Alesis Q Cards

[Dave Bryce]

There were three piano cards: the 8MB Bosendorfer in the QSPP which (IIRC) was originally made as a card because the S4 (QuadraSynth module) had no piano, the Classical Piano (Fazioli) and the Jazz Piano (K. Kawai).

 

dB

 

That makes sense to me. So,what is this guy talking about? (found at http://midiworld.com/quadrasynth/qs-forum/messages14/9579.html)

 

 

1. "Stereo Grand Piano" is actually a QuadraCard, not a QCard. It was designed for the older QuadraSynth. However, it works perfectly well in all other QS synths, except for a few sounds that only play correctly in an original QuadraSynth. It has 128 Sounds and 100 Mixes.

 

2. "Stereo Grand Piano Plus" was made more recently, for the QS synths. This QCard has 128 Preset Sounds with sounds 0-63 the same as 64-127. It has no 100 Mixes.

The first one is the one I was talking about. I actually don't remember why we did another version of the Bosendorfer.

 

dB

[Rofox]

This thread prompted me to revisit the S4+ and Vintage Keys card.

Patch 109 on the card caught my attention, .....Donld Trumpt!

[elsongs]

I had the Vintage Keyboards card with my QS6. It was my sole keyboard for my acid jazz band that I led in the mid-'90s. Bought the Vintage Keyboards card strictly for the Fender Rhodes sounds.

 

My main complaint about the QS card slots was that the slot was too shallow and the cards protruded out too much. I would have preferred that they sat deeper into the keyboard so I could leave the Q-card inside all the time without having to remove it and re-insert it whenever I packed my QS6 up for a gig.

 

I eventually sold that Q-card because I got a Roland JV "Keyboards of the '60s and '70s" expansion board for my Roland JV-1010 and liked the Rhodes in that one a lot more. And then a few years later I sold that expansion board because I bought a Nord Electro 2 (which has my main gigging keyboard for over 12 years now).

 

I hardly play my QS6 and was contemplating selling it but when I powered it on a couple months ago I discovered that the User bank was erased and so I opened it up to replace the battery. But the battery had leaked some acid and left this residue on the mainboard.

 

I unsoldered the old battery and cleaned up the battery acid residue with isopropyl alcohol. Now you can't tell anything leaked. Then I bought a replacement battery and soldered it in -- but the User bank still doesn't save any patches.

 

The unit still works, the three Preset banks and GM bank all still play fine, and playing them recently made me appreciate how crisp and clean a lot of the acoustic instrument samples were (vibraphone, marimba, etc). Plus it had sampled waves from the Fairlight Arr1 choir and such.

 

So I'm kind of stuck, I'd wanna get the thing repaired, but I'm afraid the repair will cost much more than the unit is worth ($150-$200). And I can't exactly junk it since it works perfectly fine minus the User bank.

[dbran]

Regarding the Vintage Synths QCard and the QS8 itself, I've been searching for a while to find a list of exactly which synths were sampled to create each specific voice in the ROM. From various sources, I've assembled the following list of synths that I believe were used for the QS8. In chronological order:

 

1965 Moog Modular

1969 EMS VCS3

1970 Minimoog

1973 Yamaha GX-1

1975 Oberheim 4 Voice

1977 Prophet 5

1979 Oberheim OB-X

1981 Moog Rogue

1981 Roland Jupiter 8

1982 Fairlight IIx

1982 Roland Juno 6/60/106 (VS card only)

1983 Oberheim OB-8

1983 Yamaha DX7

1983 Roland Jupiter 6

1984 PPG Wave 2.3

1984 Oberheim Matrix 12

 

This list may not be completely accurate. It comes mostly from a Sound on Sound review of the QS8 (but where did THEY get it?), with additions from various quotes I've found from Dave Bryce and others.

 

Here's the thing I would really like to know: from which specific synth did each particular ROM voice originate? For example, the first QS8 synth voice in the ROM is called "JPad." Probably from a Jupiter, but is it a J6 or J8? Some are easy to figure out from the names, like "JuneaxSTR." But most have cryptic names like "Soundtrack" -- I love this voice, but what synth am I "really" using when I play it?

 

I have "svengled" on many separate occasions over the past six months to try to find a detailed list that matches each ROM voice in the QS8 and VS card to its particular synth of origin. I have come up empty, except for tidbits here and there from the QS8 Architects (primarily dB and Erik Norlander).

 

And so, I humbly ask those of you "in the know," does anyone have such a list that they could share? I would be most grateful to see it, or to know the reason why it's not a good idea -- would it be legally troublesome? Or just crossing a line somehow? I can understand that.

 

Either way... thank you!

[Dave Bryce]

Here's the thing I would really like to know: from which specific synth did each particular ROM voice originate? For example, the first QS8 synth voice in the ROM is called "JPad." Probably from a Jupiter, but is it a J6 or J8? Some are easy to figure out from the names, like "JuneaxSTR." But most have cryptic names like "Soundtrack" -- I love this voice, but what synth am I "really" using when I play it?

There's next to no chance you'll ever get that info. I can't speak for any other programmers, but I didn't document any of the work I did. If such lists do exist, I've never seen them.

