

GREAT

Ensoniq-

formatted CD-ROM!

Doll

$59

.

951

by

phone

or

fax: 1-B

OO-

B-

PR

D-Eps, 1-

320-

235-

9

79B

by

mail:

7145thStreet

SE.Wi

llmar.

MN

562

0

1-4

543

by

Internet:

chickenEPS@willmar.com

TRANSONIQ

HACKER

viiiigiigr

PAID

~

1402

SW

UPLAND

DR.,

PORTLAND,

OR

97221

PORTLAND,

OR

PERMIT

NO.

11

SUBSCRIPTION

MATERIAL

ADDRESS

CORRECTION

REQUESTED

DATED

MATERIAL

_

TIME

VALUE

Postmaster:

Please

return

Form

3547

as

soon

as

possible

so

we

can

change

our

records.

This

is

a

monthly

publication.

/T

T T

T

Publisher:

Eric

Geisli-nger

Advertising

rates:

Please

send

for

rate

card.

Editrix:

Jane

Talisman

Hates

for

authors:

Please

send

for

writer-into

card.

Our

(somewhat

regular)

illustrious

bevy

of

writers

includes:

Craig

Andenon,

Robby

Subscriptions:

12

monthly

issues.

US:

$23/year,

All

others:

$32/year.

Payable

Berman,

Bri-tton

Beisenherz,

Mark

Clifton,

Steve

Curtin,

Anthony

Ferrara,

Pat

in

US

funds.

Finnigan,

Jeffrey

Fisher,

Frank

Fortunato,

Duane

Fryb-arger,

Garth

Hjelte,

Jefl

Jetton,

Dara

Jones,

Johnny

Klonaris,

Ray

Legnini,

Bob

Lang,

Sam

Mims,

Eric

l

Montgomery,

Dan

Rohde,

J.

D.

Ryan,

Tom

Shear,

Kirk

Slinkard,

Jack

Tol-in,

Tom

Transoniq

Hacker

is

the

independent

user's

news

magazine

for

Ensoniq

i‘

Tracy,

Joe

Travo,

Steve

Vincent

and

Garry

Wasyliw.

products.

Transoniq

Hacker

is

not

affiliated

in:

any

way

with

Ensoniq

Corp.

T

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

Copyright

1998,

Transomq

Hacker,

1402

SW

Upland

Drive,

Portland,

OR

1

97221.

Phone:

(503)

227-6848

(8

am

to

9

pm

Pacific

West

Coast

Time).

United

States.

J

T

'

TT

T

~

Ensolliu

Ill-link

a.

llisl

In

Ensoniq

Management

Programs

for

Windows!

Turn

your

computer

into

a

powerhouse!

cf“!

I

0

Contra/e//parameters

remote/y

through

M101

T

6.

_

,_

.

.

.

_

,

I

onverr

W/IV

A/FFro

Ensenrq

format‘

we

M/0/or

Drsk

H-|s0|||fl

’

_

__

Use

the

Sample

l/ue

to

view

and

edit

waveforms

'

' '

-»

=~-

-

J

.

/-‘U//F/Qppy/80,5’/fi/9

mg/yggmgflp

@,,_,»,,;@

0,

em-;5,,.,,;,S;

All

our

sound

libraries

available

on

ASR-X

format

(with

~

Use

Naming

Wizard

to

name

everything

on

your

Instruments

all

the

new

parametersl).

And

check

out

ASR-X

Tools

rm,

"ac

"sun:

ipsmsn

“sud

[mum

m!

T

Windows

Sound

Editor!

T

For

the

nsn-rt

Asa-tr

Tools“

sour:

elilor

-

$59

95'

~

_,,.

I

I I

I

$

C.

M,

“ac

"Sm:

inns“

T"-mm

mum

svsmmm!

T

Windows

Sound

Editor!

Fur

me

ASII-lt=

lslt-It

tools“

sour!

Blilnr

-

$59.95!

.

,__,,

,,,,,,,

,,,,,,,,,

The

nemosm.

g?3fpIi,,$ur

ASR

or

Ts

from

Pelle

Piano!

8-Chip

The

pro

that

has

done

many

Ensoniq

sounds

and

Guarnateedi

f

tted

CD-ROM!

§h.r'cken

CD-RUM

Drives

Orma

only

$5935!

Open

your

world

to

DOZENS

of

sounds

-

our

drives

are

the

best

in

value

and

price!

Limited

Supplies

available

-

ACT

NOW!

Ah’

drives

rrrclude

power

&

SCSI

cable,

rrrsmhlarion

irrsrrrrcrrons,

and

caddy

(ff

apphcabre).

demos

now

has

his

specialty

on

a

GREAT

Ensoniq-

I

"|"="m

mm"!

E5

595'

"""""°EI

ijfiggf

E

WHERE

CAN

mu esr

ALL

THIS?

@

For

live

gigs

this

cant

F@tEP$9r16+»

Ssupeorts

Guide!

by

phone

or

fax:

1-e00-e-mazes;

1-320-235_e7ee

be

baa“

z'PD"“es"

T

by

mail:

714

5th

Street

55,

vwrrman

Mrv

552014543

T

by

Internet:

ehiekenEP5@vvil/mertcom