Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard
Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard [5-User Family Pack]
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Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard
Zarg Prophet PlusSoftware Synthesizer for Creamware's Pulsar card * Review System: The Software Design Zarg Music is the company formed by John Bowen, ex-Sequential Circuits Inc. product demonstrator i.e. the man behind the original factory presets for the SCI Prophet 5! Having lived with the real thing for so many years, and with involvement in Native Instrument’s Pro 5/Pro 52, and Korg’s OASYS Prophet emulation (that works out to more than two decades), I get the feeling that John is uniquely qualified to create a software emulation of the original SCI legend, and add just the right features to make a Prophet 5 infinitely more variable without getting too far away from its original design.
A Personal Recollection It's all about the sound! After spending nearly three decades working with hardware synthesizers, I thought I would have to continually remind myself of this fact to overcome a slightly negative bias towards software synthesizers. Added to this bias is the fact that I have loved the sound of the original Prophet since its first release, having worked for the Australian distributor of the Sequential Circuits line back in the early 80s. What recordings come to mind when you think of the Prophet sound? For me, the beautifully crafted sounds of Richard Barbieri from U.K. band, 'Japan', or the solo work of Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Ryuichi Sakamoto; or the warm pads behind countless albums of Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. What about the sharp chord progressions of 'Bruford/National Health' keyboardist Dave Stewart on the Stewart/Gaskin albums. Maybe Larry Fast on Gabriel’s earlier albums or his own 'Synergy' projects, or the hit-maker presets that were the trade mark of bands like 'The Cars', and many others to follow, which were of course created by Bowen, the man behind the Prophet Plus and other Zarg products at www.zargmusic.com. The Prophet Plus - Out of the Box Okay, there was no box – the Prophet Plus is purchased as a download, so I won’t use this heading again for soft synth reviews. The Prophet Plus is designed to run with the Creamware Pulsar range of soundcards - the process of downloading the package, receiving the registration code and running the device for the first time was extremely trouble-free. I experienced no problems in installing the Prophet Plus software on the Mac.
Enhancements to the Prophet (the Plus bits) The Prophet Plus features fifteen main enhancements to the original SCI design, and I’ll try to describe their use as they were listed with the download notes. Minor enhancements to the oscillators/noise source and modulation routings have added a lot of flexibility in programming and playability. The ‘triangle’ wave that has been added to Oscillator A gives a rounding out to the sound for extra sonic flexibility – great for bottom end subsonics. There are now separate routing switches in the PolyMod section for Filter Env and Osc B, as well as Bi-polar Filter Env Amount in PolyMod section (so that an inverted envelope is possible); now with Filter routing as well. These two small changes give a great versatility in modulation routing and envelope control. The lack of aftertouch on the original was possibly the greatest weakness of the P5, which was addressed later with the T-8. Bowen’s Plus features an extensive aftertouch (Pressure-Mod) section (all parameters have bi-polar control), and this ties in with the velocity control of Attack, Decay, and Release segments for both envelopes (a 3-way switch selects one or the other, or both). Adjustable scaling for Velocity control of both Envelope Amounts to Filter & VCA. The three included effects, distortion, stereo chorus/flanger, and stereo delay give the Plus sounds just the right amount of movement and depth to make each patch just that much better. I don’t know of too many original Prophet players who didn’t use some sort of delay or chorus effect on the sound, so the addition of these basic effects was the most obvious choice. As well as the new effects mentioned above, the Effects Insert Rack with 6 inserts allows you to drop effects from the Pulsar browser straight on to the rack, and then adjust wet and dry amounts with the rack controls. Double clicking on the effect name in the rack opens the effect for editing of its parameters.
On first listen the Plus sounds pretty fat, but using the new Unison 'stack' mode and the Detune control takes the sounds to a new level, something like ‘bone-crunching’. Unison Settings: Number (#) of Voices - OFF, ALL, 2-16. The main panel Unison switch must be ON for this section to take affect (however, a setting of OFF is the same as having the switch off). Unison will play in Legato style if Glide >0; with Glide at 0, Unison will retrigger. Detune - 0 to +100 (pitch spread in cents). Adjust to "fatten" the Unison stack. Being able to synchronise the LFOs and the new delay effect to MIDI Clock opens the Plus to more accurate timing of sounds for dance music or tempo effects. One of the most versatile modifications in the Plus is the ability to use sampled waves (WAV files) as a replacement for the standard oscillator outputs. By switching off all waveforms, WAVs can be used by dragging them from the Pulsar browser on to the WAV rack – just about any sound available ended up being improved by putting it through the Plus filters and effects (including drum loops and vocals). I also used waves from several ‘sample pools’ from Modular 2 downloads (found on Pulsar Modular sites), which makes another useful source of prepared waveforms. Simply by dragging the sample pool to the Pulsar environment, and then clicking and dragging each individual waveform onto the WAV slot.
