Quadruple quadruple your refreshment, quadruple quadruple your enjoyment… sorry, I started quoting old Doublemint Gum jingles. As expected, Dave Smith has released his Tetra (”Tetr4″ in the l33t speak on the case). The name says it all: the Tetra takes the popular Mopho synth and packs four of them into a single, compact case. The Mopho was featured in the CDM Winter Guide and was one of the favorite reader products of 2008. Its strength is that it’s a great-sounding synth in a small box with all the basic analog goodness. The Tetra simply takes that design and squeezes four of them into a box. That’s four voices, each with two oscillators (which in turn come with sub-octave generators), one Curtis low-pass filter, and feedback loop per voice. You also get the step sequencer and arpeggiator features.

The Tetra also shares a name with the badass pirate version of the Princess Zelda from recent Nintendo games.

Now, the Tetra, like the Mopho, still remains a terrific choice for people wanting some simple analog goodness. But as noted in the Winter Guide, Dave Smith still has some tough competition …from Dave Smith. The Evolver’s digital oscillators may not appeal to analog purists, but they allow Frequency Modulation and Ring Modulation effects. And the Evolver has a digital highpass filter. Of course, the Evolver now has to stand up to the Tetra’s additional voices, which enable routings that weren’t possible before. But I’m hoping increased Mopho and Tetra demand may lead to some cheap used Evolvers on the market; I badly want one. Even from Dave Smith direct, at US$599 on sale I think the Evolver is still worth a look, even if it loses on voice count and doesn’t have those cool, accessible front-panel controls.

The Tetra is priced at US$799 direct from Dave Smith, or at your local reseller. And Evolver comments aside, it’ll clearly be the synth to beat – it’s a pretty amazing investment in an analog synth for $800, and it’s small enough to toss in a backpack – no flight case needed. You can route audio input into it with feedback. And the design eschews the psychedelic looks of the Mopho for a more grown-up, handsome look. Correction: The Tetra seems to lose the audio in present on the Mopho – one reason the Evolver and Mopho are still strong alternatives. You do keep the feedback routing, but there’s no audio in. (Thanks, mcpepe in comments – so it’s not quite like having four Mopho’s in one case; they had to cut something!)

I think Dave Smith’s work has a reputation for being favored by analog snobs – you know who you are. But it’s clear that these make nice hardware synths for computer fans, too, especially thanks to its compact size. If you pick one up, readers, let us know how it goes and how you use it.

Dave Smith Tetra

…and the oldie but goodie: Dave Smith Evolver (now, could we have a Quadvolver, perhaps?)

Roger Linn, father of the modern drum machine and creator of some of its greatest models (including the MPC60 and MPC3000), really is working on a new generation. I’ve seen some of that design work, and I’m confident it’ll ship in some form. But announced yesterday, that shipment won’t happen third quarter this year. Also, it seems that, while this was always a LinnDrum and not a SmithDrum, the product is tending even further toward the Roger Linn side and not so much the Dave Smith side – especially with Dave Smith’s own synth business going great guns.

I will say, I prefer a few months’ delay with fewer compromises (or in this case, maybe a lower price). The big names in the industry have such firm release dates that often some significant functionality slips instead of the ship target. Part of the reason a lot of people don’t talk about projects before they’re done really isn’t competitive secrecy – it’s because the evolution of a hardware design can be unpredictable.

But so you can decide for yourself, here’s the published note from Roger:

Update – July 9, 2009:

We’re still hard at work but regrettably won’t be able to meet our earlier estimate of a 3rd-quarter 2009 ship date. The recent changes in the economy have caused us to rethink our design, which had become too expensive. One problem is that Dave’s customers and my customers had different views of what the product should be, so we had been working on a more elaborate design that we thought would please them both. Then the economy tanked. Oops. The other issue is that Dave and his team have been having such success with their analog synths that they’ve been spreading themselves pretty thin trying to work on both projects.

So given these circumstances, we’d prefer not to state another release date estimate at this time, but when we do we promise to post it here along with any other information we’re able to release. Also, given that Dave and his team have their hands pretty full and that a beat-oriented product is more of a Roger product anyway, we’ll probably be selling it through Roger Linn Design instead of from both companies as we had previously considered.

I’d personally love to tell everybody all the details of the product design, features and price as we did with our initial designs of the product, but there’s that pesky problem of keeping the information from our competitors. So we need to keep tight-lipped for now and regrettably can’t answer any questions. Thanks also to those who have kindly asked to place advance orders. However, we don’t feel it’s right to accept orders until we are able to release the price or more information about the product.

