Prophet VS Tech Trivia

Prophet VS Tech Trivia

6 January, 2009 | 1.00PM

• Written by: francispreve
• Filed under: Music News:

Dave Smith is best known for creating the Prophet 5 synth, Pro-FX (the first programmable multi-effects unit), and well, the invention of MIDI itself.

But his contributions to synthesis extend far beyond those three achievements.

For example, in the mid-’80s, Dave followed up the original all-analog Prophets with an instrument called the Prophet VS.

The VS was extremely advanced for its time, combining four digital oscillators – each capable of a wide range of harmonic spectra – with analog filters and a unique new way to control the sound in real-time: a joystick.

Much of the VS technology later found its way into Korg’s legendary Wavestation, which Dave also had a hand in developing.

So when we stumbled across this item at Synthtopia, we thought it would be a valuable resource for new producers who want to learn a bit more about the history of our craft.

This YouTube video, courtesy of Retrosound, nicely captures the sound of the original VS.

If you like what you hear, then you should definitely check out the modern versions of these instruments, the Evolver series.

This series includes the original Evolver, the mid-range Mono Evolver, and the flagship Poly Evolver, which is currently used by artists ranging from BT to Wolfgang Gartner.

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