Jeff Babko Interviewed by Dave Smith Instruments

You'll find the full interview here.

On the Prophet-6 and OB-6:

"DSI: You’ve been a vocal promoter of the Prophet-6.

Yes. The OB-6, too. They’re a beautiful team. The synths feel natural. They’re warm, they’re thick. Both the Prophet-6 and the OB-6 have different characters, a different color. Clearly when you A/B them, they are different instruments. The layout is different, but the character is different, too. They are both solid, super exciting instruments. They are like children to me; I cannot choose one over the other. I think they are both really intuitive, remarkably musical instruments. They’re really great to have in my arsenal, because I feel like I connect with these instruments.

I have Mono backpack bags for both synths. If I can show up with just a backpack and the raddest piece of equipment, that’s a pretty good day! I feel like I have this whole world of opportunity on my back. It takes me back to what initially excited me about synthesizers.

Once I turn them on, it’s difficult to leave. The gates of opportunity just open and immediately these warm, interesting, dimensional sounds cause me to want to write music. They are a composer’s best friend.

I’ve never been a real soft synth guy. Some composers like soft synths because they need to call up a sound, grab it, plug it in, and it works. I’ve always looked at it as: “I want to provide a sound — my sound.” If you’re a guitar player, you choose your Strat or your Tele or your Les Paul and you decide what you’re going to run it through. I’ve always felt that I was coming from the same direction. With these synths, I turn them on and call up a sound, but then I immediately tweak and get it to where it feels good to me and then that’s my instrument. It’s not just fulfilling a role, that’s my voice. Both of these synthesizers are such unique voices. They’re just brilliant instruments."