And now I must get back to work. :)

- Roger

Advance Product Information: LinnDrum II

Ever wished you could pack the sonic goodness and programming power of a soft synth into a hardware box? Dreamed of software that lived in a road case and had the stability and power-on capability of your outboard gear? You’re certainly not alone. That meant many of us were intrigued when soft synth emulator house Arturia showed off the Origin, a DSP-based hardware box that put their emulations in a box that wasn’t a PC.

Dave Dri knows touring with gear, as the founder of Seque and a live electronic festival vet. We got his impressions from across the Pacific in Australia. He’s upfront with everything he loves and everything that annoys. To bring a different perspective to Planet CDM here, I’m pleased to welcome Dave as a guest.

An Origin Of Sorts

Founded in France in 1999, Arturia has gained a solid reputation for the quality of its emulations of classic analogue synthesizers. If the soft synth emulations of the classic Moog Minimoog and Yamaha CS-80 have made Arturia a name in the industry, the news of its development of a hardware DSP system made for enjoyable speculation and furious Google searches for videos, news and reviews. While units in Australia are somewhat scarce at present, an Origin was supplied for review by Musiclab in Brisbane, Australia. Where the initial review was for music press print media, there is so much more to this module that we can take a deeper look and share with the CDM community some of the issues and notable features of the Arturia Origin.

Man, Meet Machine

The initial impression of the unit is typical of any large synth module with a host of knobs and blinking lights. The Origin can be rack-mounted or run as a table-top unit, with supplied wooden ends screwing in for the all-important retro aesthetic. There have been comments about the time it takes the unit to boot up, which takes a while. Once you have booted, though, it’s a treat to use, and the LCD screen is both large and bright. As ever, first impressions gained by scrolling through the individual and multi presets give a feel for the possibilities and examples of programming inside the box. A range of usable bass and synth sounds nestle amongst the abstract sweeps and blips, showing plenty of sonic diversity. The Origin is, after all, billed as being “the most powerful synthesiser on the market”.

Origin is essentially a modular environment for programming custom synth modules with a collection of oscillators and filters. It draws upon Arturia’s stable of analog gear models, adding new, original content from the Arturia team. With those synth sounds now in a physical case, boasting external signal inputs and a three-layered step sequencer, the Origin is impressive on paper. Its sound is equally impressive, but one would expect no less from Arturia based on the quality of their software. The presets might attract the same “heard it all before” criticisms from anyone who has been around analog synths for a while, but that can be perhaps considered a complement to the analog modeling. One needs only to play up and down the range of notes of a Minimoog patch to realise that the coherency of the lower and higher notes is superior to lesser Virtual Analogue products. This is especially pronounced in the lower note ranges, though the manual goes into details about avoiding upper frequency aliasing and a “no names” criticism of some other “leading softsynth”. If you’re a soft synth developer, it might be you! Uh oh!

Get With The Program

The first issue that one is likely to run into is delving into the much-talked-about modular programming environment. Whereas the similarly modular Nord G2 includes robust programming environments in computer software for their hardware synth, Arturia have chosen to limit the Origin’s programming to be an entirely inside-the-box affair. Indeed, the USB port and supplied software are merely for archiving and transferring patches. Quite why this process takes such an excruciatingly long time is a mystery, but the lack of any ability to edit file names of archived patches is simply lazy programming. At the time of writing, Arturia haven’t replied to confirm if there is an editor on the way, but one would consider it likely that such a revision will be released with an OS update shortly.

Not that programming on the Origin is anything near impossible. Merely annoying. There are two modes to view the programming process, which amounts to dropping modules into slots and opening each module to connect to another. Frustratingly, there appears to be no way to intelligently “insert” modules into the signal path. This, in addition to no method of “swapping” modules in and out, slows down the rate of programming and limits the kind of creative and random experiments that make actual modular synthesis interesting. Similarly, deleting a module inline will break the signal path, and require re-patching. Despite these quirks, the process is relatively fun and the availability of up to 9 oscillator instances and 4 filter instances will surely yield some interesting results.

Ed.: This is one I’m definitely interested in following – I’d be willing to make some sacrifices for in-box programming, which is an impressive feature, especially with this modular structure. But these do sound like significant obstacles. Other folks want to chime in? -PK

These modules are sourced from the modeling of the Moog Minimoog, Yamaha CS-80, ARP 2600 and Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, as well as additional Arturia originals. Each has its distinctive quirks and allows for some interesting combinations, with features like self-oscillation on the Moog and the smooth response of the Jupiter filters. The manual becomes useful here, with examples and reference points for understanding the characteristics of each.

