Prophet Rev 2 tutorial

[kobuz]

Thanks for this explanation and little piece of history Paul . I always saw a sequencer in the way of the 'self-playing piano' since it is indeed often like that on modern synths or sequencer like the beatstep pro. With their own play button to play the sequence. Therefore for me it also took some time to understand the gated sequencer, which is very powerful and fun to play with.

I think one piece of extra info is needed to fully understand the gated sequencer is this: it has no start button but plays when you hold a note down on the keyboard. This also means that if you just wan't to play a patch normally (if I understand it correctly) you always need to have the sequencer in poly mode, so it is 'off'. unless you press the pay button of course

So Morgenspaziergang, maybe this can be a little basic example to understand the gated sequencer better:
I'm not at home right now so can't really give specifics, but hey the manual is pretty clear on it
- Set sequencer on Gated
- For track one, set destination on filter cutoff
- For track one, set all 16 steps to different values. Make sure you use the whole range that you can choose from.
- Set the filter cutoff knob in the filter section to completely closed (so turned to the left). This will give you the highest effect in the sequencer, since the values you programmed there will be added to the filter cutoff.
- Press and hold a note, you will hear the sound and on each step of the sequencer you will hear the filter changing.

Hope that will clear things up a little.

[Morgenspaziergang]

MR. Paul,

Your explanation was very well received. Thank you for taking time to. Write this out. Much much much appreciated.

I'm no stranger to music production (i know what a sequencer is as I an akai MPC user from the 80s) but am new to analog synths and never heard of a gated sequencer. (I use to have a beat step pro that was sequencing an akai s950, but that swept up was too limited in that the BSP could only use one midi channel at a time).

Kobuz, thanks for your explanation as well. I will do your experiment.

I guess I cant wrap my head around the fact that you dont "start" the gated sequence, you just "play" it, and this is what's confusing.

I just need to get on it and try. It would just be helpful if I could see it in action on a more "real" programmed setup....

At any rate, thank you for the education.

[Murphy]

Thank you (all) for the questions and answers about poly versus gated sequencers. It was practical, useful and informative. I tend to dive in and just work with what I know, but I'm glad this forum exists and also glad the more knowledgeable users have some time to help explain concepts and practical tips to people like me. 

[Paratriplel]

I really have a much better understanding about the sequencer after reading your explanation. Thanks!
And thanks for asking about it so I didn't have to feel alone in not understanding the gated sequencer. :-)

Will look through the video Paul made and hope I'll learn a couple of things!

Just had time to sit and dig into synth programming today and wow what a wonderful feeling when I turned the envelope amount negative and really begin feeling that pieces started falling into place :-). 

[Gerry Havinga]

Finally been able to spent some "quality time" with the Rev2. Sooooo nice, what a wonderful instrument, thanks Dave and DSI team.

Yesterday I introduced my stepson to Rev2 based sound design and his main comment was: "It is so much easier than I thought". He does have quite a bit of experience with plugins, but he realised getting his hands on the controls of the Rev2 is very different.

I have created a basic Rev2 based patch sheet, just a form to fill in most of the parameters. I use this to help me understand a new instrument and discover some of the intricacies of the instrument. If anyone is interested I can post a link here to the PDF.

[gernotreininger]

Hi Gerry. It would be great to get the PDF. I am new to Synthesis and if it helps to understand them I really would appreciate.
BTW it's great to turn knobs instead of pointing with the mouse on the screen.

[Gerry Havinga]

Hi Gerry. It would be great to get the PDF. I am new to Synthesis and if it helps to understand them I really would appreciate.
BTW it's great to turn knobs instead of pointing with the mouse on the screen.

I am in the process of setting up a site to (kind of) promote the music I write, but there isn't much to see (or hear) yet. I did create a tutorials section holding page where you can find the PDFs (there is also a worked out sheet and a version for the Blofeld), see: https://gezz.eu/tutorials/

Constructive feedback is much appreciated of course.

For the mods: please let me know if posting links is an issue, I don't intend to offend or violate any rules.

[gernotreininger]

Thank you Gerry!

[Murphy]

Incredibly useful template Gerry! Thank you for sharing this.

