SCI Prophet VS

[Paul Dither]

By the way, the Prophet VS Youtube videos are quite popular, with most of them having several thousands of views, or more.  The VS-PEK interest is palpable.

The VS is extremely popular by now, just as much as there's a growing number of people asking for a rather performance oriented sampler that's build more in the tradition of the Emulators, Ensoniqs or the Prophet 2000 for example.

[dslsynth]

If the VS/Evolver wave shapes could be cleaned up of their rather extreme digital aliasing, we'd already be partway to a new instrument.

Evolver/VS experience: "That is way too much aliasing!"

So Prophet 12 and Pro 2 was made to make the digital oscillators work over a larger range of notes.

Prophet 12 experience: "That sounds way too thin and sterile!"

Sad fact is that cracking that oscillator nut is very very hard.

[LoboLives]

If the VS/Evolver wave shapes could be cleaned up of their rather extreme digital aliasing, we'd already be partway to a new instrument.

Evolver/VS experience: "That is way too much aliasing!"

So Prophet 12 and Pro 2 was made to make the digital oscillators work over a larger range of notes.

Prophet 12 experience: "That sounds way too thin and sterile!"

Sad fact is that cracking that oscillator nut is very very hard.

I think that comes down really to people not understanding that imperfections make the instruments perfect. Classic digital synthesis (VS, FM, low bit sampling) is only starting to become the new analog. Before the comments on virtual analog or digital synths were they weren’t warm and the oscillators were too perfect...now we have VCO synths with the ability to drastically detune them via a “Slop” dial. Classic Vector Synthesis, Wavetables, FM are only starting to get in style again because the analog market has been more than catered to..so we want something else. I think perhaps it’s more a case of allowing the user to dial in how “problematic” they want the machine to be...give aliasing it’s own “Slop” dial as it were.

[DavidDever]

If the VS/Evolver wave shapes could be cleaned up of their rather extreme digital aliasing, we'd already be partway to a new instrument.

Evolver/VS experience: "That is way too much aliasing!"

So Prophet 12 and Pro 2 was made to make the digital oscillators work over a larger range of notes.

Prophet 12 experience: "That sounds way too thin and sterile!"

Sad fact is that cracking that oscillator nut is very very hard.

Varispeed sample rate cracks that nut on the meridians, but its implementation requires a fair number of parts to make it functional.

[Sacred Synthesis]

If the VS/Evolver wave shapes could be cleaned up of their rather extreme digital aliasing, we'd already be partway to a new instrument.

Evolver/VS experience: "That is way too much aliasing!"

So Prophet 12 and Pro 2 was made to make the digital oscillators work over a larger range of notes.

Prophet 12 experience: "That sounds way too thin and sterile!"

Sad fact is that cracking that oscillator nut is very very hard.

If the nature of the Prophet VS-Poly Evolver digital waveshapes inescapably entails aliasing, then so be it.  If they can be cleaned up a bit, then all the better.  Either way, they are usable.  These, coupled with a pair of digitally controlled analog oscillators having subs and waveshape modulation, together with instrument-wide bi-timbrality, eight voices, a joystick, and onboard effects, would breathe new life into the PEK.  But the key really is those specific digital wave shapes.  They are the VS-PEK character that people recognize and love; they are its heritage and would keep a PEK Mk II from being just another generic digital synth.  Certainly these waveshapes could be added to, but they must be included.

[LoboLives]

If the VS/Evolver wave shapes could be cleaned up of their rather extreme digital aliasing, we'd already be partway to a new instrument.

Evolver/VS experience: "That is way too much aliasing!"

So Prophet 12 and Pro 2 was made to make the digital oscillators work over a larger range of notes.

Prophet 12 experience: "That sounds way too thin and sterile!"

Sad fact is that cracking that oscillator nut is very very hard.

If the nature of the Prophet VS-Poly Evolver digital waveshapes inescapably entails aliasing, then so be it.  If they can be cleaned up a bit, then all the better.  Either way, they are usable.  These, coupled with a pair of digitally controlled analog oscillators having subs and waveshape modulation, together with instrument-wide bi-timbrality, eight voices, a joystick, and onboard effects, would breathe new life into the PEK.  But the key really is those specific digital wave shapes.  They are the VS-PEK character that people recognize and love; they are its heritage and would keep a PEK Mk II from being just another generic digital synth.  Certainly these waveshapes could be added to, but they must be included.

I would say 10 voices would suffice.

[dslsynth]

I think that comes down really to people not understanding that imperfections make the instruments perfect. Classic digital synthesis (VS, FM, low bit sampling) is only starting to become the new analog. [...] I think perhaps it’s more a case of allowing the user to dial in how “problematic” they want the machine to be...give aliasing it’s own “Slop” dial as it were.

Spot on to all of your post, LoboLives! Fun thing is that what good sounding analog and digital sound synthesis have in common is the imperfections. Now, mastering the control of these imperfections and making them sound alive is very difficult to obtain.

[dslsynth]

Varispeed sample rate cracks that nut on the meridians, but its implementation requires a fair number of parts to make it functional.

