im actually using the t5 to finally learn piano. was pretty easy to make the everything in it’s right place patch (or close enough, anyway), which was very satisfying. something about setting the release and filter envelope on the synth makes that really nice paino key sustained sound. now learning some postal service and memorizing scales from my launchpad that i use most often
i agree that it makes piano sounds surprisingly well
Any links to sounds of that patch? Would love to hear it!
Looks like a new firmware update is in beta. Anything interesting in there?
A Prophet (module) or Take 5 is sort of on my wish list for next year, so I’ve been binging videos lately. I’m still not sure what the right one for me is. The tone of the P5 is basically my ideal polysynth sound, but I like the size and features of the T5. Perhaps the middle road of the P6 is where I will end up.
Extended Patch memories.
^^^ yes, that’s the one. holy moly, it’s good. the mod wheel controls tremolo.
as for what’s right for you @DimensionsTomorrow, that’s hard to say. you could also try something like arturia’s or u-He’s prophet 5 VSTs. i love repro-5 but find doing any sound design with it to be boring and tedious without physical controls. the take 5 definitely gets you in the ballpark for cheaper, plus stereo out and some usable effects, etc.
Worth picking up the SoundForce SFC-5 controller for Repro-5… totally transforms the experience!
There’s one on Reverb at the moment for £160
Thanks. Yeah, I’ll just continue to lurk and watch videos, and hopefully check some stuff out at a store at some point. I have the U-he plug-in as well, but I just don’t enjoy synthesis on the computer. I mainly just tweak presets. To be honest, I’ve never bonded with any synth before until I got my Moog Grandmother, and I’ve been through a fair few, so I should probably just stick with the Moog until I’m certain I know what I want. For sampling, software synths are totally fine for me. The Grandmother feels like a proper instrument to me though, like my guitar, so it’s like a whole other experience. It made me get why people like synths.
I’ve been busy at work and the holidays are coming up, so I guess that’s the time when I start looking at gear the most. I should probably stop. Haha.
came up with a patch i really liked today. some fm, looping envelopes, audio rate modulation of things like filter drive & vintage, a lot of mod slot modulation, filter out to cutoff, that sort of thing
@DimensionsTomorrow i think the T5 would be a good compliment to the Grandmother. I’ve only ever owned a Matriarch, but i played the GM for a little at a Sam Ash. the take-5 is organic feeling in the same way, raw but beautiful mixed with modern sounds that sit well in a mix, similar to the newer moogs. but the sequential has a lot of deep modulation, much more than people give it credit for. so you can get into really crazy p12-like territory with timbres and textures that are typically made with complex digital synths or eurorack. except with the take-5 you’re doing all of that insane modulation with super thick poly vcos, so its a pretty unique and special thing to me. i realize these are obvious points, but with this particular synth, it’s kind of hard to explain why its more special than it looks on paper until you actually unlock it’s magic in person
i feel like it’s more like what i hear from the moog one in that dan lopatin Uncut Gems scoring segment on youtube than something like a Rev2, although i guess he does use a p6 as well
its like taking voltage from an electrical outlet and shaping it in your hands like clay. it really feels to me like im physically sculpting something. unlike with a lot of synths where i feel like im controlling a disconnected vst
Oh wow, that sounds kind of perfect. I feel like the videos I see on YouTube kind of underwhelm, but all the people I have talked to that own them have given me glowing reviews, even those that have owned or currently own other Prophets, so I’m definitely not writing it off. I can’t swing another big synth purchase until next year some time, but I really want to go find a shop with one in stock and listen to it myself. I might even bring my own headphones as store speakers can kind suck for demoing synths.
yeah i was going to say when i was in that synth store, i couldnt hear anything. i tried the juno x, the pro 3, p6, the virus ti, a bunch of synths i always wanted to hear and it was useless. someone was playing an electric piano very loudly and the speakers connected to the synths were pretty useless among all the noise, if they were properly connected.
but yeah there are very few videos that do this synth justice. a few sounds here are decent
the sonic state one titled “Two Fives” he did with the modal synth was pretty good at illustrating the core tone. but if you would like it sooner, im sure you could approved for a 12 payment plan here on this $200-off non-factory sealed one. or the regular priced brand new one:
just a thought
Thanks, man. I’ll check those out!
