The Quilcom RazorBlade

[Spogg]

Hello my good fellows!

The Quilcom RazorBlade has quite a history…

June 5 2018: This is where it all kicked off:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5258&p=42608&hilit=ensoniq#p42608

June 17 2018: About the Ensoniq DOC chip:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12389&start=0&hilit=ensoniq

June 26 2018: This is a topic about waveform extraction and conversion:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12471&hilit=ensoniq

Kevin started it with a simple question about getting the waveforms from the Ensoniq ESQ-1 and SQ-80. What followed is an unintentional collaboration between Tulamide, myself, Kevin Brown and eventually Manfred Plümer. I don’t very often collaborate because I like the freedom to do my own thing in my own way in my own time. But for this I just couldn’t help myself!

Tulamide did an incredible job of making an extraction tool.

I made a prototype synth, with a lot of very useful input and feedback from tulamide.

Kevin made a great GUI and added some of his own ideas to the schematic to add more functionality.

Tulamide and I did some more tweaking and improving, especially for ease of use and preset making.

Then our new friend Manfred Plümer offered to make preset banks which are included of course. He also made the intro and outro music and some slides for the video. Manfred is a member here but rarely visits because most of our topics are technical.

The resulting RazorBlade is not intended to be a clone or accurate emulation, but a synth inspired by the Ensoniq ESQ-1 and SQ-80. The architecture is straightforward and very similar to the hardware, but the 3 oscillators use exactly those original waveforms extracted by tulamide, so in my opinion this is a great sounding synth, as exemplified by the huge range and quality of presets made by Manfred.

Here’s the video:

https://youtu.be/nsZJ096gCOo

Here’s the download link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qd1jeomxpdvv1 ... 6.zip?dl=0

Most aspects of operation will be clear, but it’s worth looking at the User Guide to get all the details, some of which do need to be explained.

This has been nearly 2 years in the making, so I hope you’ll give it a whirl and have some fun with it.
And, of course, a big thank you to the people I mentioned who contributed to the project.

Cheers

Spogg

[k brown]

This never got a screenshot, so:

RazorBlade copy.png (235.73 KiB) Viewed 22618 times

Thanks to Andrea Capanna for creating and sharing the handsome knobs that were used, and to Barak and Acrobat for their enhanced function.

[Spogg]

Thanks Kevin.

It didn’t occur to me to add a screenshot because my other synths are never worth it! But this is of course a huge exception!

In my view it’s a great looking GUI, as I’ve come to expect from you.

Cheers

Spogg

[k brown]

As Martin likes to say - 'Chapeau'.

[MichaelBenjamin]

.

[tulamide]

RazorBlade is a fantastic synth. Here are a few of the presets I'm working on from time to time (will certainly be done at 0.0123 Plümerspeed )

This is not a real song, but more like a showcase. Directly from the DAW, just a quick and rough mix. Apart from the drums everything you hear is Razorblade. No effects (just Korus and MV7b or whatever the synth's built-in effects are called)!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7i9dw95azz9ggkh/razorblade.mp3?dl=0

[Spogg]

Really great to hear tulamide!
Thank you!

[tulamide]

Found this good video, showing once again why it was a cool idea to base Razorblade on the ESQ-1:

https://youtu.be/-SxV1FrN3o4

[Spogg]

Great video!

Thanks tulamide.

[tulamide]

And another reason to give Razorblade a try. I didn't know it, but Adamski's Killer (feat. Seal) is (except drums) done completely with just the SQ80! And not even much fiddling. Besides the bass everything else is just preset sounds!

https://youtu.be/KEdNgJsq68w