Sequential Circuits Prophet VS Synthesizer 'The Year 1986'

(c) vintage synthesizer demo track by RetroSound

all sounds: Sequential Circuits Prophet VS Vector Synthesizer from the year 1986
drums: Roland TR-707
recording: multi-track without midi
fx: a little bit delay and reverb

[retrosound]

The Sequential Prophet VS Synthesizer from the year 1986 is a fantastic hybrid synth with the typical 80s sound. Here can you find the full Prophet VS playlist with single sound demos and one synth demo tracks. Enjoy.

[PhilAndersonOutside]

Back in the 80's I owned a Pro-1, and Prophet-600, and a friend purchased a Multi-Trak. Less than a year later, the VS came out. Sequential had put time into the Multi-Trak, Six-Trak and MAX line-up, but the VS was developed by another group entirely within Sequential (John Bowen, Chris Meyer, others). While costing more, the VS completely blew anything else in their then line-up out of the water. But people barely got the concept behind the VS, and the world was in love with digital and sampling. The Studio 440, and Prophet 3000 were sonic powerhouses, ahead of their time in this regard, but barely produced while Sequential was struggling financially.

Just two years after the release of the Multi-trak, and one after the VS, Sequential would be out of business, and sold to Yamaha.

One could still argue the VS was the best synth Sequential ever made. It just has a very lush sound, and though Korg picked up the technology, and the Wavestation added wave sequencing, the VS had analog filters, while the Wavestations were digital, and non-resonant.

[stephenstalter]

I got to actually play one of these back in '92. The guy was using it as a controller for his sampler and I made him plug the audio in so that I could hear it. Magnificent!

[drecksheep]

Schöner sanfter einstieg ins Wochenende^^, eine kurze Tiefenentspannung und der Stress der Woche ist wieder fast vergessen....danke Dir dafür!

[stephanodigiorgio]

beautifull sound, such memories!! just close ur eyes and travel with sound!

[TH_FURY]

Nice track !
Please Marko, can you give me an advice about DSI Evolver ?
Is it a good synth for you and is this synth sound like a Prophet VS ?
Thanks for your answer.
Greetings from france.

[cmyk]

I have Seq Circuits prophet 5 needs repair. Won't boot past the calibration. Battery looks like its dead. Also the sounds to reload them, know whee I could find them in digital format? Thank you for sharing with us these analog treasures.

[oldhypnosis]

Excellent stuff. I love it. It is beyond this world.

[Bigk]

Phil Collins keyboardist used the Prophet VS synthesizer on his solo 1990 tour. I remember seeing it in the Berlin concert video. Great sound

[bermude]

Wunderba sound von Prophet vs !danke vier mal !

[mpopsy]

Very nice song - reminds me of Tangerine Dream :) Congratulations and keep on going with these extraordinary vintage machines!

[MPHORROCKS]

My favourite synth! Beautiful sound and design. I used to go into my local music shop and play on it. Nearly Bought it, but was a little out of my range. I use the Arturia version now, which is pretty damn good! :)

[DavidBoura]

Is it possibly possible to have a daily video? :p
Kidding, nice post, willing for the next!

[quasimidi]

amazing sounds, combined with creative composition :)

[DavidBoura]

What are the Midi In/Out/Thru stuffs i can see at the machine back?
I think RetroSound was saying he didn't use Midi, but Live playing ^^

[Sundracle]

MIDI is good since it allows one to study the music score?, or the way a music piece/performance is constructed. Plus with the proper MIDI interface you can connect all kinds of MIDI controllers to your DAW etc. So why is it bad? Latency
issues (ie USB over MIDI)? Lack of further refinement? Thanks!!!

[tubadya]

There is a small screw inside that hole that adjusts the angle of the LCD. This allows the user to adjust the display to give the sharpest image with respect to his playing position.

[TheoRockNL]

Fantastic machine....and without Midi, but with a lot algorithms inside.
These times I had close contact with Floris Kolvenbach, DIAM BV in the Netherlands. He was and still is a master on this machines and a VIP sound producer for Roland. His Studio with 16 senthesyzers and IBM control has produced a lot of hits. No boddy is aware of this, the Artists and Producwrs took the honneur, but he was The Master who realy had done it all .

[TH_FURY]

Yes, and the VS is also a real polyphonic synth, not the Evolver !
Thanks to your answer and keep the good vibe !
Peace & Knobs !

[SovereignSDG]

I have always loved the sound of the VS, and this is a great demo of that special sound!
Can the Prophet VS receive sysex via midi to control its parameters?