Better Living Through Synthesis

Beyond creating your own patches, the unit comes packed full of preset programs. Each program contains one synth structure as well as up to three effects settings and one sequence. Up to four Programs can be combined as a Multi, allowing for multi-timbral sound module use with MIDI note, channel and split functionality. The synth structure can be either a user-built modular environment or a template synth. At time of writing, the Origin is shipped with only the Minimoog supplied, with no clear date from Arturia when they will supply the rest. This does seem a curious omission given not only the cost of the unit, but the idea that all these units are already modeled in other Arturia software, requiring only a programmer to port the modules to the Origin. Add another thing to wait for in “the future”.

Room For Improvement

There are quickly a list of issues and concerns a programmer will have with the unit. Where the Arturia software emulation of the Minimoog shows numeric values for tuning settings, the Origin does not. Indeed, all parameters are merely displayed as a graphic representation of a knob, leaving only a visual cue as to the settings. This becomes an issue when tuning the semitones of a number of oscillators for instance, which coupled with the lack of editing software or a touch screen, makes programming the same patches on the Origin a slower affair then Arturia’s own Minimoog V.

Other issues include the use of only a single instance of the Delay, Chorus, and Reverb effects, out of a maximum of three effects able to be run at any one time. The limited palette of effects including Distortion and a Phaser are similar to those found on a Novation X-Station at five times less the expense, and pale in comparison. The Delay and Reverb lack depth of character, and one might find themselves checking that the Distortion is, in fact, actually turned on. The restriction to singular use of the more CPU intensive Delay and Reverb is an indication of conserving processing power for the actual synth patches, but these issues quickly creep into the potential capacity of a Multi patch. In an era where the cheapest entry level laptop has processing power to spare, it is relatively disappointing that a module advertised as “the most powerful synthesizer on the market” would have any processing restrictions whatsoever. If you intended to run the world’s most ultimate 9-Oscillator Trance super saw Multi with full effects and blazing filters, think again. Outside of CPU and “I can’t believe it doesn’t have a touch screen” interface issues however, much of what currently detracts from the overall desirability of the Origin could well be fixed with a timely OS update.

Things Are Looking Up

Those niggles out of the way, it’s time to reaffirm that the unit does in fact sound fantastic. As said before, so it should. It’s Arturia doing what Arturia do. Coupled with the rather interesting, if quirky, step sequencer, the unit has the potential to become a boutique brain for a relatively well-funded live act. Where programming may feel like a festival of clicks, the Origin is perfectly suited for performance and allows for an incredibly well-planned customization and mapping of knobs to this end. External inputs offer the chance to create inspired filter programs and the unit hasn’t neglected a healthy array of midi ports. The unit is heavy at around the 8kg mark, but the build is impressively solid and all the knobs have the same smooth feel that makes units like the Waldorf Blofeld such a joy to tweak, grab and perform on.

It is, however, the quality of the sound that will emerge as a common point of conversation regarding the Origin. It is very expensive and will perhaps emerge as a limited and desirable boutique unit for some. For others, the comparison to the Arturia software will be a pressing factor, with all the synths on the Origin available as part of Arturia’s acclaimed “V Collection” at a price over four times cheaper than the Origin. Of course, these are not available in modular form, which invariably brings up again the question why the Origin is shipped without a software editor. Sure, the Origin sounds amazing, but the question is whether it sounds that much more amazing than the same software, and whether the potential for programming is currently worth the restricted workflow of doing it all inside the box.

To Origin, Or Not To Origin

Some of the best music technology in history has been quirky and difficult, and there is little argument against calling the Arturia Origin exactly that. For all its difficulty, however, it sounds incredible. For all the niggling feature complaints, it suggests a well-timed OS update in response. For its price though, there are no easy answers. Comparing the recommended retail prices in Australia at present, the Arturia Origin costs only a few hundred less than one would spend purchasing both a Moog Little Phatty Stage II and a Dave Smith Prophet 08. Both being genuine analogue synths in their own right. Whether the market is ready to pay this price until Arturia address the features left wanting is entirely up to the producers and acts with the money and passion for incredibly sounding and very specific modular emulations. For everyone else, the software awaits.

For another – similarly skeptical – take on the Arturia, here’s Music Thing from last year:

Review: Arturia Origin. It’s bit, it’s expensive, it’s sexy. Why don’t I want one?

