Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    I'd suggest the following as a good quality entry system. You didn't
    specify a price range, but I think most of the participants in this
    file would agree that these are 'good values'...
    
                Synth:     Ensoniq   ESQ-1     ~$1200???
                Drums      Alesis    HR-16        400
                'verb      Alesis    MVII         269
    
                   
    Best of luck to you and your husband. There's a ton of knowledge
    in this file. Don't be afraid to speak up...
    
    Edd
    

RE < Note 1276.0 by CREME::LSIMPSON >

	You're asking a lot of questions, so it may take some time to sort it 
all out to the point where you're ready to buy.  But, let's take a shot.

	In the area of reverb, depending on how tight your chenge is (and that
may depend on how much you spend on the other items), there are two excellent
choices, both by Alesis:  Microverb (List $199, can be found for around $160)
or the MIDIVERB II (List $299, can be found for $250).  The Microverb does only
reverb, but it is quite good.  I have one.  The MV II has more than reverb, it 
also has effects like digital delay, chorus, etc.  If you have the extra $100, 
it's worth getting.

	Drum machines, well, there's a lot more options there.  Depending on
how demanding your ears are for realistic drums, you could go for the new
Alesis HR-16 (reputed as best sounding) for approximately $450, or Roland's
new TR626.  In actuality, there are so many drum machines out there on the new
market that it's hard to know what to recommend.  I personally do not demand as
much from a drum box, fidelity-wise, as many of the others in this conference, 
so I've been perfectly happy to settle for used units (being sold, many times, 
by the people who DO want better sounds) like the Roland TR707, TR505, etc.
You can expect to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 to $250 for one
of these - don't pay more.

	When you get to keyboards, things get even more ambiguous.  I think the
main reason for this is that, even more than with drums, everybody has a 
different Idea of what sounds acceptable to them.  For me, I like the analog
sound best, and rate digital instruments, in many cases by how well it sounds
reproducing analog timbres (especially string sections).  But that's just me.

	Having said that, I would be willing to make a recommendation - Since
you have mentioned a preference for digital sounds, you might wait for the new 
Yamaha DX11 (or is it DXII?).  It is Yamaha's proprietory FM synthesis,
it is multi-timbral (able to make different sounds simultaneously), it is
touch sensitive, and has many more features.  It will hit the market very soon
(April?) and will list for about $995.  It's immediate predecessor, the TX81Z,
which is strictly a sound module (i.e., no keys), is a great instrument (I have
one and love it).  It can do well in sounding both digital and analog and is
inexpensive.  It has more features (effects, alternate tunings, alternate
waveforms, ...) than I care to list, explain, or even understand!

	Chances are, if you stay with recording long enough, and if you find
yourself taking advantage of MIDI, you will get several keyboards.  With MIDI,
you can build up many units from various manufacturers, various sounds, and
they will all be compatible.

	Well, I think I've written enough for now.  Wellcome to COMMUSIC.

	Dan

	My feelings exactly; I own an ESQ-1 and an HR-16 drum unit;
    you probably want to add the sequencer expansion cartridge to the
    ESQ-1 if you do any heavy sequencing.
    
    	In fact, the only thing on the list above that I don't own is
    a reverb; I'll borrow Eirikur's microverb if I need something that
    my Digitech stomp-box digital delay unit can't be fooled into doing.
    
    	Interesting note: all of the above (Ensoniq, Alesis, Digitech/DOD)
    are all American companies! 
    
    You'll need a mixer as well; you can get by with a homebrew passive
    mixer for a while (I do!) but eventually you'll want something better.
    The $29 Jap Shack mixer is OK for practicing, but it's too noisy
    for recording sessions.
    
    I assume you'll be using your stereo for sound amplification; that's
    OK, just be careful not to blow any speakers.  Synths can produce
    sounds that can be rather destructive of speaker cones, if played
    at high levels.

    
    One thing I would like to mention and others may have overlooked
    is that unfortunately much of the equipment currently on the market
    is controlled through the use of multi-purpose keys and LCD readouts.
    
    I think you should be very careful that you get equipment that can
    be used with only tactile feedback; the aforementioned ESQ-1 and
    HR-16 have many functions which would be difficult to control for
    unsighted persons.  You did not state whether you would have assistance
    available from sighted persons while working with your equipment.
    
    Good luck and have fun!!!
    
