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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 inter-
ference and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including 
interference that may cause undesired operation.

This Class B digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian 
Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations.

Cet appareil numerique de la classe B respecte toutes les exigences du 
Reglement sur le materiel brouilleur du Canada.

For Technical Support, email: 

support@sequential.com

Table of Contents

A Few Words of Thanks    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . xi

Chapter 1: Getting Started   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .1

First Things First   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Using the Main Display   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Sound Banks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Selecting Programs  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Editing Programs  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Comparing an Edited Program to its Original State . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Creating a Program from Scratch   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Saving a Program   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Canceling Save  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Working with Stacked or Split Programs  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Exploring the Prophet X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Chapter 2: Prophet X Controls   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .14

Sample Playback    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 15

Sample Playback Parameters (Front Panel)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Additional Sample Playback Parameters (Display Menus)  . . . . . 18
TAB 1 - Inst Tune  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
TAB 2 - Inst Misc  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
TAB 3 - Inst Loop  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
TAB 4 - Inst Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Oscillators   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 22

Oscillator Parameters (Front Panel)   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Additional Oscillator Parameters (Display Menu)   . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
TAB 1 - Osc Tune   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
TAB 2 Osc Shape   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
TAB 3 - Osc Misc  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
TAB 4 - Osc Select   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

CALIFORNIA PROP 65 WARNING 

This product may expose you to chemicals including BPA, which is known to the State of California 

to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. Though indepen-dent laboratory 

testing has certified that our products are several orders of magnitude below safe limits, it is our 

responsibility to alert you to this fact and direct you to: https://www.p65warnings.ca.gov for more 

information.

Tested฀to฀Comply

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Summary of Contents for Prophet X

Page 1: ...Samples Plus Synthesis Hybrid Synthesizer ...

Page 2: ...User s Guide Version 1 3 Feb 2021 Sequential LLC 1527 Stockton Street 3rd Floor San Francisco CA 94133 USA 2019 Sequential LLC www sequential com ...

Page 3: ...ate 5 Creating a Program from Scratch 7 Saving a Program 7 Canceling Save 8 Working with Stacked or Split Programs 9 Exploring the Prophet X 13 Chapter 2 Prophet X Controls 14 Sample Playback 15 Sample Playback Parameters Front Panel 16 Additional Sample Playback Parameters Display Menus 18 TAB 1 Inst Tune 18 TAB 2 Inst Misc 19 TAB 3 Inst Loop 20 TAB 4 Inst Edit 21 Oscillators 22 Oscillator Parame...

Page 4: ...us 52 TAB 1 LFO Shape 52 TAB 2 LFO Control 53 TAB 3 LFO Dest 54 Modulation 55 Modulation Parameters Front Panel 56 Modulation Examples 56 Effects 58 Effects Parameters Front Panel 60 Arpeggiator 62 Arpgeggiator Parameters Front Panel 63 Additional Arpeggiator Parameters Display Menus 64 Clock Parameters 65 Sequencer 66 Editing a Sequence 68 Sequencer Parameters Front Panel 69 Additional Sequencer ...

Page 5: ...ode 112 A Final Word 113 Chapter 4 Connections Setups 114 Rear Panel Connections 114 Using USB 116 Calibrating the Prophet X 117 Calibrating the Filters 117 Calibrating the Pitch and Mod Wheels 117 Calibrating the Touch Sliders 117 Resetting the Global Parameters 118 Importing Programs and Banks 120 Formatting a USB Flash Drive 121 Importing Add On Samples Instruments 121 Updating the Prophet X OS...

Page 6: ...dcast or similar finished content creation and production use 8Dio allows you to use any of the Samples for commercial recordings without paying any additional license fees or providing source attribution to 8Dio Inc This license expressly forbids any inclusion of the Samples into any other hardware device or in any virtual instrument or library of any kind without our express written consent This...

Page 7: ......

Page 8: ... By combining synthesis and sample playback you can create an almost infinite variety of unique sounds We ve designed the Prophet X to be as easy to use as possible with its essential sound shaping controls within easy reach on its front panel Additional functionality resides in its three displays This chapter of your user s guide provides a brief overview of such essential tasks as how to choose ...

Page 9: ...8 in each bank Bank and Program controls Each of the factory presets has interesting and useful modulation functions programmed into Slider 1 and 2 and the Mod wheel While you re trying out the factory sounds play with these performance controls and listen how the sound changes Each preset also has a pre programmed sequence To hear it press the play button in the seq section Using the Main Display...

