MATRIXSYNTH: Sequential Prophet 10 REV4 | The surface


Friday, December 11, 2020

Sequential Prophet 10 REV4 | The surface


MIDERA

MIDERA Prophet 10 posts

"Warning: This video contains FX and may not be suitable for synthesizer purists.

Finally got this home. I have a lot to say about it... I was really underwhelmed when I first started playing with it. I'm used to spending a few hundred dollars on gear that sounds great. this time, i paid far more. the build quality is amazing, but the sound isn't something THAT much better than what else i have. I’d say more but I’m way too tired...

Ok - I have had more time to think about it. Here are some of my thoughts from the next day: For me to be blown away by the sound of a synthesizer, I want to hear it 'push air'. Only a few synths have really done that for me, the OB-Xa and the Polaris. I do not hear that from the Prophet 10. That doesn't mean it doesn't do it, or that it's a bad synth if it doesn't, but that's usually the first thing that makes me go 'wow' and I didn't hear that here.

I didn't play ANY presets. I threw it into the front panel mode because I'm more interested in what I can do with a synth than what others have done with a synth. Maybe that was a mistake? I tried desperately to come up with cool sounds, but I feel personally like I failed (whereas, I felt like I immediately connected with the Moog Matriarch). The Matriarch, however, had a sequencer and arpeggiator which made interacting with the unit far more immediate for me - I made 9 videos within 9 days with that, and I could listen to those videos over and over. I liked what I did. I tried to not use FX... but I didn't like anything I came up with (on the Prophet).

The reality is, I think I hit my limitations here. I am not a great sound designer, I rely on FX. I am also not a good pianist. While I am very good at playing some Vince Guaraldi jazz music - I can't do much of anything else. This synth is among the pinnacle of synthesizers, and I am not capable of bringing out the most. This speaks to the reality - I need to improve my skills, both sound designing and music theory. I could have come up with these lame sounds on any synthesizer I have. In fact - when I first played this, I complained to my friends that it sounds no different than my Virus TI, which I think says a lot about the Virus, but also says a lot about me. My capabilities are the limiting factor.


Eventide blackhole VST and Strymon DIG used for FX."

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Update: See this post for a change of opinion. I actually posted the above because I thought it sounded pretty amazing.

1 comment:

  1. Seems a fair assessment of your results. But your words read like this is the end point of your exploration? If so, that's utter madness.

    So are you going to explore the presets and learn from others with capability -or simply longer experience with THIS synth- beyond your own?

    Being anti-presets is one thing, and too many people do just use them as-is. But that's the limiting factor of THEIR capability.

    Presets can also be a jumping off point, rather than an end to arrive at.

    Would you rather accept your limitations and expand them using the provided help of others?
    Or does it make more sense to you to stay stuck within them?

    ReplyDelete

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