E-mu Proteus

Last updated
Proteus
Manufacturer E-mu
Technical specifications
Polyphony up to 128 voices
Timbrality up to 128 notes
Oscillator Digital
Synthesis type Sample-based synthesis
Input/output
Two Proteus modules, the Xtreme Lead-1 and the Mo-Phatt, sit atop an Akai multi-track recorder, together forming a system typical of Hip hop production AKAI DR16 and E-mu (Xtreme Lead-1, MoPhatt).jpg
Two Proteus modules, the Xtreme Lead-1 and the Mo-Phatt, sit atop an Akai multi-track recorder, together forming a system typical of Hip hop production

The E-mu Proteus was a range of digital sound modules and keyboards manufactured by E-mu Systems from 1989 to 2002.

Contents

History

E-mu Systems came to prominence in the early 1980s with its relatively affordable Emulator sampler, and subsequently pioneered sample-based synthesis technology with the Proteus range. Unlike earlier types of synthesisers, sample-based equipment does not derive its raw sounds from electronic oscillators or algorithmically generated waveforms, but from recorded sounds held in read-only memory (ROM) chips. These sounds may then be layered, filtered, modulated by low frequency oscillation and shaped by ADSR envelopes. However, unlike a true sampler, such devices do not allow the user to record sounds but instead offer a range of factory sounds suitable for any given use. This type of sound production dominated electronic music production for several years in the late 20th century. The exclusive license for re-formatting and managing historical E-MU Proteus sound content has been acquired by Digital Sound Factory.

First generation

The original Proteus series are basic ROMplers which contains 3 base models with 192 patches each, of which 64 are editable by the user. The patches have an assigned sample and allow basic ADSR editing, and it's possible to link more than one patch together for a richer sound. The units have 32 voice polyphony.

The Proteus 1 contains general sounds from the Emulator library useful for music production, the Proteus 2 specializes in orchestral sounds, and the third model in sounds for world music. Additional versions include the following:

Proteus1.jpg Proteus 1 Pop/Rock (1989)
Proteus 1 XR (1990)
Proteus 1 Plus Orchestral (1990)
Proteus 2 Orchestral (1990)
Proteus 2 XR (1990)
Proteus 3 World (1991)
Proteus 3 XR (1991)
Pro/Cussion (1991)

Second generation

The second generation of E-MU ROMplers added a filter.

Internals of an ORBIT V2 with its beat mode:
Beat Mode E-MU-System Orbit V2.jpg
Internals of an ORBIT V2 with its beat mode:
Beat Mode


Vintage Keys (1993) [1]
Morpheus (1993) [2]
Vintage Keys Plus (1993)
E-mu ProteusFX.jpg Proteus FX (1994) [3]
Classic Keys (1994) [4]
UltraProteus (1994) [5]
Orbit [Techno/Electronica] (1996) [6]
Plannet Phatt, Orbit.jpg Planet Phatt [Hip-Hop] (1997) [7]
Orbit V2 [Techno/Electronica] (1997) [8]
Carnaval [Latin] (1997) [9]

Third generation

The Proteus 2000 released in 1999 was a 1U rack sound module based on Audity 2000 released in 1998. It contained many "bread and butter" sounds, [10] among just over a thousand waves utilising 32 megabytes of ROM. It featured up to 128 voice polyphony and 32-part multi-timbrality. [11] It could be expanded with slots for three additional sound ROM cards. A cheaper Proteus 1000 model was also introduced with the same soundest and ROM but only 64 voice polyphony and fewer individual sound outputs. The Proteus 2000 also has Protozoa ROM expansions that contain patches from the original Proteus trilogy, where the first 128 patches towards each of the three modules respectively were faithfully re-mastered digitally from scratch that could be purchased to add onto the module, consisting a total of 384 patches of up to 16 MB of memory.

The Proteus 2000 range also consisted of several specialized models, some differing from each other only by the sound banks they contained. However, most allowed four ROM chips to be mounted, and these chips were available separately, so real differences might be simply cosmetic. The available ROM chips included the Composer, a work-horse set of sounds useful for popular music production, three orchestral ROMs, the Vintage Keys collection of electric organs, pianos and classic synthesisers, a chip dedicated to the Hammond organ and a drum ROM as well as the Orbit and Mo-Phatt collections, aimed at dance and urban genres and the Xtreme Lead, optimised for monophonic synthesiser soloing. Most of these were also sold as specialized modules, even though the hardware inside most of there is virtually identical to the Proteus 2000.