Page 10: ... select the bank you want 2 Turn the program knob to select a program within that bank Editing Programs Because the majority of the sound shaping controls of the Prophet X appear on its front panel editing an existing program is simple turn a knob and listen to its effect Keep turning knobs and pressing buttons If you like what you ve created save the program See Saving a Program on page 7 Any edi...

Page 11: ...gle oscillator as its basis To recall the basic program 1 Press the global button 2 Use soft knob 1 to select basic program in the display menu 3 Press soft button 1 write now The current sound settings are reset to the basic program 4 Press the global button again to return to normal operation From here you can begin creating your own sound using the basic program as a starting point You can also...

Page 12: ...ou really want to overwrite it To evaluate a program before you overwrite it 1 Get ready to save by pressing the save load button It starts flashing 2 Press the compare button Its LED lights up 3 Use the bank and program knobs 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 press the compare butt...

Page 13: ... turn on Stack mode If it s not currently lit press the stack button The button becomes lit The program on Layer B is stacked with the program on Layer A Polyphony is halved since two voices are used per note To turn off Stack mode If it s currently lit press the stack button The button becomes unlit Only the program on Layer A is heard To edit Layer B 1 Press the edit layer b button Layer B editi...

Page 14: ...w notes to confirm that the split is where you want it 4 If you want to re set the split to a different note disable split by press ing the split button again then repeat steps 1 and 2 You can also press the edit b layer button and set the split point with Soft Knob 4 To create exactly the kind of split you want sometimes you may need to swap the sounds on Layer A and B To swap Layer A and Layer B...

Page 15: ...yback portion of the Prophet X provides 150 GB of factory installed 16 bit 48 kHz multi sampled instruments You can scroll through the instruments using the type and instrument knobs next to the display in the sample playback section You can add an additional 50 GB of samples by purchasing sample libraries or importing your own User created samples will be supported in a future software release Yo...

Page 16: ... all instruments have a pre defined loop Toggling Loop on in an instrument without a pre defined loop creates a loop that stretches from the instru ment s start to its end i e the entire length of the sample The Prophet X recognizes sustain loops only Release loops are not supported Size Adjusts the size of the looped portion of the instrument sample by moving both its loop start and loop end poin...

Page 17: ...urn the knob counter clockwise to cut high frequencies Key Follow On Off Turns pitch tracking on and off for an instrument When off playing higher or lower notes on the keyboard will not change the pitch of an instrument This is useful for sound effects and percus sion where you may not want pitch shifting to occur TAB 2 Inst Misc STRETCH KEY Stretch Key Glide Rate Boost LPF Bypass BOOST 0dB 0 D3 ...

Page 18: ...ythmic material that you wish to synchronize to the sequencer and arpeggiator Edit Sample On Off If you have edited a sample s start end or loop size or center turning off edit sample will temporarily ignore the edits and play the sample in its original unmodified state Sample Vel On Off Toggles velocity sensitivity and velocity based multi sample switching on or off for the selected instrument Tu...

Page 19: ... you trigger them To audition the oscillators 1 Press the global button 2 Use Soft Knob 1 to navigate to the basic program command then press Soft Key 1 write now 3 In the basic program only Oscillator 1 is audible The level of Oscil lator 2 is set to zero and Instruments 1 and 2 do not have an instrument selected 4 In the oscillators section press the shape button to step through the various wave...

Page 20: ...nt interval than Oscillator 2 Oscillator 1 Oscillator 2 Oscillator 1 synced to Oscillator 2 Oscillator hard sync Try using the auxiliary envelope to sweep the pitch of Oscillator 1 when it is synced to generate the classic hard edged sync sound Slop 1 2 0 127 Adds randomized detuning to the oscillators to emulate the tuning instability of vintage analog oscillators This tuning instability is a big...

Page 21: ... waveforms especially when the frequency of Oscil lator 1 is set to a different interval than Oscillator 2 Wave Reset Off On In the osc1 shape tab in the display When Wave Reset is off the Prophet X oscillators are free running That is the oscillators are running whether a note is being gated on or not When the amplifier envelope is set for a fast attack this can cause a soft but detectable pop or...

