Sequentia Prophet-6 User Manual
®
Operation Manual
Operation Manual
Version 2.1
Feb, 2021
Sequential LLC
1527 Stockton Street, 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94133
USA
©2019 Sequential
www.sequential.com
Tested to Comply
With FCC Standards
FOR HOME OR OFFICE USE
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to
the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including
interference that may cause undesired operation.
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Table of Contents
A Few Words of Thanks ...............................ix
Getting Started ........................................1
Sound Banks ...........................................2
Selecting Programs ......................................2
Stepping Through Presets Using the Inc/Dec Buttons ............3
Editing Programs ........................................3
How to Check a Parameter Setting in a Preset ................. 4
Comparing an Edited Program to its Original State ..............4
Creating a Program from Scratch ............................ 5
Live Panel Mode ......................................... 5
Saving a Program ........................................ 6
Canceling Save ..........................................7
Using Poly Chain ........................................8
Moving to the Next Level ..................................9
Connections .........................................10
Global Settings ......................................12
Globals - Top Row ...................................... 13
Globals - Bottom Row .................................... 15
Oscillators ..........................................17
Oscillator Parameters ....................................18
Slop ................................................20
Mixer ...............................................21
Filters ..............................................22
Filter Envelope .......................................24
Changing the Filter Envelope’s Response Curve ...............25
Amplier Envelope ...................................26
Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Main Parameters .......................................31
Low Frequency Oscillators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Poly Mod ............................................36
Poly Mod Parameters ....................................37
Arpeggiator .........................................38
Arpeggiator Beat Sync ...................................39
Using the Arpeggiator in a Poly-Chained System ..............39
Arpeggiator Parameters ..................................40
Sequencer ..........................................41
Programming the Sequencer ..............................42
Stepping Backward to Correct Notes When Recording a Sequence .........44
MIDI Note Output from the Arpeggiator and Sequencer ..........44
Using the Sequencer in a Poly-Chained System ............... 45
Sequencer Parameters ................................... 46
Distortion ...........................................48
Hold ................................................49
Glide ...............................................49
Unison .............................................50
Using Chord Memory ....................................51
Using Unison in a Poly-Chained System ..................... 53
Write ...............................................53
Canceling Save .........................................54
Comparing Before You Save ..............................55
Globals .............................................55
Preset ..............................................56
Pitch and Mod Wheels ................................57
Pitch Wheel ............................................ 57
Modulation Wheel ....................................... 58
Misc Parameters .....................................58
Aftertouch ..........................................59
Exporting Programs and Banks .........................62
Calibrating the Prophet-6 ..............................63
How and When to Calibrate the Oscillators and Filters .......... 63
Calibrating the Pitch and Mod Wheels .......................64
Resetting the Global Parameters ...........................64
Using USB ..........................................65
Performing OS Updates in a Poly-Chained System ........66
Appendix A: Alternative Tunings ........................68
Appendix C: MIDI Implementation .......................72
MIDI Messages ......................................... 73
NRPN Messages ....................................... 77
Control NRPN Data .....................................81
Sysex Messages ........................................81
Packed Data Format ....................................84
Appendix D: Support ..................................84
Troubleshooting ........................................ 84
Recovering from a Failed OS Udate ......................... 86
Contacting Technical Support .............................. 87
Warranty Repair ........................................87
Credits and Acknowledgements
SOUND DESIGN
Joseph Akins
John Bowen
Richard Devine
Peter Dyer
Tim Koon
THE SEQUENTIAL CREW
Art Arellano, Fabien Cesari, Bob Coover, Carson Day, Chris Hector, Tony Karavidas, Mark Kono,
Justin Labrecque, Andy Lambert, Michelle Marshall, Andrew McGowan, Joanne McGowan,
Julio Ortiz, Campbell Smith, Tracy Wadley, and Mark Wilcox.
Special thanks to Ikutaro Kakehashi and Yamaha Corporation. Thanks also to Robert Rich
for the alternative tunings content. And nally, a shout out to OMOM (Old Men Of MIDI)
for their support, camaraderie, and sound design.
