Prophet-5
The synthesizer learned to remember — forty patch slots and a Z80 microprocessor
Related
The previous page's synthesizer was still 「alive」 — every knob turn was one-off, its sound irreproducible.
This page, the synthesizer learned to remember.
「The Prophet-5 facilitated a move from synthesizers creating unpredictable sounds to producing 'a standard package of familiar sounds'.」
⭐⭐ This page is the Prophet-5 — fifth in the analog-synth family. One line: the synthesizer learned to remember.
| Class | Assignment |
|---|---|
| HS class | Electrophone（analog subtractive + digital control storage — hybrid）· five-voice polyphony · 40 patches |
| Origin | ⭐⭐ designed 1977 · shown at NAMM 1978, by Dave Smith and John Bowen（Sequential Circuits）— Smith quit his job for it |
| Two numbers | ⭐⭐ 40 patch slots · 5 voices × 2 VCOs（the halved Prophet-10） |
| Bayin note | Outside the bayin — the first instrument with a memory |
⭐⭐ The main line: from unpredictable to a standard package
Before the Prophet-5:
「合成器需要用户调整旋钮来改变声音——无法保证精确复现一个声音」.
⭐⭐ Which meant live shows and studios were gambles: yesterday's sound could not be wound back into today's knob positions. （Compare Manzarek's frustration — in the modular era, 「reproduction」 meant hand-drawn patch diagrams.）
⭐⭐ The Prophet-5's fix:
「Sequential 用微处理器让用户即时召回声音而非手动重建」— 「facilitated a move from synthesizers creating unpredictable sounds to producing 'a standard package of familiar sounds'」.
⭐⭐ 「标准包」 sounds flat, but it is a revolution: from then on the synth could tour, could record, could change hands — because it remembered.
⭐⭐ The microprocessor enters the instrument
「当时 Smith 有一份与微处理器打交道的全职工作——一项新技术」; 「Smith 想到把它们与合成器芯片结合做成可编程合成器」.
⭐⭐ The architecture is one of 「old and new in one body」: the voice is still analog（VCO→filter→VCA）; the control is already digital（a Z80 scanning and storing every parameter） — the first true hybrid instrument.
⭐⭐ Against the site's other hybrids: the tonewheel organ（mechanical wheel + magnetic pickup）· the Prophet-5（analog voice + digital memory） — every 「old-new body」 has founded a new category.
⭐⭐ Dave Smith quits
「他起初没有 pursuing 这个想法，以为 Moog 或 ARP 会先设计出来。当没有乐器出现时，1977 年初，Smith 辞去工作全职投入」.
⭐⭐ Against the site's invention genealogy: the Minimoog — built behind the boss's back; the Moog modular — engineer × composer; the Prophet-5 — quit and committed. ⭐ And Smith later co-created MIDI（sharing a 2013 Technical Grammy with Roland's Kakehashi）— 「发明了现代合成器，不止一次」.
⭐⭐ The Prophet-10 overheats → halved into a classic
「起初 Smith 与 Bowen 开发的是 Prophet-10（十声部）——但它不稳定、迅速过热，产生音准问题；两人移除一半电子件，把声部减到五，造出 Prophet-5」.
⭐⭐ Against the site's other halvings: the Minimoog's 44 keys（not 88） · the Hammond's seven cut pedal notes · the Prophet-10 halved to five — 「subtracting」 is the hardware world's recurring sobriety.
⭐⭐ Three revisions and an endless argument
「Rev1 手工组装只 182 台（koa 木壳）→ Rev2 加磁带 patch 存储 · 核桃壳 → Rev3 换 Curtis CEM 芯片——『仍然 impressively 好弹，但比早期型号稍冷、稍无特征』」 ~6000 台.
⭐⭐ 「Which revision sounds best」 is argued among collectors to this day — swap a chip, change a character（compare the ladder-filter clone wars: the circuit is the identity）.
⭐⭐ Poly-Mod: analog FM hiding in the back room
「Poly-Mod 允许一个振荡器与滤波包络调制另一只振荡器的频率与脉宽」.
⭐⭐ 「模拟 FM」hidden inside a subtractive machine — two years later Yamaha's true FM synthesis（the DX7）would reset the whole industry （see the digital-synth entries）. ⭐ The Prophet-5 was that door, opened a crack early.