Page 22: ... 0 127 Sets the output level of Oscillator 2 Additional Mixer Parameters Display Menu Additional Mixer parameters are accessible through the menus in the main display To see these menus adjust any control in mixer section of the front panel TAB 1 Mixer INST 1 LEVEL Inst 1 Level Osc 1 Level Inst 2 Level Osc2Level INST 2 LEVEL 60 20 20 60 OSC2 LEVEL OSC1 LEVEL Env Amt Mixer LPF Misc Panning Hack Dec...

Page 23: ...can be varied over time using the Filter Envelope to produce more dynamic animated timbres The Prophet X s filter is a classic 4 pole resonant low pass filter that can self oscillate generate a sine wave when resonance is set to its maximum In addition when used in 8 voice mode the Prophet X filter has a stereo signal path This results in a noticeable increase in richness and depth This also gives...

Page 24: ...ayed on the keyboard the more the filter opens This is useful for adding brightness to a sound as higher notes are played which is typically how acoustic instruments behave When set to zero keyboard filter tracking is off meaning that filter frequency is unaffected by playing higher or lower notes on the keyboard When set to 127 the filter will track in half step increments which can be useful if ...

Page 25: ...f frequency Frequencies are reduced from the top down cutting the high frequencies and passing the low frequencies hence the name low pass Resonance 0 255 Emphasizes a narrow band of frequencies around the cutoff frequency High levels of resonance can cause the filter to self oscillate and generate its own pitch Drive 0 127 Increases signal input to the filter boosting volume and adding harmonic s...

Page 26: ...e The Prophet X filter has a dedicated 5 stage envelope generator ADSR plus delay The Filter Envelope is used to shape the harmonic charac teristics of a synthesized sound by giving you filtering control over its attack decay sustain and release stages This is one of the most important aspects of designing a sound Without an envelope the filters would be completely static They would stay open or c...

Page 27: ... Envelope often work in conjunction with the Filter Envelope controlling how the filter opens and closes and the Amplifier Envelope controlling how the Amplifier controls the overall volume shape of the sounds you create To learn more about the Amplifier Envelope see page 42 Envelope Parameters Front Panel Attack 0 127 Sets the attack time of the envelope The higher the setting the slower the atta...

Page 28: ...held on the keyboard Release 0 127 Sets the release time of the envelope This controls how quickly a sound dies out after a note is released TAB 2 VCF Env Amount Amt 71 Amount Delay Vel On Off Env Repeat Vel On Off On Rept Off Del 0 LP Filter LPF Misc VCF Env Amt VCFADSR Env Amount 127 127 Sets the amount of modulation from the filter envelope to the filter s cutoff frequency Any setting above zero m...

Page 29: ... attack no sustain and very little decay or release But again they are both fundamentally white noise Amplifier Envelope attack decay sustain release amplitude time note off note on delay A typical 5 stage DADSR envelope Amplifier Envelope Parameters Front Panel Attack 0 127 Sets the attack time of the envelope The higher the setting the slower the attack time and the longer it takes for a sound t...

Page 30: ...e longer the decay Percussive sounds such as synth bass typi cally have shorter decays Sustain 0 127 Sets the sustain level of the envelope The higher the setting the louder the sustained portion of the sound will be The sound will stay at this level for as long as a note is held on the keyboard Release 0 127 Sets the release time of the envelope This controls how quickly a sound dies out after a ...

Page 31: ... modulation that varies over time according to the shape of the envelope Routing an envelope to an oscil lator s frequency for example causes the oscillator s pitch to rise and fall according to the contour of the envelope As with all of the Prophet X s envelopes there are controls for modulating the envelope amount using keyboard velocity The Auxiliary Envelopes can be routed to any of the modula...

Page 32: ...e Sustain 0 127 Sets the sustain level of the envelope Release 0 127 Sets the release time of the envelope TAB 2 Env Amount Amt 0 Attack Delay Decay Env Repeat Vel On Off On Rept Off Del 0 Env3 Dest LPF Misc Env3 Amt Env3ADSR Amount 0 127 Sets the amount of modulation from the envelope to the selected destination Velocity On Off On Off Allows key velocity to influence how much modulation is applied ...

Page 33: ...gle wave this makes it possible to generate a natural sounding vibrato that goes alternately sharp and flat in equal amounts on either side of a center frequency Random also known as sample and hold generates a series of random values each held for the duration of one cycle The square wave sawtooth and reverse sawtooth generate only posi tive values In the case of the square wave this makes it pos...