Kurt Kurasaki
Kevin Lamb
Jason Lindner
Cord Mueller
Drew Neumann
Robert Rich
Matia Simovich
James Terris
Mitch Thomas
Taiho Yamada
A Few Words of Thanks
Thank you for purchasing the Prophet-6. We take a lot of pleasure in creating all
of our instruments but bringing the Prophet-6 to life was particularly satisfying.
In many ways it brings my 40-plus years of designing synthesizers full circle. I’ll
tell you why.
In 2014, two events occurred that led to the creation of the Prophet-6. The rst
was a fairly common one around our ofce — our usual informal discussion
about what would be interesting to build next. (We don’t do marketing surveys
around here.) We all agreed that an analog poly synth with true voltage-controlled
oscillators, lters, and ampliers would not only be exciting to design, but would
also almost certainly sound great. So we decided to do it.
Event two transpired when, unknown to me, my old friend and collaborator in the
creation of MIDI, Ikutaro Kakehashi, founder of Roland, asked Yamaha Corporation
to consider returning ownership of my original company brand, Sequential Circuits,
to me. (Yamaha had purchased Sequential’s assets when we closed shop back in
1987.) Yamaha generously agreed and suddenly Sequential was back — almost. All
we needed was an awesome new product to bear the name.
Well, you know how the story ends: with the very synth you’ve just purchased. We
gured that building the best-sounding analog poly synth possible would be a tting
tribute to Sequential’s most famous instrument, the Prophet-5, the poly synth that
started it all.
The Sequential Prophet-6 takes the best qualities of the Prophet-5 and adds some nice
touches that the original never had, such as stereo outputs, velocity and aftertouch
sensitivity, dual digital effects, a high-pass lter, a polyphonic step sequencer, an
arpeggiator, and of course, MIDI. The result is a synth with vintage analog tone and
the reliability of a state-of-the-art, modern instrument.
I hope you enjoy the Prophet-6 as much as we enjoyed designing it.
Cheers,
Getting Started
The Prophet-6 is a six-voice, polyphonic analog synthesizer with
voltage-controlled oscillators, lters, and ampliers. It was designed to
provide all of the warmth and presence of a vintage-era synth with the
added convenience and stability of a state-of-the-art, modern instrument.
The Prophet-6 is rst and foremost a performance instrument. All of its
sound-shaping controls are immediately accessible on its front panel,
packing a tremendous amount of power and versatility into a compact,
easy-to-use format.
You can nd in-depth information about each of the Prophet-6’s parameters in later sections of this manual. But don’t hesitate to dive right in and
start turning knobs and pressing buttons before you begin reading. You
can always get back to where you started, even if you have no idea what
you’re doing. So start exploring and keep your ears and mind open!
POLY MOD ARPEGGIATOR SEQUENCERCLOCK
MASTER VOL
DISTORT
AMOUNT
FREQUENCY
LFO SYNC
DOWN UP
TRANSPOSE
PITCH MOD
FREQ 1 SHAPE 1 PW 1 FILTER
OSC 2 PRGM VOLFILTER ENV
EFFECTS
A B
ON/OFF EFFECT SYNC
TYPE
LOW FREQUENCY OSCILLATOR
FREQ 1
SHAPE
INITIAL AMT
0
Prophet-6 front panel
TAP TEMPO
CLOCK
MIX 1
FREQ 2 PW 1+2 AMP FILTER
GLIDE RATE
BPM
2
SYNC
FREQUENCY
FREQUENCY FINE SHAPE PULSE WIDTH
BANK
OSCILLATOR 1
ON/OFF
OCTAVESVALUE MODE
MIXER
SLOP
AMOUNT
SHAPE PULSE WIDTH
OSCILLATOR 2
PROGRAM
IncrementDecrement
SELECT
OSC 1 OSC 2
LOW FREQ
KEYBOARD
SUB OCTAVE NOISE
Transpose Master Tune MIDI Channel MIDI Clock Clock Port Param Xmit Param Rcv MIDI Control MIDI SysEx MIDI Out
Local Ctrl Seq Jack Pot Mode Sustain +/- Alt Tuning Vel Response AT Response Stereo/Mono Pgm Dump
TENS
USBMIDI InMIDI OutMIDI ThruPhones Left Right LP Filter Volume Sustain Sequencer AC In On/Off
RECORD
PLAY
CUTOFF ENV AMOUNTRESONANCE
CUTOFF ENV AMOUNTRESONANCE
AFTERTOUCH
FREQ 1 FREQ 2 LFO AMT AMP FILTER
AMOUNT
HIGH-PASS FILTER
VELOCITY
LOW-PASS FILTER
VELOCITY KEYBOARD
Half Full
KEYBOARD
Half Full
ENV AMOUNT