How does it sound? The reason we're here The sound of the Plus is immediately rich and vibrant, a reaction I don’t get from many new synthesizers on first playing – some of my favourites: WinAmp Compatible Playlist * AT Rolly 2 - the sound typical of the Prophet with a fluffy quality due to the oscillators, and modulations introduced by the AT * Dist Lead 1 -– a patch to cut through any mix * Slightly fuzzy comp - really stays together in the bottom end * Ancient days - a beautiful pad with a dash of noise and a delay to keep it bouncing * Dreaming2 - a couple of tri waves with resonant filter and noise, with a long delay * Rons Strings - a great pad or drone to evoke the darkest spirit, with delay and chorus to enhance the depth * P-11 to P-58 (the original Prophet 5 presets) are also included, with P-32 still sounding like it could drive the hook for a few more Top 40 hits * anything with oscillator sync sounds like the heavens tearing apart - superb The effects give the sounds that extra bit of ambience needed to make the Prophet really work (making a good thing last longer) DSP Logistics On a Pulsar 1 card I was able to get 4 voices if I wanted to play the device by itself - any external devices and effects required the number of voices to be cut back (John’s view of not compromising the sound quality for extra polyphony is extremely valid in this instance). When DSP level is about to be exceeded, warnings are always given, with suggestions on how to make more DSP power available (cut down the number of voices, etc). Controls & Effects Page This is where the Pressure modulation assignments, transpose, Unison settings and velocity sensitivity settings are made. If you are used to early synth keyboards without velocity and aftertouch control, many of these functions won't mean a lot, but I love being able to change the squelch on a bass sound depending on how hard I hit the keys, or brightening a brass pad by aftertouch (or pressure). Below the routings section are the effects: Distortion, Chorus/Flanger and Delay sections. The screenshot is self explanatory, apart from the delay time settings, which can be locked to MIDI clock, and the realisation that so many of the sounds warm up with a dash of distortion added. Stereo insert rack - a great idea to be able to insert Pulsar FX, but unfortunately compromising the voice number was the only way to get an effect happening (a limitation of the DSP power of the Pulsar 1). When I cut voice polyphony to 1, and then dragged two effects from the stereo effects onto the rack, even fuller sounds were possible (see Figure 3 above).
A couple of other new features include alternate LFO sources - If all three front panel LFO waveshape select switches are OFF, the alternate sources are activated. The Gated MultiMode LFO has a retrigger function, which together with the Phase setting allows note-on events to control the start point of the LFO modulation. There's also controls for a delayed start (Hold)and fading the modulation in and out (retrigger must be ON), and a Level (NOTE: the Mod Wheel still governs the ultimate amount of modulation used). There is a DC (Direct Control) Amount, which allows you to use the Mod Wheel to directly control the LFO destination values. (For example, you can set the Mod Wheel to control the filter cutoff using the DC setting.) Finally, there are two random fluctuating waveshapes - triangle and sine. Both have adjustable levels. Also new is the MIDI Clock sync - though not immediately obvious, the MIDI Sync switch in the 'Alternate LFO sources...' section also applies to the normal Prophet LFO. The Rate knob (which switches out with the MIDI sync setting list) is connected to the front panel LFO Frequency knob. Either knob will adjust the same parameter. This frequency/rate control or MIDI clock sync applies to all LFO and RANDOM sources. MIDI Clock sync is also now available for the stereo Delay values. (NOTE: if External control is selected for MIDI sync, the Delays may "crackle" a bit as the clock slave attempts to read the incoming MIDI clock. This is also true for chasing tempo changes.) Conclusion In my Pulsar system I have used just about every synth that Creamware do, and after working with the Prophet Plus for a time, I feel it is the most thoroughly thought out device that I have used with the card. Sections are easy to open and close, the new features are sensible and very useful, and the thing sounds awesome. My first complaint is the lack of a complete manual, because if you want a Prophet 5 manual you have to purchase one from Wine Country (John’s notes are useful, but without prior knowledge of the original Prophet controls not all functions are obvious). Also, the lack of DSP power on my Pulsar 1 card meant that I couldn’t use many of the great features of the Plus simultaneously (this isn’t the fault of the product being reviewed, of course, more to do with my wallet). Part of me wants to complain about some of the features of the Plus not being true to the Prophet tradition, (one of Zarg Music’s other products, the Standard Prophet, covers this ground) but the additions that Bowen has made show his understanding of the capabilities of the original, and his commitment to the product. No matter what I did with the Plus, it always sounded awesome. Pulsar owners should definitely take the time to listen to this product! The Plus and other Zarg Music products are available from the Zarg Music website, and I’m sure none of us will be disappointed with their quality, or through winecountrysequential, the people who bought up the Sequential stock when Yamaha bought the company. The Plus has a price tag of US$229.00 |
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