Prophet Rev 2 tutorial

Gerry Havinga

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  • Really enjoying creating sounds and composing.
    • For the love of electronic music
Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #20 on: July 20, 2017, 05:03:49 AM »
Unfortunately still no definite date for the arrival of my Rev 2 here in the Netherlands. I did get a message from the shop today that DSI has apologized for the delays. Apparently there were some unforeseen circumstances (encoder troubles perhaps ….). The timing is pretty bad now, as I am travelling abroad a few times in the next 4 weeks. So I won't have time to get familiar and start writing some recipes before last week of August. But the August and September months will be even sweeter now ….
DAW-less and going down the Eurorack rabbit hole.

MDMA

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #21 on: July 20, 2017, 01:47:52 PM »
You are one patient fella!!
DSI Rev2, Moog sub 37, Roland JDXA, DSI Pro 2, Novation Ultranova, Access Virus TI, Roland Juno 106, Roland Alpha Juno 2, Korg KingKorg

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #22 on: July 21, 2017, 01:47:14 AM »

goedemorgen kameraad!


i had a pre order for close to 3 months here in the US through sweetwater. i just took ownership of mine today (16 Voice).

i too think it may have been due to the encoders, but that's pure speculation.

the build quality is amazing. just as the build quality on the ob6. solid.. knobby.... :D

worth the wait vriend!

Gerry Havinga

  • ***
  • 401
  • Really enjoying creating sounds and composing.
    • For the love of electronic music
Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #23 on: July 21, 2017, 03:45:52 AM »

goedemorgen kameraad!


i had a pre order for close to 3 months here in the US through sweetwater. i just took ownership of mine today (16 Voice).

i too think it may have been due to the encoders, but that's pure speculation.

the build quality is amazing. just as the build quality on the ob6. solid.. knobby.... :D

worth the wait vriend!

Goede morgen!

In this case I do have a lot of patience happily .... doesn't apply to everything in my live  :).

While waiting I explored the SL License I purchased last weekend for the Blofeld. I am trying to make the Blofeld sound like a Mellotron,  8) :)

I do believe now when I am back from Munich next week Wednesday evening, I can pick up the Rev 2 on Thursday in Eindhoven. I will keep you posted and as soon as I have it unpacked and connected I will start making notes. This is the first time in my (long) live I have bought a brand new professional stage synth. I am planning to approach learning the ins and outs also professionally. That means making notes, writing recipes and so on as if writing the documentation for a Perl script (in joke here).
DAW-less and going down the Eurorack rabbit hole.

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #24 on: July 21, 2017, 04:10:15 AM »
I think you need to rename this thread as it has little to do with tutorials, maybe 'one mans journey to owing a REV2', LOL
Synth Arsenal - Access Virus TI Polar, Moog Sub37, Nord A1, Nord Wave, DSI Prophet REV2, Roland TR8, Ableton Push 2

Gerry Havinga

  • ***
  • 401
  • Really enjoying creating sounds and composing.
    • For the love of electronic music
Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #25 on: July 21, 2017, 05:14:01 AM »
I think you need to rename this thread as it has little to do with tutorials, maybe 'one mans journey to owing a REV2', LOL

Yes you are so right, sorry about that. I will shut up now in this thread till I have something relevant to share.  :)
DAW-less and going down the Eurorack rabbit hole.

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #26 on: July 22, 2017, 01:31:23 AM »
I think you need to rename this thread as it has little to do with tutorials, maybe 'one mans journey to owing a REV2', LOL

Yes you are so right, sorry about that. I will shut up now in this thread till I have something relevant to share.  :)
[/

No need to apollegize! I feel that this thread is actually more on topic than it was for the first few replies (that was more about generall synth programming rather than stuff that was concerning prophet rev 2 programming) and were several people waiting to see what you've got up your sleeve for the tutorial, and I appreciate the update about the Rev 2 being a bit late and is now due for late summer. At least I know the tutorial is coming!
And as I said if frustration is getting too big you're welcome to Stockholm Sweden for a sound design session :-).
Hope you'll get yours a bit earlier than expected so you'll have a chance to play around with it a couple of days before going abroad.

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #27 on: July 22, 2017, 06:09:00 PM »
this is a cool journey/blog into getting the rev2.

i also appreciaet this site, over say, gear slutz, as many people over there get lost in the details about circuit boards, this and that.. and not much talk about making music.

here, its just a handful of people and the posts are kept on point and i actually learn here about these instruments, and i appreciate posts like this.

i need to read the manual on the rev2 to learn about the menu diving aspect. its been super fun to twist knobs in real time whilst making random sounds, and having a knob for each parameter really puts into perspective what thigns mean.

i have a launch day ob6 and it still is menacing to me but i love the sounds from it.

dont get me started on the Jupiter 80!!!

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #28 on: July 26, 2017, 07:52:30 AM »
Not precisely a tutorial, but an overview I did with a prototype:

https://youtu.be/kqcE1OjWtZE

kobuz

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #29 on: July 26, 2017, 12:13:59 PM »
I just copied the link in order to post it in this thread :).

Thanks a lot Paul, its a very Nice to the point overview with great sound design tips in between!

Sacred Synthesis

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #30 on: July 26, 2017, 12:59:18 PM »
Not precisely a tutorial, but an overview I did with a prototype:

https://youtu.be/kqcE1OjWtZE

This is an excellent overview, Paul.  Very well organized and methodical.

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #31 on: July 26, 2017, 04:23:00 PM »
Thanks for your encouraging comments! It was an overnight job, so I was a bit hesitant about whether I should upload it at all. Also: Please apologize for the length.