WRITE PRESET10 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9HOLD GLIDE UNISON BANKSELECT
PAN SPREAD
FILTER ENVELOPE
ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE
AMPLIFIER ENVELOPE
VELOCITY
ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE
GLOBALS
MISC PARAMETERS
P WHL RANGEKEY MODE
Prophet-6 Operation Manual
Getting Started
1
Sound Banks
6 7 8 9
Vel Response AT Response Stereo/Mono Pgm Dump
Param Xmit Param Rcv MIDI Control MIDI SysEx MIDI Out
The Prophet-6 contains a total of 1000 programs. 500 are permanent and
500 can be overwritten. Banks 0-4 are User Banks that can be overwritten. Banks 5-9 are Factory Banks that are permanent. You can edit the
programs of either bank, but you can only save them to Banks 0-4. As
shipped from the factory, presets 000-499 are identical to 500-999.
BANK
BANKSELECT
PROGRAM
Program bank, tens, and number selectors
IncrementDecrement
TENS
SELECT
Transpose Master Tune MIDI Channel MIDI Clock Clock Port
Local Ctrl Seq Jack Pot Mode Sustain +/- Alt Tuning
10 2 3 4 5
Selecting Programs
Use the bank, tens, and program selector buttons to select and recall
programs.
To choose a program:
1. Hold down the bank button then press a program selector button (0-9)
to specify the “hundreds” bank of the program.
2. Hold down the tens button then press a program selector button (0-9)
to specify the “tens” digit of the program.
3. Press a program selector button (0-9) to specify the “ones” digit of the
program.
To choose program 123, for example:
1. Hold bank and press 1. Then release the bank button.
2. Hold tens and press 2. Then release the tens button.
3. Press program selector button 3.
It’s not always necessary to enter all 3 digits of a program number to
recall it.
Getting Started
2
Sequential
For example:
• If the current program is 100 and you want to recall program 101,
simply press “1.”
• If the current program is 100 and you want to recall program 110, hold
down the tens button and press “1.”
• If the current program is 100 and you want to recall program 115, hold
down the tens button and press “1.” Then release the tens button and
press “5.”
Pressing the globals button three times in a row saves the current program as
the default program that appears when you turn on the Prophet-6.
Stepping Through Presets Using the Inc/Dec Buttons
Instead of having to manually enter the Banks, Tens, and Ones digits to
recall a preset, you can also use the Increment/Decrement buttons to step
through programs sequentially, one by one.
To do this:
1. Hold bank select/dec and press tens select/inc to increment by a
single program.
2. Hold tens select/inc and press bank select/dec to decrement by a
single program.
Editing Programs
Because all of the sound-shaping controls of the Prophet-6 appear on its front
panel, editing an existing program is simple: just turn a knob and listen to its
effect. Keep turning knobs and pressing buttons and if you like what you’ve
created, save the program. (See “Saving a Program” on page 6.)
The rotary controls on the front panel are a mixture of “endless” rotary encoders
and potentiometers or “pots.” You can choose between three different modes that
determine how the synth reacts when parameters are edited with a pot. For details,
see “Pot Mode” on page 13.
Prophet-6 Operation Manual
Getting Started
3
How to Check a Parameter Setting in a Preset
When you’re editing a preset, the Prophet-6 has a convenient way of indicating the programmed (saved) value for any knob parameter: Whenever you
turn a knob and reach the saved value of a given parameter, an LED dot in
the main Prophet-6 display will illuminate.
This dot illuminates
BANK PROGRAM
The dot illuminates when a knob position matches a preset’s saved parameter value
Comparing an Edited Program to its Original State
When editing a program, it’s often useful to compare its edited state to
its original state to evaluate your edits. Alternatively, before saving a
program to a new location you may want to check the program in the
target location before you overwrite it.
