WEATHER UNDERGROUND STUDIOS------------------------------------------------
DAT mastering - Remote Recording - Motion Picture Scoring - Digital Audio  
P.O. Box 878 Wolfville, N.S. Canada B0P 1X0                               
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Welcome to release 2.0 of Propats! These patch files have been programmed 
with 1 megabyte of GUS RAM on the card, so while some of the patches can 
easily be substituted with the original ones, not all of them can be 
[especially if you only have 256K on the card :+) ]. But bear in mind that 
these files are not intended for use by those who are using the card only for 
games or playing back pre-recorded midi-files, as many of the files are so 
large that after loading one of them you are restricted to only a couple of 
other patches (EVEN with one meg on the card). These patch files are instead 
intended for people who have home studios and are trying to get the card to a 
professional standard possible to integrate into their setup, for live 
performance, or for other similarly creative applications where sound accuracy 
and cleanliness is a big consideration.

First of all, let me make it clear that THESE NEW FILES ARE MEANT TO REPLACE ALL 
THE OLD PROPATS .ZIP FILES and/or their respective patch files contained within 
the archives. This is due to the terrible loop points in the patches of release 
1.0.

The size of some of the files could be reduced if there was a TRUNCATE BEYOND
LOOP POINTS COMMAND in Patch Maker Lite (!) but for some strange reason this
is not in the program [perhaps this should be implemented in a new version -
hint hint :+) ].

These files represent pretty much the best sound that you're going to get from
the card (even tho the actual samples may be subjectively not so). This is cuz
all the files have been created from wavesamples ported to the IBM PC directly
via floppy from an Ensoniq ASR-10. Considering that the A/D converter used for
the wavesamples was a 64-times oversampling Sigma-Delta converter, there's not
*really* going to be too much signal degredation from that stage. The
wavesamples are pretty much all 30kHz, 16-bit files.

CONTAINED IN THIS RELEASE:

Akai AX60               - Over 1 megabyte in 6 patch files that cover some
			  of the more famous (and interesting) patches from
			  the Akai AX60 synth (circa 1984).

Rhodes Model 760        - 3/4 of a meg of some of the more used Roland
			  U-series and D-series patches (such as L.Calliope,
			  Spectrum, Spect Bell and Fantasia)

Guitars                 - Over 3 megabytes in 10 patch files that cover both
			  clean and processed guitars. The processing
			  algorithms used were:

			  * Phaser+Digital Delay
			  * Flanger+Reverb
			  * Distortion+Reverb+Chorus
			  * Wah+Distortion+Reverb
			  * VCF+Distortion

Pianos                  - Well over 2 megs in 9 patches that cover both
			  electric, digital, and acoustic pianos. These
			  include the classic Rhodes, as well as a mellow
			  and bright grand piano, and a smaller version of
			  the bright piano (160k) usable as a replacement
			  for the default piano with systems with 1 meg ram.

Various keys            - Over 600k in 6 patches that consist of an Oberheim
			  OB-8, Hammond organ, JM Clav, and a small pipe
			  organ and a bright synth patch.

Effects                 - Over 300k in 4 patches that consist of various
			  hits and stabs and sirens.

Vocals                  - Over 1 meg in various vocal clips, lines, sounds,
			  and rap sounds.

Drums                   - 650k in 24 patch files that consist of acoustic
			  snares, acoustic and electronic toms, and
			  high-quality samples of key tr-808 sounds (because
			  22kHz just DOESN'T DO IT for hi-hats and cymbals,
			  even from a tr-808! These are better quality than
			  the ones I previously ftp'ed from archive.epas.)

Orchestral              - 1.3 megs in 9 patches that consist of a new string
			  ensemble, 3 flute patches, bells, and a tympani
			  and an orchestral crash cymbal.


	I hope you all will enjoy these patches. If you have any suggestions,
comments, or so on to pass on, please send them to:
			   911499R@AXE.ACADIAU.CA
	And yes, the card CAN be used for professional applications (which
is proveable to all you skeptics by auditioning these patches). I use this card
in my home studio, and in performance alongside a $14000 stack of keyboards.
Oh, and to all you people who think the SC-55 series from Roland (the Sound 
Canvases) are better sounding units than the GUS, obviously you aren't 
being very objective or using your ears. Granted, the default patch set that
comes with the Ultrasound card is very bad, but it's the flexibility in
not using ROM-based patches that allows customization and hence, flexibility
in patch files. There is a reason why a lot of the top pros in the industry 
don't use sample-playback keyboards and sound modules such as the SC-55 (such
as Kate Bush and her Fairlight). It's because if you're using a ROM-based 
device, you are stuck to the same sounds everyone else uses (who uses that 
device). Hence the music ends up being clichee or very similar and 
uninnovative.

I use(d) a Sound Canvas, for about 2 months for some additional hits and 
backings, until I couldn't bear the unflexibility of the unit and the terrible 
sample rates of the patches and filtering slopes of the analog circutry. 
Considering I have one of the early versions of the board and it STILL sounds 
better than an SC-55 (using PROPATS), that says a lot for Roland innovations.

And I *used* to be a Roland fan. =)

But all that is my own opinion, and other people's music may not demand that.
Enuff with the flame wars; if brand xxxx device works for your music and suits
what you want in a device, then it's a good device. Let's all grow up and stop
flaming each other for what gear they use, or what soundcard they use, etc.

What's important is the music they create.

						-DuranduraN