    
    						Brian
    
    
    

    Re: .4
    
    Thanks Brian.  Good point.  If the functions have a definite audio
    feedback along with the visual feedback, I gon't believe there will
    be a problem.
    
    No.  I will not have any sighted assistance unless there is someone
    locally who owns the equipment that I can ask questions.  Also,
    I'll ask questions thru notes.  Ultimately, I'll be using any equipment
    we get solo.
    
    Thanks for present and future suggestions.
    
    Laurie
    

    Oh, boy!  That's an excellent point Brian.  The user interfaces
    of most synthesizers nowadays use menus and display-labeled function
    keys.  This could be a real problem.  I'm straining to think of
    a unit that would be better in this regard.  Most controlling programs
    that run on a PC have a graphic interface, too.  There might be
    something for a character-cell based PC that could interface with
    a voice output device.  
                                                                  
    This reminds me of a story.  It's a pretty good story since it was
    located below the water line in the Mill.  I once played Stevie
    Wonder's Kurzweil 250 keyboard (Yes, the same Kurzweil of the
    text-to-speech reading machine, strangely enough).  It was visiting DEC
    for a while, you see, because Stevie was very fond of his DECtalk
    ASCII-to-speech device (still one of the very best sounding units), and
    he wanted it to read the display on his Kurzweil to him. The DECtalk
    developers were working on this as a favor to him.  (He certainly
    helped sell DECtalks!) As I recall this was more doable than it might
    sound because the Kurzweil used an off-the-shelf ASCII-driven
    fluorescent display.  I'm personally very partial to the DECtalk
    and it's developers.  It pronounces my name correctly.  Not many
    real people can do that!
     
    	Eirikur
    

Hi Laurie -

    I have an ESQ-1.  As far as selecting voices, sight is probably not
    required.  There are buttons on the left hand side of the machine,
    aligned vertically.  4 seperate buttons allow you to select sequencer
    memory, internal patch (sound) memory, cartridge memory A, and
    cartridge memory B, respectively. 

    Another vertically aligned set of 4 buttons (parallel with and to the
    right of the first 4) allow you to select from a 10 unit "display" of
    patches.  If you've pushed the sequencer select button, the first 3
    allow you to select sequences (1 thru 10, 11 thru 20, and 21 thru 30,
    respectively); the fourth allows you to select 10 songs.  If you've
    pushed a patch select button, you may choose 1 of 10 patches, etc. 

    You've probably figured out by now that selection takes place in groups
    of ten.  There are two rows of 5 buttons, aligned horizontally in the
    "middle" of the machine, 5 above the LCD display, and 5 beneath.
    Pushing one of these buttons is how you select 1 of the 10 "things" -
    that is, patches or sequences.  The whole machine works around these 10
    "soft" buttons - soft in that they change function depending on what
    other buttons you've pressed (kind of like the difference between the
    EDT keypad keys in normal mode and in GOLD mode). 

    Again, patch and sequence selection is pretty easy to pick up. 

    Sequencing as an operation is another story, though.  The ESQ-1 has a
    built-in sequencer (a very nice one, in my opinion).  The sequencer's
    main functions are laid out in a 3 by 3 (or 3 by 4 - can't remember
    which) matrix to the immediate right of the LCD display and the 10 soft
    buttons.  These are easy enough to memorize.  HOWEVER, many sequencer
    functions have multiple "menus" (or pages) that are (usually) accessed
    by the 10 soft keys.  In short, pushing a button at a given time may
    not yield the expected menu, since the machine tries to be smart and
    remember where you last were in a given set of menus.

    As far as I know, the only sequencers that I can think of that do not
    require a great deal of visual feedback to use would be the Yamaha QX7
    and QX21 units.  I am not sure of the QX5 interface, so I won't comment
    on it. 

    In summary, the ESQ has many nice sounds that are probably easy to
    access; however, the ESQ sequencer is probably not going to be that
    easy to master (although, given time, I suppose it could be done).

    One more bit of information - most of the synth units already mentioned
    only have 8 note polyphony.  Do you require more than this to be
    played at any one time?

    Hope this helps.


brad the verbose

    Re: .7
    
    Thanks Brad for the Info.
    
    I think I could master the menus given time.  I used to work for
    the Pc Sws group at the Atlanta CSC.  When I came into the group,
    there were many manuals, screens, etc to learn in order to support
    customers.  As none of these were in Braile or spoken for quite
    a few months, I had to ask lots of questions, read manuals and screens
    with the device mentioned in 1276.0 and rely on memorization.  I
    guess it worked.  When I left Pc SWS, my manager was reluctant to
    let me leave and I still have quite a few customers who give other
    specialists a hard time because they only want to talk to me.
    
