Old articles of interest

[LPF83]

I thought it might have a fun thread to post Prophet nostalgia.  Interesting to note the Rev 4 captures the modulation options that Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears seemed to miss from the original P5 (and a better keyboard).  Interesting that he notes the thinness of the Jupiter-8, and doesn't seem to regard it as highly as he does Prophet.

http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/tracks-of-our-tears/8538

"On 'The Hurting' we used just one JP8 and one Prophet for keyboards, that was it. We couldn't afford anything else at the time. I've only just learnt how to use them! I know it sounds stupid, but I think they're both incredible instruments.

"The Prophet T8's even better than the Five, I think it's my favourite analogue synth. I like the piano-weighted keyboard — in fact everything I found wrong with the Prophet-5, like the fact that you had to use the modulation wheel for any modulation, seems to be put right on the T8. You've got in-built modulation, touch sensitivity, and I really like the Poly Mod.

"I've also got some good sounds out of the JP8 recently, some amazing vocal sounds — sort of African 'wee-ahh' singing, and the sound of a baby crying. It's not as powerful an instrument as a Prophet, though, hasn't got much bottom end at all, and it's very much a thin sound. One thing that does piss me off about it is that when you put it into unison, the more you play the more voices you lose. Stupid. They should have made the unison a solo mode."

[HockeBocke]

The key word (pun intended) here is nostalgia , so if you want some, take a look at
this old tribute site I found many years ago .... Do not know if it is active or not, but
pictures and text is still there   

http://users.telenet.be/prophet-5/main.htm

Cheers !

[Paul Dither]

Love the mu:zines site, it's a great resource.

Some vintage Prophet-5 reviews:

Rev 1, 1978: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/sequential-circuits-prophet-5/8656

Rev 3, 1982: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/prophet-five/4609

A throwback from 1988: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/return-of-the-prophet/378

[Manbird]

Love the mu:zines site, it's a great resource.

Some vintage Prophet-5 reviews:

Rev 1, 1978: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/sequential-circuits-prophet-5/8656

Rev 3, 1982: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/prophet-five/4609

A throwback from 1988: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/return-of-the-prophet/378

And if I can geek out in a "me me me!" way for a moment, it's lovely to see One Two Testing mag again. That was the first "real" publication to ever review my music, back when I was a basement-dwelling synth-fiend teen.

[Sacred Synthesis]

Hey Ant, I'm surprised you weren't one of the first to go in for the Prophet 5/10 Rev 4.  I know your vintage taste.

[LPF83]

Love the mu:zines site, it's a great resource.

Some vintage Prophet-5 reviews:

Rev 1, 1978: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/sequential-circuits-prophet-5/8656

Rev 3, 1982: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/prophet-five/4609

A throwback from 1988: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/return-of-the-prophet/378

Funny to see the comments about P5 depreciation in 1988.  What goes down must come up I guess

[A Thousand Eyes]

I remember reading somewhere that they used Peter Gabriel's P5 (rev 3 I think?) that he lent them for The Hurting. Supposedly he lived around them, but Roland was jobless living with his wife and I'd assume Peter was living in a nicer neighborhood at the time and wouldn't have heard of them (being it was TfF debut album). Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Anyhow, his assessment is pretty much general consensus. Roland synths, especially the JP8 are more associated with crystalline (or sparkly) sounds. Other than owning an über expensive Fairlight &/or Synclavier, at the time it would have covered the bases you would want covered having both a JP8 and P5. The DX7 was released the same year as The Hurting.

[Manbird]

Hey Ant, I'm surprised you weren't one of the first to go in for the Prophet 5/10 Rev 4.  I know your vintage taste.

Well, I'm waiting (and waiting) for the P5 I ordered in early December! I sold my Prophet 6 to help cover the cost, and have my gf's P5 to tide me over, so... I'm hanging in alright.

[LPF83]

I remember reading somewhere that they used Peter Gabriel's P5 (rev 3 I think?) that he lent them for The Hurting. Supposedly he lived around them, but Roland was jobless living with his wife and I'd assume Peter was living in a nicer neighborhood at the time and wouldn't have heard of them (being it was TfF debut album). Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Anyhow, his assessment is pretty much general consensus. Roland synths, especially the JP8 are more associated with crystalline (or sparkly) sounds. Other than owning an über expensive Fairlight &/or Synclavier, at the time it would have covered the bases you would want covered having both a JP8 and P5. The DX7 was released the same year as The Hurting.

