Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

When creating a program can a patch select button(settings) be 
assigned to that program. I know you can do it in seq. mode and 
preset but wondered if anyone knows how to do it in program mode. 
Thanks

In a message dated 12/26/2003 7:54:43 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
bobratica1020@... writes:
When creating a program can a patch select button(settings) be 
assigned to that program. I know you can do it in seq. mode and 
preset but wondered if anyone knows how to do it in program mode. 
Thanks
Great question.  I used to write articles for the Transoniq Hacker about the 
patch select buttons in both program/sound mode, as well as presets/sequencer 
mode. 
Below is a quick primer: 

On the right side of the VFX and SD1 and TS keyboards are the programming 
buttons, and the "SELECT VOICE" button handles what you asked about.  
        1.  In "sounds/program" mode, press select voice.

        2.  then choose the patch L and patch R buttons to see how the 
different parts of the voice "open" (play/sound) and "close" (mute). You can then 
change these settings with the six "soft" buttons above and below the sounds. 
The parenthesis around the sound closes/mutes the sound.  

        3.  remember that you have 4 (not just two) patch select settings.  
                        a) Open, (the default mode), 
                        b) patch L, 
                        c) patch R, and 
                        d) patch L & R together)

        4.  On the middle set of buttons (System/sequencer buttons) you can 
press the top left button (Master) repeatedly and get to the footswitch 
submenu, where you can set a double footswitch (the ones I use are VFP 2 pedals) and 
you can program the footswitch to access either the patch L or the patch R in 
live playing. 

When I'm in my own programming mode and want to demo my sounds to hear the 
patch L and patch R variations, I give up sustain and program the double 
footswitch to access either patch L or patch R. 

        5.  For live performance with the double footswitch, I always program 
the right pedal for sustain, and always program the left pedal for patch L, 
and then decide what variation of the program/sound is accessed with the patch 
L. 

On the TS keyboards, we can have two pedals, and that gets to be fun, since 
one double pedal can be used to access both patch L and patch R and the other 
pedal can be used for sustain and other things like starting and stopping the 
sequencer, and all kinds of other things. 

Happy New Year and Happy Playing.  Warmly yours, Frank Fortunato

PS:  What follows below is that article in the Transoniq Hacker. I rearranged 
the article and put the patch select info first followed by the rest of the 
material. FF
_____________________________________________________________


Excerpts from SD1 Presets article by Frank Fortunato, published in Transoniq 
Hacker, 1997  

PART TWO:  THOSE AMAZING PATCH SELECTS: 

The SD1 again moves into its own elite class  having the patch select feature 
that gives instant real time control of up to four variations of each 
internal sound or preset.  It is worth re-reading the manual on patch selects and how 
to alter and store the edited sounds with their patch selections. I have 
found fantastic surprises when auditioning  the patch select variations. The 
potential of each sound was  totally hidden to me until I took the time to see how 
they were programmed in their variations. For my purposes I always set the 
best variation for my taste to the left patch select.  I'll explain that next. 

1.  USE THE DOUBLE PEDAL:  For patch selecting in live performance  it is 
always easier to use the dual pedal to access patch selects unless you are just 
playing with one hand.  One of the great features of the TS is having two dual 
pedal connections.  On the SD we have to settle for just one.  I usually set 
FS1 to left patch select, and FS2 to sustain.  These options are chosen in page 
one of the master section.  It's for that reason that I always set the 
variation that is best for my use to the left patch select that I access with the 
left pedal.  

2.  TEST DRIVE THE PATCH SELECTS IN PRESET MODE:  It is  always worth an 
additional test drive of the patch selects in preset mode to see what that does 
when using a combination of sounds. If using my left patch select pedal I find 
the change is useable, nothing needs to be changed on the patch select  section 
of performance.  It is set to "live". If the change is not useful I set the 
patch select for each voice of my preset to "00" which disables any  patch 
selecting.  If you  find that you like the results from the right patch select or 
both right and left select you can always make a second or third copy of the 
preset and store the preset with the variation settings.  To store the left 
patch select, store it as "*0".  The right patch select version can be stored as  
"0*" and the  right-plus-left version  is stored with the "**"  selected.  

3.  DON'T OVERLOOK  THE "HOLD" FEATURE:  The special "Hold" parameter on the 
patch select page is simply awesome. Again, it puts  the Ensoniq keyboards  in 
a class all their own.  By setting the patch select to HOLD, it holds in 
memory the patch select variation and allows you to keep playing as if that 
parameter were "held down".  To return to the unaltered state depress the pedal or 
patch select button and release it before playing.  

