ENSONIQ ESQ-M, Musician'S Manual

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MIDI Overflow Mode
ESQ-M – Musician's Manual
Setting Things Up
The first thing you need to do is to establish a standard for the relationship between the Tracks of the two units,
and set each Track of the ESQ-M to the same MIDI Channel as the corresponding Track on the ESQ-1. The most
logical and least confusing set-up is as follows:
ESQ-1.
Overflows to
ESQ-M
MIDI Channel
Straight Synth ----> Track 0 1 (Base Channel )
Track 1 ----> Track 1 2
Track 2 ----> Track 2 3
Track 3 ----> Track 3 4
Track 4 ----> Track 4 5
Track 5 ----> Track 5 6
Track 6 ----> Track 6 7
Track 7 ----> Track 7 8
Track 8 ----> Track 8 9
To prepare the ESQ-M to receive Overflow from the ESQ-1 and its sequencer:

Connect the MIDI Out of the ESQ-1 to the MIDI In of the ESQ-M with a standard MIDI cable.

Put the ESQ-M in MULTI Mode (MIDI Page.)

For each Track of the ESQ-M, set the MIDI Channel as shown above. (Or you can select a
different set of Channels, but you must remember to assign the same channels to the corresponding ESQ-1 Tracks
and the "Straight Synth.") See pp. 36-37 for information on Track MIDI Channels.

The ESQ-M must have the
same
Programs in its Internal Memory as the ESQ-1. You can easily send
the ESQ-1's Internal Program Bank to the ESQ-M via MIDI (see Section 3 of the ESQ-1 Musician's Manual
for details). And if cartridge sounds are used the ESQ-M must have the identical cartridge inserted. (For
this reason it is recommended that all sounds in the sequence be Internal sounds. Transfer sounds from the
cartridge to the Internal Memory if necessary)
On the ESQ-1:

Set the Base Channel (on the MIDI Page) to Channel 1. (Or any other Channel you prefer, but it should
be the same Channel assigned to Track 0 on the ESQ-M.)

Whenever you define a new LOCAL Track of a sequence, go the
Mix/MIDI
Page and set its MIDI Channel
according to the table above. That will allow it to overflow notes to, and send the proper Program Change and Mix
level to, the corresponding ESQ-M Track.

On the ESQ-1, turn Overflow Mode On (OVFL=ON on the MIDI Page).
Do not
turn On the ESQ-
M's Overflow Mode.
The rest will take care of itself. Whenever the "Straight Synth" or one of the LOCAL (or BOTH) Tracks of an
ESQ-1 sequence runs out of voices, it will send the note out via MIDI on its designated Channel, and the note will be
played by corresponding Track of the ESQ-M.
Try This
Once things are set up, make sure the ESQ-1's Overflow Mode is on and then try this. Select a "Straight
Synth" sound in the usual way on the ESQ-1. If you have your Channel assignments right this should send a
Program Change to Track 0 of the ESQ-M, assuring that it has the same sound. Now turn the ESQ-1's
volume
down,
and the ESQ-M's volume up. Play eight notes, and hold them down. You shouldn't hear
anything from the ESQ-M. Now play a ninth note. That note and subsequent ones should sound on the ESQ-M,
until you release some keys and the ESQ-1 again has voices available.
Now turn the
ESQ-1's volume back up, matching as closely as possible the levels of the two instruments.
It is very important that the volume, EQ and effects settings of the ESQ-M and the ESQ-1 at your mixer or
amp be the same — remember, they are acting together as a single unit, and any major differences in their sound
settings will spoil the effect.