Agreed, its consistent with consensus.  I'm not sure how my perception of the JP8 as a warm synth came about.  It could be because it played a primary role on albums like Roxy Music's Avalon, which seem to exude warmth, but that isn't necessary a reflection of the character of a synths tone -- warmth can be achieved many other ways.

[Analog Prophet]

Love the mu:zines site, it's a great resource.

Some vintage Prophet-5 reviews:

Rev 1, 1978: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/sequential-circuits-prophet-5/8656

”One last problem is that the instrument came without any legs.” 

I love the mu:zine site as well.

[Qwave]

Love the mu:zines site, it's a great resource.

Some vintage Prophet-5 reviews:

Rev 1, 1978: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/sequential-circuits-prophet-5/8656

”One last problem is that the instrument came without any legs.” 

I love the mu:zine site as well.

I remember those times when there was no keyboard support available. And then came Ultimate Support with the first A-frame support. And you could see them everywhere. I still got my early eighties Ultimate Support tripple A-frame support here.

[Manbird]

Love the mu:zines site, it's a great resource.

Some vintage Prophet-5 reviews:

Rev 1, 1978: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/sequential-circuits-prophet-5/8656

Rev 3, 1982: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/prophet-five/4609

A throwback from 1988: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/return-of-the-prophet/378

Funny to see the comments about P5 depreciation in 1988.  What goes down must come up I guess

Apologies for those who've heard me tell this (too many times) already, but I got my first P5 (a rev 2, when I had zero idea what that even meant) in trade for a DX-7. I really hated the Yamaha and took it back to the shop while it was still the hottest thing around. The guys at the store didn't want to take advantage of such a naive kid (are you SURE you want to swap this glorious digital synth for a dusty old Prophet??), so they threw in a Roland TR-707 as well. I think the P5 was being sold for $900, by the way. I do love that a TR-707 nowadays goes for more than you can get for a DX-7.

[Analog Prophet]

Love the mu:zines site, it's a great resource.

Some vintage Prophet-5 reviews:

Rev 1, 1978: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/sequential-circuits-prophet-5/8656

Rev 3, 1982: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/prophet-five/4609

A throwback from 1988: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/return-of-the-prophet/378

Funny to see the comments about P5 depreciation in 1988.  What goes down must come up I guess

Apologies for those who've heard me tell this (too many times) already, but I got my first P5 (a rev 2, when I had zero idea what that even meant) in trade for a DX-7. I really hated the Yamaha and took it back to the shop while it was still the hottest thing around. The guys at the store didn't want to take advantage of such a naive kid (are you SURE you want to swap this glorious digital synth for a dusty old Prophet??), so they threw in a Roland TR-707 as well. I think the P5 was being sold for $900, by the way. I do love that a TR-707 nowadays goes for more than you can get for a DX-7.

Good decision 👍.

When the DX7 first was released I thought it sounded like a pile of s**t. So I kept my Juno-60 and a Moog (Prodigy) as I couldn’t afford a Prophet 5 that was, beside the Fairlight, at the top of my wishlist. People frequently asked me to “come over to the dark side” but my ears forbidden me as well as my soul. Today I have nothing against the DX7, had a couple during the years and still have a TX816 (8 DX7 in a rack) in a closet (together with too many other devices) as the studio is full. But now my wish has become true and Im very happy with my Prophet 5 rev 4. The long wait for a Prophet 5 has made it extra precious to me.

[Manbird]

Love the mu:zines site, it's a great resource.

Some vintage Prophet-5 reviews:

Rev 1, 1978: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/sequential-circuits-prophet-5/8656

Rev 3, 1982: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/prophet-five/4609

A throwback from 1988: http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/return-of-the-prophet/378

Funny to see the comments about P5 depreciation in 1988.  What goes down must come up I guess

Apologies for those who've heard me tell this (too many times) already, but I got my first P5 (a rev 2, when I had zero idea what that even meant) in trade for a DX-7. I really hated the Yamaha and took it back to the shop while it was still the hottest thing around. The guys at the store didn't want to take advantage of such a naive kid (are you SURE you want to swap this glorious digital synth for a dusty old Prophet??), so they threw in a Roland TR-707 as well. I think the P5 was being sold for $900, by the way. I do love that a TR-707 nowadays goes for more than you can get for a DX-7.

Good decision 👍.

