Sequential Circuits Inc. advertisements / Mattos artwork round-up

Okay, my John Mattos infatuation is coming to a close.

For now... :o)

But, before I put it to bed, I thought that since he was, in my humble opinion, responsible for some of the most juicy, well-remembered synthesizer ads of the late 70s/early 80s, I would provide a few more yummy nuggets of Mattos info that I came across a while back.

And, who better to relay this info, but SCI themselves, through a short article that appeared in the February 1982 issue of Sequential Circuit's newsletter/magazine called "The Patch" (Volume 2, Number 1).

The half page write-up appeared at the top of page 12 (the last page) of the newsletter, and gave readers an excellent introduction to John.

In addition, the article contains some wonderful historical reference information and is a must-read for hoarders of SCI promotional material, John Mattos' work, and heck, synthesizer historical information in general.

"Love your artwork..."

"Can I get posters?" "Who does all your stuff? It's terrific!" John Mattos does our "stuff," and we think it's pretty terrific, too. At 28, John is a phenomenal air brush artist whose works have drawn critical acclaim from the Western Art Directors Club and the Art Directors Club of New York.

Born in Modesto, John's first interests included horseback riding and music as well as art. At thirteen, he received his first award for art (a blue ribbon) at the Stanislaus County Fair, where he also won an award for equestrian dressage! Music captured his attention in high school and he played a Vox "Phantom" guitar with a group that performed at every prom from Stockton to Merced. "The band was popular because we knew the long version of 'Sunshine of Your Love,' and the real verses to 'Louise, Louie'!"

After high school, John majored in illustration at the Art Center College in Los Angeles and received his degree in 1975. His first "real" commission came from A&M Records for an insert in Rick Wakeman's album, "The Myths and Legends of King Arthur." John traveled in Europe for the next two years and worked as an illustrator in Paris. "I drew black and white rapidiograph (technical ink pen) pictures of men shaking hands, women in front of refrigerators, platters of food, grinning men with fistfuls of French money; horrible work but it prolonged my stay - two years of no air brush."

In 1978, John returned to California and took up residence in Palo Alto as a free lance artist. The Blank Design Group, then representing SCI, commissioned him to portray a multitude of sounds rising from a new instrument called a Prophet-5. This advertisement was entitled "Beware of False Prophets," which was later combined with gold lettering to become the "Earotic poster". John's next assignment was the Sphinx ad, "A Legend in its Own Time." This piece and all subsequent artwork has been commissioned directly by Sequential Circuits, and has appeared in Contemporary Keyboard, Musician Player and Listener, International Musician and Recording World, Music & Sound Output, Sound Arts, as well as SCI publications in the form of posters, decals, literature folders, and Christmas cards.

John's biggest contribution to SCI has been the personification of the Prophet synthesizers in the form of the Prophet Man. Originally seated on his "throne" ("The Prophet delivers" poster), the Prophet Man has taken off (reflecting the success of the instruments he represents) and has flown a bi-plane, a turbo-jet, and a rocket plane in the "Ear * Force" campaign. In 1982, we'll be launching him into space for some Extra Vehicular Activity with a Remote keyboard!"

Where do I begin? So much historical reference info!

Well, for starters, this article confirmed my research that the "Beware of False Prophets" and Legend In Its Own Time" artwork were among the first ads to be created by John. I initially couldn't find any info on the "The Prophet Delivers" poster also mentioned above, but then remembered the SCI merchandise ad that included a lovely gal wearing "The Prophet Jersey". Look at that image (bottom right corner of the ad) for what is probably the image from the poster.

And, how about that reference to Rick Wakeman's "King Arthur" album.

A quick Google Images search brought up the album page on the Audio Preservation Fund Web site, which includes some high resolution images of the inserts. A quick scan of the images didn't bring up the identifiable Mattos signature that can be found on his SCI artwork, but gatefold 1 and 2 (which make up one larger image) in particular looks fairly Mattos-ish. Especially the clouds. But, I could be totally off-base there. Just thinking out loud.

But, what I'm most interested in is the reference to Mattos artwork that was included in Christmas cards.

Does anyone know anything about these cards? Copies? Scans? Anything?

Seriously. I have never heard of these cards, and would love to see a sample.

One last thing. I thought I would also mention that you can view more of John Mattos' artwork on his Web site. Some great stuff there.

Also, I have created two new labels - one for MATTOS, and one for ARTWORK, so you can see even more great artwork done for SCI, Octave, Korg, and ARP.

