The Ensoniq ESQ-1, ( or an SQ80)
A discerning synth geeks choice de' jour, this behemoth of 80's snazz might remind you of the digital watch you received in the box of captain crunch you lifted from your local Woolworth's food donations pile right next to a sky-high stack of Reagan-era government cheese.
If Max Headroom had played a synth (didn't he) this would have been it.
But in true 80's fashion the "JOYGEL" so to speak, is flammable, sealed tighter than Indiana's lost Ark this synth was shipped with an obtuse interface designed specifically to keep the idiot (Re' disadvantaged) out, thus ensuring their board would be used only those contributing to the tax base and the next gen nuclear warhead that we all owned a piece of back then.. (In those days you hoped for nuclear war just to see that all the money you spent went SOMEWHERE
But here we are 30n years later, and you STILL aren't paying your goddamn taxes, so I suppose I will let you in on some of the secrets we worked so hard to keep from you back then.
Follow my instructions TO THE LETTER your job is to LEARN THE RULES BEFORE YOU BREAK THEM don't think of this as learning to program a synth. Think of this as your final 80's exam, pass and you may be able to get yourself laid at an 80's night near you, fail, and it's back to the government cheese, perhaps also acquired while getting laid at an 80's night near you.
Strap in the strap on tough guy, here we go:.
This is intended to get the new user of an ESQ-1 up and running with the synth and familiar with it's interface and basic functions, more detailed and specific instructions can be found elsewhere. This is written in point form for easy of use.
1. Switch your ESQ-1 on. You will briefly see a start-up screen followed by 2 lines of text. Begining respectively with: INT 1 PIANO and SLOSTR. These are the names of patches (sounds) preprogrammed into the synth to call one up, press the rectangular grey button closest to it, either above or below the screen.
2. For our purposes press the grey button above piano 1.Try they keyboard, it will now sound something like a piano.
3. Now look to the far right of synth. Below the Ensoniq logo, locate the following buttons: OSC1, OSC2, OSC3, DCA1, DCA2, DCA3, FILTER, DCA4, LFO1, LFO2, LFO3, ENV1, ENV2, ENV3, ENV4 these buttons correspond to the basic control parameters of a subtractive synth.
4. -OSC (Oscillator) is part of the synth that generates the initial sound.
- DCA (Digitally controlled amplifier) amplifies whatever audio signal routed through it.
- FILTER filters specific frequencies of the audio stream passing the signal along without them.
- LFO (Low-Frequency oscillator) this is a sound wave generator that produces sound waves below audible level, thus they can be used to adjust other synth parameters without being heard themselves. For instance a soundwave that serves up and down in a smooth manner (A sine wave) can be routed to vibrato, thus the vibrator moves in synch with the shape of the wave. Think of a boat moving as waves roll it in the ocean.
-ENV (Envelope) just like an LFO an envelope has an inherent shape, perhaps a better term would be map. A map plots a course for you with a beginning middle and end. An envelope tells whatever parameter it routed to how to move in the beginning middle and end of it's duration. For instance: If oscillator 1 pitch is routed to Envelope one, you will need to program the envelopes attack (Begining) sustain (How long it' stays at it's destination. Release (how long it takes to exit it's primary destination) ad release (It;s final exit until it's effects are undetectable)
5. Hit the DCA 1 button, over to the middle left of the board you will see two sliders. Toggle the one marked Data entry. You will see the display show DCA 1 = a number. Pull down the slider until it reads zero. Repeat this process for DCA 2,3 and 4. Remember these are AMPLIFIERS you have just turned them all off therefore you will hear.....NOTHING! Good! Look where the DCA buttons are. See how they are depicted? This is called a Schematic of the synths SIGNAL FLOW. By studying it you will see that the OSC (which create the sound) flow into the DCA's 1-3 next. You will also see that DCA 4 is placed prior to the final output, this tells you DCA's 1, 2 or three AND four must be on in order to hear any sound
6. Press DCA 1 and adjust the value to 60, do the same with DCA 4, the sound it back
7. Now look before the DCA'a. The sound generating OSC come before the amps, here we can choose the TYPE of either sound wave or sample we wish to start with. Press OSC1, each grey button corresponds to the parameter closest to it on the display.
8. Hit the button just above "Wave: you will see the parameter is "Piano" move the slidder all the way down. It will now read SAW. I find a saw-shaped sound wave to be the most naturally "Synthy" sounding so we will start there.
7. Now hit the FILTER button and then press the button closest to FREQ, adjust the value slider til it reads about 40, next press the button for resonance and move that to 30. You should now have something approaching a 303 type sound. but there is something missing......
8. Go back to theFILTER screen at the bottom you will see MODS =, this is asking you what if anything you would like to modulate your FILTER , press the button closest and move the value slider till it says ENV3
9. Now go to ENV 3 and tweak parameters in any fashion moving left to right. You will notice at the far left you are affecting the beginning or ATTACK of the FILKTER's behavior as you move right you are affecting the middle or SUSTAIN of the filters behavior until at the right you are affecting (Modulating) it's end or RELEASE. What do I mean by behavior? How fast does the filter start working? How long does it work for before its effect begin to fade? How long before they are unnoticeable? ATTACK SUSTAIN DECAY RELEASE correspond to these questions.
10. Go back to your FILTER page and instead of ENV3 in the MOD = section move the data slider until you see LFO 2. you will notice the sound is now changing on it's own according to the shape of the Low-Frequency sound wave you are MODULATING it with. Try different waves. Do you see how a square wave changes the filter behavior in the shape of a square figuratively speaking? How about a Saw? A triangle?
You can apply these techniques to anything in the ESQ1 modulate the filter with the oscillator the Oscillator with the LFO shape the Amp with an envelope. The world of synthesis is at your command when you put these simple principals to practice. Not just on this synth either, you now know how to program most synths, just locate the building blocks and what modulates them and the possibilities are mind numbing .
I have given you the means to pull the sword from the stone, use them wisely and go slay the dragon, leave the restroom "Sword fights" to those less educated.
And remember.....the number of synths a man has in his command is directly proportional to the size of his penis.
Poke away my friends, just don't put anyone's eye out.
I will tackle the sequencer in another post
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