I’m in Japan, and the yen is incredibly weak at the moment so need to wait it out a bit. No big deal as I have plenty to keep me busy in the meantime. I really appreciate it though.
The modulation is really intriguing on the T5. I’m surprised there aren’t more YouTube videos popping up.
This patch is crazyyyyy! I’ve been sticking way too much within the bread and butter classics with the T5, definitely gotta push it forward with mods, thanks for the inspiration 
thank you
i think it has incredible potential for deep sound design that is not only complex, but rich and gritty. i’m just learning as i go because as far as i know there aren’t a lot of resources on how to patch creatively on some of these sequential synths. but owning something like the prophet 12 helps to understand how to get the most out of things like the mod matrix. stacking mod slots with multiple iterations of the same modulation helps, using “dc” or an audio rate modulation to push front panel parameters beyond their normal potentiometer value range, modulating mod slots, recursive modulation on envelopes & lfos. the looping envelopes hlep a lot, but also subtle things like a slight low end/high q boost with a mostly transparent hpf effect, adding subtle crunch with the filter drive, using things like ring mod, fm, or other sources for natural shifts in movement - oscillator shapes that swing slightly or undulate beneath a larger more harmonic sound.
i think a lot of the magic come from counter-intuitive patching. since it takes a little while to grasp all of the unique quirks of a synth like this; experimenting with techniques that dont exactly make sense at first can teach you a lot about results that wouldn’t be immediately obvious otherwise. some of my favorite sounds come from experimenting with hard sync + fm and then testing different osc 1 fine pitch values, osc shapes, and octaves until you get a good texture, then pushing parameters further with osc2 in the matrix. modulate vcf resonance with an audio rate lfo or looped envelope, modulate the decay of the filter envelope with osc2 as it loops, modulate the vintage knob with anything
i agree that it takes some work to get inspired to dig deeper because its seemingly a very simple interface, but there are a lot of pleasant surprises if you manage to get in the zone. i hope that’s helpful advice. trying to distill things i’ve stumbled upon randomly isn’t the easiest for me, but i want to get across that its much more powerful that it initially seems
that’s wild and unruly. nice.
I wonder if it can feel the shoes of a Prophet 5…?
It’s not a P5 substitute and I don’t feel it’s trying to be. It’s too far from the Prophet in terms of architecture but what it is is a very nice sounding poly. I’d guess it can get close to the earlier rev SSM prophets but even then it’s a different oscillator and filter chipset.
Just wanted to let you know that I finally tracked down the Sonic State clips. The one you mention and another one where he does a Twin Peaks sounding patch. Both are really nice, and I enjoyed some of those FM patches from the other clip as well. The T5 is definitely a contender again. Now if the dollar would just weaken so that prices come down to a reasonable level again.
Here are the clips (if others are curious).
seancostello comparing his Take 5 to his Prophet 10
Do keep in mind that he programmed his sounds on both machines. What sounds he loves to use might not be the same as the sounds you are looking for.
Actually, I had conversation with him over there on a different thread, and he convinced me that it’s definitely worth considering. He definitely knows his stuff and he seems to like the kinds of sounds I’d be looking for in a Sequential. Super nice guy as well!
Strangely enough the universe has unexpectedly given me a cash injection today that would be enough to buy a Take 5. Still thinking about whether to sit on it or get myself a Christmas present.
I had to point out that he’s got his own aesthetic that he goes for, because even the Prophet 5 Rev 4 does not have the same factory presets as the 70s production Prophet 5s. Current production P5/P10 has, for example, insta-rave and insta-house type presets - presets for styles that didn’t exist in 1978.
That’s why some people are trying to make money selling “original Prophet 5” sound sets for Prophet 5/10 Rev 4.
Personally i don’t care about 100% vintage accuracy, so I wouldn’t be bothered about whether or not I can get exactly the same Prophet 5 sounds that appeared on a late 70s/early 80 record. But other people might.