To compare an edited program to a saved version:
1. Edit a program.
2. Press the write button. It starts ashing.
3. Press the global button. Both LEDs on the button light up, indicating
compare mode.
4. Play the keyboard to hear the saved version of the sound.
5. To disable the compare function and return to the edited sound, turn off
the global button. Programs can’t be written while in compare mode.
6. If you want to save the edited sound, the write button is still ashing and ready to save, so enter a location with the program selector
buttons. The sound is saved.
7. Alternatively, if you want to cancel saving and continue editing, press
the write button. It stops ashing and saving is canceled.
Getting Started
4
Sequential
Creating a Program from Scratch
PRESET
An existing program can be very useful as a jumping off point for new
sounds. But it’s also useful (and educational) to create a new sound from
scratch. The Prophet-6 makes this easy by providing a “Basic Preset”
that you can quickly recall at any time. This preset is very simple, with a
single oscillator as its basis.
To recall the Basic Preset:
1. Hold down the preset button.
2. Press the write button.
Live Panel Mode
The Prophet-6 also features a “live panel” mode in which its sound
switches to the current settings of its knobs and switches. In other words,
the current preset is ignored and what you see on the front panel is what you
hear. This is a great mode for learning, experimentation, and instant gratication.
To enter live panel mode:
• Press the preset button to toggle it off. Note that you can’t change
programs or banks with Preset off.
To return to preset mode:
• Press the preset button again to toggle it on.
Toggling off the preset button enables “live panel” mode
Prophet-6 Operation Manual
Getting Started
5
Saving a Program
If you’ve created a sound that you like, you’ll probably want to save it.
Saving a program overwrites a previously saved program. Sound designers often save many incremental versions of a program as they continue
to rene it. These intermediate versions often make good jumping off
points for new sounds.
To save a program to the same preset location:
1. Press the write button. Its LED begins blinking.
2. Press a program selector button (0-9) to specify the “ones” digit of the
program.
3. The write button LED stops blinking and the program is saved.
Be careful when write is enabled. You can change banks and tens without
executing write, but once you press a program selector button (0-9) for the “ones”
digit, the write command is executed and the program at that location is overwritten.
To save a program to a different bank location:
1. Press the write button. Its LED begins blinking.
2. Hold down the bank button then press a program selector button to
specify the “hundreds” bank of the program. You can only save to
Banks 0-4.
3. Hold down the tens button then press a program selector button (0-9)
to specify the “tens” digit of the program.
4. Press a program selector button (0-9) to specify the “ones” digit of the
program.
5. The write button LED stops blinking and the program is saved.
Getting Started
6
Sequential
Canceling Save
Sometimes you may want to cancel saving a program before you
commit.
To cancel the Save process before you commit:
• If the write button LED is ashing, press it again. The LED stops ashing and saving is canceled. You can return to editing if you want.
Comparing Before You Save
Before saving a program to a new location, it’s a good idea to listen to the
program in the target location to make sure you really want to overwrite it.
To evaluate a program before you overwrite it:
1. Get ready to save by pressing the write button. It starts ashing.
2. Press the global button. Both LEDs on the button light up, indicating
compare mode.
3. Use the program buttons to navigate to the sound you want to compare
and play the keyboard to hear the sound.
4. To disable the compare function and go back to the edited sound, turn
off the global button. Programs can’t be written while in compare
mode.
5. If you want to save the edited sound, the write button is still ashing
and ready to save, so enter a location with the program buttons. The
sound is saved.
6. Alternatively, if you want to cancel saving and continue editing, press
the write button. It stops ashing and saving is canceled.
Prophet-6 Operation Manual
Getting Started
7
Using Poly Chain
If you have two Prophet-6 synthesizers of any type (modules or keyboards)
you can link them together with MIDI to increase the total available
polyphony to 12 voices. We call this poly chaining. If you have a Prophet-6
keyboard and a Prophet-6 module, you will most likely use the keyboard as
the master and the module as the slave.
To poly chain two Prophet-6 synths:
1. With a MIDI cable, connect the rear-panel midi out of the rst
Prophet-6 (the master) to the midi in of the second Prophet-6 (the
slave).
