Excellent video, along with the other arp pro soloist patches from your other video. Would love to see you produce some of the other patches, as these are very helpful.
Having recreated my Pro Soloist's patches many times on many synths over the years I can say you're pretty much on it. I would add just a smudge of attack to the envelope PWM to give it that characteristic 'glitch' at the start of the note - it's the tiniest amount. You have to be subtle with that vibrato too! You could use Oscillator 1 for your pulse wave, but then you would have to patch the ADSR to its PWM, so still two patch cables, so either way is as simple as you can get. To achieve the 'stepping' we hear would need some sort of Voltage quantiser, but that's probably a level of complexity too far. I've never chased this aspect. I sold my Pro Soloist a couple of years ago. They are delicate and mine was yet again in need of repair, so I felt I had to move on. The closest emulation for instant patch recall I've so far found is the Elektron Analog Keys. With that I have immediate one-button access to four 'Pro Soloist' patches. Although it pained me to sell it at the time I haven't missed it. The toughest PS patch to recreate, for me, was the 'Country Guitar' with resonance ('Dancing With the Moonlight Knight'). I was weeks tweaking that patch until I got something I was happy with.
I was wondering how to get that attack at the beginning, it seems there’s a trade-off as the ADSR is tied up with the feedback. Maybe the lag processor? That’s where the stepping is needed, I suppose. The resonance is the hardest thing to match - that’s why I didn’t A/B anything in my previous video. Good call on the Country Guitar (my band does the 76/77 tours, so I’ve never really used that preset), I bet that’s a pain! I couldn’t get Mute Trumpet that close for that reason. I’ll check out that Elektron thing, thanks! I get why Tony used the Pro Soloist, and why we all love it, but I’ll probably sell mine whenever The Genesis Show stops playing. I’m more of a Minimoog/Odyssey guy.
I just tried that, but overall it is too bright with the filter up. That preset on the original is really rolled off, the Brilliance slider doesn’t do too much. Raising the Attack very slightly in the ADSR like you suggested is a neat trick. A/B it doesn’t match, but on its own it definitely adds some movement at the top, kinda what I was going for with the VCO Sync from my previous video. Great ideas!
@@mattthomasoverdrive4514 guys, I hope you're taking into consideration that Tony was using a lot of compression (maybe a limiter?) to add bite to his Prosoloist lines, according to erudite Jim K Leban
Hi Matt, What do you think about the new Odyssey vs 2600 for late 70's Tony Banks lead sounds? I've read that the Odyssey is basically a stripped down 2600...(?) Have you tried out the new Behringer Odyssey?
I think the Behringer 2600 is the best bet for ALL Tony Banks leads, it’s just difficult to change between Pro Soloist sounds. The Korg 2600m has the same issue any Odyssey clone does - no LFO for vibrato with a delayed onset. That said, any Odyssey clone is an excellent synth to have. I sold the Behringer Odyssey once their 2600 was released, but it is fantastic. I love my vintage Minimoog but you’ve got to have an Odyssey, so I still have my Korg mini key white version and bring it to school to let my students play with it.
I tried copying your patches on the Arturia 2600 but it seems to work a bit differently than the Behringer, and thus didn't get great results so thats a bummer. But that only means that i need to get better at synth engineering :P
@@mattthomasoverdrive4514 the slider settings i can manage but something seems to be off. For example in the arturia every oscillator section has a Keyboard CV slider (which i dont know what actually does) and the behringer doesnt and when trying to copy your settings something is fiddling with the sound. I don't know how to explain it more correctly but when you play in a certain range of the keyboard it sounds good, but as you go to the left the sound starts deadening until it completely vanishes. I guess i'll keep trying until i get it.
That control I believe is is equivalent to a Minimoog Keyboard Control switch, the filter opens up brighter the higher the note. Go up and down the keys while moving the slider and you should hear the change. It’s another way to control the filter, this way based on the range of notes.
Hey Matt, great video as always! I was wondering if you had any experience using the free plugins from AM Music technology? I just tried their RMI Piano and Pro Soloist plugins. Having never played these instruments myself, I think these plugins do a pretty good job of getting you in the sonic ballpark, especially for free. I thought the brilliance slider on the Pro Soloist didn't have the same range as the real thing when I tried to do the intro to I Know What I Like, as compared to your video. But I was wondering if you had any thoughts, considering you have the real things?
I had used the Pro Soloist version back when my band started and I was on a 32-bit machine. Once I got my real ARP I never went back. Now that I’m on 64-bit Macs I haven’t tried to get those working again. They are pretty close.
@@mattthomasoverdrive4514 cool, I'm glad to hear it! I've seen some web pages talking about how it had a Mac AU port back in the day, but the company seems to not exist anymore, and I can only find the 32 bit windows version still floating around on the internet. Oh well, if I really want the sounds live, I'm sure I can rig up something with the mainstage auto sampler, haha.
@@sailingwhisper149 the only way around it so far, is using the Windows plugin inside Reaper 32 bit, and that running on Mac with Crossover. Send me a message if you need help setting it up. A bit cumbersome, but I think it still nails the sounds. Once you put it through a compressor, tape delay and sometimes rotary speaker, you can't really tell the difference.
Awesome breakdown and thanks for the shoutout!
Excellent video, along with the other arp pro soloist patches from your other video. Would love to see you produce some of the other patches, as these are very helpful.
