ESQ-1 Digital / Analog Synthesizer (Episode 2 Deleted Scene)

[phekkis]

This sounds very cool! It's like chip / 8bit / c64 music :D Keep on working more of these tunes!!

[Microsloth]

Too bad it doesn't show how to create the effect...

[Fingermush]

...and here I invited two esq-ms 2prom

[KillKyleWeiss]

Boy do I have a long, hot date with my SQ80m -- thanks for this.

[s1n4a4ke]

n3tkUt

Sounds like problems with the voice chips. Open it up, give it a dust and a gold dust. Make sure nothings coming loose. Dust some more.

If you can fix it I'll buy it off of you and fix it myself.

[n3tkUt]

Help! My ESQ1 randomly misses notes, no consistency with which, but it loses about 1/3 of its keys -whether physically played or MIDI triggered.

I've had it apart, nothing is broken or dirty. Had stored it on its side for about 6 month, other than that nothing has happened to it.

Has anyone had this problem with theirs? Any ideas? I live in the northwest US, service centers?

BTW, Great videos williamenroh, I check your site often :D

[kenny888stsk]

i know you probably get thousands of requests for this but is there any chance i could get the paramaters for the arpegio sounding voice and the filter sweeping pad =]

[sleepsteal]

duuuuuuuddee that was so good

[RetroSoundsDA]

Would you mind noting me the parameters for the drum beat? I can't seem to make it work on my ESQ-1.

[n3tkUt]

My girlfriend wants to have your children. We just broke up. Thanks a lot man, you can find my ESQ1 in the alley behind my house. Fek!

[diddiejar]

Great! =)

[markix88]

cool stuff william...the esq1 is a really powerful synthesizer and his sound is very lo-fi like c64...but I'm selling mine because I don't like data entry method for programming esq1 has too parameters for that...the page driven system is good but in live is boring...and the envelopes...oh my god the envelopes are perfect but too complex to manage...I want to buy Juno 106...very limited machine than esq1 but live oriented...

[brwest16]

Sounds like yer using an arpeggiator and the esq-1 doesn't have one and if yer not using the sequencer how are you getting this sound? What gives man?

[009relic]

it's all in the programmimg.

[doctormoosey]

it has 3 low frequency modulators (LFOs) that can be tied with levels to emulate an arpeggio.

[Olorintube]

Wicked, so simple and still so cool. Really like that "song" jam or what you call it!

[beautifulmicia]

Ensoniq, over 10 years ago, with very little program memory, made the best synths which even today have not been bested--in my opinion. I have several of each model and refuse to sell even one of them. I also own a KORG Oasys and Roland V-Synth GT and a Prophit 8 amoung many others. Ensoniq is an American made miracle of sound design!

[tylervomited]

Sorry if I sound like a total fucking spastic or whatever..

But just a few questions about this synth.

-can you plug microphones and make you own sounds then they replay through, on this synth.

-is there any newer versions of the ESQ 1 because this is fucking sweet.

cheers too who ever knows the answers. thanks

[blowtorchabortion]

1. Nope, the ESQ-1 isn't a sampler. Ensoinq did release a couple of dedicated samplers however, including the Mirage and the EPS

2. Nope. Just the ESQ-1 and the rackmount version, which were both discontinued a lonnnng ass time ago. If you find an ESQ-1 for cheap on ebay, make sure you buy it, because they're starting to get expensive >___>

[smackyjack]

Great video!!! I love my ESQ 1....(it's actually my third one) I kept buying and selling them in the 90's THIS time I'm keeping it!

One great thing about the ESQ 1 is the MIDI implementation. It was so much better than anything out there at the time...and it plays well with current my midi stuff (something that My Kurtzweil K200S refused to do).

I only wish it had seperate outs.

It would be nearly perfect them.

[sagie1234]

my first time dogging on another synth player on youtube but dude u are retarded if u cant work a kurzweil k2000. if u actually opened the manual u would know how to spell it.. dude the k2000s is the bomb synth u should practice more.. and i have a esqm too so we're in the same boat i love both synths ;=)

[smackyjack]

You can dog me on that. Most of my friends do. I just don't like Kurzweil stuff. Mostly because they aren't reliable. The one I own has something wrong with it and resets to global every time I shut it off it remembers everything but the midi settings. I think it's just mine. That being said, i am more of a player than programmer. I like real time control.

PS reading the manual won't stop it from breaking down.

I've had 3 Kurzweils and after I sell this one, I'll never have another.

[sagie1234]

yea smackyjack i agree about their life span capability. im on my 4th k2000, myself.

no offense , just saying that if u master this k2000, they are totally super powerful and no one can stop u:-)

[smackyjack]

Well, I own a Jaguar too, it's a beautiful car, it's smooth and has a great ride, when it's not in the shop for an $1100.00 fuel pump.

I think i gauge things on reliablility more than anything.

The ESQ 1 is a great example, it may not sound as deep as some other synths of the same year, but it sounds good, and it's rock fucking solid.

That's one reason I use Korg gear too. It's never let me down. Even old ones, like the Delta and the Poly Six.

[sagie1234]

true true..

[diablo22900]

I miss Ensoniq :(

[smackyjack]

I got a nice ensoniq SQ-R rack synth I just put on the bay. I just found it the other day...and I don't need it. It's there cheap if you want it.