 

You'd have to find (or, more likely create) a breakdown of every wave in the factory ROM, which instruments were sampled to make them, and then which waves were used with which programs.

 

There's gotta be better ways to spend your time.

 

dB

[dbran]

 

You'd have to find (or, more likely create) a breakdown of every wave in the factory ROM, which instruments were sampled to make them, and then which waves were used with which programs.

 

There's gotta be better ways to spend your time.

 

dB

 

Yes, this is exactly the project I had in mind to undertake. I thought that by doing this, I could train my ear better to recognize these famous sounds by name. ("That's an OB-X string sound, while this one is a Juno...") I think that many people on this forum already have that keen awareness of what different famous synths sound like, and so they wouldn't need a list like this to know what's going on inside the QS8. I was coming at it from the other direction, trying to build the awareness by building the list and playing the sounds.

 

Better ways to spend my time... yup, point taken. Hey, thanks for responding, it's good to have an authoritative answer on this: the list probably doesn't even exist. Good to know!

 

 

[Dave Bryce]

Yes, this is exactly the project I had in mind to undertake. I thought that by doing this, I could train my ear better to recognize these famous sounds by name.

You make the (easy to understand) mistake of thinking that because something is called OB Strings or JP Brass that an Oberheim or Roland synth sample was used to make that program, or that we're trying hard to faithfully reproduce that sound. Typically, I'd say that's not the case.

 

Names of programs come from all sorts of places...astronomical objects, historical figures/places, synths we used to own, synths we'd like to own, etc. Sometimes the name of the program directs you how to use it ("Oct Brass -> MW). Sometimes they sort of sound like tunes we all know, like "Lucky Man", "Jump", etc.

 

A whole bunch of the time though, we're just trying to come up with something different than the last program we wrote, or make a program sound exotic/interesting (How many times can you write Analog Strings 1, Analog Strings 2, etc), and/or try to give what can actually be a tedious task an entertaining component. Don't read too much into it.

 

dB

[dbran]

You make the (easy to understand) mistake of thinking that because something is called OB Strings or JP Brass that an Oberheim or Roland synth sample was used to make that program, or that we're trying hard to faithfully reproduce that sound. Typically, I'd say that's not the case.

 

dB

 

Wow, this is rocking my world right now. Obviously when a program has a whimsical name like "Chocolate," I know that there is no specific synth it is trying to emulate, and the name is more about the feeling it evokes, or some other thing in the programmer's mind at the time.

 

But I HAD always assumed that a program called "Ohbie Brass" was TRYING to sound like an Oberheim, and possibly even using direct Oberheim samples in the ROM voices to get the job done (of course, WHICH Oberheim was something I could never figure out.) And similarly, with the ROM voices themselves, I had assumed that "JuneauxSTR" came from an actual Roland Juno, etc.

 

So... just Wow. Ok. Need to reset what I thought I knew about these sounds.

 

Man, I am glad I asked!

 

 

 

[Bosendorphen]

Late to the party here but yeah I still have my Vintage Synths Q-card and the Classical Q-card as well. Also a 4 MB Flash card with some Mellotron and CP-70 samples on it.

 

I still use my QS7 live and and have a QSR in my studio. Use several patches from the Synths card live almost every gig. Kudos to Dave!!!

[dougb415]

My 73 key QuadraSynth Plus Piano still functions like new, and now lives a comfy life in my studio, Bought it new 22 years ago from Grannies Music (I think).

[tfort]

I hope to find a bargain Vintage Synths or Jazz Piano Q-card for my QS8, but all I see are $100 ones. Compared to the apps I can get for that price, buying Q-cards for that much is just is not going to happen...

 

Dave- have you had a chance to compare the Vintage Synths sounds to Syntronik, especially on iOS?

 

I do want to find a way at some point to recover the original User bank that I somehow overwrote with one of my Q-card presets at some point.

[Bobby Simons]

As you may be able to see from my profile pix, I'm still using a QS8.1 as my Mainstage controller, but haven't used the internal sounds in years. I have a second one in a closet in need of some repair, and a pristine QS6.1 right next to it. Between playing two QS8's and a Generalmusic Pro 2 piano (in another closet) over the last couple of decades, the Fatar TP/20 action is second nature for me. (I wish I could find the equivalent in a new instrument.) I also loved that robust synth action on that QS6, hard to find that quality in a present-day 61.

[Dave Bryce]

Dave- have you had a chance to compare the Vintage Synths sounds to Syntronik, especially on iOS?

Sorry to disappoint, but I rarely to never compare anything to anything else. I almost always evaluate something solely on how it sounds by itself, and how it functions for me as a tool when I reach for it.

 

dB

 

[Rob Gray]

I love the QCards! They have some neat sounds and all the info in this thread has been cool to learn- those cards are a cool time capsule of a specific period in keyboard history.

 

If you dont mind Dave, do you happen to know the answer to any of these questions I had:

 

Who was Invision Interactive? I read at Sweetwater that they and Stratus Sounds did the Bosendorfer, and i noticed their name on a few other cards.

