SCI Prophet VS "Vector Synthesizer" single sound demo

[daveashe]

I love that creamy filter

[kryptonenz]

there was an excellent vst released of this synth a few years ago called vectorsector, well worth getting hold of if you can find it

[900GTi]

Sound like a Synclavier

[malatia7575]

For the not so brilant, this is a real synth so use your brain when you work with these kind of synths, these are not kiddy samplers or romplers used to make nigger musik ok. Thank you very much.

[VectronMusic]

@malatia7575

>nigger music

haha, oh wow

[malatia7575]

The secret behind the modern talking chord lines and synth basses, thinking of the oberheim too.

[malatia7575]

One of the secret production tools at the time,I remember Mr Dieter Bohlen was using it. This is a fabulous synth full stop.

[manfromthe80s]

@malatia7575 Dieter used Prohet 5 :)

[tweensceneriot]

I found a prophet VS collecting dust in the back of this studio i was interning at, bought it for 600, best.day.ever

[maestro300]

1:13 was the sound used on Whitesnake's "Here I go again" intro.

[thermalmaximum]

I both like and dislike this video. I like it because it's an interesting way to hear sounds from this somewhat rare machine. I dislike it because I was expecting to hear some aggressive sounds (the VS being a NIN favorite) but this was very New Age and 80s instead. Funny how certain synths sound completely different in the hands of different people, I guess it really is all about the musician rather than the tools.

[retrosound72]

@thermalmaximum

absolute!

[InsertName125]

@thermalmaximum

It's AMAZING just how aggressive even a piano can sound if you throw it out a window.

[thermalmaximum]

@InsertName125 Are you saying they should throw the Prophet VS out of a window?

[InsertName125]

@thermalmaximum No. Actually, I'm saying that of course ANY instrument varies in character depending on who is using it. Then again, this isn't an instrument that was really made with "aggression" in mind. It was made for the very market that you are disregarding.

It's possible to play black sabbath on a tuba and it's possible to play brian ferneyhough on a pan flute, but what would be the point?

This video is a good representation of what the synth was designed to do.

[Chriskkboongg]

@thermalmaximum I always associate the VS with David Sylvian who made atmospheric and organics pads with it.

[ScottRighteous]

@thermalmaximum supposedly, NIN's Prophet VS was left out in the rain or something and thereafter had a 'unique' sound.  I think Trent used Galaxy to generate random patches and then tweaked the most aggressive ones.

[LittleNegrillio]

This is absolutely gorgeous man!

[audibleobsession]

Who else thinks of Star Wars every time they watch a Retrosound video intro?

[BitSnapper]

Vielen Dank, das Ding macht mich nass. Ist mit modernen Geräten wohl tatsächlich nicht hinzubekommen, so ein Sound. Hat auch schön viel Dreck im Klang, bin sehr beeindruckt.

[retrosound72]

@BitSnapper

:) der Vs ist einer meiner Favoriten überhaupt.

[480Reggae]

@retrosound72

Ich habe mir den VS 1986 gekauft..(Synthesizerstudio Bonn).Soweit ich weiß wurde er weltweit 3000 mal verkauft. Das Instrument ist mein bestes Schätzchen in meinem Studio. Ich habe einen Editor für Atari um Sounds und Wellenformen zu erstellen.Die Software ist allerdings ziemlich anfällig für Abstürze des Atari. Gibt es etwas ähnliches für Windows PC? Schöne Grüße

[retrosound72]

@480Reggae

ich kenne da nichts.

ja der VS ist wirklich toll!

[Schmuseheldin]

@480Reggae Ja, das Programm heisst "VectorSurgeon VS Editor". Läuft ganz gut, nur das Verwalten von Patches funktioniert bei mir nicht.

[retrosound72]

@DJPeteJames

yes the sound charakter of the VS is more raw and organic. I like it much more than the poly evolver.

[retrosound72]

@DJPeteJames

the sound is different.

[pomfrit93]

i have never seen this synth before. lsome of the sounds reminds me of kraftwerks the model

[MainstreamSmasher2]

What a tune!!!

[Chacanger]

Wonderful choir/pad sounds on this.

[Chris31HRO]

At 1:12 i like the vs choir. thats a very good sound. michael cretu used this sound in some tracks (sandra, cretu himself). i hope to get the vs choir because i want to use it in my music.

