Pro~One | Carpentry /// Walkthrough & Tutorial

This is an in-depth walkthrough and tutorial of this track and video: • Sequential Circuits Pr...
Hopefully it's a useful guide to synth and drum machine programming and arranging as well as mixing and mastering. All with the spirit of the John Carpenter sound.
Those great synth scans and images stolen from here: retrosynthads.blogspot.com/
Sections:
0:00 - Intro
Synths:
0:38 - Sequential Circuits Pro-One Overview
1:26 - Pro-One Bass Programming
3:19 - Pro-One Bass Part arranging
4:58 - Pro-One Riff in 5ths
6:47 - Pro-One Oscillator Sync Lead
9:06 - Affordable alternatives?
Drum machine:
9:36 - Oberheim DX Overview
11:49 - Oberheim DX Tuning Tips
14:05 - Oberheim DX Programming
16:20 - Oberheim DX Recording and Clocking
The Mix
18:20 - Mix walkthrough / screen capture
The Master
30:57 - Mastering walkthrough / screen capture
34:29 - Summary
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[@iaamusic1121]

Great walkthrough Alex, nice eq tips and “getting it right on the way in” is spot on.

[@zakerymizell8838]

Whoa Alex with some great content so soon after the last hit! Your walkthrus are most deffinitely useful! Love everything about this

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks, that's good to know.

[@XavierRadix]

Really interesting to see how you build up your tracks. I'm especially amazed at how minimal the production is, not over-produced, 100+ tracks, or anything like that. I guess the smallest movements, make the biggest difference :). I definitely learned a few new things from this, thanks for making this awesome video! I'm also a guy that makes his own music, plays all of the instruments and does the production, mixing, etc, but you my dude, are on another level :). You deserve FAR more attention on KZbin in my opinion.Take care man, cheers!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks. Yes, this was an exercise in putting the least parts into a mix as John Carpenter did. But then that makes it miles easier to mix and the whole sound is bigger as a result. Which is the surprising outcome. Was a good lesson for me too. It's also interesting to think of John Carpenter and Alan Howarth making music with synths, drum machines and tape machines. Just two guys in a garage studio in Alan Howarth's house. Reflects a lot what we do nowadays, but with computers replacing the tape machine and mixing desk.

[@XavierRadix]

Yeah it's amazing what you can achieve with a limited amount of equipment, and those guys did it the best :). I've been trying to trim my mixes down lately, less tracks, less effects, etc. And all of a sudden, the song sounds more "honest" in a way. Although I love overproduced music, it's a very intuitive and great way to challenge yourself, if you're a producer/mixer.

[@spurv]

I'm used to working this way. I think the majority of synth productions nowadays is overproduced, and I don't like it. It drives me crazy to listen to it for an extended period of time. It's like my ears can't breath. A lot of synthwave productions sound so generic and identical. As if they were created from the exact same recipe.

[@isher9035]

Have to agree, though some of the stuff we can do with modern is great, sometimes it's too much. I've been trying to produce stuff lately and found myself frustrated with having too much, so trying to see what I can do with as little as possible. Has actually been a fun experience.

[@jamesmeeker6933]

If you have the right notes/arrangement, the rest takes care of itself.

[@codename4321]

Thanks so much for putting this together

[@AlexBallMusic]

No problem. Hope it's useful.

[@MattiaChiappa]

Wonderful stuff! All these tutorials you are sharing are pure gold. Very very useful information!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Good to know. Trying to find that balance of enough depth that it's useful and it being total overload and boring.

[@CCL1603]

This is the single most helpful video ive seen on synth music making. Thanks so much, i feel like i literally owe you money now.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Glad it was useful. 👍

[@tanukijessica]

I'm all over these in depth vids. Keep up the good work!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Glad they're useful!

[@anthonyk5496]

Happy to see you DID decide to go ahead with the tutorials and the theory. Many of us who play synths get to a point where the novelty of knob-twiddling starts to wear off and we need to learn what to with them musically! Loved the 70'/80's chord tutorials. Would like to see something on how to write different song sections, verse/chorus/bridge etc. Thanks for all your work Alex 👍🎹

[@magicmastera]

This is so awesome Alex. Thank you. I am a big fan of your work and vids.

[@pco2004]

Love this walkthrough and encourage you to do more!! More importantly, I love John Carpenter, 80s and70s (Berlin School) so keep it up. Really classy tune too. You've inspired me to keep my mixes lean and clean.

[@cain5ynth]

Very nice and detailed walk through. Thank you so much.

[@andreimacarov6522]

Thank you! Very interesting as always!

[@neiljvoice1603]

Really great tutorial have a Rev 2 and this pointed me in the right direction for the bass sounds :)

[@chisel316]

Wow! I wasn't expecting this! 👍

[@deadwhenifoundher]

I absolutely loved this tutorial. Thank you! Love the attention to detail, love seeing the old hardware, and of course, love John Carpenter! Nicely done, would love to see more, cheers! -M

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks. Glad it was useful. Will be doing more tutorial / walkthrough type things. Seem to be going down better than just straight music.

[@rordrom3234]

Very nice, thank you a lot for this tutorial.

[@timotoki9046]

very usefull! keep it coming!

[@spotlight-kyd]

You forgot to mention the most important aspect of the sync sound: routing the filter envelope to OSC A pitch.

[@megamankicksyourass]

this was incredibly useful!!!

[@romainsegaud1180]

Hey hey hey ! Here I am ! Watching all your stuff. That's Brilliant.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Why hello Sir :)

[@DaveG207]

Really good, enjoyed that!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Needs more OSCar ;)

[@DaveG207]

Alex Ball Always...