⭐⭐ The player lineage: from Thriller to Kid A
「Michael Jackson（Thriller 上大量使用）· Madonna · Phil Collins（In the Air Tonight）· The Cars · Kraftwerk（1981 巡演）· ABBA（The Visitors）· Radiohead（Kid A）」; 「Peter Gabriel 称它为他的『old warhorse』」.
⭐⭐ From 1982's《Thriller》to 2000's《Kid A》— eighteen years and two musical worlds, one synthesizer. ⭐ The real victory of the 「standard package」: it became the default sound-source of an entire era.
⭐⭐ The company: bankruptcy, buyback, farewell
「Sequential Circuits 1987 年破产」→ Yamaha → 「2002 年创立 Dave Smith Instruments，2015 年回购 Sequential 品牌名」→ 「2020 年 Prophet-5 Rev4 忠实复刻」→ 「Dave Smith 于 2022 年去世——可编程复音合成器与 MIDI，是他留给地球上每位音乐家的永久礼物」.
⭐⭐ From bankruptcy to buying the brand back — a forty-four-year circle. ⭐ 「发明了现代合成器，不止一次」 — no better epitaph on this site.
Recap: three sentences on the Prophet-5
| Q | A |
|---|---|
| ⭐ The key point | ⭐⭐ the synthesizer learned to remember — the first fully programmable polysynth; ⭐⭐ from 「unpredictable sounds」 to 「a standard package of familiar sounds」 |
| ⭐⭐ The microprocessor | ⭐⭐ a Zilog Z80 scans and stores every patch parameter — analog voice + digital control：the first true hybrid（old and new in one body） |
| ⭐⭐ The resignation | ⭐⭐ 「以为 Moog 或 ARP 会先做」→ nobody did → quit in 1977（against the Minimoog's stealth and the Moog's co-authorship）; Smith later co-created MIDI — 「发明了现代合成器，不止一次」 |
| ⭐⭐ The halving | the Prophet-10 overheated → half the electronics removed → five voices — ⭐⭐ with the Minimoog's 44 keys and the Hammond's seven cut notes: subtraction is hardware sobriety |
| ⭐ Three revisions | Rev1 hand-built 182（koa）→ Rev2 cassette storage · walnut → Rev3 CEM chips（slightly colder）— 「which sounds best」 argued forever |
| ⭐ Poly-Mod | one oscillator + filter envelope modulating the other（analog FM）— ⭐ a door opened early, before the DX7 |
| ⭐⭐ Player lineage | Thriller · Like a Virgin · In the Air Tonight · Kid A; Gabriel's 「old warhorse」 |
| ⭐⭐ One-line canon | ⭐⭐ 「Every analog polysynth released since 1978 exists in its shadow」; MusicRadar: 「它改变了世界——就这么简单」 |
| ⭐⭐ Company | 1987 bankruptcy → 2002 DSI → 2015 Sequential reborn → 2020 Rev4 → 2022 Smith dies — a forty-four-year circle |
| HS | Electrophone（analog subtractive + digital storage — hybrid） |
Before it, a synth's timbre was luck; after it, timbre was storage.
⭐⭐ 《写字歌》writes exactly this: writing the timbre down —
the score remembers the notes; the patch remembers the sound; the instrument finally has a memory of its own.
Prophet-5 属电鸣乐器（模拟减法 + 数字控制存储——混合架构）。61 键五声部复音（每声部两只 VCO）；经 4 极共振低通滤波与双 ADSR 塑形；Poly-Mod 允许一个振荡器与滤波包络调制另一振荡器的频率与脉宽（模拟 FM）。40 patch 存储（Rev3 120 · Rev4 200）——合成器第一次可以「记住」音色。Rev1–3 无力度与触后（Rev4 才有）。记谱即实音。
Listen in the library
All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).
