Dave Smith Instruments SYNTHESIZERS

Sayer - Your questions answered below...

Q. Wow! So how did you get tasked with creating all of those presets?

A. I'm a glutton for punishment!  ;)  No, I loved it, of course.  I 
just wish my job wasn't so demanding, such that I would have had 
additional time to work on more and better patches/sequences.  I was 
VERY interested in the Evolver when I first read about it, and for a 
while it was looking like the Evolver might ship with some of it's 
386 patch memory slots empty.  This probably sounds stupid, but I 
really didn't want to see that happen.  I'm excited about the fact 
that Dave Smith and Bob Moog and a few others are now making American 
synths again, and I hope they all remain successful.  Anyway, as it 
is, there are still quite a few presets in the Evolver that are 
nothing more than slightly tweaked copies of other presets.  There 
are also some patches/sequences that are less than stellar by almost 
anyone's judgement (and like I said, some of those are mine).  Dave 
has talked about upgrading the factory presets, and I expect that 
will happen before too long.  I'm hoping to get the "User Forum 
Soundset" rolling again (see 
http://www.ex5tech.com/ex5ubb_cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?
ubb=get_topic&f=23&t=000009 ) by making the end of this month the 
cutoff for submissions.  I'd like to see some of our group and forum 
members' submissions make it into the presets!


Q. I've not been to the forum much lately, this is the first I've 
heard of either project. I'm not sure what you mean by S3. I'm 
racking my feeble little mind but cannot figure it out. 

A. "S3" is just the NAME of the EX5 orchestral project.  Details are 
here: http://www.ex5tech.com/ex5ubb_cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?
ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=000450  Some details on the EX5/Evolver project 
can be found in various posts in the group here (if you have the 
patience to search), and on the forums in the following thread:  
http://www.ex5tech.com/ex5ubb_cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?
ubb=get_topic&f=23&t=000010  There's also info on a couple of other 
great little projects by Vincent and Zinoff in that thread.

(Note:  As always, if your email client or the Yahoo group splits any 
of the links above onto two lines, you may need to copy/paste the 
link into your browser address bar.)


One last thing regarding the lowest price for an Evolver that we 
failed to consider in our last post:  Dave's price of $499 USD 
includes shipping.  Does your quote of $469 include shipping?

Now... go get at least the first set of .WAV versions of the "Demo 
Loops"!  :)  I think you'll like the better quality, and the ability 
to play them looped.  Shoot, use them in some of your music if they 
work for you!


Ski
www.ex5tech.com
EX5Tech Evolver forum:
http://www.ex5tech.com/ex5ubb_cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=23


--- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "Sayer" <Sayer@S...> wrote:
> --- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, "ski_ex5tech" <ex5tech@e...> 
> wrote:
> > Sayer, you already listened to the "Demo Loops"?!  Wow, that was 
> > fast.  Thanks for the kind words.
> 
> Well... I went through the 4 zip files containing the mp3 files. 
>  
> > Beta testing...
> > Yes, I had beta unit s/n 0002, but I'd hesitate to say that I was 
> > a "beta tester".  I got the unit pretty late in the development 
> > cycle, and I really just had it for the purpose of cranking out a 
> lot 
> > of patches/sequences in a short period of time.  I sent Dave a 
> grand 
> > total of 140 patches/sequences.  Of those 140, about 120 were 
(and 
> > are) used as presets in the shipping production units.  I like to 
> > call them my "After Midnight" collection, because that's when 
they 
> > were all programmed, after some very long days at work!  ;)  
> 
> Wow! So how did you get tasked with creating all of those presets?
> 
> >I have 
> > to admit that I have some "stinkers" in there as a result!  It 
was 
> a 
> > lot of fun to work with the beta unit, because the Evolver is 
such 
> an 
> > exciting little machine, and because it was an honor to work with 
> > Dave.  It was also pretty gratifying to see the Evolver get such 
a 
> > great review in Keyboard mag, too (see 
> > http://www.keyboardmag.com/r2.htm).  Ken Hughes is a pretty 
> > respectable reviewer, which made it all the better.  However, I 
> was a 
> > little disappointed that Ken didn't talk a bit more about the 
> quality 
> > of the presets (or lack thereof! ;) ).  On the positive side, of 
> the 
> > four presets he did mention, two were mine (the Bell patch and 
> preset 
> > 13 sequence "Evolver Song").  He was wrong about the Bell using 
> FM, 
> > though... it's just some nice subtle modulation of some VS Bell 
> > waveforms.  Been meaning to email Ken about that one!  ;)
> 
> Yes, I read that review! I wonder if that is the same Ken Hughes 
> that used to take part on a discussion forum that Boele, Stefan, 
and 
> I are members of....
> 
> > Mellotron...
> > Wow, I'd love to get a copy of Boele's samples!  I don't know if 
I 
> > could do another MEL-LABS, though... geez, that was a project and 
> a 
> > half!  
> 
> Yeah I know it was... I've enjoyed the fruits of that labor in many 
> tracks for my Dream Quest project!!!!! Priceless!
> 
> > I guess I shouldn't say anything, though, because the 
> > current "S3" project (orchestral strings, wind, & percussion) is 
> > nearly as big.  The combined EX5/Evolver project with 128 little 
> > custom waveforms is a pretty good project, too.
> 
> I've not been to the forum much lately, this is the first I've 
heard 
> of either project. I'm not sure what you mean by S3. I'm racking my 
> feeble little mind but cannot figure it out. 
> 
> Sayer