2. On the master Prophet-6, press the globals button then press program
selector button 9 (midi out).
3. Use the bank/decrement and tens/increment to select ply (poly).
4. Press the globals button twice to exit globals mode.
The two synths are now poly chained. You can now play up to twelve
notes simultaneously. Another advantage of this arrangement is that
notes with long release times are less likely to be cut off as you play
additional notes.
Getting Started
8
Sequential
Moving to the Next Level
The Prophet-6 is lled with possibilities for sound creation. Although
we realize that you’d rather spend your time exploring its capabilities,
we’d like to point you toward a few things that will help you tailor the
instrument to your needs.
First, check out the Global Settings section of this manual. Read about
Pot Modes and determine which works best for you when you’re editing
sounds. You’ll also nd information about MIDI setup. Read this to more
effectively integrate the Prophet-6 into your MIDI rig. To get the most
out of the Prophet-6’s live performance capabilities, read up on using a
footswitch or expression pedal.
And nally, be on the lookout for tips and notes scattered throughout this
manual to gain a better working knowledge of the Prophet-6. The better
you know your instrument, the more you’ll get out of it. We wish you
many hours of musical exploration!
Prophet-6 Operation Manual
Getting Started
9
Connections
5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4
1. AC Power Connector—Accepts a standard, grounded IEC power
cord. Operates over a range of 100 to 240 volts and 50 to 60 Hz.
2. USB—For bidirectional MIDI communication with a computer. The
Prophet-6 is a Class Compliant USB device and does not require additional drivers when used with Mac OS or Windows. See Using USB on
page 65 for more information.
3. MIDI In, Out, and Thru—Standard 5-pin MIDI DIN connectors.
4. Footswitch-Sequence—Accepts a momentary, normally open or
normally closed footswitch to turn the sequencer or arpeggiator on and
off. Alternatively, an audio signal connected to this jack can be used to
either control sequencer/arpeggiator playback, or to gate the lter and
amplier envelopes while notes are held. See “Seq Jack” on page 15
for more information about choosing the appropriate mode for these
behaviors.
5. Footswitch-Sustain—Accepts a momentary, normally open or
normally closed footswitch to control sustain. See “3. Sustain +/- :
Nor, Rev, n-r, r-n (Normally Open, Normally Closed, Sustain Normally
Open/Sequencer Normally Closed, Sustain Normally Closed/Sequencer
Normally Open)—The Sustain pedal polarity parameter affects both
the sustain pedal and sequencer jack input ports. There are two types
of momentary footswitches, normally open and normally closed. Either
type can be used with the Prophet-6. Not sure which type you have? If
the behavior of the footswitch is the opposite of what is expected — that
Connections
10
Sequential
5 6 7 8 9
is, down is off and up is on — changing this setting will correct that.” on
page 16 for more information.
6. Expression Pedal-Volume—Accepts a standard expression pedal
that has a variable resistor on a TRS (tip-ring-sleeve) ¼ inch phone plug.
Once connected, you can use the pedal to control volume to add expressiveness and dynamics to live performance.
7. Expression Pedal-LP Filter—Accepts a standard expression pedal
that has a variable resistor on a TRS (tip-ring-sleeve) ¼ inch phone plug.
Once connected, you can use the pedal to control the cutoff frequency of
the low-pass lter to add expressiveness to live performance.
Prophet-6 Operation Manual
Connections
11
8. Audio Outputs—Unbalanced, ¼ inch audio outputs. The Prophet-6
GLOBALS
10 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Vel Response AT Response Stereo/Mono Pgm Dump
Param Xmit Param Rcv MIDI Control MIDI SysEx MIDI Out
sounds great in stereo, but can be switched to mono if needed. See
“Mono/Stereo” in Global Settings on page 13.
9. Headphones—A ¼ inch stereo headphone jack. Headphone volume is
controlled by the master vol knob on the front panel.
Global Settings
Global settings are parameters that affect all programs. These include
settings such as Master Tune, MIDI Channel, MIDI Clock, and others.
Global parameters are printed above the numeric program selector
switches (0 - 9). Use the Globals switch to choose between the two sets.
