Tom at Waveformless has put together a free sample library of percussion noises created with a Sequential Circuits Pro One.

Here’s what he has to say about the samples:

It’s hard to believe another weekend is upon us, but it is, so here are some more free samples to get your weekend off to a good start.

This time, it’s a set of 21 24-bit synthetic percussion sounds I made on my Sequential Pro One (that’s it to the left).

Get the download link at Tom’s site and let me know what you think of the samples.

Image: rolandmks7

Saturday Synth Porn: This 1982 ad featured a clear plexiglass Sequential Circuits Pro One analog synthesizer.

Anyone know if there are any clear plex Pro-Ones around anymore?

via the Synthtopia Flickr Group

This is a demo of the Acidlab Miami, a new analog drum machine based on the Roland TR-808.

Information on the Miami drum machine is available at Acidlab.de.

via redmartian:

Just got the Acidlab Miami (An enhanced clone of the Roland TR-808) and made a short demo.

The arpeggio is played on a Roland Jupiter-4 triggered by the Miami,

The bass is played on a rev 1 Prophet-5.

The chords are played on a rev 1 Prophet-5.

In this, the second episode of Annoying Synth Neighbor, synthesizer sounds come between a man and his chance at love.

The first episode is embedded below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tara Busch has created a trippy analogue remix of Bat for Lashes‘ Daniel and has documented the process in a 9-part series of videos:

Armed with a delicious arsenal of stems from Natasha including Linn Drums, an SCI Prophet 5 & a tear-soaked lead vocal to die for, I set about with the intention to create a remix that would showcase the childlike, deeply emotional characteristics of the lead vocal whilst creating a bed of sonic swoops, ferocious fuzz and sweet blips and bleeps for the vocal to travel in.

Backing vocals and select bits of the lead vocal were lovingly run through a Moogerfooger 102 & 104Z to create an “unsettling” contrast to the sweet lead vocal, and my trusty Pro One was employed to create a snarling, demonic lead synth line. My Farfisa Compact Deluxe and Mellotron MKII strings and flutes held the fairy-like quality intact .

Finally, after much tweaking, stirring, seasoning and singing, “Tara Busch’s AnalogSuicide Mix” was born.

This is a must-watch series that puts you in the studio with Busch as she plays, sings and arranges the remix. Busch shares both her process and the thoughts behind her approach in creating evil Pro One shrieking, recording a rainstorm and processing the vocals through a Moogerfooger MF 102.

You can download the remix here (email form required).

Torley gives an overview of the Native Instruments Pro-53, along with demoing the Pro-53 patches.

NI’s Pro-53 is a software synthesizer emulation of the classic Sequential Circuits Prophet V.

via Torley

This video features a demo of the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, one of the classics of early analog synthesis.

via zioguido:

I’m speechless… this synth is beautiful! Awesome! Amazing!… Audio is 20% coming from the camera (stereo) and 80% coming direct from the synth.

Paul Wiffen demonstrates a 1984 Elka Synthex – most famously used on Jean Michel Jarre’s Rendezvous as the Laserharp sound.

Paul also originally programmed the original presets.

Released in 1982, the Elka Synthex was an attempt to get a slice of the professional synth market, which was at that time dominated by Sequential Circuits’ Prophet 5 and Oberheim’s OBn polysynths.

The Synthex offers two multi-waveform oscillators, a white / pink noise generator, a multi-mode filter, an LFO and two ADSR envelopes. The Synthex owes much of its lush sound to a built-in chorus unit. The Synthex also offers a simple sequencer, keyboard layering and key-splits,  cross modulation, ring modulation and a comprehensive modulation matrix.

I would like to say that the Elka Synthex is probably the most wonderful sounding polysynth I’ve ever laid my hands on. I’m not so interested in the technological aspects of a synthesizer, and there’s so much more to be said about the Synthex. I’ve barely touched the surface here, but recommend it highly!

- Norwegian Henrik Huste

The Eka Synthex was most famously used by Jean Michel Jarre – but was also used by Tangerine Dream and Stevie Wonder.

If you’ve used the Elka Synthex, leave a comment with your thoughs!

Resources:

• Elka Synthex, an introduction
• Hollow Sun Nostalgia intro
• Video via Sharpblue:

Are they true or are they false?

Here’s a short excerpt:

Story: Prior to the creation of MIDI, Sequential Circuits had designed a serial bus for musical instruments which was much faster than MIDI.

Verdict: True. The interface was implemented on the Rev3 Prophet-5; it allowed a sequencer to play the synth, command program changes, send and receive program data, and receive key presses from the P5’s keyboard. The obvious question to ask, then, is: why didn’t Sequential propose this as the MIDI standard?

Get the full story at the Sequence 15 site.

This is a synth jam on the Giorgio Moroder/Donna Summer disco classic I Feel Love.

It’s a nice demo of what the Pro-One can do – but it also highlights how different the filter on the Pro-One sounds compared to the Moog synthesizer of the original.

via retrosound72:

I feel love……with this synth.