Yummy.

Sequential Circuits Inc. Prophet-10 "Sequential Circuits Presents The Ultimate Keyboard" ad, Contemporary Keyboard 1980

Sequential Circuits Inc. Prophet-10 "Sequential Circuits Presents The Ultimate Keyboard" advertisement from page 31 in Contemporary Keyboard Magazine, September 1980.

Number three!

That's right. This is the third Sequential Circuits advertisement to feature the artwork of John Mattos, and SCI had to know they were on a role. You could probably hear the high-fives making their way around the SCI offices when this ad first appeared in the February 1980 issue of Contemporary Keyboard, following closely on the heals of the ever-so-popular Prophet-5 "Beware of False Prophets" ad that first appeared in November '79, and the "Legend In Its Own Time" ad in January '80.

This ad has a lot in common with the "Beware of False Prophets ad". For example, this Prophet-10 Mattos ad wasn't the first ad for the Prophet-10 - but definitely a step up. And this ad was also modified slightly during its ad-run.

In the case of the "Beware of False Prophets" ad, an addendum paragraph was added at the end of the ad-copy when the version 3 Prophet-5 was released. In this Prophet-10 ad, the text "NOW SHOWING! See Your Local Dealer!" was added much later in the roughly nine-month ad-run.

So, could the "now showing" text addition possibly correlate to any changes in the Prophet-10? You betcha. Kinda. Well maybe...

Looking back, as far as I can tell the last time the Prophet-10 was featured in a CK ad was way back in 1978 when the first Prophet ad appeared. Back then, the 'version 1' Prophet-10 was just a single keyboard instrument. Then, according to Synthmuseum.com's Prophet-10 page, the double-manual keyboard version of the Prophet-10 was "once again attempted in 1979". That same synthmuseum page tells us that the 'version 3' Prophet-10 was released in 1980.

But, those dates don't exactly line up with this advertisement appearances between February and September 1980. So, I have three theories:

1. This ad started showing up at the beginning of 1980 as a delayed response to the introduction of the version 2 Prophet-10, and then the "now showing" text was added when version 3 came out.

2. This ad started showing up a a teaser for the version 3 Prophet-10, and "now showing" was added to the ad when the new version started showing up at local dealers.

3. There is no correlation. Which I doubt considering SCI's previous strategic marketing efforts.

I also checked Vintagesynth.com's Prophet-10 page, and although it didn't contain any useful version release information, it still had some good general reference material. I also got a chuckle out of one of the Prophet-10 comments left at the bottom of the page in March 2010. Commentor "Mezzo" writes:

"Sick, sick, sick. No one else had the balls to take their flagship synth (p5) and graft two together to make such a beast (imagine a Jupiter 16). One of the most over the top and wonderful analog instruments ever."

Well, maybe the Oberheim Eight-Voice. That was ballsy too - but not technically two Four-Voices grafted together. So, Mezzo is probably right.

End note: This ad also has something else in common with the previous ads that included Mattos' artwork - and it is probably one of my favorite features of this ad. Humor. Look closely in the bottom right hand corner and you will see a poodle doing it's "business" on tux-guy's leg.

*Giggle*

Sequential Circuits Inc. Prophet-5 "A Legend In Its Own Time" ad, Contemporary Keyboard 1980

Sequential Circuits Inc. Prophet-5 "A Legend In Its Own Time" advertisement from page 41 in Contemporary Keyboard Magazine January 1980.

This advertisement first appeared in CK around January 1980 and continued to run in many issues of CK throughout the first half of the 1980.

My last blog post featured the first SCI ad that included artwork by John Mattos, and this ad is the second. Both ads are for the Prophet-5, but that is where the similarities between the two ads end.

That first ad was a two-pager, full of colour, and included more than a mouthful of ad-copy. This second ad is exactly the opposite. Half the size, black and white, and... absolutely NO ad-copy. Taking a page from Moog's marketing strategy, SCI chose to let the Prophet-5's already legendary status pretty much speak for itself through Mattos's artwork.

But, as far as I'm concerned, by this point the Prophet-5 synthesizer pretty much spoke for itself in *any* advertisement. :o)

Actually, there is one other similarity between that first Mattos ad and this one. The address at the bottom changed in later versions. From 3051 Orchard Parkway to 3051 North First Street. I pointed this out in the last blog post, although I have no idea why I'm so infatuated with this small historical detail. Just 'cause, I guess.

