Sequential Circuits Prophet-10

The Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 is a polyphonic analogue synthesizer released in 1981, succeeding the Prophet-5. A newer version of the Prophet-10, the Rev 4, was released in 2021 with a single keyboard, but the one discussed here is the original Prophet-10 with two keyboards. Essentially it was two Prophet-5's stacked into one synthesizer.

Tony Banks bought his Prophet-10 in 1981, probably just before the Abacab tour. Up until that point he had the Prophet-5 as his main keyboard, which he used on the album and was especially an essential component to "Who Dunnit" (which involved Tony stepping through different sounds while playing). Eventually, Tony had both the Prophets on tour: the Prophet-5 only for "Who Dunnit", and the Prophet-10 for most other songs. After the tour, he decided to stick to the Prophet-10 (for its bigger sound) and which became a staple of his work for much of the 1980s (especially Genesis). Apparently on the first day of owning the Prophet-10, he accidentally erased all the memories containing the factory patches on it

Besides big synth sounds, Tony used the Prophet-10 for organ sounds (ceasing use of the Hammond T-102 Tonewheel organ), using an MXR Phase 100 on the synth to mimic the swirling sound of a rotating Leslie. And also thickened the sound with a chorus pedal, probably an MXR MX-134 Stereo Chorus.

Tony also liked the drone function, which he utilised to great effect recording of "Mama" and "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight".

Quotes on the Prophet-10
"'I also had a Prophet 5 which I switched to a Prophet 10 and still use. The 10 had the advantage that you could get big sounds out of it by combining four oscillators at the same time. You can get organ-type sounds. I know it's easier to use an organ, but I was trying to keep the number of instruments on stage to a minimum, and you could get organ sounds as well as big synthesiser sounds out of it.' (Electronics & Music Maker, July 1986)"