Dave Smith Instruments PROPHET 12 DESKTOP - Manual (Page 13)

1 Prophet 12 Module Operation Manual Overview
Overview
This is a brief overview of the Prophet 12 module, describing its capabilities and
its operation. More in-depth information about specific parameters can be found
in the reference section of the manual. However, don’t let a lack of familiarity
with either the instrument or sound synthesis prevent you from turning knobs
and pressing buttons—that’s what they’re there for! You won’t break anything
and you can always get back to where you started, even if you have no idea what
you’re doing. Great things can occur with synthesizers when you don’t quite
know what to expect, so start twiddling and keep your ears—and mind—open.
Getting Started
The Prophet 12 module is a twelve-voice, polyphonic synthesizer, which allows
up to twelve distinct notes to play simultaneously. We refer to the Prophet 12 as
a hybrid synthesizer. That is, it uses a combination of digital and analog audio
electronics to generate its sounds, called programs.
The Prophet 12 contains 792 programs organized into eight banks of 99. Half the
programs are in four Factory banks and the rest are in four User banks. When a
Prophet 12 leaves the factory, the User banks are an exact copy of the Factory
banks. Program 1 in bank 1 of the User banks is the same as program 1 in bank
1 of the Factory banks, User program 2 is the same as Factory program 2, and so
on. All programs in either the Factory or User banks can be edited using the front
panel controls, but the edits cannot be saved to the Factory banks, only the User
banks. The Factory banks are read-only, permanent.
Choosing programs is simple. Use the B
ank
S
elect
knob to choose User banks
(U1, U2, U3, U4), or Factory banks (F1, F2, F3, F4), and then use the P
rogram
S
elect
knob to select program number, 01 through 99.
While auditioning programs, it should become obvious that some programs are
split—two different sounds can be played from different zones of the keyboard—
and some are stacked—one sound is layered on another. The Prophet 12 is
bi-timbral. That is, it can play two different sounds simultaneously and each
of those sounds can be routed to its own stereo outputs, if desired. Each of the
Prophet 12’s program memory locations is capable of saving and recalling two
different programmed sounds, one in layer A and one in layer B. Layers are used
to facilitate split and stacked programs.