The red LED indicates that the upper row is active. The yellow LED
indicates that the lower row is active
The Globals button
Transpose Master Tune MIDI Channel MIDI Clock Clock Port
Local Ctrl Seq Jack Pot Mode Sustain +/- Alt Tuning
Globals 0-4
Param Xmit Param Rcv MIDI Control MIDI SysEx MIDI Out
Vel Response AT Response Stereo/Mono Pgm Dump
5 6 7 8 9
Globals 5-9
Global Settings
12
Sequential
BANK
IncrementDecrement
TENS
BANKSELECT
Use the Bank and Tens buttons to scroll forward and backward, respectively, through parameter settings
To set a Global parameter:
PROGRAM
SELECT
1. Press the globals button. Pressing it once activates the upper set of
parameters. Pressing it a second time enables the lower set of parameters.
2. Press the program selector button (0 - 9) that corresponds to the desired
parameter. The parameters are printed above each switch.
3. Use the bank and tens buttons as decrement and increment buttons to
step through available settings.
4. Once you’ve chosen the desired setting, press the globals button again
to exit.
Globals - Top Row
0. Transpose: -12…12—Master Transpose control, 0 is centered. Steps
in semitones up to one octave up (+12) or down (-12).
1. Master Tune: -50…50—Master Fine Tune control; 0 centered. Steps
in cents as much as a quarter-tone up (+50) or down (-50).
2. MIDI Channel: All, 1…16—Selects which MIDI channel to send and
receive data, 1 to 16. all receives on all 16 channels.
3. MIDI Clock: Sets the Prophet-6’s ability to send and receive MIDI
clock messages:
• Off: MIDI Clock is neither sent nor received
• Out: MIDI Clock is sent, but not received
• In: MIDI Clock is received, but not sent
Prophet-6 Operation Manual
Global Settings
13
• Slave Thru (i-0): MIDI Clock is received and passed to MIDI Out
• In, No Start/Stop (n55): Receives MIDI Clock but does not respond to
MIDI Start or Stop commands.
When set to in or slave thru, if no MIDI clock is present at the selected input,
the arpeggiator and sequencer will not function.
4. Clock Port: MID, USB—Sets the ports, MIDI or USB, by which MIDI
clock signals are received.
5. Param Xmit: Off, CC, NR—Changes to the values of front panel
controls are transmitted via MIDI as Continuous Controllers (CC) or Nonregistered Parameter Number (NR). Transmission of parameters can also be
turned off. You could, for example, turn the lter cutoff frequence knob on
the Prophet-6 and have it affect the cutoff frequency of another synthesizer.
For a list of Prophet-6 CCs and NRPNs, see Appendix D.
NRPNs are the preferred method of parameter transmission, since they cover
the complete range of all parameters, while CCs are limited to a range of 128.
6. Param Rcv: Off, CC, NR—Sets the method by which parameter changes are
received via MIDI. As with transmission, NRPNs are the preferred method.
7. MIDI Control: Off, On—When On, the synth will respond to MIDI
controllers, including Pitch Wheel, Mod Wheel, Pedal, Volume.
8. MIDI Sysex: MID, USB— When set to MIDI (MID) it will receive
and transmit them using the MIDI ports/cables When set to USB it
will receive and transmit them using the USB port/cable. MIDI SysEx
messages are used when sending and receiving a variety of data including, programs, alternative tunings, system updates, and more.
9. MIDI Out: MID, USB—Sets the port by which MIDI data will be trans-
mitted (MIDI or USB).
Global Settings
14
Sequential
Globals - Bottom Row
0. Local Control: Off, On—When on (the default), the keyboard and
front panel controls directly affect the Prophet-6. When off, the controls
are transmitted via MIDI but do not directly affect the “local” synth (that
is, the Prophet-6). This is primarily useful for avoiding MIDI data loops
that can occur with some external sequencers.
1. Seq Jack: NOR, Tri, Gat, T-g (Normal, Trigger, Gate, T-G)—Selects
the mode for signals received on the rear-panel Sequencer jack.
• With normal selected, a footswitch will start sequencer playback.
• With trig selected, an audio signal connected to the sequencer jack will
step the sequencer when the sequencer’s play button is on.