In my work as a church musician I will often need to add a punchy  brass 
sound to a piano patch for some upbeat worship times.  I made a copy  of my 
favorite SD1 brass sound  and stored my copied version fully muted in the "live" 
setting.  I "open up" the sound and access it with the left patch select.  I then 
stored that sound in preset mode with one of my strong SD1 piano patches as 
well as with the hold feature selected.  The sound is muted until I need to add 
extra punch to my piano  sound.   I merely depress the pedal and the sound is 
there and will play until I depress and release and mute the sound with the 
pedal.  

Here are the two simple rules for hold mode in patch select:  

A)  TO ENGAGE THE HOLD FEATURE: depress the pedal (or patch select button) 
BEFORE PLAYING the keys.  

B)  TO DISENGAGE THE HOLD FEATURE: depress  AND RELEASE the pedal (or patch
select button) BEFORE PLAYING the keys.


____________________________-

Here's the rest of the article if interested.  FF


THE SD1 AS CONTROLLER

One of the great features that gives long shelf life to an old synth like the 
SD1 or VFX is its function as a great  controller.  While the synth is 
getting close to dinosaur age, and while current controllers can do much more than 
the SD1, it still has many excellent features not found even on the newest of 
the current crop of keyboards.  To start with, there are still many very 
satisfied and happy campers out there who still enjoy the sonic richness of the SD1 
sounds.  Adding a module or two can add new life into any set up, and the SD1 
more than meets the challenge of getting control of these additional modules 
or keyboards. The best introduction into the controlling features of the SD1 is 
to review its ease of use in handling multi-keyboard setups in preset mode. 
This beginner's  article will look at the SD1 as a controller  in live playing 
situations. For our purposes here we will use the SD1 controlling one external 
module (let's use a Korg X5DR) in preset mode.  Later we can look at the 
controller features in sequencer mode. Remember that TS users will find the 
material here virtually synonymous for their synths.

Ensoniq did a good thing in using similar  technology to set up both presets 
and  the onboard sequencer, and as a result both the presets and sequencer set 
ups are perhaps the quickest and easiest of any synths currently on the 
market.  That feature was continued with other Ensoniq synths like the SQ series, 
but is not nearly as easy to use as the SD and TS series. 

PART ONE:  SETTING  UP AN EXTERNAL MODULE WITH THE SD1. 

1) SELECTING  A SOUND SELECTS IT TWICE:  After making the obvious midi and 
audio connections of the SD1 and a second midi sound source, let's  select a 
favorite SD1 piano or electric piano sound to start us down the path of a  preset 
layer.  Remember that selecting any sound in the SD1 selects it twice.  Any 
selected internal sound also gets placed into the buffer as part of a  preset 
as well.

2)  STATUS:  Go to the performance section and press the midi button.  Page 
one is the midi status. Notice that your internal sound is placed in the preset 
as one of the three voices, and is selected as well. Double click on another 
of the three voices.  That flashing layered sound continues to delight me and 
reminds me that Ensoniq came up with the easiest way to make layers on the 
planet!! Using the data entry scroll up and change the status from "both" to 
"local" to "midi" for your layered (flashing) voice.  

(Now let me pause for my one and only tangent.  While the  "both" status 
allows  the SD1 to control both its internal as well as an external sound the 
feature has its limitations on the SD1.  The "both" setting does not give you 
individual control of volume, transposition, and other joint parameters.  What you 
do to one also affects the other.  For instance, if the octave is incorrect 
on the module, you can change it with the transpose button  in the preset, but 
it will also change the transposition of the internal setting.  You can of 
course go in and change the voice architecture of the internal or external sound 
so that the octaves match.  But that defeats the purpose of the preset 
function, namely, making  quick layers and splits with various adjustments  without 
having to change anything in the internal architecture of the internal or 
external sound.  To get around this limitation most of the time I set the external 
sound on its own "midi" status.  Tangent is ended!!

3)  CHANNEL:  Press the midi page again and you come to midi channel.  Keep 
your midi channel set  to channel one and be sure that your synth is also set 
to channel one.

4)  PROGRAM:  Pressing  the midi page  a third time brings you to midi 
program.  Start scrolling up with your data entry.  As you scroll up on the  SD1 
programs change as well on the external synth.  Find a nice pad or string sound. 

5)  THE OTHER PARAMETERS:  Now go through the other parameters of your preset 
performance setup, adjusting volume, transposition,  etc.  I find it so 
helpful that the SD1 can not only control the volume, octave and key range but even 
things like the release time of my favorite X5DR string patch.

