Prophet X as a "drummachine"

[Razmo]

Hi users of the X

I have a rather simple question... is it possible to use the X's sequencer with a drum instrument in a way that would kind of eliminate the use for say; a Tempest?

I know that the Tempest is something completely different (I've had it twice), but I'm on the lookout for something to do both synthetic and sampled drums with at least a rudimentary sequencer built in, and I'm not ready to plunge into a Tempest for a third time with all it's bugs... I am planning to get a Prophet X anyway, and I'm wondering if it would be possible to have an instrument that is in essence "a kit"... that is; a lot of velocity sampled percussion, laid out on several keys... I know the user sample option is not out yet, but are there any onboard instruments that is in "kit form" ? (just to know if it will be possible to create this in the future with my own samples).

But the sequencer would also need to be capable of playing back a simple track of beats... do anyone know how that is possible? ... I'm thinking of polyphonic sequencing because I'd need to have more than one sample hit at the same time of course.

I just really hope that I could use the Prophet X as sort of a "sample drummachine" as well as all the other stuff, omitting the need for a real drummachine, because I rarely get along with drummachines because of their convoluted MIDI SysEx specifications...

[LoboLives]

[Lady Gaia]

In non-video form:

The Prophet X's sequencer is polyphonic with up to 6 notes triggered per step, so it can absolutely fill that role.  There are indeed several factory sample sets that are conventional and electronic drum kits, laid out with different samples on each key.  Better yet, individual keys can have multiple samples assigned so that when the same instrument is played over and over you can have some variety.  This is referred to as a "round robin" collection of samples, and it's in addition to being able to have different samples for different velocity levels.

The drawbacks to using the Prophet X as a drum machine as I see it:

Until we get user sample support there's no way to customize what sounds are arrayed across the keyboard in a given "kit."  The combination of sound is a pre-determined part of a sample group.  There are usually a few different snares and kicks in a single kit to offer some variety, but they've been pre-selected as likely to work together which may or may not meet your needs.  User sample support will make it possible to arrange any externally provided samples the way you want with external software, but it won't help rearrange the factory samples (unless you record them and re-import them, I guess.)

The synthesis parameters on the Prophet X are ideal for an instrument that stretches across the keyboard, not one that has unrelated sounds on different keys.  Want to pitch just the snare up?  Tough.  Want to apply a nice envelope-defined filter to the toms?  Great ... if you don't mind it being applied to every other drum in the kit as well.

The Prophet X will work as a source of drum sounds and can be a great complement for an existing drum source, but it wasn't really designed as a drum machine.  Keep that in mind and you can certainly get some great use out of it.  The Super Plate reverb is amazing with percussive sounds and there are plenty of wonderful drums in the factory sample sets.

[Razmo]

In non-video form:

The Prophet X's sequencer is polyphonic with up to 6 notes triggered per step, so it can absolutely fill that role.  There are indeed several factory sample sets that are conventional and electronic drum kits, laid out with different samples on each key.  Better yet, individual keys can have multiple samples assigned so that when the same instrument is played over and over you can have some variety.  This is referred to as a "round robin" collection of samples, and it's in addition to being able to have different samples for different velocity levels.

The drawbacks to using the Prophet X as a drum machine as I see it:

Until we get user sample support there's no way to customize what sounds are arrayed across the keyboard in a given "kit."  The combination of sound is a pre-determined part of a sample group.  There are usually a few different snares and kicks in a single kit to offer some variety, but they've been pre-selected as likely to work together which may or may not meet your needs.  User sample support will make it possible to arrange any externally provided samples the way you want with external software, but it won't help rearrange the factory samples (unless you record them and re-import them, I guess.)

The synthesis parameters on the Prophet X are ideal for an instrument that stretches across the keyboard, not one that has unrelated sounds on different keys.  Want to pitch just the snare up?  Tough.  Want to apply a nice envelope-defined filter to the toms?  Great ... if you don't mind it being applied to every other drum in the kit as well.

The Prophet X will work as a source of drum sounds and can be a great complement for an existing drum source, but it wasn't really designed as a drum machine.  Keep that in mind and you can certainly get some great use out of it.  The Super Plate reverb is amazing with percussive sounds and there are plenty of wonderful drums in the factory sample sets.

Thank you, that was all i really needed to read

It works as I had expected more or less... as long as user samples will be possible, everything is good to go for me then... that i cannot rearrange or make individual drumsound changes to an instrument is not a problem the way I'm to use it... I'll be making my own samples with microphones recording percussion sounds in different velocities... the Round Robbin is REALLY something I've been wanting on a lot of other sample players, so that's just even better.

I'm aware that anything you mangle to such a "kit" with the synthesis engine will be done on all samples... this is perfectly fine for creating performance oriented live tweaks to whole kits... it's fine with me... i never anticipated the X to be a drummachine in any way, just that it's capable of lining up drumsamples on different keys, and playing them into a sequencer... the reason for the sequencer is that I'm not using MIDI when I record anymore... I record live, and some instruments just need to be quantized and easily played sometimes... that goes for things like basses, arpeggios and also drums... thus I need a simple sequencer, and the one in the X is more than adequate...

Seems like i can then peacefully forget the Tempest once again... *phew!*

[LoboLives]

I still think it would have been nice if we could have each oscillator or instrument have its own sequence. I know it can’t be done now but still I think that’s really the only thing I’d change on the PX other than replacing the digital oscillators with more instruments. That way you could have 4 different sequences going if you wanted to...just would have to be careful with voice stealing.