I doubt that many people know that the Prophet 5 was not the first product that Sequential Circuits advented. In fact, it probably started out as an experiment, nothing more. Their original products were a digital sequencer (a la the Oberheim DS series) and a digital programmer, the 700. From what I’ve gathered, the 700 was not made with a microprocessor, like the Prophet 5, but it was assembled using TTL logic from the same SSM chips that went into the P-5.
Question: Did this programmer have enough capacity to control the Minimoog? The info that I gathered called the programmer “generic.” Is it meant for more streamlined synths, like the Multimoog, or the Oberheim SEM module?
On another note, I haven’t managed to memorize the definition of Transistor-Transistor-Logic. I may have asked about it, before, but could one of you tell me what it is, again?
TTL logic is the industry standard 74xx IC family, it’s been around since the 60s. There is no relation whatsoever with SSM chips.
In the days of the 700 microprocessors were expensive, so building a product from TTL was more economical. The Oberheim Minisequencer from the same era was designed around CMOS 4xxx logic ICs, so that was common.
By the time the P5 was coming around, microprocessors were more reasonable.
AFAIK the 700 programmer is optimized for the Minimoog, Devo used that combo back in the day. “Generic” likely means 1v/oct tuning CV outputs.
The 700 programmer is basically a pair of programmable env generators and some offset voltages for tuning. It replaces the minis envs by feeding the loudness and filter vc in jacks. Useful, but doesn’t make a Mini programmable by a longshot.
Very much like Oberheim 4/8 vc programmers.
It is also possible to mod one to accept a clock to step through the programs, effectively turning it into a sequencer with dual, programmable envs per note.
Just sold my SCI model 800 sequencer (bugger was dead mint with the footswitch and everything!) ;( …sad to see her go but it really was time. You guys are right about the 700 and 800’s being SCI’s 1st product. Never came across a 700 programmer but I’d imagine with Dave Smith’s history, it was directed at mini users.
Just sold my SCI model 800 sequencer (bugger was dead mint with the footswitch and everything!) ;( …sad to see her go but it really was time. You guys are right about the 700 and 800’s being SCI’s 1st product. Never came across a 700 programmer but I’d imagine with Dave Smith’s history, it was directed at mini users.
there were at least two major revs of the 700. mine was one of the last ones, it featured a ‘multipin’ connector on the back for streamlining interface to another synth - the earlier ones needed about a half dozen patchcords between a [modified] mini and the programmer. with the multipin, you could pay a tech to make you a special ‘snake’ cable that would allow you to interface with a monosynth using one big cable…
a popular use was with minimoog, but you had to have a tech hack into the oscillators so that you would have individual access to the VCOs, using the [quantized] static voltages on the face panel. you could separate all the modules on an SEM and use a fistful of cables to control it with the 700, but it wasn’t pretty or easy.
the backplane of the 700 had both 1/4 and 1/8 inch jacks on it wired in parallel, so you could interface with electrocomp, moog or arp stuff without investing in a bunch of adapters.
there were two really snappy envelope generators onboard, DADSR. there were 8 banks of 8 programs, and the programs could be stepped thru using a switch or a gate input. there was a rotary switch which governed how many stages you stepped thru, so the thing could be treated as a sort of bizarre 8 stage analog/digital sequencer. as i recall, you could gate the envelopes separate from stepping thru the presets, and it was pretty good about not glitching when you changed env settings as result of stepping to a different stage.
i used mine as part of a live performance rig centered around an arp 2600 and an SEM, and it usually worked in sort of the nether-region between programmer and sequencer - i’d use clock dividers, staged gate outputs, an LFO or my hand or a footswitch to step between programs on the thing, using it to manually update VCO settings and articulate envelopes while the rest of the system was being driven from an SCI 800 and/or a wasatch music systems analog sequencer. in a way, the 700 worked sort of like fretting chords on a guitar, and the other clocks and sequencers worked sort of like strumming and barring the resulting chord voicings.
sold my 700 to glinsky for his synth museum, as i recall.
hey glinsky, you still got that thing? i want it back! i need something to tame down these damned moogerfoogers!