Page 34: ... modulation amount TAB 2 LFO Control SLEW RATE Slew Rate Wave Reset Phase LFO Dest PHASE 0 0 WAVE RESET LFO Control LFOShape Slew Rate 0 127 Slew rate is defined as the maximum possible rate of change of a signal The effect of the Slew Rate control is most obviously heard on Pulse and Random shapes that normally change state virtually instantaneously As Slew Rate increases those changes are drawn ...

Page 35: ...control voltage to another in order to change the way the targeted parameter behaves Destination Edit Mod 1 Source Amount Sort Source SlotSort Mod 1 Mod 2 Mod 3 Mod4 Slider 1 Slider 2 Aftertouch Mod Wheel 60 35 25 80 Cutoff Osc1 Shape Drive LFO1 Amt Sort Dest The Modulation Matrix The concept is simple 1 Choose a source 2 Choose a destination 3 Set an amount The amount can either be positive or neg...

Page 36: ...e amount with the mod wheel 2 In the modulation section press the assign source button Use soft knob 1 to scroll to Mod Slot 1 if it s not already displayed 3 Use soft knob 2 to scroll through the various mod sources and choose mod wheel As a shortcut you can hold down the source button and move the mod wheel 4 Use soft knob 3 to set the amount to 30 5 Use soft knob 4 to scroll through the various...

Page 37: ...nized to the arpeggiator sequencer or MIDI clock for repeats that occur on the beat EFFECT 1 EFFECT 2 SELECT 1 2 The Effects section Effects Stereo Delay classic digital delay BBD Delay vintage bucket brigade emulation Chorus vintage chorus Flanger vintage through zero flanger Phaser vintage 6 stage phaser HP Filter high pass filter Distortion digital distortion analog emulation Rotating Speaker v...

Page 38: ...he 1 second limit For example if the BPM is set to 60 and Delay Time Parameter 1 is set to Half the expected delay time would be 2 seconds The actual delay time will be 1 second i e 2 seconds divided by 2 Parameter 1 Variable depending on the effect This knob adjusts parameter 1 for the chosen effect Each effect has three adjustable parameters which differ depending on the effect Parameter 2 Varia...

Page 39: ...s playing the sequencer is disabled The Clock and Arpeggiator controls To use the arpeggiator 1 Press the arpeggiator on off switch to turn it on 2 Hold down one or more notes on the keyboard The arpeggiator plays them according to the settings you ve chosen 3 To latch arpeggiation on so that you don t have to continuously hold down notes press the hold button 4 In the display menu adjust settings...

Page 40: ... notes one and two octaves above them arpeggiate Repeats 1 2 3 Set to 1 each note in the arpeggio plays once Set to 2 each note in the arpeggio plays twice Set to 3 each note in the arpeg gio plays three times Clock Parameters BPM 30 250 Sets the tempo for the arpeggiator in BPM beats per minute The tap tempo LED flashes at the BPM rate When lfo sync is enabled on the low frequency oscillator or c...

Page 41: ...ing the appropri ate mode for these behaviors CHORD NOTE Chord Note Note Step Velocity STEP 1 C5 100 1 VELOCITY NOTE Set Length Tie Rest The Sequencer menu To program a sequence 1 Press the record button 2 Perform the sequence on the keyboard The display indicates the current step note and velocity as you play You can also use the display to create edit the sequence step by step When recording a c...

Page 42: ...want to edit If a track step has no note recorded on it the velocity parameter will say Rest 4 Use Soft Knob 3 note to change the note C0 G10 Turn the knob fully clockwise to add a tie Alternatively press a key on the keyboard to enter the note quickly along with the velocity at which you play it 5 To edit a note s velocity numerically use Soft Knob 4 velocity to enter a velocity value 1 127 Turni...

Page 43: ...te Qtr BPM Quarter note 8th BPM x 2 Eighth note 8th Half BPM x 2 Eighth note half swing timing 8th Swing BPM x 2 Eighth note full swing timing 8th Trip BPM x 3 Eighth note triplets 16th BPM x 4 Sixteenth note 16th Half BPM x 4 Sixteenth note half swing timing 16th Swing BPM x 4 Sixteenth note full swing timing 16th Trip BPM x 6 Sixteenth note triplets 32nd BPM x 8 Thirty second note 32nd Trip BPM ...

Page 44: ...Unison has another useful feature chord memory Instead of assigning voices to a single note hold down a chord on the keyboard and press the unison button The Prophet X memorizes the notes of the chord Single notes played on the keyboard will then trigger all notes of the stored chord trans posing them as you play up or down the keyboard Try using this feature to create powerful chord stabs If you ...