Hot dog purveyor Gray’s Papaya in New York is beloved for its “Recession Special”: two dogs and a drink. Their champagne is made from coconuts. And you don’t just scarf these down in bear markets; you enjoy them any time.

Dave Smith’s monophonic Mopho synth is perhaps the greatest recession special in the history of synthesis. It’s got the soul of a single voice from the Prophet ‘08 analog synth, but with sub-octave generators, distortion that they claim ranges to “extreme skronk,” and the ability to process audio input. Interestingly, that means its “skronkiness” and input processing address some of the complaints I’ve heard from people who didn’t immediately take to the new Prophet. The whole, 7.5×5″ package, with the 100% analog signal path mono synth, the Curtis analog low-pass filter, and a Mac/Windows editor, costs just US$400 street.

And then there’s that mysterious “Push It” button.

If you want some hands-on experience, our friend Chris Randall of Analog Industries (and Audio Damage) just got his:
Honky Mopho

I’m about the last person to mention the Mopho (I was out of town when it launched), so I went to the good peoples of Dave Smith to get a little more information. DSI’s Andrew McGowan responds.

And yes, we get to hear something about the ever-mysterious upcoming Dave Smith – Roger Linn LinnDrum II, which this is not.

Peter: Why a “Push It” button? Is it assignable when you’re designing your own patches?

Andrew: The Push It button is a manual trigger. It can act just like a key (push it plays, release it stops) or it can latch on with one push and off with another. Because Mopho has a gated sequencer, that means the Push It button can also play or latch a sequence. There is also a trigger mode where pressing the Push It button (or a key) can step through a sequence, so it’s actually possible to play a simple melodic line without a keyboard. And that’s all configurable per program.

Peter: The signal path is basically the same as one voice on the Prophet 08, correct? Aside from the sub-octave generators, are there any other differences — subtle or otherwise — or is it best to think of this as a single voice from the Prophet in a box?

Andrew: The voice architecture is the same. The additions are the sub-octave generators and the feedback loop. The feedback loop is made possible by the Audio In, which is not present on the Prophet. Both of those things can give it a pretty distinctly different character from the Prophet.

Peter: Is 14-bit control possible in the MIDI implementation?

Andrew: It responds to double-byte NRPNs, as some of the parameters (filter cutoff, for example) have a range of more than 128 values.

Peter: The audio input/filter capability — in which you can take any external audio input and run it through the Mopho — is unique to the Mopho? It’s not on the Prophet ‘08?

Andrew: The Evolvers have audio inputs, but not the Prophet. It’s a little trickier on a polyphonic instrument. (The Poly Evolver skirts the issue somewhat because it’s essentially 4 Evolvers in a box.)

Peter: I see it’s made some trips out to some celebrity synth users. Anything to share from their experiences?

Andrew: From Felix Martin of Hot Chip: “We’re very proud to be the first official owners of the Mopho! It certainly is a powerful little box with a incredibly immediate, rich sound. The first time I got it hooked up and run through a big PA, I cranked up the Sub Oscillators and they sound absolutely amazing – gives Joe’s Voyager a run for its money! I have already programmed some sounds and sequences which I will be running for the first time tonight in Dallas, will send over a photo of it in my little machine world once it is fully integrated. I hope it’s a success and that it finally convinces people to stop paying hundreds of $s for bashed up tb303s.

“I really do like this little machine, it’s a great thing to have on the tour bus and on stage as well.”

Andrew Everding from the band Thursday also wrote to say he had already used it on their new album. As far as I know, he’s the first one into a studio with a Mopho.

Peter: Will we see any of the spirit of the Mopho in the upcoming LinnDrum II? Now that the Mopho is out the door, does that mean DSI’s attention turns to the LinnDrum while the rest of us (ahem) sit in eager anticipation?

Andrew: Well, the attention never really turns away from the LinnDrum II. Dave worked on both the Prophet ‘08 Module and Mopho during those times when Roger was working on aspects that required less of Dave’s time. I’ve known Dave for nearly 30 years, and he’s not really one to remain idle for long. He’s always working on something. The LinnDrum II will have the analog voices and processing and will use the Curtis chips that we use in our other products. I’m not really at liberty to say much more than that right now. It’s gone through some pretty major changes and I think it’ll definitely be worth the wait. I’d like to get my hands on one, too!