[Gerry Havinga]

I've update the Rev2 parameter/patch sheet template. All parameters for one layer are on the same page now, fixed a few inconsistencies and I added a step sequencer section, now I start to understand how to use it (great fun). Thanks to philroyjenkins for giving me feedback  . New template is here (same place):  https://gezz.eu/tutorials/DSI_Prophet_Rev2_Parameters_Template.pdf

[Jeroen van Bergen]

Another Rev2 newbie here. After being without a synth for some years, the itch was too strong and I got myself a Rev2. My reasons for choosing this synth over some of the other very good synths out there, not in any particular order:

- polyphonic, I want to be able to really play the instrument
- lots of ways to fiddle around with the sounds it produces
- the way it sounds. It has a lot of 'presence' and can sound aggresive, something I happen to like.
- memories of fiddling around with a Prophet 600 in a music store at a time when I could not afford such a thing

My feeling so far: amazed at the possibilities, the way small adjustments can make big differences, the overall sound quality and the great feeling of the keybed. Of course some minor things that I do not like or could be better: when switching between patches it sometime just plays, probably because the VCA envelope is still releasing. The display could have been bigger.

Right now I am still in my discovery phase, which I expect will take a lot of time, given the amount of possibilities the Rev2 offers. I will probably ask some questions here along the way. A basic tutorial for the Rev2 would be great, it's one of the things I have been looking for but did not find so far.

[jg666]

Another Rev2 newbie here. After being without a synth for some years, the itch was too strong and I got myself a Rev2. My reasons for choosing this synth over some of the other very good synths out there, not in any particular order:

- polyphonic, I want to be able to really play the instrument
- lots of ways to fiddle around with the sounds it produces
- the way it sounds. It has a lot of 'presence' and can sound aggresive, something I happen to like.
- memories of fiddling around with a Prophet 600 in a music store at a time when I could not afford such a thing

My feeling so far: amazed at the possibilities, the way small adjustments can make big differences, the overall sound quality and the great feeling of the keybed. Of course some minor things that I do not like or could be better: when switching between patches it sometime just plays, probably because the VCA envelope is still releasing. The display could have been bigger.

Right now I am still in my discovery phase, which I expect will take a lot of time, given the amount of possibilities the Rev2 offers. I will probably ask some questions here along the way. A basic tutorial for the Rev2 would be great, it's one of the things I have been looking for but did not find so far.

Have you checked out the overview that ‘Paul Dither’ has done on YouTube?

[Gerry Havinga]

Another Rev2 newbie here. After being without a synth for some years, the itch was too strong and I got myself a Rev2. My reasons for choosing this synth over some of the other very good synths out there, not in any particular order:

- polyphonic, I want to be able to really play the instrument
- lots of ways to fiddle around with the sounds it produces
- the way it sounds. It has a lot of 'presence' and can sound aggresive, something I happen to like.
- memories of fiddling around with a Prophet 600 in a music store at a time when I could not afford such a thing

My feeling so far: amazed at the possibilities, the way small adjustments can make big differences, the overall sound quality and the great feeling of the keybed. Of course some minor things that I do not like or could be better: when switching between patches it sometime just plays, probably because the VCA envelope is still releasing. The display could have been bigger.

Right now I am still in my discovery phase, which I expect will take a lot of time, given the amount of possibilities the Rev2 offers. I will probably ask some questions here along the way. A basic tutorial for the Rev2 would be great, it's one of the things I have been looking for but did not find so far.

Welcome Jeroen (welkom). Making a text based tutorial is on my list of things to do. I do have some tips and tricks already in a Tiddlywiki page for my own use. Which I could mail you if you want to see it.

In due course I want to publish the Tiddlywiki page on my site. For the time being all I have there are the parameter sheets (see my previous posts).

[jg666]

Another Rev2 newbie here. After being without a synth for some years, the itch was too strong and I got myself a Rev2. My reasons for choosing this synth over some of the other very good synths out there, not in any particular order:

- polyphonic, I want to be able to really play the instrument
- lots of ways to fiddle around with the sounds it produces
- the way it sounds. It has a lot of 'presence' and can sound aggresive, something I happen to like.
- memories of fiddling around with a Prophet 600 in a music store at a time when I could not afford such a thing

My feeling so far: amazed at the possibilities, the way small adjustments can make big differences, the overall sound quality and the great feeling of the keybed. Of course some minor things that I do not like or could be better: when switching between patches it sometime just plays, probably because the VCA envelope is still releasing. The display could have been bigger.

Right now I am still in my discovery phase, which I expect will take a lot of time, given the amount of possibilities the Rev2 offers. I will probably ask some questions here along the way. A basic tutorial for the Rev2 would be great, it's one of the things I have been looking for but did not find so far.

Welcome Jeroen (welkom). Making a text based tutorial is on my list of things to do. I do have some tips and tricks already in a Tiddlywiki page for my own use. Which I could mail you if you want to see it.

In due course I want to publish the Tiddlywiki page on my site. For the time being all I have there are the parameter sheets (see my previous posts).

