The songs behind the synths: Prophet 5

Music

The iconic Prophet-5 was the first of its kind.

The brainchild of engineers the late Dave Smith (also the father of MIDI) and John Bowen, the Prophet was birthed at Sequential Circuits in 1977 and was the first fully programmable polyphonic synthesiser to hit the market.

First released at an equally exciting time for music and technology, the synth is noted for its warm and organic sound. It’s since gone through a handful of different iterations over the decades, starting with the ‘Rev 1’ prototype which was built in Smith’s garage, followed by ‘Rev 2’, ‘Rev 3’ and ‘Rev 4’ just a few years ago.

It’s appeared in many famous songs and has been hailed as a go-to synth by artists like Ryuichi Sakamoto, Thom Yorke and Phil Collins. Though many legendary pop and rock artists of the 80s notably used the polysynth (the list is endless), it still found its way into the hands of techno pioneers like Jeff Mills and Derrick May, as well as West Coast hip hop producers like Dr. Dre and contemporary electronic producers like Four Tet.

This iconic synth is emulated as the Prophet V, as part of Arturia’s new V9 Collection, which includes the broadest selection of instruments yet and a comprehensive range of tools and sound, so that producers working with VSTs and plugins can reap the benefits of this timeless analog machine.

Below we chart some of the tracks and artists who’ve used the Prophet-5 over the years, from 80s classics to melancholy rock electronica and boundary-pushing avant-garde pop…

Arturia’s V9 Collection includes 32 titles, including 4 new instruments and 14,000 world-class presets across styles and sounds.

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Japan - Ghosts

Active between the mid 70s and early 80s, new romantic group Japan was fronted by singer-songwriter David Sylvian. For a period of time the band collaborated with legendary Japanese keyboardist, composer and YMO member Ryuichi Sakamoto, as did Sylvian individually pre and post break up of the band, namely on the infamous track ‘Bamboo Houses’.

Sakamoto favoured the Prophet-5 which appears on several tracks across Japan’s Tin Drum LP, particularly on ‘Ghosts’, a beautifully eerie song that showcases the density of the sustained key hits. Sakamoto wasn’t the only fan of it in the band though, another member Richard Barbieri has also used the Prophet-5 frequently during Japan’s tenure.

Japan - Ghosts

Active between the mid 70s and early 80s, new romantic group Japan was fronted by singer-songwriter David Sylvian. For a period of time the band collaborated with legendary Japanese keyboardist, composer and YMO member Ryuichi Sakamoto, as did Sylvian individually pre and post break up of the band, namely on the infamous track ‘Bamboo Houses’.

Sakamoto favoured the Prophet-5 which appears on several tracks across Japan’s Tin Drum LP, particularly on ‘Ghosts’, a beautifully eerie song that showcases the density of the sustained key hits. Sakamoto wasn’t the only fan of it in the band though, another member Richard Barbieri has also used the Prophet-5 frequently during Japan’s tenure.
Pink Floyd - Run Like Hell

Pink Floyd’s keys player Richard Wright was another huge fan and champion of the Prophet 5. He used it exclusively on the group’s eleventh album The Wall, released in 1979, and during the tour that followed at the beginning of the 80s.

On ‘Run like Hell’, one of the most notable songs on the album, you can hear Rick playing the Prophet prominently during the solo towards the middle of the track.
The Cars - Let's Go

Greg Hawkes, keyboardist of The Cars (an incredibly underrated band IMHO) calls the Prophet-5 one of his favourite synths of all time.

It’s very much associated with the band’s sound because of this and has appeared on several albums from the band’s catalogue, but most notably for the main sound on ‘Let’s Go’, taken from their 1969 album Candy-O. It features several of the synth’s preset sounds, including one of the most infamous leads: the ’32 Sync II’ factory patch.
Radiohead - Everything In its Right Place

Thom Yorke has used many iterations of the Prophet in his music, both solo and as Radiohead. The Prophet-5 call be heard throughout their albums Kid A and OK Computer, in the case of our pick ‘Everything In It’s Right Place’, that signature warm sounding patch is panned right and left and is given character by the use of sawtooth wave on the oscillator and a low-pass filter.

His use of the Prophet continued after Radiohead too – on stage live with the Prophet-8 and on his solo releases with the Prophet-6.
Talking Heads - Burning Down the House

Talking Heads need little introduction. One of their most notable tracks, the anthemic ‘Burning Down The House’ uses the Prophet 5 on both the bass and the lead.

One of the group’s founding members Tina Weymouth, who played bass and synth, used it for the bass part after finding it wasn’t sounding tight enough played solely on a guitar. Keyboardist, producer and composer Wally Badarou also plays a lead on the Prophet in this track, which is one of a number of Talking Heads songs that he lent his synth skills to.
Hall and Oates - I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)

If you’re at a wedding or family function, we’re 99% sure that a Hall & Oates track will get played, and most likely it’ll be ‘I Can’t Go For That’, the duo’s homage to Philly soul, taken from their 1981 album Private Eyes.

There’s a ton of different layers and parts in the track, which was sketched out by Darryl Hall in one evening, but the primary chord was made on a Prophet-5 with chorus.
Yellow Magic Orchestra - 1000 Knives

YMO were at the forefront of new musical technology in the 80s, sampling anything they could get their hands on from drum machines to synthesizers and other analog hardware.

Band founder Haruomi Hosono was an avid user of the Prophet-5, as was fellow member Ryuichi Sakamoto (who had to get a second mention in the list) and his then wife Akiko Yano who played and recorded with YMO on several occasions.

Sakamoto, specifically, has described it as one of his favourites of all time “because of its warmth and noise modulation” and has worked with the same one for 40 years.
Wally Badarou - Hi-Life

Of course Wally deserves his own individual shout out… An undeniable synth wizard, he still managed to fly under the radar more than other synth players of the time. ‘Hi-Life’ was originally released in 1984 on Island Records, then again as part of his most recognised LP Echoes just a couple of years later.

The Prophet-5, which used to be one of his favourite synths back in the 80s, is used on this track to imitate the African slide guitar sounds and percussion. He no longer uses the Prophet these days because it isn’t completely MIDI, however he’s spoken with Arturia about his use of their soft synth emulation, the Prophet V, which he loves the architecture and sound of.
Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight

The Genesis frontman used the Prophet-5 a lot in the early years of his solo career, utilising the preset sounds available. On arguably his most famous song, ‘In The Air Tonight’, the majority of the recording is in demo form as Phil and his engineer Hugh Padman found it hard to capture the feeling of the original recording.

The drum machine pattern, recorded on a Roland CopuRhythm CR-78, is iconic but the use of the Prophet-5 for its otherworldly sequence of chords, with added gated reverb, lends a certain mysterious quality to the track.
Four Tet & Sa Ra - Sun Drums and Soil

On a more modern tip, we’ve read that Four Tet used the Prophet-5, alongside his Roland Sh-101, to create the warm sounds on this 2005 release with Sa Ra.

Elsewhere, we’ve seen that he lent a Prophet-5 from none other than Nigel Godrich of Radiohead, another champion of the legendary poly synth. Sharing is caring after all.