"Nicholas Semrad is a keyboardist and programmer based in both Los Angeles and New York City, currently touring with Cory Henry and the Funk Apostles, Mark Guiliana’s Beat Music, Donny McCaslin, Knower, Jennah Bell, and The Lesson NYC.
Born in the small town of Fremont, Nebraska, he studied Suzuki classical piano for 14 years before studying private jazz and rhythm study with ex-Wynton Marsalis/Norah Jones drummer Dana Murray.
After touring the midwest blues scene with blues legend Magic Slim (and the Tear Drops), Nicholas re-located to New York City where he started playing with some of the finest musicians around. Touring stints and gigs in the past have been with Miss Lauryn Hill, Talib Kweli, Bilal, Liv Warfield, Meg Mac, Gabriel Garzon-Montano, Terrace Martin, and Bootsy Collins.
We chatted with Nicholas on how he uses Sequential instruments in his music."
"In this tenth episode of 'Grid Kids with Nicholas Semrad', Nicholas interviews the inventor of polyphonic synthesis and midi Mr. Dave Smith and his cohort over at Sequential, Mr. Andrew McGowan. They chat about the early years over at Sequential, their favorite synth patches and synth tips, and their thoughts on the usage of synths within the music community.
"Here is a demo video for my now available-for-purchase Sequential Prophet 5/10 patch set. You can purchase these patches at my website, www.nicholastsemrad.com/shop.
These patches will load to the following spots on your Prophet 5 or 10: Group 5 (511 - 558).
I've made 40 of my favorite patches for this set and it includes many patches I've recorded with and played live.
Thanks again to Emily Hoerdemann for the cover design!"
Nicholas Semrad's Sequential Prophet 5/10 Patch Set FREE BONUS PATCHES (Demo)
"These patches will load to the following spots on your Prophet 5 or 10: Group 4 (454-458)."
"Discover this expert model of an industry-defining five-voice polyphonic synth from 1980 and find out how a synth that changed the face of music can change your sound.
Playlist:
Introducing Model 80 Five Voice Synthesizer – Softube
Model 80 Five Voice Synthesizer Walkthrough – Softube
Model 80 Five Voice Synthesizer – Build It With Modular – Softube
Model 80 Artist Presets by Nicholas T Semrad – Softube
The industry-defining five-voice polyphonic synth from 1980
Expertly modeled for the authentic sound, interactions, and performance of the original unit
Two versions included: the instrument and five modules for Modular
It's not overstating things to say that this five-voice synthesizer changed the future. The first synthesizer with a digital microprocessor to control the analog polyphonic synth engine and store sounds, it has graced hits from superstars such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, Peter Gabriel, Radiohead, The Cars, and countless others.
With great reverence and proven modeling expertise, we captured every detail of this storied synth's circuit, interactions, and factory presets. The result is a revelation: the authentic sound, feel, and performance of an industry-defining instrument perfected for modern production. Like a prophecy from 1980 fulfilled, so cometh Model 80 Five Voice Synthesizer.
And a user video by Starsky Carr:
Softube Model 80 // Sounds like a Prophet 5 to me.
"Softube Model 80 put up against a Prophet 5 Rev 4. The Model 80 appears to be based on the Prophet 5 Rev 3 - there are a couple of minor things that the Rev3 does compared to the Rev4 .. so minor I'm having difficulty remembering as I write this! This is an amazing emulation."
Update:
Nicholas Semrad's Softube Model 80 Patch Set (Demo)
"Here is a demo video for my available-for-purchase Softube Model 80 Patch Set. You can purchase these patches at my website, www.nicholastsemrad.com/shop. You can find the Model 80 plugin at www.softube.com
I've specifically made 40 patches for this set that I have both performed with live and recorded with.
**important note** These patches are for use EXCLUSIVELY with the Softube Model 80 plugin and WILL NOT work with any other hardware piece/software plugins.
"Our friend Nicholas Semrad composed a few short pieces using only the Prophet X:
'Double X' uses both the 1985 Passionate ‘Muted’ and ‘Main’ Pianos mixed together, along with the ‘Acoustic Long’ guitar sample - creating a patch that could loop in a beautiful way, but also be "playable" via the sliders, wheels, and aftertouch. Using aftertouch to decimate it, and the mod wheel to fully-wet the mix of the reverb effect, slider one changes the size of the loop for a longer, more drawn out loop, and slider two raises the gain of the distortion effect.
'The guitar sound aims for the Bibio-esque rootsy lo-fi guitar sound. I stacked two of the exact same ‘Acoustic Long’ guitar sounds together (with a high pass filter effect on both) so that I could get extra effects. One stack has a distortion to warm up the sound a bit, and the other has a little bit of reverb.'
"Our friend Nicholas Semrad composed a few short pieces using only the Prophet X:
'Draw Me Nearer' uses string samples with a wide pan spread, with added reverb and a very short attack so that seem like pads, while still being able to have an attack that can keep up with some quickly moving changes. The "1985 Passionate Main" instrument is for the piano, low-passed quite a bit along with adding about 50 of key-tracking on the filter.
'Lots of the church pianos that I grew the fondest of were really dark, so that's why I low-passed it. I also added a touch of the Hall Reverb for some ambience.'
