Appendix: Importing and Exporting ESQ-1 SysEx Data

Importing and Exporting ESQ-1 SysEx Data

Cherry Audio’s Ensoniq ESQ-1 can import compatible original ESQ-1 SysEx sound data, allowing vintage hardware programs, cartridge dumps, third-party libraries, and decades of user-created sounds to be brought into the software instrument.

SysEx, short for System Exclusive, is a type of MIDI message used to send manufacturer-specific data between instruments, computers, librarians, and storage utilities. For the original ESQ-1, SysEx made it possible to save and transfer programs digitally rather than manually recording every parameter setting, a noble pursuit best left to monks, archivists, and people with unusually forgiving wrists.

• To import a SysEx file, drag and drop a compatible .syx file anywhere onto the Cherry Audio ESQ-1 interface.

• If the file contains valid ESQ-1 program data, the instrument recognizes it and translates the sound into its native preset structure. Depending on the file, you may be importing a single program or an entire bank.

• Once imported, the sounds appear in the Preset Browser, where they can be loaded, played, edited, saved, favorited, and organized like any other ESQ-1 preset.

Imported SysEx data contains the stored voice-programming information from the original hardware, including oscillator wave selections, tuning, DCA behavior, filter settings, envelopes, LFOs, modulation assignments, and related program data. Cherry Audio’s ESQ-1 translates this information as accurately as possible, preserving the character of the original sound while making it usable in the modern software environment.

The ESQ-1 hardware has three distinct kinds of SysEx data: a single patch, a bank of patches, and sequencer data. Cherry Audio’s ESQ-1 can import single patch SysEx data and patch bank SysEx data. It does not import (or export) sequencer data, as the software's sequencer is a completely different design than the original sequencer.

Cherry Audio’s ESQ-1 is able to assemble original split/layered patches when importing an entire bank, because the bank includes standard ESQ-1 patch data for all 40 patches. If single patch SysEx data is imported into our software, the software ignores any split or layer information in the unavailable patch files.

Because these sounds were created for the original hardware, some may sound great immediately, while others may benefit from level adjustments, effects, filter refinement, or updated performance controls. Once imported, they can be layered, split across the keyboard, processed with effects, enhanced with new modulation, animated with Macro Motion, routed through different filter modes, assigned to MIDI or MPE control, and reshaped with the same tools available to any Cherry Audio ESQ-1 preset.

Working With Imported Legacy Sounds

Imported ESQ-1 sounds are a great way to explore the instrument’s history, but they’re also useful for modern sound design. Try loading an imported patch, then making one focused change at a time:

• Add a second layer for width or contrast.

• Try a different filter mode.

• Assign a Macro to filter cutoff, oscillator level, or effects mix.

• Use Layer effects to modernize the sound without changing its core character.

• Copy the imported layer, paste it to Layer 2, and modify the copy.

• Use Motion or Macro Motion to animate a formerly static patch.

The best part is that you don’t have to choose between preservation and expansion. Cherry Audio’s ESQ-1 lets you bring original ESQ-1 sounds forward, then decide whether to leave them classic, tweak them to your taste, or use them as the basis for entirely new sounds of your own.

Exporting ESQ-1 SysEx Data

Cherry Audio’s ESQ-1 can also export layer data as SysEx. To export the currently active layer, open the turquoise Layer Utility Functions menu in the Volume section, then choose Save Current Layer To Sysex File. Name the file, choose a location, and save it. This lets you preserve a layer as ESQ-1 SysEx data, move sounds between setups, or archive individual layer sounds outside the main preset system.

In practice, any preset (excluding effects, arpeggiator, sequencer, modulation matrix, and MPE settings) can be exported from Cherry Audio's ESQ-1 to the ESQ-1 hardware, and it will sound nearly identical. To send the exported SysEx file back to the ESQ-1 hardware, you will need a utility application such as SysEx Librarian, MIDI-OX, or Bome SendSX.

Cherry Audio’s ESQ-1 only allows exporting individual patch SysEx files, not a complete 40-patch bank. As a result, when you export a sound, you can't save a fully split or layered preset. An exported patch will include only the parameters for either the Lower 1 layer or the Lower 2 layer, not both.

Note that Cherry Audio’s ESQ-1's sliders and controls allow for precision decimal values, such as 16.25. ESQ-1 hardware generally has parameters with integer values from 0 to 32. When exporting to SysEx, all values are rounded to the nearest integer value for compatibility with the hardware.