New sounds for the KORG Z1, plus a tribute to Vladimir Kuzmin and 880, yes 880, free classic presets for Cherry Audio’s Ensoniq ESQ-1.
Sounds and Presets
The MOSS Sessions for KORG Z1 by Roberto Macri
I remember the day I first saw and heard the KORG Z1. I remember it very well indeed. I had been foolishly dismissive of its predecessor, the mighty KORG Prophecy, laughing at the thought of anyone parting with the thick end of £1,300 for a 37-key monosynth in 1995.
In a world dominated by synths with huge polyphony and massive multi-timbrality, it just seemed inconceivable that anyone would want such a thing, especially one that looked as if it had been ripped off the set of Buck Rogers! How wrong was I!
But back to the KORG Z1. In the summer of 1997, I was at one of the early public demos of this new synth, based on the same MOSS technology used in the Prophecy. I was prepared to be unimpressed. Physical modelling had promised much, delivered so little, and all of it at a high price, whereas sampling was now far more affordable and incredibly convincing.
Within seconds of the demo starting, my gob was well and truly smacked. The KORG Z1 sounded amazing and, in many ways, was utterly indistinguishable from a lot of what its powerful physical modelling engine was replicating. And its price was far more appealing than the alternatives out there. And yet, it never set the world on fire.
As I left the demo, KORG had very nicely set out a bunch of their current lineup to play with. Resplendent in silver and sometimes hard to tell apart, their product line was undoubtedly significant, but to one side, there were a handful of Prophecy’s and I just had to see what all the fuss was about for myself.
Maybe I was still blown away by the KORG Z1 demo, my mind made more receptive, but as soon as I started playing it, I immediately realised what an absolute fool I’d been to dismiss it. And with my current financial situation not allowing me to buy a KORG Z1, I promptly bought a Prophecy, which I still have to this day and it will never leave my side.
Both these incredible synths were products of the Multi Oscillator Synthesis System, aka MOSS, a method born out of the OASYS project of the early 1990s. This initial version of OASYS (Open Architecture Synthesis System), not to be confused with the workstation that would emerge in 2005. Aside from add-on boards and minimal implementations in workstations, KORG would abandon physical modelling until they resurrected the Prophecy in software.
Now, Roberto Macri has created a new bank of contemporary sounds for the KORG Z1 for those of us who still enjoy this pretty amazing synthesizer and its 13 models and up to 18 voice polyphony. This bank really shows off what the KORG Z1 is capable of, both as a physical modeller and analog modeller alike.
You get 64 brand new patches for your money, and the most impressive thing about them is that they really show what a great synth KORG had on their hands back then and makes you wonder why they don’t re-explore it in depth, even if it’s just as part of their software collection.
You can buy The MOSS Session for the KORG Z1 at Roberto’s site for €29.99.
Until the KORG Z1 appears in their KORG Collection, you can try out the Prophecy plug-in, which, whilst not being the same engine as the KORG Z1, can be played polyphonically!
Union Star Soundset for Formanta Polivoks by LFOstore
We were all very saddened to hear of the passing of Vladimir Kuzmin, the Russian creator of the legendary, and somewhat bonkers, Formanta Polivoks synthesizer. Designed and built at a time where the tools, components and means of production where very difficult to come by in Soviet Russia, Vladimir created a synth that is still coveted to this day.
This gnarly, duophonic beast was utterly unique in both its sound and style. I finally got to play with one at Berlin’s amazing Synthesizer Museum and it blew me away. It was far larger than I had expected, the controls had that reassuring clunk as you flicked or turned them and the sound… oh boy, that sound!
It has long held an air of mystique but has always been something that many synth nerds have craved, and in recent years, some companies have set out to capture its essence in modern form, most notably by Cherry Audio and their Atomika plug-in.
To commemorate the passing of its inventor, LFOstore have decided to release a bank of sounds for it for free, or at least that’s what their email says. But because the original lacked MIDI (something that has been rectified with third-party upgrades) and because there are numerous clones available, the bank is actually provided as a document.
For your money, you get 32 preset patches laid out per page, along with some MIDI files for you to experiment with, as well as short audio demos of each patch, so you know what you’re aiming for and can check to see that you’ve nailed the programming.
Now, I said this was billed as free in the email they sent out, but if you venture to their webpage, you have to pay a minimum of 50c, which is hardly breaking the bank. There was also a second link in the email that took you to the bank download page, but I won’t publish that here as I’m not sure if they want to charge or not.
Voice-80 for Cherry Audio Ensoniq ESQ-1 by Cherry Audio
Just when you thought the buzz was over, Cherry Audio have gone and prolonged it by releasing a huge bank of sounds for their new baby, the Ensoniq ESQ-1. Not only is it huge, but it is also free of charge! How huge, you ask? About 880 patches huge, that’s how huge!
Back in the day, Ensoniq released 11 cartridges to support what was their first “proper” synthesizer after their debut with the Mirage sampler. Following in the footsteps of Yamaha and Roland, the former of whom had pretty much invented the cartridge-based preset business, Ensoniq did the same for the ESQ-1.
Knowing that these cartridges would empower and encourage ESQ-1 users, they released a series with each cartridge containing 2 banks of 40 sounds. Other companies would follow suit, such as Valhalla, with their highly sought after ESQ-1 cart, the contents of which are as rare as rocking horse poop these days!
Anyway, as part of their partnership with the current IP owner of the Ensoniq brand, Cherry Audio have collated the contents of all 11 carts, curated them into their specific collections and made them available for their ESQ-1. All of these sounds are 100% unadulterated from the originals and, as such, don’t make use of all the added features of the Cherry Audio variant.
But that shouldn’t stop you from having fun with these sounds and experimenting to your heart’s content. Obviously, you need the Cherry Audio ESQ-1 for these to work, so head on over to the Cherry Audio page, log in and click the ‘Add to Library’ button. Fire up the plug-in, and the sounds will appear!
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