Page 45: ...ge Up Key Mode Range Down Split Point RANGE DOWN 2 SPLIT POINT Low 2 KEY MODE Keyboard Glide Rate Unison Glide RANGE UP C3 Misc Parameters button Master Volume Program Volume The master output level of the Prophet X is controlled by the front panel master volume knob In addition the volume of an individual program can be set with the prog volume parameter in the amp envelope menu This is useful fo...

Page 46: ...s turned on and off using the glide switch but the rate must also be set If the glide button is on but rate is set to 0 glide has no effect Glide can be set individually for each oscillator and if sample stretch see Using Sample Stretch on page 101 is enabled instruments 1 and or 2 If sample stretch is not enabled for a sampled instrument Glide can t be used with that instrument Instr 1 Instr 2 Pr...

Page 47: ...y a series of notes up and down the keyboard to hear the effect Glide On Glide Mode GLIDE MODE Fixed Rate Keyboard Glide Rate Unison Glide GLIDE ON Choosing the Glide mode 16 Voice Mode The Prophet X can operate in either 8 voice or 16 voice mode In many ways the synth is at its best in 8 voice mode because in 8 voice mode the Prophet X has a stereo signal path with stereo filters This results in ...

Page 48: ...to hear the effect Modulation Wheel The mod wheel controls the amount of modulation for any program that uses it as a modulation source This allows you to perform modulation in real time by moving the wheel This is a great way to add expressiveness to a sound or performance by using it to control vibrato filter effects and potentially a lot more To choose a modulation destination for the Mod wheel...

Page 49: ...r 1 Slider 2 Aftertouch Mod Wheel 60 35 25 80 Cutoff Osc1 Shape Drive LFO1 Amt Sort Dest To assign a slider to a mod destination 1 On the front panel modulation section press and hold the assign source button 2 Touch slider 1 The mod matrix appears in the display and slider 1 position is assigned to an available modulation slot 3 Turn Soft Knob 4 destination to choose a modulation destination 4 Tur...

Page 50: ...et up List 2 List 3 and List 4 if you want 13 The Lists that you have just created all reside in Set 1 If you want turn Soft Knob 4 to Set 2 and repeat the entire process to create another 4 lists that will then reside in List 2 You can continue doing this for all 10 sets if you want Play lists simply point to stored Factory or User programs Editing and saving a program changes that program in mem...

Page 51: ...n that provides insight into the process You ll start with the Basic Program then learn how to choose an appro priate oscillator waveshape how to use the filter how to use the enve lopes and how to use Unison to fatten things up In the Basic Program only Oscillator 1 is audible Its waveshape is set to sawtooth and its level is 127 in the mixer Oscillator 2 level is set to zero and Instrument 1 and...

Page 52: ...strike a note on the keyboard as you turn the Filter Enve lope s decay knob clockwise and counterclockwise Notice how it changes the sound as the note decays faster or slower Be aware that the Filter Envelope and Amplifier Envelope work in conjunction with the Filter Envelope controlling how the filter opens and closes and the Amplifier Envelope controlling the overall volume shape To learn more a...

Page 53: ...velope 3 and set its destination to osc2 freq This routes envelope 3 to modify osc 2 pitch according to its ADSR attack decay sustain release settings This will create the slight pitch variation at the beginning of the sound the pitch blip You can quickly assign the mod destination for Envelope 3 by holding down the envelope s selector button and turning the Oscillator 2 frequency knob This will a...

Page 54: ...ess Soft Button 1 write now As a shortcut hold down the front panel transpose down button and press the hold button 3 In the mixer turn up Oscillator 2 to 127 Osc 1 is already at 127 4 In the oscillators section set both oscillators to sawtooth 5 Enable the sync 2 1 button See Sync 2 1 on page 24 for an explanation of phase sync 6 Set the pitch of Oscillator 1 to C3 This will intensify the sync ef...

Page 55: ...ting Movement with Pulse Width Modulation Another essential technique is to use an LFO to modulate the pulse width of the oscillator waveforms This adds a great deal of movement and thickness and has long been used to create string pads First set up a simple square wave sound To create a basic string sound 1 Recall the Basic Program See previous examples if necessary 2 In the Mixer turn up Oscilla...

