Jasper shares his latest composition on the Yamaha DX7ii classic FM synthesizer. We also see an Ensoniq ESQ1 on the lower shelf. Submitted by Samuel Mills.
Little more avant garde than I was looking for, dude. Let’s take it from the top.
ensoniq
Gracie and Ensoniq SQ-80
The indomitable Gracie is back, this time with an Ensoniq SQ-80 waveform hybrid synthesizer. She is clearly taking her quality-control inspection duties seriously! From our friends at Synthetic Dreamscapes.
The SQ-80 allowed one to mix up to three waveforms at once (e.g., a transient and a long time), along with an analog four-pole VCF and a VCA. It was a successor to the popular ESQ-1, and paved the way for modern wavetable synths.
Arturia created the SQ-80 V virtual version of this classic, which we reviewed here at CatSynth.
Mr Maximillion and Wall of Synths
Mr Maximillion and Ensoniq KT76 and KT88
Persephone in the Studio
Persephone (aka “Mewskers”) is in the command chair of her very impressive studio. This studio is also used by our friend Rob Robinson and his industrial/noise/EBM project Order of the Static Temple (where we found this photo).
In front of Persephone is a Nord keyboard, to her left is a Sequential synthesizer, behind that a venerable Roland SH-101. We also see offerings from Behringer, Akai, Korg, and Ensoniq!
You can see more of Persephone via her tag.
Jerry and Ensoniq ESQ-1
Jerry sits handsomely atop an Ensoniq ESQ-1 synthesizer; it looks like he is ready to share a large tone cluster with us.
Submitted by Erik Gibbels via our Facebook page.
Pinkie and Ensoniq VFX
Pinkie has just written a new sound patch on the Ensoniq VFX and she is very proud of it 
. Submitted by Edda Jayne Hill via our Facebook page.
She will probably switch on the Atari ST and get a sequence going next
Sounds like a great combination. The VFX was the successor to the Ensoniq SQ-80, a flexible wavetable synthesizer that could achieve complex timbres by shifting through different waveforms, a technique pioneered by the PPG Wave. It was released at about the same time as I got my Ensoniq EPS (as I was very focused on sampling at the time). But the VFX is particularly intriguing now as we are in the midst of a proliferation of wavetable-based instruments.
The Atari ST is another interesting electronic-music artifact from the late 1980s, but that’s a story for another time.
CatSynth Pic: Esper and Ensoniq DP/4
Esper has found a nice napping spot underneath an Ensoniq DP/4 effects processor. Submitted by Xeper Kalypso via Facebook. Photo slightly enhanced in the studios of CatSynth HQ to bring out the cat and the synth 😸
The DP/4 was quite the popular and powerful effects system in its day. Some of the algorithms were included in the Ensoniq ASR-10 as well.
CatSynth Pic: Ceephax Acid Crew
Cats find interesting ways to sit, with or without synths. And this kitty is no exception. From Ceephax Acid Crew on Twitter.
I espy an Ensoniq DP/4 signal processor, Yamaha TX802 FM module, Korg Wavestation A/D module, and more that are left as an exercise to the reader.
CatSynth Pic: Ripley, Akai MPC, and Ensoniq SQ 1
Ripley is quite proud of his synths, an Ensoniq SQ 1 and Akai MPC. From Chris Ratterree via our Facebook page.
Here’s Ripley the
boombap cat. She follows me at http://www.instagram.com/chrisratterree