I’d look forward to seeing your tutorial should you get the time to do it

[Jeroen van Bergen]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've watched the Rev2 overview by Paul. Very thorough, picked some things up that I did not immediately understand when I read the manual. Thanks Paul for the effort of creating the overview and thanks to jg666 for pointing me in the right direction.

Right now I am at a stage where I have some vague idea of the kind of sound I would like to create and then fiddle around to approach my idea. Sometimes I just take a preset and start editing it to get something that is more useful to me. For instance I took the VeloStrings (F2P1) preset and edited it to a version that would not react as strongly to velocity. Took me a while (after checking all of the modulation slots, fiddling around with the velocity parameters of the filter and VCA and still not getting what I wanted) to realise the Rev2 has two layers and I was editing just one of them...

I am wondering how other people on this forum go about creating what they want. Start with a basic program? First find a suitable preset as a starting point?

[Gerry Havinga]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've watched the Rev2 overview by Paul. Very thorough, picked some things up that I did not immediately understand when I read the manual. Thanks Paul for the effort of creating the overview and thanks to jg666 for pointing me in the right direction.

Right now I am at a stage where I have some vague idea of the kind of sound I would like to create and then fiddle around to approach my idea. Sometimes I just take a preset and start editing it to get something that is more useful to me. For instance I took the VeloStrings (F2P1) preset and edited it to a version that would not react as strongly to velocity. Took me a while (after checking all of the modulation slots, fiddling around with the velocity parameters of the filter and VCA and still not getting what I wanted) to realise the Rev2 has two layers and I was editing just one of them...

I am wondering how other people on this forum go about creating what they want. Start with a basic program? First find a suitable preset as a starting point?

Hi Jeroen, did you check this thread: https://forum.davesmithinstruments.com/index.php/topic,2455.0.html (it's pinned to the top of the Rev2 forum)?

I suggest you download the PDF, it is indexed by patch name, so you can quickly find all the parameter values for any factory patch. It is also a great learning tool.

Do you have any suggestions regarding what you'd like to see in the tutorial?

[guyaguy]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've watched the Rev2 overview by Paul. Very thorough, picked some things up that I did not immediately understand when I read the manual. Thanks Paul for the effort of creating the overview and thanks to jg666 for pointing me in the right direction.

Right now I am at a stage where I have some vague idea of the kind of sound I would like to create and then fiddle around to approach my idea. Sometimes I just take a preset and start editing it to get something that is more useful to me. For instance I took the VeloStrings (F2P1) preset and edited it to a version that would not react as strongly to velocity. Took me a while (after checking all of the modulation slots, fiddling around with the velocity parameters of the filter and VCA and still not getting what I wanted) to realise the Rev2 has two layers and I was editing just one of them...

I am wondering how other people on this forum go about creating what they want. Start with a basic program? First find a suitable preset as a starting point?

I start with an Init patch, but I've been using DSI synths for a while and they have similar routing and features. The book above might help or you could also use one of the software editors which will show you the saved preset parameters for the presets as well as your patches. A VST editor is also handy for automation like automated filter sweeps, volume swells, etc.

[Jeroen van Bergen]

Hi Jeroen, did you check this thread: https://forum.davesmithinstruments.com/index.php/topic,2455.0.html (it's pinned to the top of the Rev2 forum)?

I suggest you download the PDF, it is indexed by patch name, so you can quickly find all the parameter values for any factory patch. It is also a great learning tool.

Do you have any suggestions regarding what you'd like to see in the tutorial?

Hi Gerry, downloading the book while I am typing this. The Rev2 overview of Paul was quite detailed and touched upon everything that can be tweaked and changed. The next step for me is how to put all of that to work. I think his can be approached in at least two different ways.

1 If you want to get X do Y. Some of this could be very general subtractive synthesis stuff, but described specifically for the Rev2 (or maybe the '08, given the similarities).
2 You can use feature X to get Y (or Z given different settings for X)

The problem with this kind of approach is the set of permutations, it is just too big to describe every possible patch in detail. By focusing on the main components of a sound and how to achieve that on the Rev2 the reader will at least be pointed in the right direction.

It also helps to really know your audience: a real beginner, a seasoned sound designer, someone looking for a specific how-to?

Thanks for all the kind advice so far!

[USFreedom2021]

I just received my REV 2 16 Voice synth about 3 weeks ago and I am blown away by this thing.  So much to learn, including how to play piano.  That's right! I bought it without having a clue how to play it...and couldn't be happier. I just want my form and style to emerge on its own without any influence. In other words, I will not be copying songs.

I've already created and saved 4 new sounds and loops. I've learned something about people who play synthesizers. They must be intelligent because it is a complicated process learning all there is to know about the REV 2.  I learned a lot on this page. TY!