Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 syntheziser

Released in 1978 the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 is one of the most beautifull synthezisers ever made! And it has got a sound that matches. Warm and organic analog sounds under Zilog Z80 contro!. The prophet have a unique sound because it's (for a polyphonic synth) , extensive modulation capabilities. It's not a Oberheim Matrix ,but sounds better in many ways. It has got 2 warm sounding multi output VCO's that have a wide pitch range and can be cross modulated and synced. You can set one VCO to lo-frequency mode acting as a LFO for polyphonic effects. You can use filter ADSR and VCO audio to modulate VCF frequency, VCO PW and VCO frequency! Furthermore, you can use noise to modulate VCO PW, VCO frequency and more. This modulation section has resulted in the trademark Prophet 5 sound with lots of wierd things going on in the background! The LFO could be more advanced though, but since you can use an oscillator as an LFO, like on the MiniMoog, this isn't that inhibiting. There are also mods that add more waveforms to the LFO.

The 2 ADSR envelope generators has got an attack time of 1ms, (same as the SH101 and MiniMoog), which makes the Prophet 5 ideal for percussion and synthetic transients. The filter is a 4-pole with self oscillation capabilities and has a fat, brutal sound. evenmore so when I soon modify it to do MiniMoog style filter clipping. The filter FM sounds beautifull and the possibility to use a VCO to audio modulate the other VCO's pulsewidth is very rarley seen on any synth but the old modulars.

A 40 patch programmer combined with knobs is a real luxury and makes this synth an absolue joy to program. It is not quite as fat as my MS20 but what is... . When put in unison mode however, the Prophet 5 outfattens almost any other synth I have heard but the allmighty Roland Jupiter 8 and the monstrously mean MemoryMoog!. This synth was the first widely used polyphonic synth that featured a huge (for it's time!)patch memory programmer and microproccesor scanned keyborad and along with the DX7 one of the most frequently recorded synth, used by Kraftwerk amongst others. It brought the swept sync sound to fame and introduced some modulation routings previously found only on modular synthezisers. It excels at modulated pads and weird sounds, but is also very fat and makes good "minimoog " style bass sounds. I can play this instrument for many days in a row and I always seem to find new ways to use the modulation section. And ! , in contrary to my monophonicss, I can also store my work in the Prophet 5 's patch programmer. This is my first knob programmed analog polyphonic and It will be with me for a long time..