Great video matt looking forward to the cover videos
Having recreated my Pro Soloist's patches many times on many synths over the years I can say you're pretty much on it. I would add just a smudge of attack to the envelope PWM to give it that characteristic 'glitch' at the start of the note - it's the tiniest amount. You have to be subtle with that vibrato too! You could use Oscillator 1 for your pulse wave, but then you would have to patch the ADSR to its PWM, so still two patch cables, so either way is as simple as you can get.
To achieve the 'stepping' we hear would need some sort of Voltage quantiser, but that's probably a level of complexity too far. I've never chased this aspect.
I sold my Pro Soloist a couple of years ago. They are delicate and mine was yet again in need of repair, so I felt I had to move on. The closest emulation for instant patch recall I've so far found is the Elektron Analog Keys. With that I have immediate one-button access to four 'Pro Soloist' patches. Although it pained me to sell it at the time I haven't missed it.
The toughest PS patch to recreate, for me, was the 'Country Guitar' with resonance ('Dancing With the Moonlight Knight'). I was weeks tweaking that patch until I got something I was happy with.
I was wondering how to get that attack at the beginning, it seems there’s a trade-off as the ADSR is tied up with the feedback. Maybe the lag processor? That’s where the stepping is needed, I suppose.
The resonance is the hardest thing to match - that’s why I didn’t A/B anything in my previous video. Good call on the Country Guitar (my band does the 76/77 tours, so I’ve never really used that preset), I bet that’s a pain! I couldn’t get Mute Trumpet that close for that reason.
I’ll check out that Elektron thing, thanks! I get why Tony used the Pro Soloist, and why we all love it, but I’ll probably sell mine whenever The Genesis Show stops playing. I’m more of a Minimoog/Odyssey guy.
@@mattthomasoverdrive4514 Thinking about it a bit more...
You don't need to patch AR to filter. Just open the filter up fully and ditch that cable.
I just tried that, but overall it is too bright with the filter up. That preset on the original is really rolled off, the Brilliance slider doesn’t do too much. Raising the Attack very slightly in the ADSR like you suggested is a neat trick. A/B it doesn’t match, but on its own it definitely adds some movement at the top, kinda what I was going for with the VCO Sync from my previous video. Great ideas!
@@mattthomasoverdrive4514 guys, I hope you're taking into consideration that Tony was using a lot of compression (maybe a limiter?) to add bite to his Prosoloist lines, according to erudite Jim K Leban
I mean, talking about getting the attack to sound right
Hi Matt, What do you think about the new Odyssey vs 2600 for late 70's Tony Banks lead sounds? I've read that the Odyssey is basically a stripped down 2600...(?) Have you tried out the new Behringer Odyssey?
I think the Behringer 2600 is the best bet for ALL Tony Banks leads, it’s just difficult to change between Pro Soloist sounds. The Korg 2600m has the same issue any Odyssey clone does - no LFO for vibrato with a delayed onset.
That said, any Odyssey clone is an excellent synth to have. I sold the Behringer Odyssey once their 2600 was released, but it is fantastic. I love my vintage Minimoog but you’ve got to have an Odyssey, so I still have my Korg mini key white version and bring it to school to let my students play with it.
I tried copying your patches on the Arturia 2600 but it seems to work a bit differently than the Behringer, and thus didn't get great results so thats a bummer. But that only means that i need to get better at synth engineering :P
The “throw” on the sliders probably doesn’t match mine. But, yes, take this opportunity to learn sound design on the 2600 V, you’ll get it.
@@mattthomasoverdrive4514 the slider settings i can manage but something seems to be off. For example in the arturia every oscillator section has a Keyboard CV slider (which i dont know what actually does) and the behringer doesnt and when trying to copy your settings something is fiddling with the sound. I don't know how to explain it more correctly but when you play in a certain range of the keyboard it sounds good, but as you go to the left the sound starts deadening until it completely vanishes.
I guess i'll keep trying until i get it.
That control I believe is is equivalent to a Minimoog Keyboard Control switch, the filter opens up brighter the higher the note. Go up and down the keys while moving the slider and you should hear the change. It’s another way to control the filter, this way based on the range of notes.
Hey Matt, great video as always! I was wondering if you had any experience using the free plugins from AM Music technology? I just tried their RMI Piano and Pro Soloist plugins. Having never played these instruments myself, I think these plugins do a pretty good job of getting you in the sonic ballpark, especially for free. I thought the brilliance slider on the Pro Soloist didn't have the same range as the real thing when I tried to do the intro to I Know What I Like, as compared to your video. But I was wondering if you had any thoughts, considering you have the real things?
I had used the Pro Soloist version back when my band started and I was on a 32-bit machine. Once I got my real ARP I never went back. Now that I’m on 64-bit Macs I haven’t tried to get those working again. They are pretty close.
@@mattthomasoverdrive4514 cool, I'm glad to hear it! I've seen some web pages talking about how it had a Mac AU port back in the day, but the company seems to not exist anymore, and I can only find the 32 bit windows version still floating around on the internet. Oh well, if I really want the sounds live, I'm sure I can rig up something with the mainstage auto sampler, haha.
@@sailingwhisper149 the only way around it so far, is using the Windows plugin inside Reaper 32 bit, and that running on Mac with Crossover. Send me a message if you need help setting it up. A bit cumbersome, but I think it still nails the sounds. Once you put it through a compressor, tape delay and sometimes rotary speaker, you can't really tell the difference.