[@DoctorJezz]

Loved that - thank you - learned something valuable 👍

[@ZethKeeper]

Nice one, Geert. Oh, wait, wrong kind of movie soundtrack. Super informative, anyway!

[@cl3mens]

Thank you! Great track and kind of overwhelming but helpful to peek behind the scenes. :)

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks. Overwhelming as in too much information? Or overwhelming as in not easy to follow? Interested in how these come across and whether to do any more of the them or whether they're a waste of time.

[@tinfoilcat]

Alex Ball I think it's layed out in a good way. I am on a whole diffrent level (barely recording or composing songs and just recording on 4-track or iPhone with mono audio interface) so it's just a lot to grasp. But it is helping and I'd rather have this than fumble in the dark alone!

[@keixoun]

this is very nice indeed

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks!

[@sronedgecustom9396]

to be honest, I think the walkthrough of the track is better than the track! (note the track is entertaining and you write great hooky riffs, but the walkthrough is what appeals to me about KZbin). well done

[@brienofficial]

Great video Alex! Your expertise is appreciated! I'm kind of late to the party here but I had a question about the tuning on your Pro One. It seems like Osc A is tuned an octave lower than Osc B (when both are set to the same octave setting on the panel switches). Is that the case and, if so, is that how it should be? I restored a Pro One that someone gave me recently and, after tuning according to the manual, the Oscillators are tuned the same. I'm a guitar player who likes dabbling with synths so I'm a bit out of my element here.

[@benbauer1065]

I really enjoyed this video Alex thank you. Its cool to see how well it all came together with very little plug ins. I'm curious to know if you recorded your synths strait into your interface or did you use a pre amp? It just sounds really good so I'm wondering how you got the sound.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks Ben. Yes, it went straight into the interface I had at the time. It was a Focusrite Liquid Saffire.

[@isher9035]

I heard the cowbells and the shaker, and my first thought was "President at the Train!"

[@AlexBallMusic]

It's definitely a nod of the hat to that exact cue. Well spotted. :)

[@isher9035]

@@AlexBallMusic And then you have Bad Guys Theme from BHC2.

[@CDSJ80]

Hey buddy could you please show me how to deconstruct the sound of the original Halloween theme 1978 version please? I cannot seem to found out what that ticking sequence sound is I’ve looked and researched and nobody can tell me?

[@dimensionstomorrow]

If you ever get a chance to do a Take 5 demo, it would be great if you could see if it’s capable of these kinds of John Carpenter sounds. I can’t really afford a Prophet 5 (or 6), so am looking at the Take 5 and also considering holding out to see Behringer’s Prophet 600 clone. You have me considering their Pro One clone as well now. Lol.

[@YotamPiano]

Hey bro nice tutorial and I realy liked the Carpetner track. How did you position your camera/phone above the synth to get that "tutorial" overview? I'd like to maybe create such vids myself. thanks /l:))

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks Yotam. It's a mobile phone attached to a selfie stick that's gaffer taped to a mic stand! I have very DIY video production.

[@ralis]

Do you use some type of tuner to tune the drums or are you that good? You tuned you snare to E but what if your bass is hitting an F or D# on the snare but your root note is an E?

[@DrSnook]

Have you ever watched videos by mylarmelodies? You have a very similar voice and style. Great video and tune by the way. Really super quality.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks. No, not seen those. Will have to check it out.

[@dannylerch]

How do you feel about the new iterations of the prophet series? I've been thinking about getting a Prophet Rev 2 16 Voice. Do you feel the newer iterations can achieve the old sounds as well? I really want something with a decent arpeggiator but I may just get a separate monophonic synth for that purpose. In your opinion, do you feel that the prophet polyphonics make a monophonic synth not something you need?

[@AlexBallMusic]

I have a REV2. It can do some vintage sounds reasonably well but it's not its forte. Its strength is all the stuff it can do that the vintage synths absolutely can't. Monos / polys - depends entirely which models you're talking about. I have more monos than polys and some have no polyphonic equivalents (TB-303, MS-20, Odyssey etc). Ideally you'd have a poly and complimentary mono.

[@rcfamwow]

Thank you so much! We need to build a statue in your honor

[@AlexBallMusic]

Haha. Thanks.

[@deadwhenifoundher]

Hi Alex. I have a random specific question about the soft clipper used in the Mastering section: I noticed that you have input at 0.0 and then the Output is cranked way up. This surprised me because I'm used to using a limiter where the 'output' is set to the max signal I want (like 0.0 or slightly below), and then I push the input up substantially to increase the loudness; but you seem to have done the opposite with the T-Racks 'soft clipper', leaving input at 0 and driving the output way up, so I'm just wondering about the how & why of that. I love the mixes in all your vids, so any advice there would be appreciated, thanks! (And thanks again for the incredibly detailed tutorial!)

[@AlexBallMusic]

The output looks cranked, but that's actually 0db if you look at the readout next to it. The signal is gain staged through each part of the chain and the clipper is catching any "overs" and allows the over master level to be pushed a bit more. It's perhaps a little confusing if you've not got T-racks because it has its own way of representing levels. So the compressor defaults to a minus position where there's actually no gain change and then you raise it up to 0db and sometimes beyond to boost the level from there. But if you've never used it before, it looks like I haven't changed any settings because it just reads zero.

[@deadwhenifoundher]

@@AlexBallMusic Ah, I get it now. Thanks for the explanation!