(More videos)

The LinnDrum II (once the BoomChik) has become a somewhat mystical beast, looming over the horizon and taunting fans of synth and beat hardware. The collaboration between beat machine guru Roger Linn (of LinnDrum and MPC fame) and synth guru Dave Smith (of Dave Smith fame), the box has gone through various design revisions, each leaked and dissected by, well, people like me. Saturday brought a new set of news, as spotted by Tony Mission on Gearslutz.

Here’s what we know now:

We know that the LinnDrum will be a combination of Dave’s synthesis know-how and Roger’s approach to real-time sequencing and beatmaking. We know it’ll have digital and analog synth voices. We know it’ll do MPC-style real-time and 808-style step sequencing. It’s almost certain to retain onboard sampling, too. In fact, presumably the specs on Dave Smith’s site are still reasonably applicable.

What we don’t know is what the design will look like, or when it’ll ship. It won’t ship in 2008, so … 2009? The image above is not what the new LinnDrum II will look like. Roger released these images over the weekend, but they’ve already hit the wastebasket in favor a new design. On the design elements:

We’d prefer not to release details of the new design because it’s so cool that I don’t want to show our cards to the competition. However, I do want to thank all those who wrote in with suggestions because this interactive design process has very much helped to change what we thought the product originally should be into what we now know you really want.

Roger does tip his hand a bit in regards to what the philosophy of the new design is:

For those of you who are new to LinnDrum II, its new subtitle is “Beat-Centric Digital Audio Workstation with Integrated Analog Synthesis”. Inspired by how the MPC product line that I (Roger) originally created for Akai has evolved a new genre of musical instrument, LinnDrum II aspires to raise the bar beyond the current crop of high-end pad-oriented music production station products in order to enable musicians around the world to better realize the next wave of beat-oriented music.

“Beat-Centric Digital Audio Workstation with Integrated Analog Synthesis” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but I like the philosophy here. It sounds a bit like the feedback people sent was that they want the finished design to stand on its own. (The passionate audience for the MachineDrum certainly suggests there’s a market out there for something different from the Akai and Roland units for all-in-one production.) I’ll certainly be the first to defend the delays. We can’t judge the LinnDrum II itself until it’s in our hands, but it is clear to me that if you want something different than what’s already available, you do have to be prepared to wait.

While you wait, you can sign up for updates:

Request for LinnDrum II or AdrenaLinn III Product News

LinnDrum II Product Page / News

Previously:
Dave Smith/Linn LinnDrum II Pre-order List Now; Specs

LinnDrum II: Former BoomChik Gets More Delayed But More Mature

We’ve been eagerly awaiting the LinnDrum II since it was called the BoomChik. We called the non-functional prototype one of the best products of this January’s NAMM – reasoning being that, based on what we heard from showgoers, a silent LinnDrum still beat more evolutionary blandness from the rest of the industry. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say some of us were getting a wee bit impatient waiting for some kind of news. Now that news appears to be here — a rough estimate on availability and pre-order details. (Updated: Specs had been posted previously, as Cory observes in comments, but let’s savor them one more time.)

Availability: Late 2008 (“our best estimate,” so that’s not set in stone)

Cost: US$1400 for the all-digital LinnDrum II, or $1800 for the LinnDrum II Analog with the addition of four analog voices as seen in the Prophet ‘08 and Evolver, plus 32 dedicated encoders

Pre-order list: No commitment, no money down; just email support@rogerlinndesign.com and you’re in. Will there be a baby shower at some point?

Dave and Roger have also posted updated specs on the two units. Highlights include:

• A real-time optimized operating system – do lots of stuff without stopping play
• Modulated filters and resonators
• Real-time and step recording – think MPC and 808, respectively – with visual animation on the pads
• Record to Compact Flash
• Lots of controls, including buttons and assignable sliders, and foot switch and expression jacks for pedals, in addition to the pads (in fact, it looks like there’s less mucking around inside menus than on competing boxes from Akai and Roland, one thing that kept me off those units)
• Eight outputs – so you could do some interesting effects routing, or do some crazy surround sound drumming. (In fact, I could see using multichannel outs to a computer and doing effects in the computer…) Four more outputs for the analog voices on the Analog model.
• MIDI and USB, with USB storage operations

I imagined the Analog model would pretty much steal the show, but the Digital model is cute and compact and still pretty unique, so I think we’ll see interest in both.

June 20 LinnDrum II Update [Specs and an explanation of the status of the design]

Via The Chip Collection, who caught me napping out in Chicago

Yep. I still want one. And I don’t very often want hardware.

Here’s the analog model, with a close up on its additional control section. Things are laid out in a really friendly way across the whole design. Promising stuff.

US distributor Keyfax NewMedia reports that it has Yamaha’s Tenori-On in stock and shipping out now. (Pre-orders began at the beginning of May, but this is apparently the first the US unit has made it to our shows — unless you happened to win one from createdigitalmusic.com, that is, in April, in which case you know who you are.)

Every time I mention Tenori-On, despite the awe and lust it inspires in some musicians, someone raises the point of its somewhat retro-styled, simple sound bank. Fair enough: the minimal sounds are fantastic in the hands of creator Toshio Iwai and were specifically programmed and voiced to match his aesthetic. Other people, perhaps, not so much. So it’s interesting that reader Steven aka Nomad Cinema sends along this video (seen at top) of the Tenori-On paired with the absurdly deep luxury modular synth Kyma, along with a couple of beloved new analog synths. He writes:

In order to tap the real power of Yamaha’s new Tenori-on, it helps to pair it with external equipment capable of producing more satisfying sounds than the somewhat lackluster soundset included with the Tenori-on itself. In this video, no internal Tenori-on sounds were used whatsoever. Tenori-on is functioning purely as a sequencer with external equipment, including advanced sound-shaping from Kyma and analog synthesis from Alesis Andromeda and Dave Smith’s Prophet ‘08. Sequencer data coming from Tenori-on is processed in Ableton Live (utilizing midi scale and chord filters, as well as injecting some generative randomness) before reaching Kyma, Andromeda, and Prophet ‘08.

That to me remains the Tenori-On’s unique strength: to me it’s really an alternative step sequencer, exploded into an array of flashing lights and animated with game-like motion. This is to me also another way in which it isn’t a Monome, which feels more like an intelligent, programmable set of pads an an extension of your software, in comparison to the Tenori-On which seems to be re-imagining a giant pixel as a controller. I will be getting around to showing off some hands-on applications very soon, at long last.

Amazing how time crawls when you’re eagerly awaiting something. Such is the case with the BoomChik: it seems like ages ago that drum machine legend Roger Linn and synth legend Dave Smith “pre-announced” this synth/drum machine. It was actually just this time last year. Unfortunately, you’re going to be waiting a little longer: feedback from musicians and the release of Linn’s AndrenaLinn III and Smith’s Prophet ‘08 (easily two of the biggest products of last year) has delayed the BoomChik.

Now the good news: in addition to a new name, the new design looks far more mature. And it’s going to be eminently affordable: street around US$1000 for a basic model, and $1500 for a fancier model with four analog voices as shared with the Prophet ‘08 and Evolver.

Full specs are available on the site and a bunch o’ other sites, so here’s the Cliff’s Notes version. (Kirn’s Notes?)

• Real-time, no-stop, no-drop OS for live performance
• Pressure-sensitive, backlit (with animation) pads
• Modulate, filter, and resonate everything, digital or analog voices
• Step record like an MPC and like an 808
• Compact Flash storage, USB for MIDI, audio, and sample transfer with a computer (plus real MIDI jacks, don’t worry)
• Ridiculous number of performance controls, simplified menus, plus foot/expression pedals. (Having seen how much menu jockeying the current Akai and Roland models have, this sounds great. When I want to use a computer, I’ll use a computer with a 23″ display, not a 1″ display.)
• Stereo inputs let you sample, process audio, or trigger sounds
• “Analog” version adds analog voices, 27 encoders for voicing, and four direct outputs — one for each voice.

I say, get a day job now so you can quit it when this comes out.

Now a bit more bad news: I hear a prototype may not actually make it to NAMM, which dashes my hopes of getting to show you an actual unit when we’re in Anaheim next week. But we will be talking to Dave and Roger, and hope to have more details soon. And if you focus really hard, maybe one will magically make it there. (Say it with me … ommmmmmm … booooooommmmmm … chikkkkkkk)

There are few names who have had so profound an impact on music technology as Dave Smith. Three decades after the introduction of the Prophet-5, and nearly 25 years after the first MIDI product shipped, his new creations remain some of the most sought-after musical instruments available. The new Prophet ‘08 is capable of producing just as much excitement as some of those earlier landmarks. That’s why we’re pleased to offer this entirely non-exclusive interview with –

Yes, that’s right. I said “non exclusive.” The word “exclusive” gets thrown around a lot, usually meaning something that really isn’t terribly exclusive at all. But in this case, we’re pleased to collaborate with our friends at the leading Spanish-language music technology site, Hispasonic.com. I worked with Xabi to brainstorm some ideas to talk about, and Xabi conducted the interview. For those of you for whom Spanish is your native language, definitely don’t miss the version on Hispasonic:

Dave Smith, el profeta de los sintes

Here in English, Dave talks about the genesis of the new Prophet-8, and reflects on synthesizers and musical instruments in general. I’m not sure I’m going to agree that only hardware synths are “real instruments” and software synths are best for beginners, until they get “serious.” (I would absolutely agree that’s the case with emulation, and that software synths should go their own way, both of which seem to be his main points. Hopefully we’ll get to do an in-person interview soon.) But I will agree that Dave truly creates real instruments, and his unique angle on design should be a challenge to hardware and software developers alike. And not even the most die-hard software lover could argue with the musical prowess of the Prophets — and their creator.

Hispasonic: 30 years after the almighty Prophet-5, here is the all-new Prophet-08. As a synth pioneer, please tell us about your feelings around the development of synth history over these past 30 years. How have synthesizers have changed our world?

DS: They have certainly changed all types of music significantly. Likely the most important change was putting more sound power into an individual’s control; home studios with synths can produce a very wide range of music, often from a single person.

Has the “roof” of synth technology been reached? Is there room to innovate further? Or are we doing circles around old concepts? Do you think that everything has been invented in the synthesizer world?

DS: Certainly the innovation steps are smaller every year. With emulative synthesis, the limit is usually in the controller; in other words, to really control a great synthesized violin sound, you need a controller with something to control a bowing movement, and something like a string. It gets to the point where you may as well play a real violin! Then again, basic subtractive synthesis has so far passed the test of time for over 40 years, so old concepts still sound good and work well.

Think about all the major innovations in the synthesizer history. Which is the one that makes you think “I would have loved to invent that one!”

DS: Hard to say; I tend to concentrate on my own ideas, and I am not very good at keeping track of the other instruments on the market.

You say: “Prophet ‘08 is the product of evolution, not nostalgia”. What are the technological highlights in this new synth? Which are the aspects of the Prophet 08 that you like the most? How does it improve over the classic Sequential Circuits synths?

DS: I started the design with Curtis synthesis ICs [integrated circuits] to capture the classic sounds. But the control aspects go way beyond the original. For example, the Prophet-5 had one LFO; the Prophet 08 has 32!

Did you find any obstacles during the Prophet 08 design and manufacturing process? Any anecdotes to tell about this?

DS: Originally I was not thinking of making a “Prophet”; it was just going to be a fairly-priced, 8-voice analog synth. Once I started playing it, as the design came together, the sounds were more powerful that the original prophets, but still retained the classic sound. So it was only then that I decided to call it a Prophet.

You have had big success as a hardware synth developer, but also in the world of software synths, with Seer Systems’ Reality, the first fully professional software synthesizer. What’s your opinion of the present software synths? How have they evolved since Reality? How do you imagine the future of software synths?

DS: Software synths are nice because they are cheap, and usually sound good. I think it’s silly to just keep copying vintage analog synths, though. They should be concentrating on new synthesis and instruments, rather than trying to copy the real thing.

Are software and hardware synths opposites? Will software synths “kill the hardware synth star”? Do we have to choose between analog hardware synths, virtual analog hardware synths and software synths, or do they have their own place in a studio/performance?

DS: Again, it’s often simply a price issue. I think it’s great that many new and younger musicians can start with free or cheap soft synths and learn the basics. Then, once they get more serious about synthesis, they can then go out and get a real instrument. Even though I have been using computers since the 60s, I still do not like working with a PC or a Mac to play an instrument. Meanwhile, I hear from more and more players who are tired of soft synths and computers, and want a real instrument. Then they hear an Evolver or Prophet-08 and immediately understand the difference.

Which is your favorite synth -not designed by you-, hardware and software?

DS: No opinions here, sorry to say.

Have you any plans about integrating your hardware synths with DAWs, like Virus TI? What do you think about that integration concept?

DS: Not at the moment; as a designer, I love to work with my own hardware. I hate working with PCs and Macs and their operating systems. It’s no fun! You spend all your time dealing with changing systems, crashes, incompatibilities, and not on the instrument itself.

Have you any plans of releasing new software synths?

DS: I should never say never, but it’s very very unlikely!

And finally, please drink some wine and relax before answering this one: could you advance any data about the new Boomchik drum box? ;-)

DS: No specifics; hope to have a prototype at NAMM in January, and ship in the Spring.