Sources
- ⭐⭐ 主线：合成器第一次学会「记住」（本页最该记住的一条） —— 「Prophet-5 是第一台带完全可编程存储的复音合成器」；「在此之前的合成器需要用户调整旋钮来改变声音，无法保证精确复现一个声音」；「Sequential 用微处理器让用户即时召回声音而非手动重建」→ ⭐⭐ The Prophet-5 facilitated a move from synthesizers creating unpredictable sounds to producing 'a standard package of familiar sounds' —— 合成器从「不可预测的声音」走向「一套熟悉声音的标准包」：弹奏与录音的可靠性革命
- ⭐⭐ 微处理器进乐器（数字控制的第一次胜利） —— 「当时 Smith 有一份与微处理器打交道的全职工作——一项新技术」；「Smith 想到把它们与合成器芯片结合做成可编程合成器——允许用户把声音存进内存」；⭐⭐ 「第一台真正的『混合』乐器：专用微处理器 + 模拟声音生成」——声音仍是模拟的，控制已是数字的（对照音轮风琴的「电机械」：又一次「新旧同体」）
- ⭐⭐ Dave Smith 的辞职（发明谱系里的孤勇型） —— 「他起初没有 pursuing 这个想法，以为 Moog 或 ARP 会先设计出来。当没有乐器出现时，1977 年初，Smith 辞去工作全职投入」→ ⭐⭐ 对照 Minimoog（工程师背着老板攒）与 Moog modular（作曲家合著）——Prophet-5 是「辞职硬干」；Dave Smith 后来又与人合创 MIDI（与 Roland 的 Kakehashi 共获 2013 Technical Grammy）——「发明了现代合成器，不止一次」
- ⭐⭐ Prophet-10 的过热 → 砍半成名机 —— 「起初 Smith 与 Bowen 开发的是 Prophet-10（十声部复音）——但它不稳定、迅速过热，产生音准问题；两人移除一半电子件，把声部减到五，造出 Prophet-5」→ ⭐⭐ 对照 Minimoog（44 键不是 88）与 Hammond（踏板砍七音）：「砍掉一半」是硬件史反复出现的清醒
- ⭐⭐ 规格与三版 —— 「五个声部 × 每声部两只 VCO · 40 个 patch 存储（Rev3 120 · Rev4 200）· Poly-Mod（「一个振荡器与滤波包络调制另一只振荡器的频率与脉宽」——模拟 FM）· 61 键 · 无力度无触后（Rev4 才有）」；三版：「Rev1 手工组装只 182 台（koa 木壳）→ Rev2 加磁带 patch 存储 · 核桃壳 → Rev3 换 Curtis CEM 芯片（「仍然 impressively 好弹，但比早期型号稍冷、稍无特征」）~6000 台」→ ⭐ 「哪个版本最好听」的争论至今仍在收藏者中进行
- ⭐⭐ 用户谱系（谁在用它） —— 「Michael Jackson（Thriller 上大量使用）· Madonna（Like a Virgin）· Phil Collins（In the Air Tonight）· The Cars（Let's Go · Shake It Up）· Kraftwerk（1981 Computer World 巡演）· ABBA（The Visitors）· Radiohead（Kid A——Everything In Its Right Place）」；「Peter Gabriel 称它为他的『old warhorse』（老战马），1986 年专辑 So 上许多声音都用它」；「Blade Runner 配乐」依专题类资料
- ⭐⭐ 它的位置（一句话封神） —— 「Every analog polysynth released since 1978 exists in its shadow.——1978 年后发布的每一台模拟复音合成器都活在它的影子里」；「MusicRadar：『Prophet-5 changed the world – simple as that.（它改变了世界——就这么简单。）』」；⭐ 它的声音：「清晰、平衡、极其通用——不如 Oberheim 那么暖，不如 ARP 那么野，但永远音乐性」
- ⭐⭐ 公司史（起落一次全） —— 「Sequential Circuits 1987 年破产（80 年代竞争与技术更迭的牺牲品）」；「Smith 去过 Yamaha，2002 年创立 Dave Smith Instruments，2015 年回购 Sequential 品牌名」；「2020 年 Prophet-5 Rev4 忠实复刻（现代更新保留原始音色特征）」；「Dave Smith 于 2022 年去世——可编程复音合成器与 MIDI，是他留给地球上每位音乐家的永久礼物」依专题类资料
- ⭐⭐ 「记住」的技术细节（四十个槽怎么来的） —— 「Smith 的洞见是用微处理器（Zilog Z80）扫描并存储 patch 的每一个参数」；「Rev1 能存 64 个 patch（八组每组八程序），后期扩到约 128」；⭐ 对照 ARP 2600（无存储）与 Minimoog（无存储）——面板旋钮的位置第一次可以被「写下」再「读回」
- 「Prophet-5 属电鸣（Electrophone · 模拟减法 + 数字控制存储——混合架构）」依 Hornbostel–Sachs 分类
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.