This would be a good place to store your preset but let's make one more 
setting that will give the SD1  some additional controller flexibility   

6).  MIDI VOLUME CONTROL:  Go to the volume page  (top left button)  and 
select the volume for the layered (midi) voice.  With the volume selected for the 
external module you can simulate a little two channel mixer feature in 
performance. Any time you move to the  volume page you can now use the data slider 
and  control the midi volume of the module.  The master volume slider can 
control the Ensoniq internal voices so that you have two independent volume control 
sources.  Obviously an outboard mixer gives a much simpler volume control, but 
it's nice to know you still have individual control of volumes right from the 
SD1 as well. 

7).  USE THE CV PEDAL:  For the extra control of volume, the CV pedal is 
indispensable.  When the CV pedal is in use as a volume pedal set it to "volume" 
on the system master page. The CV pedal controls both the internal and external 
volume equally, which is useful especially for  fading out and fading in.    

8.  STORE THE VOICE:  While we still have several other useful settings that 
we can make, let's
store the preset at this point by depressing the preset button on the left 
and hold it down as you choose one of the ten storage locations.  

PART THREE:  USING  THE BUFFER IN PERFORMANCE:  

Another amazing feature of the Ensoniq synths is the edit buffer.  It can be 
very useful as a performance feature and not just an editing feature.   Try 
this out:  

A.  EDIT A PRESET:  Make  an alternate version of  a sound or preset that you 
use regularly. That sound now resides in the edit buffer ready to be recalled 
at any point. You can have a change in the volume, key zone, whatever! One of 
my main presets is a combo of a piano and strings sound.   Before a 
performance I will  edit that preset by deselecting the string sound, leaving just my 
favorite piano sound in the edit buffer.

B.  TOGGLE BETWEEN PRESET AND BUFFER:  Then when playing any preset I can 
press the same button that is lit and the keyboard moves to the sound stored in 
the buffer (my piano sound). To go back to a preset just press the button that 
recalls that preset. Repeated depressing of any preset toggles between the 
stored sound and whatever sound happens to be in the edit buffer.  

The keyboard even keeps the preset in the internal buffer in memory when you 
power down.  As long as no other change has been made your preset in the 
buffer is intact. 

C:  FINDING AND RESTORING A PREVIOUS  PRESET:  After playing the sound in the 
buffer over  several  minutes its easy to forget the last preset you used. In 
edit mode no preset is selected but Ensoniq makes it easy for us to return to 
the preset we last played before we went into the buffer zone.  Simply  press 
and hold the preset key (one of the four buttons on the left side.  The 
preset that I last used, or the preset that I altered will flash while I depress 
the preset button.  I can then release the preset button and select the button 
that was flashing) and I'm back home with the chosen  preset. If you keep 
holding the preset key (on the left) when you select the preset (one of the ten) 
you will of course store the edited version and lose the original stored 
version.  


PART FOUR:  TWO FINAL REMINDERS:  Before signing off there are two little 
things to mention by way of reminders. 

1.  NAME THE PRESET BY STORING IT:  We all welcomed the preset upgrades in 
the TS series,
especially the feature that allowed us to store presets and name them similar 
to the way we name internal sounds.  This feature of course is not available 
for the SD1 preset mode, so we need to memorize the locations of our presets.  

But there is one compromise that should not be neglected.  Ensoniq developers 
did at least allow for the naming of single presets that we save to disk.  
So, one handy way to keep track of your presets is to also store them 
individually to disk with  descriptive name for the preset.  Loading that preset from 
the disk places it in the buffer and we always have access to it.

2.  NAME THE PRESET BY MAKING IT A SEQUENCE:  Finally, don't forget that any 
unused sequencer locations make ideal homes for presets, and we get to name 
them as well just as if we were naming a sequence.  In fact it is just that-a 
sequence with no recorded data on the tracks.  And as we all realize we can make 
monster presets by layering up to twelve sounds in sequencer mode. 

So don't be intimidated that you are still using an old keyboard like the 
SD1.  You have a very powerful controller at your disposal, and controlling 
presets begins to unleash its usefulness.  


Frank Fortunato is the music director for Operation Mobilization
Email:  fort@...     
Tel. 770-486-8702

Yes, indeedee.

Use the patch select button.  Toggle up and down until you get the setting 
you want--oo, o*, *o, or **, which indicate L and R patch select buttons to 
be pushed, and write or save your program along with the appropriate 
setting.  Done it lots of times!  Ellen


>From: "bobratica1020" <bobratica1020@...>
>Reply-To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
>To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Patch Select
>Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 12:52:31 -0000
>
>When creating a program can a patch select button(settings) be
>assigned to that program. I know you can do it in seq. mode and
>preset but wondered if anyone knows how to do it in program mode.
>Thanks
>

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