• With gate selected, an audio signal connected to the sequencer
jack will trigger and gate the envelopes while you hold a note or
chord. Additionally, turning on the sequencer or arpeggiator will add
sequencer or arpeggiator playback—but controlled by the Prophet-6’s
clock bpm and value settings and not the audio trigger.
• With t-g (trigger+gate) selected, an audio signal connected to the
sequencer jack will trigger and gate the envelopes while you hold a
note or chord. Additionally, pressing the sequencer’s play button will
also add synchronized sequencer playback.
For best results when triggering the sequencer with an audio signal, use a loud
signal with a sharp attack/decay and little or no sustain.
2. Pot Mode:
on the front
Rel, Pas, Jup (Relative, Passthru, Jump)—The rotary controls
panel are a mixture of “endless” rotary encoders and potenti-
ometers or “pots.” The pots are identiable by their lined knobs and the
fact that they have about 300° of travel. There are three pot modes to determine how the synth reacts when the programmable parameters are edited.
(Master volume is not programmable, so these modes don’t apply.)
In Relative mode, changes are relative to the stored setting. In Relative mode, the
full value range is not available until either the minimum or maximum value and
the respective lower or upper limit of the pot’s travel is reached.
For example,
the resonance parameter has an internal value range of 0 to 127. Let’s
say the physical position of the resonance pot is the equivalent to a
Prophet-6 Operation Manual
Global Settings
15
value of 100. If you switch to a program that has a stored Resonance
setting of 63 and turn the pot all the way up, it will only go to 90. To get
to the maximum value of 127, you rst have to turn down until the value is
at the other extreme and the pot is at the limit of its travel (in this case, 0
and fully counter-clockwise, respectively).
In Passthru mode, turning the pot has no effect until after the edited
value equals the preset value (that is, until the edited value “passes
through” the stored value).
Jump mode uses an absolute value based upon the position of the pot
when edited: turn a pot and the value jumps immediately from the stored
value to the edited value.
3. Sustain +/- : Nor, Rev, n-r, r-n (Normally Open, Normally Closed,
Sustain Normally Open/Sequencer Normally Closed, Sustain Normally
Closed/Sequencer Normally Open)—The Sustain pedal polarity param-
eter affects both the sustain pedal and sequencer jack input ports. There
are two types of momentary footswitches, normally open and normally
closed. Either type can be used with the Prophet-6. Not sure which type
you have? If the behavior of the footswitch is the opposite of what is
expected — that is, down is off and up is on — changing this setting will
correct that.
4. Alt Tuning: Nor, 1…16 (Normal, 1…16)—Selects one of the Prophet-6’s
built-in tunings. Set to normal, the tuning is standard, chromatic tuning.
Choosing 1 through 16 selects an alternative, non-chromatic, non-Western
scale that can be used to emulate ethnic instruments or in other creative ways.
See “Appendix A: Alternative Tunings” on page 59 for a description of
each tuning. Additional tunings can be imported into the Prophet-6 as a
SysEx message. For more information, see Appendix A.
5. Vel Response: 0-7 (Curve 0, Curve 1, Curve 2, Curve 3, Curve 4, Curve
5, Curve 6, Curve 7)—Sets one of eight velocity curves to adjust the keyboard’s
velocity response to your playing style.
6. AT Response: 0-3 (Curve 0, Curve 1, Curve 2, Curve 3)—Sets one of
four pressure curves to adjust the keyboard’s aftertouch response to your
playing style.
Global Settings
16
Sequential
7. Stereo/Mono: Ste, Mon (Stereo, Mono)—The Prophet-6 defaults to
OSC 1 OSC 2
SUB OC TAVE NOISE
MIXER
stereo operation. When set to Mono, this parameter defeats all pan settings
and modulation, effectively making each of the outputs a mono output.
8. Pgm Dump: Prg, Ten, Ban, usr, All (Program, Tens, Bank, User
Banks, All)—Transmits the current program, ten programs from the
currently selected bank and tens location, the current bank, all user
banks (0-4), or all banks (both user and factory) in SysEx format via the
selected MIDI port. (See: “MIDI Sysex.”) Dumped programs will load
back into the same bank and program location in memory when received by
the Prophet-6 via MIDI.