 

Some of the samples on the Rap and Hip Hop cards sound like they were sampled from vinyl, and one of the beats sounds really familiar. Do you have any recollection of if Invision did any sampling clearance, if that was the case? I know at least one expansion board at another manufacturer ended up running afoul of some copyrights, kind of curious if there are uncleared samples on the cards

 

Also, do you know if the Pop Rock Quadracard sounds were incorporated into the QS series? I was thinking of purchasing one for my QSR but a lot of the patch names looked really familiar. Im surprised how nebulous the contents of keyboards sample ROMs were (heck, they still are!)

[Dave Bryce]

Hi, Rob -

 

I don't remember the answers to any of those questions,except I'm pretty sure the Pop Rock card samples are not anywhere in the QS wave ROM.

 

dB

[Rob Gray]

Awesome, thanks Dave!

 

You guys did great work on these cards, the Vintage Synth card is a lot of fun to program patches with.

[Dave Bryce]

the Vintage Synth card is a lot of fun to program patches with.

It's my favorite. Still use mine all the time.

 

dB

[area51recording]

I had a QS 6.1; it was the 2nd biggest POS that I ever purchased (Korg Poly 800 being #1). The only "+" was that I sold the Q cards for more than I paid for them ......

 

Me too, only my Alesis POS was a 7.1. the Poly 800 was the grand prize winner for me as well....

[synthizen2]

Many of those Alesis sounds, despite some of the "POS" comments above, are still useful to this day. Especially the Mellotrons and Tuned Percussion sounds (vibraphone, marimba, etc). And of course the Emerson GX-1 sounds from the Vintage Synth card.

[Dave Bryce]

And of course the Emerson GX-1 sounds from the Vintage Synth card.

Technically, it was Hans Zimmer's GX-1...

 

dB

[Synthaholic]

Many of those Alesis sounds, despite some of the "POS" comments above, are still useful to this day.

 

They certainly are. The Trumpets have a great mariachi feel to them, which my PC3 didnt have an equivalent. Perfect for songs like Ring of Fire.

[rod76]

Hello everyone. I've been considering a Classical Instruments Plus card to use with the S4 Plus module but have little to no information or reference.

 

 

Does anoyone here have an opinion or prior experience?

 

[area51recording]

Many of those Alesis sounds, despite some of the "POS" comments above, are still useful to this day. Especially the Mellotrons and Tuned Percussion sounds (vibraphone, marimba, etc). And of course the Emerson GX-1 sounds from the Vintage Synth card.

 

Ok.....in fairness, I'll say that maybe I was expecting something different from the board. I bought mine when my beloved SD-1 went down, and I never felt it was a viable replacement for it. It just never resonated with me the way the Ensoniq did. I will never back off my disdain for the Poly 800 though....

[artdob]

As my QS8 is currently in the shop and I await to hear that the keyboard doctor can fix its current ailment, Ive been thinking how fantastic it would be to have an ios app of the Alesis QS sounds including the q card library. Considering how large some other sound libraries are on my iPad, bringing the Alesis library to the iPad would expand my sound palette immensely and somewhat future proof my aging Alesis hardware. Mr. Bryce?

[Dave Bryce]

Mr. Bryce what? I haven't seen the inside of Alesis HQ in almost two decades.

 

dB

[Fleer]

Still have an unused pristine QS I bought around 1993, one of my very first synths (apart from a Roland Alpha Juno and a Korg DS-8).

[synthizen2]

As my QS8 is currently in the shop and I await to hear that the keyboard doctor can fix its current ailment, Ive been thinking how fantastic it would be to have an ios app of the Alesis QS sounds including the q card library. Considering how large some other sound libraries are on my iPad, bringing the Alesis library to the iPad would expand my sound palette immensely and somewhat future proof my aging Alesis hardware. Mr. Bryce?

 

Get yourself a QSR rackmount, load up on Q-Cards, and call it a day. This old soundset is not ever likely to be ported to iDevices. There are way better sounds in the intervening ~20 years that iProgrammers are more interested in porting over.

[Dave Bryce]

Get yourself a QSR rackmount, load up on Q-Cards, and call it a day. This old soundset is not ever likely to be ported to iDevices. There are way better sounds in the intervening ~20 years that iProgrammers are more interested in porting over.

It might be different if the QS engine itself had already been ported...but as far as I know, it hasn't, nor - as synthizen2 points out - is there really a reason to...

 

dB

[Bob B]

On 3/22/2017 at 7:55 AM, MuzikTeechur said:

I have a QS6.2 that I still haul out on gigs when I have to do 80's and 90's tunes.

I have the "Vintage Keyboards" card that is a lot of fun.

 Is it the Vintage Keyboards card that has the mellotron sound(s) on it? I really want to find a mellotron sound for my QS-7.

[David Emm]

Wow, wake up and smell the zombie thread! This zoomed me back to the fateful moment where I missed buying a QS6 by a hair because a nicely-priced Roland XP-30 came across my path, including some card I am too decrepit to recall now. Yes, its been that long. It may not have been the better choice in some ways, but how would I know? Heh. I never regretted it, because it was a sweetheart. Every aspiring young synth person should spend some time with the XP-30. Best overall ROMpler experience until I landed a big Korg.