Audity 2000 [General] (1998)
Proteus 2000 [General] (1999)
Virtuoso 2000 [Orchestral] (2000)
Proteus Orchestra [Orchestral] (2000)
Mo'Phatt, Turbo Phatt, Xtreme Lead-1.jpg Xtreme Lead-1 [Techno/Electronica] (2000)
Mo'Phatt [Hip-Hop] (2000)  
Turbo Phatt [Hip-Hop] (2002)
B-3 [Pipe organ] (2000)
Planet Earth [World music] (2000)
Orbit 3 [Techno/Dance/Electronica] (2001)
Proteus Custom [Custom sounds] (2002)
XL-1 Turbo [Techno] (2002)
Proteus 1000 [General] (2002)
Vintage Pro [Classic synthesizers] (2002)

Proteus 2500

This 4U rack model was designed to function as a rack-mounted, front-panel-programmable sound source. It was equipped with sixteen multi-function pads and the same number of programmable knobs and had an onboard sequencer.

Launch-Pad controller for Orbit in 1996 may be a forerunner of Command Station E-mu Launch Pad.jpg
Launch-Pad controller for Orbit in 1996 may be a forerunner of Command Station

Command Station

In 2001 the Proteus line of modules was repackaged in the form of a line of tabletop units, the XL7 and MP7 Command Stations, broadly similar to the rack-mounted 2500 in features but featuring touch-sensitive pads suitable for recording drum patterns.

MK-6/PK-6/Halo

E-mu PK-6 (Pop/Rock) - 2001 E-mu PK-6 Proteus Key.jpg
E-mu PK-6 (Pop/Rock) - 2001

In 2001–2002, E-mu/Ensoniq released a trio of entry-level keyboards, essentially the keyboard versions of the Proteus 2500 module. The E-mu MK-6, XK-6, PK-6 and Ensoniq Halo featured the same 61-key keyboard and controls layout, but slightly different soundset.

Software editor

Prodatum [12] is a cross-platform software editor for the Proteus 1000/2000, Command Stations and keyboard versions. prodatum is free software.

Proteum [13] is a free Windows software editor for Proteus and Command Stations.

OS updates

Since Creative withdrew their provision of historical OS updates and manuals for most of the older E-Mu gear sometime around August 2011, [14] many of these files have been made available elsewhere, such as Synth Gear Docs Archive and the E-Mu Legacy Archive.

Notable users

Mark Snow used the Whistl'n Joe instrument patch (Patch #125 on the Proteus 2) for The X-Files theme. [15] [16]

Eric Serra used the Infinite One instrument patch to get the sharp, metallic percussive sound that is featured in his soundtracks, such as in The Fifth Element , Leon the Professional , and GoldenEye . [17] Subsequently, the video game composer Graeme Norgate [18] would use the same patch in games such as GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark . The sound originally is from a tambourine, pitched down, and treated with delay and reverb effects.

Mike O'Donnell & Junior Campbell used the E-Mu Proteus 2 XR for seasons 3-7 of Thomas & Friends, Andrew McCrorie-Shand used the Proteus 2 XR and Proteus 3 XR World for the original series of Teletubbies (1997-2001). Petr Skoumal also used an E-Mu Proteus for season 4 of Pat & Mat

John Linnell of American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants used the E-Mu Proteus FX and Proteus 2000 for their studio and live rigs.

Joe Phillips and Bob Singleton used the Proteus 1 and Proteus 2 respectively for Barney & Friends.

Related Research Articles

Ensoniq Corp. was an American electronics manufacturer, best known throughout the mid-1980s and 1990s for its musical instruments, principally samplers and synthesizers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roland D-50</span> Synthesizer

The Roland D-50 is a synthesizer produced by Roland and released in April of 1987. Its features include digital sample-based subtractive synthesis, on-board effects, a joystick for data manipulation, and an analog synthesis-styled layout design. The external Roland PG-1000 (1987) programmer could also be attached to the D-50 for more complex manipulation of its sounds. It was also produced in a rack-mount variant design, the D-550, with almost 450 user-adjustable parameters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Novation Digital Music Systems</span> British musical equipment manufacturer

Novation Digital Music Systems Ltd. is a British musical equipment manufacturer, founded in 1992 by Ian Jannaway and Mark Thompson as Novation Electronic Music Systems. Today the company specializes in MIDI controllers with and without keyboards, both analog and virtual analog performance synthesizers, grid-based performance controllers, and audio interfaces. At present, Novation products are primarily manufactured in China.