Oscillators
Oscillators provide the raw building blocks of the Prophet-6’s sound by
producing waveforms, each of which has its own inherent sound character based on its harmonic content. The Prophet-6 has two oscillators, plus
a sub oscillator and a noise generator per voice. Level controls for each
of these are located in the Mixer section.
Each oscillator is capable of generating triangle, sawtooth, and variablewidth pulse waves. These waveshapes are continuously variable and
smoothly transition from one shape to the next as you turn the shape
knob. This provides a variety of “in-between” waveshapes.
The oscillators on the Prophet-6 are extremely stable. To emulate the random
pitch drift and oscillator instability of vintage instruments, use the slop parameter to
dial in as little or as much drift as you like.
OSCILLATOR 1
FREQUENCY SHAPE PULSE WIDT H
FREQUENCY FINE SHAPE PULSE WIDT H
Oscillators 1 and 2
Prophet-6 Operation Manual
SYNC
OSCILLATOR 2
LOW FREQ
SLOP
AMOUNT
KEYBOARD
Oscillators
17
Oscillator 1 can be hard-synced to Oscillator 2 for complex, harmonically-rich sounds when modulated.
Oscillator 2 features a fine knob for detuning and thickening sounds,
a low freq switch that allows it to function as an LFO for modulation
purposes, and a keyboard switch that disables keyboard control over its
pitch (useful when used as an LFO, or for drones and other effects).
Oscillator Parameters
Frequency: Sets the base oscillator frequency over a 9-octave range from
16 Hz to 8KHz (when used with the Transpose buttons). Adjustment is in
semitones.
The global Master Tune settings affect the pitch of all oscillators. See “Globals -
Top Row” on page 13 for more information.
Fine: Fine tune control with a range of a quartertone up or down. The 12
o’clock position is centered. Steps are in cents (50 cents = 1/2 semitone).
Shape: Triangle, Sawtooth, Pulse—Used to select the waveshape
generated by the oscillator. Waveshapes are continuously variable and
smoothly transition from one shape to the next as you turn the shape
knob. This provides a variety of “in-between” waveshapes.
Pulse Width: Changes the width of the pulse wave from a square wave
when the pulse width knob is at center position, to a very narrow pulse
wave when the pulse width knob is full left or right.
Applying pulse width modulation using poly mod or the low frequency oscillator
is a great way to add movement and thickness to a sound, especially when creating
pad or string-like sounds.
Oscillators
18
Sequential
Sync: Off, On—Turns Oscillator 1 hard sync on. Sync forces Oscillator
1 (the slave) to restart its cycle every time Oscillator 2 (the master) starts
a cycle. This provides a way to create more complex, harmonically rich
shapes from simple waveforms—especially when the frequency of Oscillator 1 is set to a different interval than Oscillator 2.
Oscillator 1
Oscillator 2
Oscillator 1
synced to
Oscillator 2
Oscillator hard sync
Use Poly Mod to sweep the pitch of Oscillator 1 when it is synced to generate
the classic, hard-edged sync sound.
Low Frequency: Off, On—Turns Oscillator 2 into a low-frequency
oscillator, essentially providing another LFO source for modulation
using Poly Mod. The frequency, fine, shape, and pulse width controls
still apply and will affect the character of any low-frequency modulation
applied using Oscillator 2.
Keyboard: Off, On—When off, the Oscillator 2 ignores the keyboard
and note data received via MIDI and plays at its base frequency setting.
Oscillator 2 pitch can still be affected by modulation from other sources
when in this mode.
Prophet-6 Operation Manual
Oscillators
19
Slop
SLOP
Slop adds randomized detuning to the oscillators to emulate the tuning
instability of vintage analog oscillators. This tuning instability is a big
part of what made vintage instruments sound characteristically warm and fat.
Because the Prophet-6 oscillators are extremely stable, small amounts
of Slop can help impart a very vintage tone to what is otherwise a very
stable, modern instrument. Slop amount is adjustable from subtle, barely
perceptible amounts to wildly out of tune.
The global Master Tune settings affect the pitch of all oscillators. See “Globals -
Top Row” on page 13 for more information.
AMOUNT
Oscillator Slop
20
Slop
Sequential
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