[rockycontrolo]

at 4:55 it's a Nine Inch nails sound . We can hear this sound in the Down in it solo, Only time, ... etc

[MichaelGunnMusic]

@rockycontrolo yes! Trent Reznor loves the VS

[kinderspiel27]

Maybe you could help me - I am a singer-songwriter looking for a nice warm synth for the stage. I can't afford the prophet 08, and I really love the Juno 60 but am afraid if I buy one it might break too soon, it's also heavy. If I could I would take a wurlitzer piano with me, so I am looking for this kind of percussive bell sound... yamaha dx7 is very good for a digital synth. Looking forward to your answer!

[atombat]

@kinderspiel27 Get a Dave Smith Evolver tabletop unit £400/$700-$800 and a cheap mother keyboard. It has the warm analog stuff, and the cold heartless digital stuff aswell. Plus it has summat to do with the design of this machine, so it's halfway there.

[johnpatlanta]

is this thing better than a korg m3?

[MARANTZamp]

kind of a silly question.

[johnpatlanta]

is that a yes or a no?

[MARANTZamp]

Well..you are comparing an amazing instrument, to a modern day ROMpler.

[johnpatlanta]

Ok, but you still don't answer my question. Educate me. I'm just curious.

[MARANTZamp]

ok...the prophet VS is a synthesizer...the korg m3 is a generic sample playback device.

One is a real, live instrument that has soul, and the other is a widely mass produced ROM based piece of shit.

[FUHGI]

WHAT ABOUT THE 1988 M1 ?

[MARANTZamp]

I have one....wouldn't call it a piece of shit, but it's still just ROM sounds that have been used a million times.

ROM based instruments do not typically bare a unique character as an actual synth does.

Nobody gets an m1 to program it or customize sounds on it...

That's what analog is for. (and the vs)

[kinderspiel27]

Hi Marantzamp, as you know so much about analogs, maybe you could help me - I am a singer-songwriter looking for a nice warm synth for the stage. I can't afford the prophet 08, and the Juno 60 I love but it is just a little too inconsistent and heavy, could you help me out? If I could I would take a wurlitzer piano with me, (again too heavy and too expensive...), so I am looking for this kind of percussive bell sound... and other nice analog pad sounds...

[kinderspiel27]

Hi Marantz, as you obviously know so much about analogs, I am a singer-songwriter looking for a great warm tool for live performance. I really like the Juno 60 but it is too heavy to lug around and I can't afford the Prophet 08 (which I would even lug around because it is so great... : ) Do you have any suggestions? The synth should last longer than a year though...

[kinderspiel27]

Hi Marantzamp, as you know so much about analogs, maybe you could help me - I am a singer-songwriter looking for a nice warm synth for the stage. I can't afford the prophet 08, and the Juno 60 I love but it is just a little too inconsistent and heavy, could you help me out? If I could I would take a wurlitzer piano with me, so I am looking for this kind of percussive bell sound...

[ORUPRANKSTAZ]

When Yamaha bought Sequential Circuits, the company was put under Korg (at the time, a Yamaha company) and the WaveStation was developed on the exact same vector synthesis technology.

Now you know!

[pauleyh]

one of the beat synths ever made handsa down . you can cover some van halen very good on this instrument.

[matthehat]

A gentleman is a man who can play "jump" on keyboards, but chooses not to

[osummuso]

@matthehat LMAO

[olalator]

cool design)

[butheadVSbevus]

So how bad is the after touch problem on these?

[boswachtersrule]

On my VS rack it's no problem ;) a VS sounds sooooooo beautiful, it comes from heaven, intense, angles, but can sound also very spooky, must have instrument !

[Xzanthrepicon]

This synth sounds so unreal, Dave Smith is brilliant

[jimmyfabianmiranda]

Amazing...!

[douglascain]

there isnt much I wouldn't do to get my hands on one of these.

[Kurukusu]

Ditto.

[myrddinemris]

how about just searching on ebay and wiring someone a thousand bucks...

[douglascain]

ugh... that's obviously a way to get one. your dumb.

[ikazlar]

This is an awesome synth - I can't seem to find one... :-(

[mandroidUK]

check out vector surgeon for editing vs sounds on the pc,pretty useful tool.

i still use my vs often,top machine..

cant beat those filters...

[retrosound72]

cool link

thanks

[UberSynth]

Nice

[sirwatchalot]

The Prophet has a sound of it's own.Nice work.True synthesis at it's best!

[retrosound72]

thanks

[mesmoland]

Dave Smith's vector was a real breakthrough and to have a joystick.....fantastic.

