Info on Polychaining two Prophet 6's

[jakins]

I am thinking of getting a desktop Prophet 6 module to expand my keyboard Prophet 6. How do you connect them so that polychain works? What other advantages do you get besides 12 voices when playing the keyboard? If I change a parameter on the keyboard, does it change on the module? Any information on the benefits of this would be appreciated.

Joseph Akins

[DavidDever]

I am thinking of getting a desktop Prophet 6 module to expand my keyboard Prophet 6. How do you connect them so that polychain works? What other advantages do you get besides 12 voices when playing the keyboard? If I change a parameter on the keyboard, does it change on the module? Any information on the benefits of this would be appreciated.

Joseph Akins

https://www.davesmithinstruments.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Prophet-6-OS-1.3.1-Addendum.pdf?x72411

To poly chain two Prophet-6 synths:

• With a MIDI cable, connect the rear-panel midi out of the first Prophet-6 (the master) to the midi in of the second Prophet-6 (the slave).
• On the master Prophet-6, press the globals button then press program selector button 9 (midi out).
• Use the bank/decrement and tens/increment to select ply (poly).
• Press the globals button twice to exit globals mode.

The two synths are now poly chained. You can now play up to twelve notes simultaneously.

As for the parameters, you could do this in a variety of ways (NRPNs being the best possible option IMHO).

[jakins]

Thanks DavidDever. That gets me closer to understanding this application. I assume that you will want to have the same patch loaded on both instruments so that the "extra" notes will be the same sound. And if you modify the sound with a knob turn, you want it to change on both devices (you mentioned that this could be done a number of ways). And if you want to save the changes, you'll need to do it on both devices. Am I thinking of this correctly?

Joseph Akins

[Pidcin]

Is it possible to poly chain other devices ? Such as a tempest ?

[DavidDever]

Thanks DavidDever. That gets me closer to understanding this application. I assume that you will want to have the same patch loaded on both instruments so that the "extra" notes will be the same sound. And if you modify the sound with a knob turn, you want it to change on both devices (you mentioned that this could be done a number of ways). And if you want to save the changes, you'll need to do it on both devices. Am I thinking of this correctly?

If the slave unit is set up to receive NRPNs transmitted over MIDI from the master, the only thing you'll need to do is to save the modified patch at the slave (in addition to saving it in the same location on the master).

[LoboLives]

I got to polychain my Prophet-6 with a module in a store here and honestly the best way to utilize both for me was to layer them. This way you can have two sequences going at once, have a sequence going on one while you are doing a lead on the keyboard. I also love turning down the program volume on one and slowly turning it up to bring it underneath a layer.

Honestly it was so good I was contemplating actually building a dual keyboard synth with two P6 modules but it be an expensive endeavor and I'm not sure DSI would help me with parts for it.

[jakins]

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

[Pidcin]

In chaining them..

are we able to use 4 independent oscillators with independent timbres ? Or does it simply mirror the oscillators of the master ?

 Do you have the ability to route the LFO from the master keyboard independently of the slave ? Like having 2 LFOs doing independent LFO modulations with the capability of sending the destination to the mod wheel . IE can prophet 6 (A) have PWM with a square wave LFO with a independent rate of 1/8D routed to the mod wheel going , while prophet 6 (B) has all a typical triangle LFO with 16th rate set to the master sync doing frequency for vibrato , also routed to the respective mod wheel for prophet 6 (B)

Are envelopes doubled up? Could you do a HP filter with a positive EG and the DECAY set to max so it sweeps through while having the LP filter on the other chained prophet do the same thing so you get a band pass effect ?

OR is it just another $4000 CDN purchased to have a glorified 12 voice sequential prophet ?

ALSO , is it chainavle to other devices like the OB6 , or the Tempest ( having 4 oscialltors for like 6 fat saw waves ? )

Thanks

Nick

[LoboLives]

In chaining them..

are we able to use 4 independent oscillators with independent timbres ? Or does it simply mirror the oscillators of the master ?

 Do you have the ability to route the LFO from the master keyboard independently of the slave ? Like having 2 LFOs doing independent LFO modulations with the capability of sending the destination to the mod wheel . IE can prophet 6 (A) have PWM with a square wave LFO with a independent rate of 1/8D routed to the mod wheel going , while prophet 6 (B) has all a typical triangle LFO with 16th rate set to the master sync doing frequency for vibrato , also routed to the respective mod wheel for prophet 6 (B)

Are envelopes doubled up? Could you do a HP filter with a positive EG and the DECAY set to max so it sweeps through while having the LP filter on the other chained prophet do the same thing so you get a band pass effect ?

OR is it just another $4000 CDN purchased to have a glorified 12 voice sequential prophet ?

ALSO , is it chainavle to other devices like the OB6 , or the Tempest ( having 4 oscialltors for like 6 fat saw waves ? )

Thanks

Nick

As long as they are set to the same midi channel and layered they can be totally independent in terms of patch/pitch/LFO and everything. The pitch and mod wheel/keyboard/transpose buttons would be the only things activating the slave module.

It is chainable to the OB6 but it's much better to layer them as opposed to polychaining. Polychaining basically would be like the first 6 notes pressed would be the Prophet 6 and any remaining notes pressed would be the OB6.

[jakins]

I spoke with tech support for a minute yesterday about having a P6 Module connected to a P6 Keyboard with a MIDI cable (out to in). I understand that if you set the MIDI Out in Globals on the keyboard to PolyChain, the module will give you 12 voices when playing the keyboard (you likely want the same patch). If you change MIDI Out to MIDI, the module now simply layers like any slave module. I asked about MIDI connection to my DAW, and they recommend using USB in this scenario. The MIDI Out also has a selection for Both. You would use this to send MIDI data to the USB and MIDI Out ports. I think I have this correct. I haven't actually done it. Anyhow, there seems to be flexibility.

I think we just look at it like any slave module with the additional ability to choose Polychain on the keyboard and up the voice count so that you sound more than 6 notes simulataneously. If you are using a DAW, connect them with USB cables.

Joseph

[synthwave4ever]

I'm trying it right now, with P6 as leader and OB 6 as follower, and it does actually work. Most of the P6 controls control the appropriate corresponding parameter on the OB 6, but sometimes you'll need to reach over to the OB 6 to make further adjustments since even the same parameter, like cutoff, doesn't work exactly the same on both. Totally doable though! Set both synths to the initial patch and start experimenting. Often times I need to reach over and balance something out on the OB 6 to get them as closely matched as possible, and when you start applying filter the differences become extreme, of course, but keeping the filter open and being conservative with modulations, you can get some massive pads and 12-note chords going. And 12-voice unison with pan spread is a thing to behold!

[thirteen_engines]

In case you’re interested, Tim Shoebridge did a ‘Tube video on just this topic.

Keith