DSI PRO 2 & PROPHET 12

Let’s start with the Dave Smith Instruments Pro 2. It is the most useful synth I’ve ever played. I got to borrow one for a short while (and later bought one of my own) and it quickly became the central control and performance hub of my analog and digital gear. In addition to its great internal sounds, with four assignable CV Outputs (and four inputs!), it (much like the Moog Multi-Pedal) is able to lend new functionality to your older existing gear.

For example, a Moog Voyager sounds great but it has (for all practical purposes) no MIDI clock synced features. Pair it with a Pro 2 though and you can control things like the Voyager’s filter cutoff, volume, pan, wave shape and more with the Pro 2’s clock-synced LFOs, step sequencer tracks, envelopes and a variety of other elements.

I had a lot of fun connecting to multiple synths, starting the sequencer, and tweaking knobs. These video do not go into minute detail on showing how I did all this. They are meant as a quick looks at some amazing possibilities. Think of them more as an “inspirational” than a “tutorial”…

A patch I created. My favorite bit of sound design…
Shot during my first session spending quality time with the Pro 2. With USB/MIDI and assignable CV Ins and Outs that can be sent to or from just about anything in its architecture, It’s a great synth that fits into any electronic music workflow.
A compact, computer-less performance setup that can create a wide variety of new (and old) sounds. The Dave Smith Instruments Pro 2 is the heart of the setup. In addition to its great sound engine, it provides the master MIDI clock to the H9 and sends tempo-synced LFOs, step sequences and more to the MicroBrute via one or more of its four assignable CV outputs.
A short bit of sequencing on the Pro 2, with its Filter Envelope routed to a CV Out, then to the Filter In of a Moog Sub Phatty.
A short bit of sequencing on the Pro 2, synced to an Ableton beat. The Pro 2 is sending a step sequenced CV to the Moog Voyager’s filter.
A Dave Smith Instruments Pro 2 arpeggiator synced to the clock from Ableton Live, while the Pro 2 Filter Envelope is sent via CV to control a Moog Sub Phatty’s Filter Cutoff. Also synced to the same clock are a Yamaha MO8 arpeggiator, Koushion iPad app and Line 6 Echo Pro.
A short bit of sequencing on the Pro 2, synced to an Ableton beat. The Pro 2 is sending a step sequenced CV to the Moog Voyager’s filter.
A quick and ragged spin on a Moog Sub 37. It sounds great, and sounds really, really great run through an H9, and really, really, really great paired with a Pro 2.

Prophet 12

I had a chance to borrow a Prophet 12 recently and decided to see what kind of “analog” things I could do with it. Here I connected the Volume CV from the Etherwave Plus to the P12 Pedal 1 connector and routed it to the P12 LPF filter cutoff. Then the fun started.

Since it has analog filters, I thought it might be interesting to do “analog things” to it. This is part of what happened next.

Many more videos are available on the ExperimentalSynth YouTube Channel.
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Experimental Synth