Sequential Circuits at Music Machines

It’s really exciting to have David Abernethy coming along to Music Machines this Saturday with some of his collection of Sequential Circuits kit. I asked David what he’ll be bringing and demo’ing on the day…

“As you know, I specialise in Sequential Circuits gear. No synth event would be complete without the Prophet 5. In my opinion, the Prophet 5 is the second most significant synth in synthesizer history (the Minimoog is number 1 of course).

The four synths in my exhibit are from this classic Prophet 5 era. I figured it would make a more interesting exhibit if I used my two Sequential drum machines to play the sequencers in the Pro 1 and Prophet 10. This is something I’ve been experimenting with my own music. The two drum machines are a few years advanced from the Prophet 5 era and they have MIDI. They also have trigger and clock facilities to synchronise with older technology.

The sound conjures up that early eighties electro-pop. So I thought seeing as the event was open to the general public, perhaps they’d appreciate a nostalgia trip and get to see how these old songs were made and how hairy it was to play live. So I’ve prepared some tunes from that era. I’ll be playing the songs in patterns and switching on the fly – that makes it more fun. I’ve also selected a couple of other more recent songs that have used digital gear and tried to replicate that on my set-up. The results are interesting. And if anyone wants to try setting up a new drum pattern and sequence, that wouldn’t be a problem.

And there’s also the Remote Prophet, which is a pre-MIDI controller. A Stratocaster, it ain’t.”

David will be at the event all afternoon so come along and check out his kit is full sync’d action.