EMU VINTAGE PRO
The Vintage Pro is a 2002 digital synthesizer from EMU Inc. A spiritual successor to the early 90s EMU vintage Keys synthesizer – The VINTAGE PRO uses the EMU PROTEUS 1000 class synth engine. At that time EMU released a number of synths using this engine – the EMU MO PHATT aimed at hiphop genres, the EMU ORBIT for dance sounds the EMU Carnival for latin music, PLANET EARTH for world music, VIRTUOSO 2000 for classical music etc. They are all the same synths but use different waveforms to cater for the characteristics of the desired music style. The VINTAGE PRO was directed at emulating vintage 60s/70s/80s keyboards and synthesizers.
Some people, mostly wankers, discard these things as boring sample players or ‘ROMPLERS’. These people think romplers are not real synths but that is just because they are too lazy to dive into menu screens or mask their lack of synthesis knowledge by only using synths where they can twiddle the filter cutoff knob so they get instant gratification.
This EMU has some expansive synth power, just check these interesting LFO waveforms in the modulation department in the schematic above…a HEMI QUAVER wave???
The Vintage PRO is a gateway to an adventerous psychedelic plain of synthesis – a DEEP synthesizer – with 4 “oscillators”, 21 filter models, virtual modular patch cords with crazy modulations routings and more.
The sound is a bit snappy and thin yet delicate and sophisticated – diaphanous, a fancy word for translucent – would be a better description. Like aquarel water paint mixed with pencil crayons it can be a fertile and extremely colorful ingredient in your music.
emu vintage pro the choice for winos?
Editing/Programming is done on a little LCD screen affair, its manageable but even the most hardcore digital programmer fetishist like me might find it a bit cumbersome – mainly because of its ‘modular’ patch cord system (imagine a modular system controlled by a little LCD screen) The best way to go about is selecting a nice patch as a basis and shape the sound from there. All the EMU proteus 1000 class synths have a rather intriguing sound randomizer which will create a sound for you ‘ex nihilo’ – giving the synth an almost delphic oracle-esque quality.
As you might see this synthesizer came in 19″ rack format, there is however an extremely rare keyboard version called the VK-6.
Some more random trivia: The first and second Franz Falckehaus albums were made entirely on this thing sequenced by an Electribe ES-1
Check out some sounds from the EMU using the Legowelt Vintage Pro sample pack through some echo FX:
Legowelt EMU Vintage Pro Sample Pack Demo
A free sample pack with 375 sounds I made from this machine in 16bit wave format is available here