But, I can tell you why I'm infatuated with John Mattos. I first became a fan with the Ear*Force ads that included his artwork (see last blog post for a few links). Ads that were turned into a series of posters and other promo material. And he was also mentioned as the artist who airbrushed the updated version of the Sequential logo to create a 3D look with ruby lettering that was used in many other advertisements like this one.

And this earlier artwork doesn't disappoint either. As they say, its all in the details, and two things in particular help make this ad stand out.

The first is the tiny crane and dump truck. Perfect in helping put the size of the Sphinx and Prophet-5 in perspective. It also provides a bit of humor and personality as well.

The second is the shadow of the shoulders and head of a man with the hat and his companion at the bottom (front?) of the ad. Its almost like, suddenly, you the reader, are transported directly into the shoes of an archeologist, looking on as the Prophet-5 is unearthed.

And together, those two pieces help place the whole scene directly into the present time.

How excellent is that!

Sequential Circuits Inc. Prophet-5 "Beware of False Prophets", Contemporary Keyboard 1980

Sequential Circuits Inc. Prophet-5 two-page "Beware of False Prophets" advertisement from page 38 and 39 in Contemporary Keyboard Magazine September 1980.

Holidays were great - thanks for asking! Got a good start on another project I'm working on, and also managed to get a great deal of napping in as well. Best of both worlds. But it is great to be back, and I thought I needed to start 2011 with a bang.

And figured this was "a gooder".

Although this ad isn't even close to being one of SCI's first for the Prophet-5, I believe it is another first for SCI - the first ad to include the distinctive artwork of John Mattos. And, even so early on in the Mattos/SCI relationship, the company new they had tapped something powerful.

Great artwork.

SCI even offered the image as a 22" x 28" poster for only two bucks! You can review some of my other SCI blog posts that featured ads with Mattos artwork, including these ads for the Pro-One, Prophet-5 and Prophet-10.

Imagery aside, the title of the ad is also fantastic. With competition biting on the heals of SCI, what a great play on words - false prophets. Hee hee.

This two-page ad actually first appeared once in the November 1979 issue of Contemporary Keyboard, and promptly disappeared. But then, out of nowhere after a ten month break, it ran again, just once, in the September 1980 issue. Both times, it was placed in the centerfold of the mag, so I would guess SCI wanted to be sure it was noticed both times.

So, why the big break between ad-runs? I mean, two pages in the centerfold are probably gonna cost a fair amount. But SCI was running multiple ads in CK already and obviously had the cash. But, there had to be another reason.

At first glance, there didn't seem to be anything different about the two versions of the ad. But, after closer inspection, two main differences in the layout were identified.

The first difference is a minor one, but still historically relevant on some level or another (at least to me :o). In the 1979 ad, the address for SCI is listed as 3051 Orchard Parkway, San Jose, California 95134. In the 1980 ad, the road has changed to 3051 N. First St., San Jose, California 95134. Same ZIP code, Even same address number... just the road info has changed.

Anyways, the second, and more significant change, provides a bit of insight into why SCI waited 10 months before running the ad again. That change is the addition of the "Addendum" paragraph right at the end of the ad-copy. In the original version of the ad, there is just blank space where the addendum ad-copy sits in this scan. But it's like the art director knew they needed some extra space for a later ad-run.

And if that was the case... kudos to that forward thinking individual.

Why the kudos? Well, turns out that the addendum paragraph was required for the 1980 version of the ad because in the time between the first and second run of the ad, Sequential updated the Prophet-5 from Rev. 2 to Rev. 3.

Which makes sense - that Rev. 3 version included a lot of new features and SCI needed to come out with a bang. By using that original two-page colourful ad again, they saved a good deal of time and cost. It's a win-win for the company *and* the readers.

Plus, they probably had a few extra posters lying around.

I love efficiency, and in this case, it just... made... sense...

Sequential Circuits Inc. family of products, Keyboard 1982

Sequential Circuits Inc. family of products advertisement, including (clockwise) Prophet-10 synthesizer, Remote Prophet keyboard, Prophet-5 synthesizer, Poly-Sequencer, and Pro-One synthesizer, from page 50 of Keyboard Magazine February 1982.

This advertisement ran sporadically throughout 1982 starting in February. You've probably seen this ad numerous times on the Web, but I just had to post and blog about it because the ad has some absolutely great historical significance.

Not only was it one of the first ad campaigns to replace the famous Ear-Force campaign (along with the plexiglass Pro-One ad), but it was also one of the first SCI advertisement to use the new Sequential Circuits Inc logo.