[vinyljunkie07]

@mesmoland The VS had nothing to do with Smith other than the Sequential name, the inventor of the VS and vector synthesis was Chris Meyer who worked for Dave Smith at the time and pretty much designed the VS him self with the aid of some other people at Sequential. Shame when Korg acquired the technology they had to make such a lame synth such as the wavestation which ditched the analogue filter in place for a lame digital non resonating one. The VS sounds lovely

[matthehat]

@vinyljunkie07 The Wavestation isn't so bad, it has it's own unique sound, and that's useful for certain things. I prefer the sound of the VS personally, but I'm not going to write off the Wavestation.

[Shadow432643]

Each of your videos is great (^-^)

[retrosound72]

thanks :)

[rg2027x]

VS has great arpeggiator too

[ig88sir]

I have a VS and a DSI polyevolver. Don't let those "in denial" newbies tell you that the new synth sounds the same as they do not. Look at ebay prices on vintage synth for validation to this. The VS is a classic! I'm glad I got mine and lots of other vintage gear in the 90's before the current insane prices...

[NewTimeMusicUK]

How I wished owned one of these when they first appeared a synthesizer classic. Pad like this machine had were the order of the day.

[pauleyh]

i think my prophet vs still sounds great after all these years. yours too

[TrainmasterCurt]

In some ways this sounds similar to the Roland D-550 Rack Linear Synth, but what does vector mean?

[retrosound72]

The Vector Synthesis is real-time control of the oscillator mix with the joystick or envelope at the centre of two axes, A-C and B-D. The joystick candynamic change the perceived level of the oscillators.

[DeathByDinSync]

Sounds great!!

[anko8aug]

2:07 when you look at the dots its like flashing or blinking like some kinda illusion.

[retrosound72]

yes nice!

[Metro9nome]

hey does this synth have a 'random' button that creates a patch by randomizing the parameters?

[retrosound72]

yes

[FasteRocket]

It's interesting! )

[ericdrebin]

Beautiful sounds, and you are quite the player, friend.

[retrosound72]

thx :)

[KR34KX]

Really very nice vid, strictly for vintage electronic lover's thanks a lot ^-^

[retrosound72]

thanks :)

[DragonBall1168]

all it takes it amazing keyboard and epic shots of synthesizers to make a miraculous video  :D

[boswachtersrule]

I own a Pro VS rack, i think it's one of the best sounding poly synths ever produced, the sounds are so deep, from heaven to spooky/horror.

[retrosound72]

absolute!

thanks

[DX5]

Hi retrosound:

Awesome demo. I wish to pick one of these now!

Cheers

[retrosound72]

:)

thanks a lot my friend

[xtom1973]

thanks for your work! i really like it!

can you additionally provide your listeners with the original sound files on i.e. mediafire downloads? cause i find it important to hear the sound in high quality.

cheers, tom

[retrosound72]

danke

Ja das habe ich auch schon mal überlegt.

Die Soundqualität verbessert sich aber schon extrem, wenn man an die URL das Kürzel "&fmt=18" anhängt, und die Seite nochmal neu läd.

[xtom1973]

hi!

ja, das ist schon sehr hilfreich, aber es kommt auf die feinheiten an bei sounds. demgegenüber braucht man ein video nicht unbedingt, fotos würden reichen ;)

falls es nicht viel arbeit macht wäre es schon gut, über eine hohe qualität vergleichen zu können.

cheers, tom

[LooneyLopez]

where do you get all these theyre so cool most keyboards cant give you this warm sound

[blaharns]

How would you compare the sound of the VS with the sound of the Wavestation and Microwave?

[retrosound72]

absolute different sounds

the wavestation is much more hifi and clear-sounding,

the microwave sound is very hard and crisp

the VS sounded between a PPG Wave and a Prophet 5

[Mahjongmusic]

Of course there's a relation with the Wavestation 'cause the Vs has been the 1st synth with the Joystick for the waveforms mix, the Wavestation did something similar...but later ! I agree it's between the Ppg and the Prophet 5, it makes sense to my hears of Prohet owner !

[p0pel]

sehr schöne sounds! muss die hölle sein, das ding zu programmieren!?

[retrosound72]

danke :)

So schwer ist der nicht zu programmieren. Parameter anwählen und mit dem Fader den Wert einstellen. Es gibt auch einen sehr guten Software Editor für den VS.

[furyplum44]

always a fan of sequential circuits!!

[retrosound72]

I too!

thanks

[albertspyker]

Great sound!!

[retrosound72]

thx :)