# SQ-80 Polyphonic Aftertouch

**URL:** <https://forums.syntaur.com/t/sq-80-polyphonic-aftertouch/204>\
**Category:** Synth Repair\
**Created:** [August 12, 2018, 3:58am UTC](https://forums.syntaur.com/t/sq-80-polyphonic-aftertouch/204 "2018-08-12T03:58:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![AwakeFM](https://forums.syntaur.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@AwakeFM](https://forums.syntaur.com/u/AwakeFM)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 3:58am UTC](https://forums.syntaur.com/t/sq-80-polyphonic-aftertouch/204/1 "2018-08-12T03:58:27Z")

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Hey guys I’m hoping you can help. I picked up an SQ-80 used locally. Everything seems to work fine on it except the aftertouch. I took the keybed apart and cleaned it, but that didn’t seem to help.

Any ideas on how to diagnose and fix it?

Thank you,

Chris

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**Author:** ![Sam](https://forums.syntaur.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Sam](https://forums.syntaur.com/u/Sam)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://forums.syntaur.com/t/sq-80-polyphonic-aftertouch/204/2 "2018-08-12T16:38:14Z")

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On the SQ-80 (and other Ensoniq keyboards with poly aftertouch), there are no real ‘parts and pieces’ that make up the aftertouch - in other words, there’s no real hardware to fix or tweak up. It is all done in software. There are a lot of details in this episode of Synth Wizards:

So if things aren’t working, it comes down to making sure things are set correctly, and making sure a sound is programmed to use aftertouch as a modulator.

You might try reinitializing if you don’t get any joy. And then program a sustaining sound using aftertouch as a modulator of the oscillators, with a very high depth, and see if pressing the keys then makes the pitch change.

Please let us know the results!

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**Author:** ![AwakeFM](https://forums.syntaur.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@AwakeFM](https://forums.syntaur.com/u/AwakeFM)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 1:22pm UTC](https://forums.syntaur.com/t/sq-80-polyphonic-aftertouch/204/3 "2018-08-13T13:22:19Z")

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Thanks for the reply Sam! The hard reset did it!

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**Author:** ![sareedco](https://forums.syntaur.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@sareedco](https://forums.syntaur.com/u/sareedco)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 5:42am UTC](https://forums.syntaur.com/t/sq-80-polyphonic-aftertouch/204/4 "2021-02-26T05:42:32Z")

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I’m having a similar problem with the aftertouch on my SQ-80, except in my case it seems to work on some keys (mostly black keys, a few white keys) but not all. No change after factory reinit except maybe a few more keys work (should have written down which ones were working and which were not before I did the reset!)