Ever since I can remember coming across this logo, I had always thought the little swervy design element beside the logotype was supposed to represent recording tape. But, of course, I was wrong (again)...

The new logo was actually introduced and explained on page one of the February 1982 issue of 'The Patch' (Volume 2, Number 1) - SCI's customer magazine that included information about new products, hints and how-to's, patches, etc.

"SCI has introduced a new corporate logo designed by Greg Armbruster, Advertising Coordinator. Greg took the simple, reverse 'S' shape from the evolution of the treble clef and combined it with the existing Sequential Circuits typeface. John Mattos air brushed the design, creating a three-dimensional symbol and 'ruby' letters. Look for this new logo, which will be extensively used in all future ads and promotional campaigns!"

A treble clef! (*smacks forehead with hand*) How did I not see that? Geeez.

And even better, overly-blogged-about beloved Ear-Force ad designer John Mattos also had a hand in the design. Awesome.

If you've read past blog posts, you will know that I like researching the evolution of logos. I've blogged about SCI's early logo evolution before, and here we see more. The new logo started to appear on gear shortly after the launch - but there seemed to be a problem. Even as far as into late 1984 when SCI was about to change their logo yet again, you would see gear both in the wild and in ads that had both the new logo ('S' logo) and a version of the old logo (although, maybe technically it never was the logo without the 'inc' - but I'm going to keep calling it that). And we are talking both logos on the same piece of gear.

So, for example, all the Six-Traks I've come across have a non-treble-logo (sans inc.) on the front and a treble-logo on the back. Even when looking at Six-Traks in ads running as late as 1984.

(Photos shamefully taken from
MATRIXSYNTH's Flickr stream)

Drumtraks vary - I've seen ads from as late as 1984 with the old-style logo on the front, but my Drumtraks, and most of the ones I come across in the wild, have the new treble-logo on them. Prophet-T8's - old logo on the front, even in later ads.

I'm a big fan of consistency in branding - if you have a new logo, it should always be used. But I think I can see SCI's reasoning for continuing to use the older logo style in most cases. Aesthetics and/or real estate.

In gear that had already been designed like the Prophet-10, the front panels were really thin - so keeping the older logo makes sense. Otherwise the logotype would just appear too small. But, again, then why not include the 'inc.' as well? Consistency!

In gear designed after the new logo launched, such as the T8, the long thin wooden front panel screams for the old logo as well. In something like the Drumtraks, the front panel is a bit taller, so the treble-logo snuggles in nicely and is balanced.

So far, so good. Looks like SCI is making some good calls on when to use the old or new-style logo.

But then you look at the Prophet-600. All Prophet-600's seem to have the new logo on the front as well as the back. Finally! Consistency!

But when I look at it, that front logo just looks too small. Gah!

Maybe I'm just being nit-picky.

Probably.

Sequential Circuits Inc. Pro-One ad #2, Keyboard 1981

Sequential Circuits Inc. Pro-One synthesizer advertisement #2 from page 53 of Keyboard Magazine July 1981.

When I first came across this Pro-One ad, I mentally filed it right up there with that sparse Moog advertisement I blogged about last September. In that post, I asked the question:

"Could you imagine any company BESIDES Moog trying to pull this off today?"

Well, Moog could today :o)

Back then, I guess SCI came close. And although they didn't go so far as Moog did in their ad - no logo, contact info, famous people or free stuff - they definitely knew they could create a minimalist ad that wouldn't confuse the audience.

This was the second Pro-One advertisement to be featured in the magazine, after the first 'Why would anyone build another monosynth' ad appeared during the first half of 1981. It ran sporadically until the end of 1981, when SCI replaced their beloved Ear-Force campaign with ads that featured artwork of a more realistic, but still comic-like Tolkien wizard-dude.

But even though the Ear-Force ads stopped running at the end of 1981, SCI recognized the popularity of the artwork and together with the Prophet-5 and Prophet-10 ad-art, created a set of posters that were still available for quite a while afterwards - and featured in SCI's 'accessories' ad that ran in the December 1982 issue. (Side note: One of my favorite pieces of synth merchandise history is my SCI belt buckle, also featured in that advertisement. )

The artwork of John Mattos is so distinctive and the wizard-dude became such a symbol for the company that you can still recognize the guy in this advertisement even though you only see part of his face, along with his boney hand and sleeve cuff.

Two questions quickly came to mind when viewing this ad - and I quickly came to the logical conclusions to both pretty quickly.