"Welcome to 'Sequential Synth Tips,' where some of our favorite artists share their tips, tricks, and
techniques on a Sequential synth. In this eepisode, we feature keyboardist extraordinaire Nicholas Semrad (Cory Henry & the Funk Apostles, Knower, Donny McCaslin, Mark Guiliana’s
Beat Music) on the Rev2."
"Here is a demo video for my available-for-purchase Korg Minilogue XD Patch Set. You can purchase these patches at my website, www.nicholastsemrad.com/shop.
I've specifically made 60 patches for this set that I have both performed with live and recorded with.
important note These patches are for use EXCLUSIVELY with the Korg Minilogue XD and WILL NOT work with any other hardware piece/software plugins.
Enjoy!
(Thanks to Emily Hoerdemann Pollack for the cover artwork!)"
"Here is a demo video for my available-for-purchase UDO Super 6 Patch Set. You can purchase these patches at my website, www.nicholastsemrad.com/shop.
I've specifically made 48 patches for this set that I have both performed with live and recorded with.
**important note** These patches are for use EXCLUSIVELY with the UDO Super 6 Keyboard/Desktop Model and WILL NOT work with any other hardware piece/software plugins.
Enjoy! (and my apologies for the shaky keyboard stand.....I was getting too into it, I guess!!)"
"Welcome to “Sequential Synth Tips,” where some of our favorite artists share their tips, tricks, and techniques on Sequential synths. In this episode, we feature keyboardist Nicholas Semrad on the Prophet-6 demonstrating how to combine two different envelopes to create more interesting and expressive sounds."
"Here is a demo video for my now available-for-purchase Sequential Prophet Rev 2 "2nd Edition" Patch Set. You can purchase these patches at my website, www.nicholastsemrad.com/shop. If you've already purchased the first set, send me an email at "nicholastsemrad@gmail.com" with the subject line "Proof of Purchase" and a screenshot of your receipt and I'll send you a coupon code for $10 off for this set!
I've made another 50 patches (10 basses, 10 leads, 10 pads, and 20 aux key patches) for this set and it includes many patches I've recorded with and played live. For this set, I've really taken advantage of the stereo spread and some advanced modulation techniques to capture a bit more of the old-school instability of the original Prophet synths while still mixing it with many new sounds.
Thanks again to Emily Hoerdemann for the cover design!"
"Here is a demo video for my available-for-purchase Sequential Prophet 6 Patch Set. You can purchase these patches at my website, www.nicholastsemrad.com/shop.
I've specifically made 50 patches (10 basses, 10 leads, 10 pads, and 20 aux key patches) for this set. Thanks for Emily Hoerdemann for the cover design!"
"Here is a demo video for my available-for-purchase Sequential OB-6 Patch Set. I'm using the desktop OB-6 midi controlled by a Yamaha ReFace (the set works for both the desktop and keyboard models). You can purchase these patches at my website, www.nicholastsemrad.com/shop.
I've specifically made 50 patches (10 basses, 10 leads, 10 pads, and 20 aux key patches) for this set. Thanks for Emily Hoerdemann for the cover design!"
"Welcome to 'Sequential Synth Tips,' where some of our favorite artists share their tips, tricks, and techniques on Sequential synths. In this episode, we feature keyboardist Nicholas Semrad on the Pro 3 demonstrating how to apply side-chain type effects to a patch, adding more phrasing options for expressive playing."
"Here is a demo video for my available-for-purchase Sequential Prophet X Patch Set. You can purchase these patches at my website, www.nicholastsemrad.com/shop.
I've specifically made 61 patches for this set (pads, basses, leads, aux, and a few sound FX and performance patches) that I have both performed with live and recorded with.
important note These patches are for use EXCLUSIVELY with the Sequential Prophet X keyboard and WILL NOT work with any other hardware piece/software plugins.
another note I made a mistake while filming and didn't capture my left hand using the modwheel/pitch bend/sliders. If you don't see my left hand in the video and something is modulating, assume that it's coming from one of those things...my apologies!
"Here is a demo video for my available-for-purchase Sequential Prophet Rev 2 Patch Set. You can purchase these patches at my website, www.nicholastsemrad.com/shop
I've specifically made 50 patches (10 basses, 10 leads, 10 pads, and 20 aux key patches) for this set and it includes many patches I've recorded with and played live. Thanks for Emily Hoerdemann for the cover design!"
"Here is a demo video for my now available-for-purchase Sequential Prophet Rev 2 "Vintage Tribute" Patch Set. You can purchase these patches at my website, www.nicholastsemrad.com/shop.
These patches are meant for use with the Sequential Prophet Rev 2 (8 or 16 voice). They will not work with any other hardware or software programs.
This patch set contains 2 parts:
- 25 patches I created to emulate some of my favorite vintage synths and synth sounds from various 70's/80's recordings
- BONUS: 40 patches meant to pay homage to the first 40 presets on the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5
DISCLAIMER: While the patches that begin with "P5" are meant to pay homage to the original Prophet 5, they will not sound 'exactly' the same. The P5 and the Rev 2 are very different boards with very different modulation functions and data ranges."
"Here is a demo video for my available-for-purchase Sequential/Dave Smith Instruments Prophet '08 Patch Set. You can purchase these patches at my website, www.nicholastsemrad.com/shop.
I've specifically made 50 patches (10 basses, 10 leads, 10 pads, and 20 aux key patches) for this set and it includes many patches I've recorded with and played live. Thanks for Emily Hoerdemann for the cover design!"