When the DX7 first was released I thought it sounded like a pile of s**t. So I kept my Juno-60 and a Moog (Prodigy) as I couldn’t afford a Prophet 5 that was, beside the Fairlight, at the top of my wishlist. People frequently asked me to “come over to the dark side” but my ears forbidden me as well as my soul. Today I have nothing against the DX7, had a couple during the years and still have a TX816 (8 DX7 in a rack) in a closet (together with too many other devices) as the studio is full. But now my wish has become true and Im very happy with my Prophet 5 rev 4. The long wait for a Prophet 5 has made it extra precious to me.

I'm glad you finally got a 5! I did end up with a second DX-7 not so long back - found it for dirt cheap and ended up selling it to a fellow who was very excited to have his first "vintage" synth. I kept the synth long enough to try again to get whatever I missed out on the first time 'round, but it didn't happen and thus I was able to let this (impressively heavy!) synth go to a better home. Ironically or not, I did find that the Init program, just a basic sine wave patch, was quite warm and useable. With a Prophet 5, it's no more than minutes before a right-on patch is programmed into life. My gf and I spent HOURS with the DX-7 copying settings for Brian Eno DX patches only to conclude that not everything Eno did was brilliant! I know there are many folks who love the DX-7 and can program it into hot action, but I'm ok not being one of those people!

[Paul Dither]

The DX7 was my first vintage synth in the mid-90s. 

[LPF83]

The DX7 was my first vintage synth in the mid-90s. 

The DX7 was not the first synth I ever owned, but it was the first synth I gained access to (family members were pro musicians, so this one was pretty much always available for me to play with when it wasn't removed for gigging purposes), this was around '83 I think.  From a programming standpoint it was pretty tough. 
The first synth I actually purchased was a Kawai K5.  The main reason is I was seeking a very good 61 key controller at the time.  I've heard people say still to this day that the K5 has the best key bed they've ever played on a synth.  So, in those days a new K5 was about $2k, which I didn't have.  But it turned out to be a sales dog for Kawai (more on that)..  So dealers were letting brand new units go in the $700-$800 range!  I couldn't resist.

As to why the K5 never took off, and it was rare to see a band on stage with one.  To whoever thinks old school FM synthesis is difficult, try additive synthesis using only a single dial and buttons.. a completely brutal introduction to synthesis programming!   The promise of additive synthesis was different than what usually ended up being the real world result.  I did eventually get an Atari ST editor for it, which helps since now harmonics could be drawn with the mouse.  Thing is, what I learned on that synth didn't really transfer very well to any other future instrument I owned, so it was more or less time wasted with regard to synth programming technique, and in this regard was a regrettable first synth.

I later got a TZ81Z to scratch my FM synthesis itch.  It was a pain to program just like the DX7.

[Manbird]

I rescued as many issues of Keyboard Magazine from my dad's basement recently as I could. Probably 1/3 the overall collection, with the rest long-lost to a combination of floods, opossum wrath and a leaking sewage pipe! Anyway, it's been a blast to flip through the mags. I admit it's cute to see how VERY opinionated (and often oblivious/ignorant) I was back when... I made my feelings known in amusing ways. Like, the issue with Journey's Jonathan Cain on the cover has his name scribbled over and a picture of Andy Rooney's face taped over instead. The Thelonious Monk issue has a staple through the entire feature on Monk. I wasn't into jazz at all back then, and had no idea about Monk, who'd recently died. There were no sexy synth ads in the article, so rather than have to flip through, I nailed it all together. Huh! I'm thrilled to have found all these mags, and I find myself far more open to anything about anybody now. Even the "never heard of him" metal keyboardists are fun to read about. I'm not a huge jazz guy, but I definitely rank Monk as a hero by now.

On a related note, I tried taking a keyboard lesson at the local store from Roger Smith. He'd played with Tower of Power and all sorts. The guy could PLAY. He walked into the practice room, plonked down a huge Fake Book and said, "When you're finished with this book, you'll never touch that new wave sh** again!" That guy was (is!) a monster player, but his approach didn't win me over!

[A Thousand Eyes]

If I had to pick the three most important keyboard synths of all time, the DX7 would be right after the Minimoog and P5. It offered wonderful crystalline sounds and also a level of percussiveness that was not possible on the classic analog synths of the time. Not everything needs to be warm and three-dimensional, although I've heard sounds come out of the DX1 that would fool many in a blindfold analog test. The DX7 brought much needed fresh new sounds to the masses. The real downside of the DX7 was the none intuitive UI, not the sound.  To me the 90s and early aughts were the real dark ages of electronic gear. Truly vile sounding instruments to my ears for the most part and the digital equivalents of the god-awful sounding TB-303. Things only started to recover with Bob and Dave coming back to the hardware game.