1. Why would SCI even have bothered with that first Pro-One ad when this one is obviously superior. That initial Pro-One ad had the logo and sky/cloud imagery typical of the Ear-Force look-and-feel, but it definitely wasn't a full-on 'Ear-Force' ad with the wizard-dude and cockpit/airplane imagery found in the Prophet-5 and -10 ads.

2. Why is that writing at the top of the ad so small?

But I quickly realized that unlike the Prophet-5 and Prophet 10, the Pro-One was still unknown to the public. A transitional text-heavy ad was required so that the audience could first learn a bit about the instrument - a monophonic version of it's big brothers. The Prophet-5 and -10 were probably instantly recognizable because they had been around for a while, but the Pro-One wouldn't be.

And maybe this is just a coincidence, but I think artist John Mattos and/or SCI must have realized this fact and you will notice that the image of the Pro-One in this advertisement has much less detail than you will find in the images of the Prophet-5 and -10 in their ads. The ad just doesn't need it. As far as the small print at the top of the ad is concerned, this was a necessary evil to make sure readers unfamiliar with the initial Pro-One ads would know exactly what the Pro-One is - 'a new standard in monophonic synthesizers!'.

On the other hand, one might argue that the audience's unfamiliarity with this new instrument would be precisely the reason why there should have been more detail in the artwork of the Pro-One - so that it could continue to become more recognizable. And maybe that ad-copy should have been larger for the very same reason.

But I'm such a fan of John Mattos that I'm tempted to say *%$# it - keep the print small and let that Wizard-dude speak for the company. He became the Jolly Green Giant of the synthesizer world, as was recently pointed out to me by my food-obsessed girl-friend.

Sequential Circuits Inc. Pro-One, Contemporary Keyboard 1981

Sequential Circuits Inc. Pro-One synthesizer advertisement from page 27 of Contemporary Keyboard March 1981.

I've been experiencing a lot of déjà vu lately. First it was that keytar blog post that knocked me square back into the 80s, and now this. Although this most excellent 'Ear-Force' advertisement from Sequential Circuits Inc. came out in 1981, the same question featured in this ad could just as easily have been inserted into an advertisement for one of the many recently released monophonics.

"Why would anyone build another mono-synth?"

It may have been a valid question in 1981. Maybe. But, really, I don't think you need to ask that question today. We've all finally learned why. It's because of how great that first round of mono-synths were. Maybe it just took a while for some of us (including the manufacturers) to catch on to that fact.

I bought my first analog mono-synth - a used Pro-One - in a mall music store way back when. I didn't know much about analogs back then, but just one look at all those knobs and I knew I wanted it. Since then I've been lucky to play with quite a few of the first-rounders.

And my first experience with the reintroduction of monophonic synths was propbably in the mid-90s with the release of the Korg Prophecy - an early virtual analog synthesizer that came out of nowhere to deliver some juicy digital monophonic goodness. And ever since, I've noticed that the new round of mono-synths coming out have gone back to their 1970's/80's analog first-rounder roots. Gear like Tom Oberheim's recent re-release of the SEM or Moog's Voyager.

Dave Smith, founder of SCI and creator of the Pro-One, also went this route, releasing a whole new batch of mono-synths - directly comparable to his originals.

I'll admit, his first mono-synth under the DSI name, The Evolver, doesn't really compare with his older products (although I believe they do have curtis filter chips :o). I picked up one of the early Evolvers right off his original Web site because my local music store wouldn't bring them in - I just couldn't convince them to bring it in even though it is one serious synthesizer.

But his later products - the Prophet '08, and then the Mopho and Mopho Keyboard, didn't have a problem making it into my local music store. Probably because they did follow a very similar evolutionary tech- and time-line to his originals - the Prophet-5/10 and then the Pro-One.

The "Prophet '08" name isn't the only clue that sticks out like a sore thumb. A quick comparison of the descriptive wording in this advertisement to the Mopho Web pages make the big brother/little brother connection clear (like you didn't already know...):

Pro-One ad: "... the Pro-One has the same electronics as its big brothers, the infamous Prophet-5 and the Prophet-10"
Mopho Keyboard Web page: "The voice architecture is similar to a single voice of the Prophet '08..."

The modulation capabilities is one of my favourite features of the Pro-One, and luckilyDave Smith decided to carry the extensive modulation traditions to the Mopho too.

Of course, with the Mopho you also get more of everything else. LFOs, envelopes, etc... and all the benefits of current technology - three banks of 128 programs (384 total), software editor, USB, and midi.