A rompler is an electronic musical instrument that plays pre-fabricated sounds based on audio samples. The term rompler is a blend of the terms ROM and sampler. In contrast to samplers, romplers do not record audio. Both may have additional sound editing features, such as layering several waveforms and modulation with ADSR envelopes, filters and LFOs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korg Triton</span> Workstation synthesizer

The Korg Triton is a music workstation synthesizer, featuring digital sampling and sequencing, released in 1999. It uses Korg's "HI Synthesis" system and was eventually available in several model variants with numerous upgrade options. The Triton became renowned as a benchmark of keyboard technology, and has been widely featured in music videos and live concerts. At the NAMM Show in 2007, Korg announced the Korg M3 as its successor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ensoniq ESQ-1</span> Synthesizer

Ensoniq ESQ-1 is a 61-key, velocity sensitive, eight-note polyphonic and multitimbral synthesizer released by Ensoniq in 1985. It was marketed as a "digital wave synthesizer" but was an early Music Workstation. Although its voice generation is typically subtractive in much the same fashion as most analog synthesizers that preceded it, its oscillators are neither voltage nor "digitally controlled", but true digital oscillators, provided by a custom Ensoniq wavetable chip. The signal path includes analog resonant low-pass filters and an analog amplifier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E-mu Emulator</span> Series of digital sampling synthesizers

The Emulator is a series of digital sampling synthesizers using floppy-disk storage that was manufactured by E-mu Systems from 1981 until 2002. Although it was not the first commercial sampler, the Emulator was innovative in its integration of computer technology and was among the first samplers to find widespread usage among musicians. While costly, its price was considerably lower than those of its early competitors, and its smaller size increased its portability and, resultantly, practicality for live performance. The line was discontinued in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waldorf Music</span> German synthesizer company

Waldorf Music is a German synthesizer company. They are best known for the Microwave wavetable synthesizer and Blofeld virtual analogue synthesizer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korg DW-8000</span> Hybrid digital-analog synthesizer

The Korg DW-8000 is a polyphonic hybrid digital-analog synthesizer released in 1985. It blends digital waveforms with an analog filter and amplifier, followed by a digital delay for adding echo effects. It boasts eight-note polyphony and its keyboard is equipped with velocity sensitivity and aftertouch.

Arturia is a French electronics company founded in 1999 and based in Grenoble, France. The company designs and manufactures audio interfaces and electronic musical instruments, including software synthesizers, drum machines, analog synthesizers, digital synthesizers, MIDI controllers, sequencers, and mobile apps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korg Prophecy</span> Synthesizer released in 1995

The Korg Prophecy is a monophonic synthesizer released by Korg in 1995. one of the earliest commercial DSP physical/acoustic and analog "virtual" modeling sound synthesizers and Korg's first monophonic synthesizer since the Mono/Poly. The Prophecy employs Korg's Multi Oscillator Synthesis System (MOSS), which features digital oscillators capable of emulating synthesis techniques such as analog synthesis, FM and physical modelling. Emphasized for its portability, expressiveness, and engaging playability, a distinctive feature of the Prophecy is its multifunctional Wheel 3, nicknamed the 'log'.

The Ensoniq Fizmo was Ensoniq's last attempt at creating the perfect synthesizer. Developed in 1998, the Fizmo uses a Digital Acoustic simulation Transwave with 4 MB of ROM, up to four voices per preset, each voice with two oscillators, independent LFOs and FX: 48 voices maximum, with three separate fx units built in for further sound sculpting. The Fizmo featured 61 keys, and responded to velocity, channel aftertouch, as well as allowing the sounds to be split by velocity and keyboard position (note). The name F-I-Z-M-O was mapped across five control knobs just above the keyboard keys, allowing real-time modulation of the waves for more user controlled evolving sounds than a usual synthesizer could provide, as well as also having 17 dedicated Sound and Effect editing knobs for further sound design and editing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roland U-20</span> Synthesizer

The Roland U-20 is a PCM-sample synthesizer, released by Roland in 1989. It was the keyboard version of the U-220 rack module, which was in turn a similar follow-up product to Roland's U-110 rack module of 1988.

