Sequential continues a grand tradition of analog/digital hybrid instruments. And a major advantage to that – you’re not restricted to the sonic colors of just the analog sound sources. Prophet X is a 50GB custom multisampler, too.
I mean, I’ve never been one for big workstation keyboards but – this one excites me. It seems a great fusion between the playability of a keyboard and the flexibility of a software sampler. It’s the best of both, whereas those old-fashioned workstations somehow managed to be the worst of both.
Sequential has been posting a ton of tutorials lately, like many manufacturers in the pandemic year, but I think this one deserves special mentioning. The Prophet X flagship kind of only pops up at the end, because keyboardist Han Luis Cera is all about sampling.
And yeah, this honors the time-honored tradition of “I should really record my pots and pans, they probably sound cool.” But they do sound cool. And for producers or composers looking for an edge, some clever sound design with your pots and pans could mean a) you make the deadline on a project, b) you stand out, or even c) you get the damn gig. All those things are on most of our minds at the moment (like, definitely the finding jobs bit). Banging around in your kitchen means a way out of some creative blocks.
It is relevant to the Prophet X, too, though. That Sequential monster has 50GB of internal sound storage – which is probably more than you have free on your laptop at the moment (Apple!). And it has its own sample modulation features, in addition to the usual basics.
But as Han Luis shows off here, you also can route through the Prophet X dual effects engine.
By the way, Hans Luis should check out the new Apple Logic Pro, 10.5. You could very easily automate the process of converting samples to multisamples in Logic, but then load that on the Prophet where you can get away from the computer and do things Logic can’t – like route through analog filters.
In other words, the nice thing about Logic 10.5 is, it could reduce the amount of time you stare looking at your computer screen and let you get back to playing the Prophet faster. With all our screen time these days, that’s a good thing. So bravo, Sequential! (Those of us not lucky enough to have a Prophet X will of course need to just stay in Logic, but that’s a story for another day!)
“Depth and impact.” Always.
The legendary Gordon Reid reviewed the beast back in 2018 for Sound on Sound.