One of the most interesting stories of the synth world is that of Dave Smith and Sequential Circuits. I decided to try to tell some of it via their flagship series, from the Prophet 5 in 1978 to the Prophet X in 2018. With the help of a dozen other people who were incredibly generous and equally excited by their instruments, this film is the result: The History of the Prophet Synthesizer.
Massive and heart-felt thanks to all of these awesome Prophet people, this film would be very short without you!
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Prophet 5 (rev 3) and Minimoog Model D performed and recorded by Alex Ball at Curve Pusher Studios.
http://www.curvepusher.co.uk/
Prophet 10 performed and recorded by Mike TC at 100 Things I do at MESS, Melbourne.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmtcum1LsGJN55l9yLkvA8g
Prophet 10 rev 1 (only 2 of these have survived!) images provided by David Kean at Audities Studio
https://www.audities.org/
Additional Prophet 10 images provided by Mathew Watson at MESS, Melbourne.
https://mess.foundation/
Pro-One performed and recorded by Alex Ball.
Prophet 600 performed and recorded by JP Geersing
https://jpgeersing.nl/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnoZoLZDjPo
Prophet T8 performed by Alex Ball. Massive thanks to the owner!
Prophet 2000 performed and recorded by Pulsophonic
https://www.youtube.com/user/Pulsophonic
http://www.pulsophonic.com/
Prophet VS performed and recorded by Marko Ettlich at Retrosound
http://www.retrosound.de/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCerrGpJq4S03omaDFIHittg
Prophet 3000, VS and Studio 400 images provided by Synth Electro
http://synthelectro-fr.blogspot.com/
DSi Tetra provided by Dave Grant
Prophet 08 performed and recorded by Patrick Gill
http://www.patrickgillmusic.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/PatrickGillMusic
Prophet 12 performed and recorded by Pulsophonic
https://www.youtube.com/user/Pulsophonic
http://www.pulsophonic.com/
Prophet REV2 performed and recorded by Alex Ball
Prophet 6 performed and recorded by Mike TC (100 Things I Do)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmtcum1LsGJN55l9yLkvA8g
Prophet X performed by Alex Ball and recorded by Pendle Poucher. Huge thanks to the owner.
http://dulcitone1884.virb.com/sound-dust
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David Abernethy’s absolute bible on the subject: “The Prophet from Silicon Valley”:
https://www.amazon.com/Prophet-Silicon-Valley-Complete-Sequential/dp/1512198323
Prophet 10 / Terminator time signature article: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/02/the_time_signature_of_the_terminator_score_is_a_mystery_for_the_ages.html
External image credits:
All print ads from the incredible Retro Synth Ads archive: http://retrosynthads.blogspot.com/search/label/sequential%20circuits
Dave Smith 1977 image: https://www.matrixsynth.com/2012/07/dave-smith-instruments-job-openning.html
Model 600 image: https://www.matrixsynth.com/2014/09/sequential-circuits-first-product-model.html
Dave Smith late 70s: https://flashbak.com/hail-synthesizer-electronics-whiz-kids-gave-1980s-signature-sound-395152/dave-smith-synth/
Dave Smith Grammy image: https://www.sequential.com/about/
Model 700 programmer image: http://www.troperecordings.de/gear/sequential-circuits-model-700-programmer#.W7HrKmhKiUk
More model 700 images if you’re interested: https://www.matrixsynth.com/2015/12/vintage-1979-sequential-circuits-model.html
SSM schematic images: http://www.synthfool.com/docs/Other_Misc/SSM_Chips/
EMU history website: http://www.creative.com/emu/company/history/
NAMM 1983 image: http://www.gearjunkies.com/2012/12/dave-smith-and-ikutaro-kakehashi-will-receive-a-technical-grammy-for-midi/
Prophet 2000 “coke can” photo conceived by Paul Gilby and taken by Mark Ewing. It originally appeared in a 1985 edition of Sound on Sound.
https://soundonsound.com
Prophet 3000 screen shots: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/sequential-prophet-3000/2536
Korg M1 image: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/the-prophet-and-the-rising-sun/471
Sequential rebrand: https://www.sequential.com/2018/08/dsi-now-sequential/
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I’m also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlexBallMusic/
I’m also on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexballmusic/
Photos that accompany this film are here:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/AlexBallMusic/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2188909788101412