    At any rate, I might be able to handle a number of menus.
    
    Thanks again.
    
    
    Laurie
    

    I can vouch for the QX5 interface.  I'm at the point where I don't
    really look at the keys to do everything.  But, I would imagine
    that the QX7 is a little easier.  As I recall, it has a dial on
    it to vary some parameters.  Actually, you might want to look at
    a sampler if there are particular sounds that you have interest
    in.  I recently picked up a Roland S-10 for about $900.  It's very
    easy to use with single-function keys and quick-disk loading. Quick
    disks load fast and it doesn't matter what order they load in. 
    But, they are expensive and don't hold a lot.  Also, you might want
    to check out a synth like the Roland D-10 that's coming out.  One
    of the claims of LA synthesis is that it is easier to generate new
    sounds than it is with FM.  As far as mixers, I picked up Radio
    Shack's top-of-the-line mixer for about $120.  It's not too bad,
    really.  It's pretty quiet though probably not as good as the
    bottom-of-the-line units from other manufacturers.  Just about anybody
    in this notes file will be happy to provide answers to just about
    any questions.
    
    Steve

    Question: are either you or your husband sighted AT ALL?   If so,
    you will pick up the ESQ and HR very quickly... I don't look at
    the displays much anymore, I know them by heart on the ESQ and I
    rarely diddle the HR-16.  There are a couple of menus on the HR-16
    that are selected via the control slider, those might cause you
    some troubles.
    	
    You might also want to consider attaching an audio device to the
    display units... as I've had both apart and they both look like
    they take serial ASCII (i.e. only a few wires run to the display
    unit, far too few to be a parallel interconnect, strobed from the
    master cpu.                     
    
    The HR-16 display unit is clearly not made by Alesis; it's a different
    layout style and it's a tiny beige board, with surface mount devices,
    whereas the rest of the boards are green fiberglass and use DIPs,
    not surface mount devices.
    
    ...My ESQ is now opened up and there are exactly four wires running
    from the main board to the fluorescent display, exclusive of the
    ones that run to the power supply board.  It looks like the display
    unit is an OEM type, which implies ASCII!  If anyone out
    there in COMMUSIC land has an oscilloscope, we can scope this out
    and tell you if you can connect a DECtalk up to the ESQ.  You'll
    lose positional information but you'll at least know which menu
    you're on.     

    You really needn't worry about possible problems programming your
    digital synthesizer, since by far the majority of people use 
    personal computer-based libraries of sounds. You'd have no problem
    loading and unloading thoudands of sounds that way, I'm sure.
    And the cost is low.  You might consider a used mark 1 DX7, since
    they are about half the price of the new versions, and sound virtually
    the same. You could spend the cash you save on an Atari computer,
    and get COMMUSIC noters to fill it with patches. 
    
    What note 1276.6 failed to mention was that Stevie Wonder still
    hasn't paid for his dectalk equipment! 
    
    Good luck. An interest in COMMUSIC is the best grounds for a
    compassionate pay-rise I've come across.
    
    Richard.

    This is really a fascinating subject.
    
    I have an ESQ-1 and an HR-16 and what I've observed is that many
    of the problems for unsighted folks that have been pointed out,
    I always regarded as moderate weaknesses in the interface that slow
    down sighted folks as well.
    
    The ESQ-1 is certainly going to present some problems.  I have often
    found myself in menu's unexpectedly because of things I've done
    (or have accidently done) 15-20 minutes prior.
    
    For example, occasionally you will select a sequence and it will
    ask you if you want to save changes to some other sequence.  It's
    not even clear what constitutes a "change".  For example, changing
    the metronome setting is a change, but adding a new track is NOT!
    
    My hunch is that you might be better off with a dedicated hardware
    sequencer.  In fact, intuitively it would seem that the smaller
    the display screen, the easier it will be to use it.
    
    Some of the HR-16 problems have been noted.  I'm gonna go out on
    a line here and recommend that you just get a drum machine that
    sounds good and not worry about how easy it will be to program it.
    I think it would be easier for you to program your drum machine
    using the sequencer that you end up with.  That way you only have
    to become familiar with one interface.  All you'll ever really have
    to do with the drum machine is hit the drum pads.
    
    	Dave Blickstein