I hope it'll provide some useful insights for fresh owners or musicians who consider getting one.

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #32 on: July 26, 2017, 05:01:11 PM »
PD,

where are you in the world? whats your accent?

im just 10 minutes in and i am hooked!

Gerry Havinga

  • ***
  • 401
  • Really enjoying creating sounds and composing.
    • For the love of electronic music
Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #33 on: July 27, 2017, 11:20:49 PM »
Not precisely a tutorial, but an overview I did with a prototype:

https://youtu.be/kqcE1OjWtZE

Thanks Paul, very clear and concise overview, I really appreciate your efforts.
DAW-less and going down the Eurorack rabbit hole.

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #34 on: July 30, 2017, 05:01:01 AM »
PD,

where are you in the world? whats your accent?

im just 10 minutes in and i am hooked!

Sorry for the late reply, Morgenspaziergang. I was traveling over the past few days. Right now, I'm located in Germany, where I grew up in what used to be the British sector. I also spent 7 years in Nashville, TN, until last year.

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #35 on: July 30, 2017, 05:01:37 AM »
Not precisely a tutorial, but an overview I did with a prototype:

https://youtu.be/kqcE1OjWtZE

Thanks Paul, very clear and concise overview, I really appreciate your efforts.

Thanks a lot, Gerry! Much appreciated.

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #36 on: July 31, 2017, 06:51:14 AM »
What i would like to see is someone doing JUST a video on the use of the gated sequencer. I'm reading up on it and i cant wrap it around my brain a sort how to use it.


Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #37 on: July 31, 2017, 07:50:06 AM »
What i would like to see is someone doing JUST a video on the use of the gated sequencer. I'm reading up on it and i cant wrap it around my brain a sort how to use it.

You use it as a modulation source. Each of the four sequencer tracks is like one modulation slot with up to 16 steps. And each sequencer track controls an assigned parameter value per step. Tracks 2 and 4 also allow for controlling the slew amount for tracks 1 and 3, which means that you can use it for making the transitions between the single step values of tracks 1 and 3 smoother. So, for example, if you would assign sequencer track 1 to control the oscillators' frequency, and then assign sequencer track 2 to control the slew amounts for track 1, you could achieve glissandi because the higher the slew amount settings of track 3 would be, the less abrupt the value changes of track 1 would be from step to step.

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #38 on: August 01, 2017, 06:27:47 AM »
Mr. Paul,

Thank you for taking time to respond. I was not raised in proper music theory ( i play by ear) so I don't understand a lot of things WRT piano playing.

I understand *on paper* what this gated sequencer is designed to do, i just dont understand how that translates into playing.

I dont guess this is a unique feature to DSI, so is there a video of a synth that has this feature on it that i could look for?

No worries if this question is too simple for the folks here, but doesn't hurt to ask it.

Re: Prophet Rev 2 tutorial
« Reply #39 on: August 01, 2017, 10:02:22 AM »
No worries, there's no too simple question.

The way the gated sequencer works or is modelled after is the way all classic sequencers work in modular systems for example. Not because that's usually the only place you'll find them, but that's where they originated when everything was still controlled by voltages only - in the early Moog modular systems or Buchla systems for example.

The way to think about this type of sequencer is that it's really a type of modulation source that allows for the modification of selected parameters over time or based on a pattern as there are steps involved which can of course be used rhythmically. If you have a 16 step sequencer, it will allow you to control the value of a selected parameter (be it the filter cutoff frequency, the filter resonance, the frequency of an oscillator, and so on) per step. So, for example, you could have the filter fully opened on step one, fully closed on step two, half open on step three, and so on. On the REV2, you can do this type of modulation on four tracks that all run simultaneously, but don't have to have the same length. Sequencer track one could run at the full 16 steps for example, while track 2 runs at 9 steps, track 3 at 5, and track 4 at 12, depending on where you set the reset. The purpose of the flexible step length is too make what the sequencer modulates sound less static and repetitive. In the above mentioned example, the first time the first step of track 1 would be repeated would not equal the first step of the other three tracks anymore. Instead, the individual sequencer track lengths would constantly shift towards each other, which can help making the sequence sound more arbitrary or organic, however you'd like to put it.

With the advent of MIDI and in times of DAWs, sequencers are sometimes confused with what the poly sequencer of the REV2 does. The latter is not a modulation source at all, it only lets you record notes for the playback of a melody or a couple of chords you'd like to play along to. Technically it equals recording notes with your computer via MIDI. What is recorded per step is note on and off data, velocity data, and aftertouch data, but no parameter values for modulation destinations.

And that's the main difference: On the REV2, the poly sequencer is for notes and the MIDI data typically connected to the recording of notes (like the above mentioned velocity values). The gated sequencer lets you instead control everything that's integral to synthesis like timbral changes for example. The only thing both sequencer modes have seemingly in common is that they can both affect the pitch of notes, and I guess that's what's confusing. But both do it in an entirely different way: With the poly sequencer you enter an absolute note value like C2 or E4 for example via the keyboard. With the gated sequencer you assign a track to the frequency of one or two oscillators (a modulation destination) independently from the keyboard and as a relative value, which is why no transpose feature is needed for the gated sequencer mode.

In historical terms, I guess you could also say that the poly sequencer is modelled after a self-playing piano or a so-called player piano, while the gated sequencer is a true sequencer in terms of a synthesizer, as it operates based on relative parameter values (originally: voltage amounts) that control individual parameters per step, amongst which the frequency controls for the oscillators happen to occur as well.