Page 56: ...o scroll through the various mod destinations and choose cutoff l 6 Now do the same for LFO 3 and the right filter channel Use soft knob 1 to scroll to the next available mod slot 7 Use soft knob 2 to scroll through the various mod sources and choose lfo 3 8 Use soft knob 3 to set the amount to 20 9 Use soft knob 4 to scroll through the various mod destinations and choose cutoff r 10 Hold a chord ...

Page 57: ...oscillators and both samples to each other in differ ent configurations The harmonic possibilities of FM are immense Using Sampled Instruments The internal sample library gives you a lot of variety to work with when you re designing sounds In some cases you may want to use the instru ments as is and just add effects as necessary In other cases you may want to layer two different instruments to cre...

Page 58: ...he instruments for clarity Bypassing the Low pass Filter on Sampled Instruments By default sampled instrument are routed through the low pass filter so that you can use it to shape their sound In some cases however you many not want to filter an instrument so that you can sonically separate it from a second instrument or from sounds created with the oscillators This is a great way to combine synth...

Page 59: ...d since they act like oscillators You can create single cycle waveforms out of existing samples by changing their loop size and making them as short as possible More on this later Included in the internal sample library are all of the single cycle wave forms from the classic Sequential Prophet VS synthesizer from the 1980s These waveforms are found in the synth instrument category and are called v...

Page 60: ... to 69 10 Play some chords The sound is reminiscent of the Prophet VS minus the joystick Manipulating Samples and Loops Another way to create something new from an existing instrument is to edit the sample itself by changing its sample start end loop attributes or reversing it This applies the changes to all samples in the instrument Not all samples in the internal library are looped But you can a...

Page 61: ...e Cycle Waveform Now lets manipulate the loop and turn it into a waveform similar to the Prophet VS waveforms we worked with earlier When you are creating loops there are three different loop modes Regu lar Pitched and Sync Pitched mode is most appropriate for creating single cycle type loops because the smallest loop setting in this mode is 32 samples and the loop size is always a multiple of the...

Page 62: ...ps Seamlessly looping samples requires that you find an area in the sample where the volume and harmonic content remains relatively consistent Then you have to adjust the loop size and loop center to use that area If the loop is too short it can make an instrument sound static If it s too long there may be too much change in its loudness or harmonic content over the duration of the loop It most ca...

Page 63: ... wide stereo spread 4 In the oscillators section set slop 1 2 to 15 to add a little analog style oscillator drift 5 In the filter section set cutoff to 12 resonance to 0 and drive to 86 6 In the filter envelope section set the env amount to 80 the attack to 11 decay to 65 sustain to 0 and release to 35 7 Enable filter touch sensitivity by pressing and enabling the velocity button 8 In the amp enve...

Page 64: ... range of the instrument notes from low to high are panned progressively left to right To simulate a stereo spread in 16 voice mode 1 Recall a program that would benefit from 16 voice polyphony such as a piano 2 In the modulation section press the assign source button Use soft knob 1 to scroll to the first available mod slot 3 Use soft knob 2 to scroll through the various mod sources and choose dc...

Page 65: ...e Using USB on page 116 for more information 4 5 6 7 11 VOLUME 8 PEDAL CV MAIN A OUTPUT 9 10 B OUTPUT Prophet X Rear Panel 4 MIDI In Out and Thru Standard 5 pin MIDI DIN connectors 5 Sequencer 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 ar...

Page 66: ...hile a program has the Prophet X port open you may have to resync That usually means going to the Prophet X Keyboard Properties in the Windows Device Manager under Sound video and game control lers and clicking OK If Prophet X is no longer listed in the Device Manager power the Prophet X down and back up again while it is connected via USB It should be detected on power up Calibrating the Prophet ...

Page 67: ...acks on their rear panels 2 On both synthesizers press the global button and use soft knob 1 to select midi sysex cable then use Soft Knob 3 to choose midi 3 On the Prophet X that you want to send the programs to press the global button again to disable it 4 On the Prophet X that you want to send the programs from in the global menu use soft knob 1 to select dump prog dump bank or dump all banks d...

Page 68: ...mple Playback menu To see samples and instruments added to the user group press and hold the group button then turn the type knob in the Sample Playback section To import additional samples 1 If you haven t done so already format a USB 3 0 flash drive for use with the Prophet X See Formatting a USB Flash Drive on page 120 2 Download the samples instruments onto the USB flash drive 3 Insert the USB...