[ChompTrax]

i just picked up an ESQ-1 at an estate sale, but it had no manual for it. i want to be able to manipulate sounds. do you have a link or pdf of the owners manual? thanks.

[JediJeter]

I just purchased an eps 16+. but noticed that it doesn't outputs it sound by itself? What do I have to do to hear it? What do you have your esq hooked up to for sound output?

[williamenroh]

The EPS-16 is a sampler, with no internal sounds. You have to load sounds in via its disk drive. After that, it will work like a standard synthesizer.

[kenny888stsk]

that is truely amazing. i have a few questions about this synth though, you see i just bought this exact model and never owned a synth before in my life (im 16 =])

i was wondering if maybe you know how to make its so the mod wheel can change the way a specific voice sounds rather than just simply giving it vibrato. i figured out most of the esq-1 features myself but im having trouble changeing the way some of the voices sound while i'm playing.

[williamenroh]

On each page on the ESQ-1, you can route controls to parameters. You set the amount, positive or negative. So the modwheel can turn up the pitch, or down the volume, or affect the LFO's depth.

You can shift sounds a lot by routing mod wheel to either the filter for sweep sounds, or set to oscillator levels for crossfades. (set one DCO volume to respond positive, and another to negative, and as you change the modwheel, it will shift between them).

[kenny888stsk]

thank you so much. this was a huge help =]

[Booger6995]

@kenny888stsk Go to YT page for MIK300Z. He uses an ESQ-1 and has a tutorial vid on exactly the subject in which you inquire. (How to use MOD wheel to express sounds.) You might want to watch some of his vids and see an ESQ-1 really being put thru it's paces. I think you'll like it.

[polishmade]

sounds like commodore's SID

[UnfamousJames]

Sick stuff man.

[sadman666]

Congratz ... I really liked. That would be mint live ... you should find some like techno/electro sort of gigs to get involved with!!

[Pepizmo]

This synth includes sequencing?

[williamenroh]

The ESQ-1 has a simple 8 track sequencer. But it doesn't have arpeggiators or key-triggered sequencers.

But you can emulate arpeggiators and key-triggered sequencers using LFO tricks.

[EndlessDescent]

This is really great, in my video response I use sequencing though :( I guess that makes me a failure. :P except this one is the SQ-80, esq's big bro.

[DJKevWest]

Man I have had an esq-1 for about 8 months and I cannot figure out how in the world you got that arp effect going on it. Care to share the secret?

[fuzzydeer]

If I have an oppourtunity to grab this board for 350, but I didnt have the money, Do you think it would be worth getting in trouble from my wife due to my buying it anyways?

I love this patch and its lo bit sound and even more I like the harmonies you played. It suits. 5 stars

[Andronicus2007]

Yes it would be worth getting into trouble with your wife over. Just take her into a music shop where they're selling $6000 synths and she'll be glad you shop second hand ;)

[thedivinechemical]

Just divorce her. If she's going to get bent out of shape over your gear lust, then you need to have a wife that's a little more understanding of your desires.

[daliangirls]

cool and sick sound. great!!

[maxmace111]

Brilliant. Also good patch design. The drums sound surprisingly good for each element coming from only a single oscillator.

[xxxdna]

thats really cool. were the drums done on the esq with an lfo or a sequence? if its an lfo, how did you do it? id love to know how to get that out of my esq

[thedivinechemical]

This is why the vintage synths beat the dog shit out of most of the new synths (especially the Virus.) They force you to program creatively. Nobody knows how to really program their new toys anymore.

[odinmp5]

excuse my ignorance, but does this baby have analog circuitry? even tough its sold i though this was digital?

[thedivinechemical]

The oscillators are digital samples, but the filter are analog Curtis chips!

[odinmp5]

thanks for the "lesson", analog filters kick ass!!

[totaltwit]

100% ESQ-1 you say, well you have shown me something new! Impressive.

[iamyourholiness]

monster anyone

[stalag3333]

brilliant.

[Stinktier86]

How many notes does it take to make the esq-1 slow down? Is it my imagination or do i hear it in this video?

I wonder if it is an easy operation to hot the CPU up a bit...

[williamenroh]

You should be able to get away with at least 4 voices with no reduction of LFO speed. I end up exceeding that several times in this video.

After the other layers are brought in, each keypress is using 2 voices. You can hear the LFO speed slow down a bit once I start pressing too many keys, because I'm using all 8 voices.

But it works pretty well if you keep it to 4 voices or fewer.

[flateric4you]

ouch. I can hardly believe that's all lfos really.

[williamenroh]

Well, the audible bits are the oscillators, but LFOs are being used to the turn on and off sound elements to emulate sequencing.

[flateric4you]

well, evidently hehehe :o)

that's some outrageous programming, still. thanks a lot for sharing your techniques.

[jonnypatrick145]

dude mad props! esq's are no easy synth to conquer! wow dude you rock! seriously!!

[mdl76]

wow!!! you inspire me to get into my sq-80 (same as esq)

Keep these rockin vids comming

[AttilaSVK]

Nice! It's a bit like a C64 or some other video game, but I like that sound :)

[fischek]

excellent! just keep them coming :)

[StudioF]

Nice video,can't wait to see the next one.sorry about your setback.