Can you describe such an implementation? Any idea of how the PPG machines implemented their oscillators? Any idea of the Prophet VS oscillators were free running or always in sync?

[dslsynth]

These, coupled with a pair of digitally controlled analog oscillators having subs and waveshape modulation, together with instrument-wide bi-timbrality, eight voices, a joystick, and onboard effects, would breathe new life into the PEK.

I much prefer having both analog and digital oscillators in the same voice. It solves a problem as far as I can see namely that the modern machines usually have less bass contents and sound more sterile than the vintage machines. Plus it gives the instrument a far wider sonic span.

[Paul Dither]

Can you describe such an implementation? Any idea of how the PPG machines implemented their oscillators? Any idea of the Prophet VS oscillators were free running or always in sync?

You'll find the most technological information about the PPG on Paul Maddox' PPG Webpages: http://www.ppg.synth.net/wave22/

I strongly assume that the playback of the waveforms on the VS just happened the way it does on the Evolver: 12-bit sample playback triggered by the keyboard or another modulation source.

Interestingly enough, the development of the VS was triggered by the PPG Wave. Chris Meyer, one of the product designers among Josh Jeffe, obtained one and took a look inside. He eventually came up with the cross-fading idea for which Josh Jeffe suggested the joystick as a controller.

Also interesting: The whole Arpeggiator Scratchpad idea that is found in the Prophet 12 and that allows you to insert rests, notes, and so on, stems from the VS's arpeggiator functionality.

As far as architecture and components go, I've attached an overview of the chipset from The Prophet from Silicon Valley below.

[Sacred Synthesis]

I would say 10 voices would suffice.

That would be even better, but we may be imagining already a fairly expensive instrument.

[LoboLives]

I would say 10 voices would suffice.

That would be even better, but we may be imagining already a fairly expensive instrument.

I don’t think two more voices will bump the cost up astronomically especially if it’s essentially a primarily digital synth.

[Sacred Synthesis]

I don't think we're talking about an exclusively digital instrument, but a hybrid related to the Poly Evolver Keyboard.  That seems to be the direction we've been headed.

[Paul Dither]

I would say 10 voices would suffice.

That would be even better, but we may be imagining already a fairly expensive instrument.

I don’t think two more voices will bump the cost up astronomically especially if it’s essentially a primarily digital synth.

Well, you'd need an extra VCA and filter for each additional voice. I guess there was a reason why the PEK only had 4 voices in total. It's also not a matter of single components costing you just a couple of cents per piece. Once you add distribution and other factors to that, costs do easily multiply.

With every additional feature not only costs increase, but also the challenges of designing an ergonomic interface that's easy to understand and how data is processed and managed by means of the firmware.

[Paul Dither]

For all VS enthusiasts:

http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/sequential-s-prophet-vs/1617
http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/prophecy-fulfilled/1693

[Sacred Synthesis]

Those are excellent articles, Paul.  Thanks for posting them.  At first, I thought they were an announcement from DSI about a new VS revision!  Ah well....maybe at NAMM 2020.

The descriptions sound very much like they're about a DSI synthesizer.  I felt like I was reading an Evolver manual.  Dave certainly has maintained a tradition all these decades.

[LoboLives]

I wonder....with the “moving things around” quote from Dave....maybe the menu and cursor will be moved over to the right or left hand side of the keyboard sort of like how it was to the side of the Tempest?

[Shaw]

I wonder....with the “moving things around” quote from Dave....maybe the menu and cursor will be moved over to the right or left hand side of the keyboard sort of like how it was to the side of the Tempest?

Or they could be moving analog OSCs out, and moving digital wavetables in...
 

[Paul Dither]

Those are excellent articles, Paul.  Thanks for posting them.  At first, I thought they were an announcement from DSI about a new VS revision!  Ah well....maybe at NAMM 2020.

The descriptions sound very much like they're about a DSI synthesizer.  I felt like I was reading an Evolver manual.  Dave certainly has maintained a tradition all these decades.

You're welcome. It's always funny to read these reviews from a historical perspective, particularly from a time before the D-50 and eventually the M1 hit the streets.

In the summer, Ken Flux Pierce did an interesting interview with Chris Meyer, which sheds some more light on the VS development and also covers some Sequential stories. Worth a look:

[Paul Dither]

I wonder....with the “moving things around” quote from Dave....maybe the menu and cursor will be moved over to the right or left hand side of the keyboard sort of like how it was to the side of the Tempest?

DSI have always been very consistent in visualizing the signal flow on their instruments' interface, at least if there was enough space to do so. So I would assume that a modification of the way they used to do the layout on instruments like the PEK, the Prophet '08 and Rev2, the Prophet 12 and Pro 2, and the Prophet-6 and OB-6 is either due to a conceptual change or to give other functions more space.

Or they could be moving analog OSCs out, and moving digital wavetables in...
 

That could be one part of the equation, albeit that has been done with the Prophet 12 as well without leading to significant changes in the interface. So there might be more to that.