Sequential Circuits Pro-One Analog Synthesizer with different settings (OSC-Sync, PWM, VCF, Envelope…); internal sequencer is triggered by the Roland TR-808: drums: Roland TR-808

For me one of the best monophonic analog synths ever.

The Sequential Circuits Tom drum machine is a vintage 4-voice digital drum machine, released in 1985.

Tom includes 8 basic drum kit sounds: kick, snare, 2 toms, open / closed hat, clap and crash. The Sequential Circuits Tom had an interesting feature for an early drum machine; each sound could be dynamically allocated between the voices, so you could even use 4 copies of the same sound simultaneously.

Other features include the ability to play the sounds backwards, MIDI controllable parameters and support for sound cartridges, which lets you add 7 additional samples.

If you’ve used the Sequential Circuits Tom, leave a comment with your thoughts/ratings!

Resources:

• Wine County has parts and support for the Sequential Circuits Tom
• Synthmuseum entry for the Sequential Circuits Tom
• Video via AnalogAudio1

This is a vintage synth demo by retrosound of Sequential Circuits Prophet-600 “Prophet Strings”:

Some say the Prophet 600 is crap at making pad sounds… I think the problem is not the synth.

The Prophet 600 does not sound like a Prophet 5, but the Prophet 5 cannot sound also like a Prophet 600.

This is a great vintage Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 demonstration by Francis Monkman.

via analoghell:

An extract from the BBC’s 1980’s “Micro Live” special on electronic music. Francis Monkman played in 70’s prog’ers Curved Air and 80’s neo-classical noodlers Sky.

Sequential Circuits Multi-iTrak Sequencer Demo

via menticideebay:

Here is a short demonstration of the Multi-Trak’s sequencer.

Dave at Attack Sustain has published a fun post looking at the secret “easter eggs” that are hidden on his Analogue Solutions synth modules.

If you look closely at the PCB above, you’ll see “my precious”. Leave your thoughts on what this means below.

I remember seeing some secret drawing on a Sequential Circuits Pro-One circuit board when I opened it up; you can see photos taken from another Pro-One here.

Do you know of any other secret “easter eggs” hidden on other synths? If so, or if you know the stories behind any of these synthesizer secrets, leave a comment or a link!

Dr. Who Demonstration-BBCTV ‘Corners’

In this great vintage BBC video, Keff McCulloch shows Sophie Aldred how he recorded “latest” version of the classic Doctor Who theme.

Watch closely, and you’ll see all sorts of classic synthesizers in use.

Sequential Circuits Prophet-600 Analog Synthesizer

Description:

A demo of the Sequential Circuits Prophet-600 Analog Synthesizer by retrosound.

Sequential Circuits Prophet-600 Analog Synthesizer

Description:

The Sequential Circuits Prophet 600 analog synthesizer is a 6-voice polyphonic synth that offers rich two-oscillator-per-voice analog sound and extensive modulation options. It was also the first synth that supported MIDI. 

Features:

• 6 voice polyphony, with two oscillators/voice
• Oscillators – VCO A saw / pulse / triangle; VCO B saw / pulse / triangle / PW
• LFO – pulse / triangle
• Curtis analog filter, with cutoff, res, env, kybd modulation
• VCA – ADSR
• 61 key keyboard
• Lots of knobs for immediate control
• 2-track, real-time sequencer
• Arpeggiator: up, down, up/down

Resources:

• Retrosound’s Prophet 600 page
• Archive Sound has parts for vintage analog synths
• Sequential Circuits Yahoo Group
• Sequential Circuits Prophet 600 Owner’s Manual
• Wine Country – offers parts for vintage Sequential gear

Sequential Circuits Pro-One Analog Synthesizer

Description:

Vintage synth demo by RetroSound of the Sequential Circuits Pro-One Analog Synthesizer (demo of various filter and envelope settings, Sync, FM, Polymodulation and more); triggered by the Roland TR-606 “Drumatix”drums: Roland TR-606. No external effects or EQ used.

The Pro-One, released in 1981, was one of the last of the classic analog monosynths. It features two VCOs, a 4-pole low-pass filter, two ADSR envelopes, a three octave keyboard, a sequencer and arpeggiator and tons of modulation options. 

Features: 

• 2 VCOs – VCO A saw/pulse, VCO B saw/tri/pulse, Noise (CEM-3340 chips)
• LFO saw, tri, pulse
• 4-pole lowpass with Cutoff, Resonance, ADSR Envelope, Keyboard Tracking (CEM-3320 Filter chip)
• Two ADSR envelope generators
• Arpeg/Seq – Arepg: UP, UP/DOWN patterns, Latch mode;
• 40 sequencer
• CV/GATE inputs

Description:

Synthesizers.com doing some VCF x-modulation and bass line. A Sequential Circuits Inc. Pro~One is used as bass drum. A Dynacord MDL-10 delay is echoing the .COM.