Alex Ball - The History of the Prophet Synthesizer

Oct 14, 2018 One of the most interesting stories of the synth world is that of Dave Smith and Sequential Circuits. I decided to try to tell some of it via their flagship series, from the Prophet 5 in 1978 to the Prophet X in 2018. With the help of a dozen other people who were incredibly generous and equally excited by their instruments, this film is the result: The History of the Prophet Synthesizer. Massive and heart-felt thanks to all of these awesome Prophet people, this film would be very short without you! // Prophet 5 (rev 3) and Minimoog Model D performed and recorded by Alex Ball at Curve Pusher Studios. Prophet 10 performed and recorded by Mike TC at 100 Things I do at MESS, Melbourne. Prophet 10 rev 1 (only 2 of these have survived!) images provided by David Kean at Audities Studio Additional Prophet 10 images provided by Mathew Watson at MESS, Melbourne. Pro-One performed and recorded by Alex Ball. Prophet 600 performed and recorded by JP Geersing Prophet T8 performed by Alex Ball. Massive thanks to the owner! Prophet 2000 performed and recorded by Pulsophonic Prophet VS performed and recorded by Marko Ettlich at Retrosound Prophet 3000, VS and Studio 400 images provided by Synth Electro DSi Tetra provided by Dave Grant Prophet 08 performed and recorded by Patrick Gill Prophet 12 performed and recorded by Pulsophonic Prophet REV2 performed and recorded by Alex Ball Prophet 6 performed and recorded by Mike TC (100 Things I Do) Prophet X performed by Alex Ball and recorded by Pendle Poucher. Huge thanks to the owner. // David Abernethy’s absolute bible on the subject: “The Prophet from Silicon Valley”: Prophet 10 / Terminator time signature article: External image credits: All print ads from the incredible Retro Synth Ads archive: circuits Dave Smith 1977 image: Model 600 image: Dave Smith late 70s: Dave Smith Grammy image: Model 700 programmer image: #.W7HrKmhKiUk More model 700 images if you’re interested: SSM schematic images: EMU history website: NAMM 1983 image: Prophet 2000 “coke can“ photo conceived by Paul Gilby and taken by Mark Ewing. It originally appeared in a 1985 edition of Sound on Sound. Prophet 3000 screen shots: Korg M1 image: Sequential rebrand: ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Original: