#Vintage creamware pro#
#Vintage creamware software#

Though this inevitably makes the panel less spacious, the buttons and pots are neatly and logically laid out with no overcrowding. At just under 19 inches wide and eight inches deep, the unit corresponds in size to the Access Virus and Clavia Nord desktop synths, but still manages to combine all of the Prophet 5's original controls and add several new ones in an area less than half the width of the original's control panel. Rather touchingly, the design and markings of the controls even echo those of the old synth.

#Vintage creamware pro#

The big difference between NI's and Creamware's emulations is that the Pro 12 is a hardware unit (hooray!), bristling with real knobs and buttons (double hooray!). Like NI's Pro 53, Creamware's Pro 12 ASB instrument ('Authentic Sound Box', apparently) is modelled on the Rev 3 Prophet 5. Experienced Prophet-heads can detect a subtle difference in sound between the Rev 2 and Rev 3, but in the real world - at a gig, say, where the synth is blaring out over the PA in mortal combat with guitars and drums - you won't hear the difference. Most working Prophets found nowadays are Rev 3 models, although some Rev 2 models (including mine) survive. Various ad hoc modifications to the latter (including a cassette-dump facility for program data) were subsequently incorporated into a new build called the Rev 3, and this became Sequential's best-seller.

This hot new product was hastily replaced by the less incendiary but more reliable Rev 2. Photo: Mike CameronI'll reminisce further about the charms (and foibles) of the Prophet 5 in due course, but for now, here's a brief technical history: the original 1978 instrument, christened the 'Rev 1', soon proved to be unstable (I heard a rumour that one unit overheated so badly it burst into flames).

#Vintage creamware software#

The latter is also used by the Pro 12's software editor. The Pro 12's rear panel is an exact duplicate of Creamware's previous ASB, the Minimax, featuring just a mains connector, audio input and output pairs and two types of MIDI connections: the traditional five-pin trio and a USB socket. For sonic adventurers and gigging keyboardists like myself, this was a dream come true. Armed with Mr Smith's visionary ideas, the Californian company Sequential Circuits announced a new five-voice polyphonic synth with 40 programmable presets that you could recall at the touch of a button. The gap in the keyboard market was eventually filled by a far less famous name: step forward Dave Smith, a bright young designer who later helped to create MIDI. When, we wondered, would Bob Moog invent a polyphonic Minimoog? Unfortunately, when it arrived, the long-awaited Polymoog lacked the sonic weight of the Mini and failed to capitalise on that classic synth's simple but innovative design. All the same, the single-note limitation was frustrating for chordally-minded keyboardists like myself. In the right hands these could all produce a healthy racket, and the Minimoog in particular impressed the playing community with its massive bass and searing lead sounds. Before then, most UK synthesists were restricted to monophonic instruments like the Minimoog, ARP Odyssey or EMS VCS3. The Prophet first appeared in early 1978. Creamware's Minimax ASB, the company's hardware recreation of the Minimoog, won over the critics - can they repeat the winning ASB formula with Sequential Circuits' Prophet 5 synth?ДЇorgive me if I become a little misty-eyed when writing about the Prophet 5 - this iconic instrument opened up a new world of sound for keyboardists in the late '70s, and remains to this day one of the most powerful, exciting and characterful analogue synths ever built.