Page 69: ...he selected input the arpeggiator and sequencer will not function 5 MIDI Clock Cable MIDI Port USB Sets the port MIDI or USB by which MIDI clock is received 6 MIDI Param Send Off CC NRPN Changes to the values of front panel controls are transmitted via MIDI as Non registered Parameter Number NRPN controllers or as Continuous Controllers CC Trans mission of parameters can also be turned off See App...

Page 70: ...ive changes are relative to the stored setting In Rela tive 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 a value range of 0 to 255 Let s say the physical position of the Resonance pot is the equivalent of a value of 100 If you switch to a program th...

Page 71: ...encer 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 23 Sustain Polarity Normal Reversed There are two types of momentary footswitches normally open and normally closed Either type can be used with the Sustain switch input This setting allows you to accommodate both models in ca...

Page 72: ...34 Dump Current Bank Transmits the current bank in SysEx format via the selected MIDI port See MIDI Sysex Cable on page 123 Dumped banks will load back into the same location in memory when imported back into the synth via MIDI 35 Dump All Banks Transmits all four User Banks and Play Lists in SysEx format via the selected MIDI port See MIDI Sysex Cable on page 123 Dumped banks will load back into ...

Page 73: ...k Env All Attack Env LPF Decay Env VCA Decay Env 3 Decay Env 4 Decay Env All Decay Env LPF Release Appendix B Modulation Destinations Off Inst 1 Freq Inst 2 Freq Inst 1 Start Inst 2 Start Inst 1 End Inst 2 End Inst 1 Size Inst 2 Size Inst 1 Center Inst 2 Center Osc 1 Freq Osc 2 Freq Osc All Freq Osc 1 Shape Osc 2 Shape OscAll Shape Osc Slop Inst 1 Level Inst 2 Level Osc 1 Level Osc 2 Level Osc All...

Page 74: ...ormances of early Baroque music C 1 1 260 Hz 5 1 4 Tone Equal Temperament 24 notes per octave equally spaced 24root2 intervals Mexican composer Julian Carillo used this for custom built pianos in the early 20th century 6 19 Tone Equal Temperament 19 notes per octave 19root2 offering better thirds than 12 ET a better overall compromise if you can figure out the keyboard patterns 7 31 Tone Equal Tem...

Page 75: ...5 4 4 3 45 32 3 2 8 5 5 3 16 9 15 8 15 Yamaha Just Minor C Similar to Yamaha s preset Just Major the Just Minor gives preferential treatment to minor thirds on the sharps and has a good fifth relative to the second C 1 1 261 625 1 1 25 24 10 9 6 5 5 4 4 3 45 32 3 2 8 5 5 3 16 9 15 8 16 Harry Partch 11 Limit 43 Note Just Intonation One of the pioneers of modern microtonal composition Partch built a...

Page 76: ...het X is receiving MIDI clock If there is a ground hum in the audio output USB can cause ground loops so try to resolve any grounding issues between the computer and the Prophet X Or use MIDI which is opto isolated If the Prophet X is behaving erratically This is almost always caused by a MIDI feedback loop Make sure that any MIDI Thru functionality is turned off on the MIDI interface hard ware or...

Page 77: ...rials and or workmanship for 1 year from the date of purchase Please register your product online at www sequential com to establish the date of purchase This is not a requirement for warranty service but it will help expedite the process Please contact support sequential com to determine the best course of action for getting your Prophet X repaired For your own protection as well as ours please d...

Page 78: ...nsmission since they cover the complete range of all parameters while CCs are limited to a range of 128 MIDI Param Receive Off CC NRPN Sets the method by which parameter changes are received via MIDI As with transmission NRPNs are the preferred method MIDI Control Off On When set to On the synth will respond to MIDI controllers including pitch wheel mod wheel pedal and volume MIDI Prog Enable Off ...

Page 79: ...ges Status Second Third Description 1000 nnnn 0kkkkkkk 0000000 Note Off 1001 nnnn 0kkkkkkk 0vvvvvvv Note On 1011 nnnn 0vvvvvvv 0vvvvvvv Control Change see Transmitted Controller Messages 1100 nnnn 0ppppppp Program change 0 127 for Programs 00 128 within current Bank 1101 nnnn 0vvvvvvv Channel Pressure 1110 nnnn 0vvvvvvv 0vvvvvvv Pitch Bend LS Byte then MS Byte Notes 0kkkkkkk Note number 0 127 nnnn...