CDM: Dave, you were of course instrumental in making MIDI happen. But the core implementation of MIDI on musical instruments (leaving aside the various extensions to MIDI) remains largely unchanged. Is there any hope for us to see the kind of improvement we saw with the original unveiling of MIDI any time in the near future? Are there changes you would like to see?

DS: It would be very difficult to update MIDI; when we did it originally, there were only five companies involved, and most of the work was done by two (Sequential and Roland). Now, MIDI is used everywhere, not just for synthesizers. There are so many companies (synths, keyboards, PCs, cell phones, lighting, portable keyboards, effects, recorders, etc) with MIDI installed, that it would be nearly impossible. What would it be? Would it include audio? If so, what speed, how many tracks, etc? Then, what about video? As you can see, it could very well get out of hand.

Ed. note: one possibility of what it could be, answering some of these questions, is in the evolving interactive music spec iXMF, in turn extending XMF, a format bringing together sampled audio instruments with MIDI note data. We’ll be looking at iXMF later, but I’ll hasten to add it’s really a means of describing music, not necessarily control data — like MIDI as sent from a keyboard. So, as Dave says, there’s really a lot that’s unanswered and tricky to change. I bring this up as I expect we’ll be examining some of these issues over the coming months. -PK

CDM: What’s your own music-making process like at this point? What do you use, and how?

DS: I rarely use my old instruments; I much prefer a Poly Evolver or P08. Exception might be the VS; nothing sounds like a VS, though it is somewhat limited in sound possibilities. But, after working on synths all day, I prefer to pick up a guitar; it’s a nice change of pace, and it helps remind me of the personality of real instruments, how they dont need to change and get updated every year, and how good analog instruments sound.

Who says progress is bad? Synth designer Dave Smith’s Prophet ‘08 synth is a new instrument inspired by his legendary Prophet series, but there are a number of clues that indicate it’s not 1978. First, driven by Internet buzz, word-of-mouth preorders are already taking off. (DSI hasn’t yet added the Prophet ‘08 to their price list because they’re scrambling to fill the early orders.) That means, ironically, the Web generation is better able to support “boutique” synths now than even synth customers of a few years ago. Second, I expect a lot of these Prophet ’08s will happily become outboard analog gear complimenting computers. (It’s a good thing Dave Smith was a driving force behind MIDI.) Lastly, the Prophet ‘08 has some great features we take for granted now that were harder to come by in 1978.

The Prophet ‘08 is analog to the core: it boasts a 100%-analog signal path and a “sonic character” not surprisingly modeled on the classic Prophets. What’s new:

• Velocity and aftertouch: If this spoils the “vintage” experience for you, go see a doctor.)
• Mo Modulation: “Extensive modulation routing capabilities”, making the Prophet ‘08 essentially a semi-modular synth; it’ll be interesting to see what this lets programmers cook up.
• Splits and layers:Four-on-four splits and layers with separate stereo outputs for each layer.
  
• Arpeggiator and sequencer: Arpeggiator, gated 16 x 4 step sequencer, and LFOs. Everything is syncable, as well — thank you, MIDI.

There’s onboard MIDI (even with “Poly Chain”), and CV input, as well. On the analog side, you get 2 oscillators and 1 lovely filter per voice:

• 2 digitally controlled analog oscillators (DCOs) per voice with selectable sawtooth, triangle, saw/triangle mix, and pulse waves (with pulse-width modulation), and hard sync.
• White noise generator

I have heard some complaints about the new models: some would prefer the pitch and mod wheels next to the keyboard rather than above, though the payoff is a full five-octave keyboard in a compact space.

I have to say, I’m a sucker for the Dave Smith philosophy of “un-nostalgic” analog. But, really, who would expect anything else: Dave Smith’s earlier instruments all progressed with technology, and he continues to do so. There’s a clear resonance with the modern Moog synths, like Minimoog Voyager and Little Phatty, down to special editions with colored wheels. (Dave Smith has the much cooler red glowing wheels, which is great if you’re tired of blue.) But the Dave Smith Instruments are also unique takes on how to reinterpret analog.

Detailed specs and descriptions are on the mercifully redesigned Dave Smith site:
Dave Smith Prophet ‘08 Page

And via news you’ll find more on the limited edition, videos of Dave, and other news, as well as further reassurances that the BoomChik drum machine really is progressing:
Dave Smith Instruments News

So, who’s getting one? And anyone have smart money