The Roland JD-990 Super JD is an updated version of the Roland JD-800 synthesizer in the form of a module with expanded capabilities, which was released in 1993 by Roland Corporation. JD-990 is a multitimbral synthesizer utilising PCM sample-based synthesis technology. In a sense it is not a true module version of a JD-800 as it has many expanded features and as a result the two are incompatible in exchanging presets. It is equipped with 6 MB of ROM containing sampled PCM waveforms, four sets of stereo outputs that are assignable to individual, internal, instruments, and standard MIDI in/out/through ports. JD-990 has a large LCD display and programming takes place through a keypad on the front panel of the unit. The unit can generate multi-timbral sounds reminiscent of the vintage analogue synthesizers but is also capable of generation of modern digital textures. There are several expansion boards available for JD-990 that can be installed in the provided expansion slot in the chassis of the unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E-mu Systems</span> American music technology company

E-mu Systems was a software synthesizer, audio interface, MIDI interface, and MIDI keyboard manufacturer. Founded in 1971 as a synthesizer maker, E-mu was a pioneer in samplers, sample-based drum machines and low-cost digital sampling music workstations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roland JV-2080</span> Synthesizer

The Roland JV-2080 is a rack-mount expandable MIDI sound module and an updated version of the Roland JV-1080. Produced by the Roland Corporation, released in 1996, and built on a sample-based synthesis architecture, the JV-2080 provides a library of on-board sample material and a semi-modular synthesis engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korg PS-3300</span> Polyphonic analogue synthesizer

The Korg PS-3300 is a polyphonic analog synthesizer released by Korg in 1977. It was released alongside the PS-3100, a more compact variant featuring a complete synthesizer voice board for each of its 48 keyboard notes. The PS-3300 essentially combines three PS-3100 units, triggering all voices simultaneously with each key press and mirroring the PS-3100's overall design, featuring a total of 144 synth voices. The PS-3300 uses the PS-3010, a detachable keyboard equipped with an assignable joystick called the X-Y Manipulator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roland JV-1080</span>

The Roland JV-1080 is a sample-based synthesizer/sound module in the form of a 2U rack. The JV-1080's synthesizer engine was also used in Roland's XP-50 workstation (1995). Due to its library of high-quality sounds and multi-timbral capabilities, it became a mainstay with film composers.

The Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter is a rack mount sound module version of the Roland Jupiter-6 and the Roland Jupiter-8 synthesizers. It is an 8-voice polyphonic analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Roland between 1984 and 1987. It is the only one of the MKS series of synthesizers to have analogue voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) instead of analogue digitally-controlled oscillators (DCOs). The voice architecture is almost identical to the Jupiter-6 synthesizer. The service manual states that "The module board of MKS-80 features the following in addition to that of JP-6, its brother module. 1) HPF. 2) Low boost circuit in the 2nd VCA. 3) DC supply current boost circuit (IC50)."

Digital Sound Factory is a sound design company that creates sound libraries, known as SoundFont libraries, for playback on synthesizers and computers compatible with Steinberg Cubase, Cakewalk Sonar, Reasonstudios, Steinberg Halion, Native Instruments Kontakt, Apple GarageBand, Apple Logic, Ableton Live, GenieSoft Overture, Finale, Creative Labs Audigy/X-Fi, E-MU Systems EmulatorX/Proteus X, LMMS, FL Studio, MuseScore, Mixcraft, VSamp, SFZ, SynthFont, Ardour, FluidSynth and more.

References

  1. "E-Mu Vintage Keys". Music Technology.
  2. "E-mu Morpheus". Synth Mania.
  3. "Emu Proteus FX". Sound On Sound. May 1994. Archived from the original on 8 June 2015.
  4. "E-mu Classic Keys". Sound On Sound.
  5. "Emu UltraProteus". polynominal.
  6. "E-mu Orbit Sounds". Synth Mania.
  7. "E-mu Planet Phatt". Sound On Sound.
  8. "E-MU Orbit vs Orbit V2". polynominal.
  9. "E-mu Carnaval Latin". Sound On Sound.
  10. "The Ultimate Sequel?". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
  11. "Proteus 2000 Operations Manual" (PDF). E-mu Systems. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-04-19. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
  12. "prodatum". Jan Eidtmann. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
  13. "proteum". Keith Young. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  14. "yahoo group post". steve the composer. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  15. "How The 'X Files' Composer Made TV's Creepiest Theme Song, Partly By Accident". motherboard.vice.com. 2016-03-16. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  16. "The X-Files composer Mark Snow talks creating one of the most recognizable sci-fi theme songs of all time". syfy.com. 2018-05-14. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  17. "E-MU Proteus 2 Sound Module – EMU Mania".
  18. Grant KirkNog [@grantkirkhope] (2019-10-15). "@Desvantes ah yes .... that sound! I've been asked that so many times over the years. Eric Serra used it on the original Goldeneye movie soundtrack and I found it by accident on my EMU Proteus FX synth, it's called infinite or infinit or something like that" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2022-12-26 via Twitter.