Page 80: ... Osc 2 Shape Mod 91 Osc2Pan 92 OscSlop 93 Hack 94 Decimate 102 Filter Frequency 103 Resonance 104 Filter Key Amount 105 Filter Drive 106 LowpassStereoSplit 116 Unison On Off 117 Unison Detune 118 Unison Mode NRPN Messages The Non Registered Parameter Number NRPN MIDI messages are used to transmit and receive both global and program parameters They are transmitted when MIDI Parameter Send is set to...

Page 81: ...orresponding NRPN number when sent received individually NRPN Range Description 4140 0 24 Master Coarse Tune 4141 0 50 Master Fine Tune 4142 0 16 MIDI Channel 0 All 4143 0 4 MIDI Clock Mode 0 Off 1 Master 2 Slave 3 Slave Thru 4144 0 1 MIDI Clock Cable 0 MIDI Port 1 USB 4145 0 2 MIDI Param Send 0 NRPN 1 CC 2 Off 4102 0 2 MIDI Param Receive 0 NRPN 1 CC 2 Off 4103 0 1 MIDI Control Enable 0 Off 1 On 4...

Page 82: ...GlideRate 0 127 141 2189 Osc1NoteReset 0 1 142 2190 Osc1KeyOnOff 0 1 143 2191 Osc1Pan 0 127 148 2196 Osc2Freq 0 120 149 2197 Osc2FineFreq 0 100 150 2198 Osc2Level 0 127 NRPN Layer A NRPN Layer B Value De scrip tion 151 2199 Osc2Shape 0 4 152 2200 Osc2ShapeMod 0 127 153 2201 Osc2GlideRate 0 127 154 2202 Osc2NoteReset 0 1 155 2203 Osc2KeyOnOff 0 1 156 2204 Osc2Pan 0 127 161 2209 OscSlop 0 127 162 22...

Page 83: ... 311 2359 Mod12Source 0 28 312 2360 Mod13Source 0 28 313 2361 Mod14Source 0 28 314 2362 Mod15Source 0 28 315 2363 Mod16Source 0 28 316 2364 Mod1Amt 0 254 317 2365 Mod2Amt 0 254 318 2366 Mod3Amt 0 254 319 2367 Mod4Amt 0 254 320 2368 Mod5Amt 0 254 321 2369 Mod6Amt 0 254 322 2370 Mod7Amt 0 254 323 2371 Mod8Amt 0 254 324 2372 Mod9Amt 0 254 325 2373 Mod10Amt 0 254 326 2374 Mod11Amt 0 254 NRPN Layer A N...

Page 84: ...0011 0000 Prophet X ID Family LS 0000 0001 Family MS 0000 0000 Family Member LS 0000 0000 Family Member MS 0000 nnnn Main OS Version High Byte 0000 nnnn Main OS Version Middle Byte 0000 nnnn Main OS Version Low Byte 1111 0111 End of Exclusive EOX Request Program Dump Status Description 1111 0000 System Exclusive SysEx 0000 0001 DSI ID 0011 0000 Prophet X ID 0000 0101 Request Program Transmit 0000 ...

Page 85: ... 0011 0000 Prophet X ID 0000 0011 Edit Buffer Data 0vvv vvvv 4096 bytes expanded to 4683 MIDI bytes in packed MS bit format 1111 0111 End of Exclusive EOX Playlist Data Dump Value Description 1111 0000 System Exclusive SysEx 0000 0001 DSI ID 0011 0000 Prophet X ID 0101 1100 Playlist Dump 0vvv vvvv 320 bytes for playlist data 1111 0000 End of Exclusive EOX Global Parameters Data Dump Value Descript...

Page 86: ...nput Data Packed MIDI data 1 A7 A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 A0 1 00 G7 F7 E7 D7 C7 B7 A7 2 B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0 2 00 A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 A0 3 C7 C6 C5 C4 C3 C2 C1 C0 3 00 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0 4 D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 4 00 C6 C5 C4 C3 C2 C1 C0 5 E7 E6 E5 E4 E3 E2 E1 E0 5 00 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 6 F7 F6 F5 F4 F3 F2 F1 F0 6 00 E6 E5 E4 E3 E2 E1 E0 7 G7 G6 G5 G4 G3 G2 G1 G0 7 00 F6 F5 F4 F3 F2 F1 F0 8 00 G6 G...

Page 87: ...158 159 Appendix E MIDI Implementation Sequential Prophet X User s Guide Appendix E MIDI Implementation ...

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