So, does it replace the Pro-One? Well, I demo'd the Mopho Keyboard down at my local shop and, as expected, it does sound great. Technically it might replace the Pro-One, but not in my heart. I won't be selling the Pro-One anytime soon.

But I will be buying a Mopho.

And probably the desktop unit if I can locate one locally. I fell in love with desktop modules when I first came across the Kawai K1m. I loved that vector joystick and I can still hear that choir/string patch... Aaaaaaaaahhhhh.

End note: Just to be clear - I didn't receive any money, gear, smooches or hugz for writing this blog post. Not from Dave Smith, his close work associates ... or from Kawai for that matter. I just dig my Pro-One, Evolver (and K1m)... I'm about to dig a new Mopho too. :o)

Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Contemporary Keyboard 1981

Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 synthesizer ad from page 39 of Contemporary Keyboard Magazine May 1981.

This ad was part of a series of 'Ear-Force' ads that Sequential Circuits Inc. was running throughout 1981.

The Ear-Force series included full-page ads for the Prophet-5, Prophet-10 (view it here), and Pro-One (coming soon!) . The fabulous artwork for each ad revolved around the theme of the air-force and a pilot flying a plane, and all three were later made into a series of posters that were promoted in Keyboard Magazine during the 1982 Christmas season along with other mouth-watering merchandise including this SCI belt buckle.

These three ads were not the only ones that the artist, Mattos, created for SCI. The business relationship goes back as far as 1979 when he created the artwork for a two-page Prophet-5 advert 'Beware the False Prophet'. More on that ad, and hopefully Mattos, in the near future.

There is a lot of reference material available online for the Prophet-5, including these top three Google results: Vintage Synth Explorer, Synth Museum, and Wikipedia. Also check out the Prophet5.org discussion board for information on some old and new Prophet gear.

Sequential Circuits Prophet-10, Keyboard 1981

Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 synthesizer from page 7 of Keyboard Magazine August 1981.

I've been on a roll with SCI lately, what with yesterday's belt buckle post that linked back to an earlier SCI merchandise ad. This Prophet-10 ad may also look familiar from that merchandise ad - the artwork was used in one of the three Ear*Force posters that could be purchased as a set for six bucks.

The artwork in each ad/poster references a particular synthesizer in the Prophet line - Prophet-10, Prophet-5, and Pro-One - and each also features that wizard dude that reminds me of Gandalf from LOTR (incidentally, The LOTR film by animator Ralph Bakshi came out around 1978)... You can be sure I'll be uploading the other two ads in the future.

The ad doesn't really mention anything about the Prophet-10, but luckily there is a lot of information online at the usual places (see below for links). Unfortunately, the Prophet-10 Wikipedia page was deleted in June 2008.

• Vintage Synth Explorer
• Synthmuseum.com - including a link to a SCI Prophet ad listing famous prophet owners
• Harmony Central reviews

Sequential Circuits Poly-Sequencer, Remote Prophet, belt buckle and more merchandise Keyboard 1982

Sequential Circuits Instruments (SCI) Poly-Sequencer, Remote Prophet and merchandise including brass belt buckle, SCI and Prophet 5 pin set, 'Ear-Force' poster set and Prophet jersey shirt from page 78 of Keyboard magazine December 1982.

SCI took a bit of a break from their usual cartoony 'Ear-Force' and Prophet ads to bring us this December split-level ad. The upper portion features the Poly-Sequencer and Remote Prophet (also see an SCI family ad I posted earlier) with some good solid reference information about the gear. The bottom portion features some excellent merchandise. How many people left this ad out on the living room table to entice their loved-ones to drop an SCI brass belt buckle into their stocking for Christmas?

Some online information is available for the Remote Prophet on Vintage Synth Explorer and Synthmuseum.com.

The Poly-Sequencer is a bit more of a rare beast - I found little online except for a few photos from eBay auctions through MatrixSynth and some more photos elsewhere.

And even more surprisingly, SCI's Wikipedia page doesn't mention either piece of gear.

Not a lot of vintage SCI merchandise displayed online either. I'll take a picture of my vintage Sequential Circuits brass belt buckle (also have an ARP buckle) and drop them on the site some day. If you have any vintage SCI merchandise you'd like to feature, send me a scan/photo and I'd be happy to add to this post.

Sequential Circuits Orgy, Keyboard 1982

Sequential Circuits orgy - Poly-Sequencer, Remote Prophet, and Prophet-5 from 29 of Keyboard magazine March 1982.