Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 12:49 PM, chartrusemag<chartrusemag@...> wrote:
> Hey all,
> I got a vfx-sd a few weeks ago and I've been having some fun with it.
Welcome! The VFXsd was my first as well, and it's a great learner machine.

> 1.)  I enjoy some of the sounds (patches?  Is that the term?) included inside the vfx-sd.  How do I go about making my own?
This is a bigger subject than I can go into in an email to the group;
I'll drop you a note direct with some useful information. Do you have
the manual? (I'm guessing not - there's a pretty nice intro to
programming the VFXsd in there.)

> 2.)  If I'm looking for more sounds, how do I get .syx files onto the vfx-sd?  SoundLib?  Or can I just drag & drop .syx files onto a floppy? (I have an os x mac.)
Any sysex librarian will work. I have one called just "Sysex
Librarian" that I've found to work great. Not many features (dump,
load, and that's about it) but it works.

The floppy format is a twisto variation on PC floppy format; you can't
use a Mac to create them - in fact, it's tough to find a modern PC
that can. If you have access to a 90's vintage machine that can run
FreeDOS, there are some files on the group server that will let you
format and create sequencer OS disks on such a machine. But the Mac is
a lost cause for supporting the VFXsd. (I've seen a Russian mod to use
flash memory instead of floppies, but I've never been quite able to
bring myself to risk the cash on seeing if they really have a product
or not.)

> 3.)  Soundlib is a painfully confusing program.  Any help there?
Sysex Librarian is minimalist and works fine.

 --- Joe M.