Proteus

A series of sample playback synths produced by E-mu Systems from 1989 through 2003. There were about 20 models in all; most were not named Proteus but they shared a basic architecture. Most were packaged as 1U high rackmount units, although a few models were built as full keyboards.

The series began with the Proteus/1 in 1989. It was loaded with samples in ROM, drawn from E-mu's library of sounds that it had built to sell to Emulator owners. The sounds were basic rock and pop sounds -- guitars, basses, (non-synth) keyboards, drums. This was followed shortly by the Proteus/2 in 1990, loaded with orchestral instrument sounds, the Proteus/3 in 1991, with ethnic instrument sounds, and the Procussion, with drum sounds. All four of these models shared the same hardware; they were identical except for the sample ROM and panel graphics. Some basic changes to the hardware design resulted in the "XL" models which contained two or more of the ROM sets, and expanded patch memory. The sound shaping capabilities of these modules was limited, as they lacked any sort of filters.

The hardware developed for the Morpheus in 1993 was used to develop a second series of sample playback synths. These units can be distinguished by a power switch at the far right with a large data entry knob just to its left. This line included the Orbit 9090 (electronica-centric samples), the Planet Phatt (hip-hop / acid jazz), the Carnaval (Latin sounds), and the Vintage Keys (samples of vintage electronic instruments). These corrected one of the main drawbacks of the first series, in that a VCF-like capability was available, providing more possibilities for altering the sound of the built-in samples.

The third series began with the introduction of the Proteus 2000 in 1998 originally but it developed in 1999. This series is distinguished externally by the five parameter entry / select knobs to the left of the display screen, easing somewhat the task of patch editing (the previous series all used a one-knob interface and had the reputation of being difficult to edit). About 10 modules were released in this series, including the Audity 2000 (named after a legendary E-mu prototype that never went into production), Orbit 3, Planet Earth, Mo' Phatt, Xtreme Lead, and Vintage Pro. The Proteus 2500 was a 4U high rack version with a greatly expanded user interface for easier editing and real-time control. Four models were also produced in keyboard versions, all using the same hardware: the XL-6 Xtreme Keys, the MK-6 Mo' Phatt Keys, the PK-6 Proteus Keys, and the Halo which was marketed under the Ensoniq name. Every of these third-series Proteus synths was equipped with four ROM slots; each came with one slot loaded from the factory depending on the model, and the other three could be loaded with expansion cards containing sounds from other models, making "hybrid" models possible. A notable feature of this series was that they were 32-part multitimbral; to make this actually work, they contained 'A' and 'B' MIDI interfaces, with the 'B' interface being treated as logical channels 17-32 internally. Production of all Proteus hardware models ceased by 2003.

The final product in the Proteus line was the Proteus X soft synth, which operated as a VST plug-in or a stand-alone application. In order to authorize it, it required the computer to be equipped with an E-mu sound card or MIDI interface, which limited its sales.

Notable Users[]

A large number of users have utilized Proteus modules, and all of them are sorted in alphabetical order.

64 Zoo Lane (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for seasons 1 and 2)
A Turma do Seu Lobato (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral samples for the first two albums)
Allen Bohbot (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock, Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World for Extreme Dinosaurs)
American Public Television (Used the Proteus 2 Orchestral snare drum (snare drum and rim shot sounds) MIDI keys from the Percussion 1 patch (Patch #58) for their second, third, fourth and fifth/current logos (1994-present).)
Andrew McCrorie-Shand (Used the Proteus 2 Orchestral snare drum (snare drum, snare roll, rim shot and rim click sounds) and piatti keys from Percussion 1 (Patch #58) for Tots TV)
Andrew "Andy" Belling (Music director who used Proteus 2 Orchestral for Disney Sing-Along Songs)
Andy Blythe and Marten Joustra (Both composers used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock, Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World to score for the Sega CD and Playstation versions of Mickey Mania)
Andy Sturmer (Used at least Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral for at least one work)
Animal Crossing (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Are You Afraid of the Dark? (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for 48 episodes in the original 1992-1996 series)
Baby Einstein (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock, Proteus 2 Orchestral, Proteus 3 World, Proteus 2000 and Virtuoso 2000 in the video and music series)
Bananas in Pyjamas (Used at least Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral in the 1992-2001 series)
Barney & Friends (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock for the first six seasons, the first three of which also used Proteus 2 Orchestral [using instrument patches from the aforementioned Proteus 2 Orchestral such as Piccolo (Patch #25) and Percussion 1 (Patch #58), among others])
Barney Home Video 1992 and 1995 Logos (The music in both logos was composed using instruments from the Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Barry Harman (Used at least Proteus 2 Orchestral for My Little Pony Tales)
Battletoads (The animated television pilot broadcast in November 1992 that used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Boomerang (Used the Proteus 2 Orchestral snare drum (snare drum, snare roll, rim shot and rim click sounds) and piatti MIDI keys from the Percussion 1 patch (Patch #58) for the Boomerang Saturdays/19th Edition Theme bumpers)
Bradley Joseph (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Brave Fencer Musashi (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Bruce Zimmerman (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock, Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World for the Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Video series in 1994)
Caillou (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for season 1 in 1997)
Camp Lazlo (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral samples for some music scores in some episodes)
Cedarmont Kids (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Charlie and Lola (Used a few patches from the Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (The 2005 video game that used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Cyberchase (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral samples for some episodes in the 2000's)
Dan Sawyer (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral to score for PB&J Otter)
Daniel Heredero (Used at least Proteus 2 Orchestral for at least one project)
Daniel Ingram (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Del Casher (Composed for seven episodes of Kablam! with Proteus 2 Orchestral being one of the sound modules used for the Life with Loopy segments)
Don Buczynski (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral for original musical projects online for listening)
Doug (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral for the Nickelodeon series, and also used the aforementioned Proteus 2 Orchestral for the Disney series)
Duncan Lamont (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for season 2 of The Adventures of Spot)
EarthBound (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock)
Ed Welch (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral for Wolves Witches & Giants among others)
Eek! The Cat (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock, Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World for the score)
F-Zero (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock)
Family Home Entertainment 1991 and 2000 Logos (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Fire Emblem (The 1996 OVA that used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Fred Wolf Films (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for their Murakami-Wolf-Swanson logo from 1991 until 1993 and sampled sounds from the same module for the Fred Wolf Films logo from 1993 to 1996)
Galinha Pintadinha (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral samples for the first four albums)
Gary Stadler (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral)
GoldenEye (Used the Infinite One patch (Patch #86) from the Proteus 2 Orchestral to make a deep low octave sound effect introduced in the film)
Good Eats (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Guy Moon (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Haim Saban (as Kussa Mahchi) (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for various early 90's projects for Saban Entertainment such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
Happy Holidays from Glade (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Hey Arnold! (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for some episodes)
IT (The two-episode miniseries broadcast in November 1990 that used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
James Newton Howard (Used some patches of Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World on some scores, such as 'Falling Down' (most notably Spirit Catch (Patch #4 on Proteus 3)).
Jeff Fisher (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral to score the last five Madeline specials in 1990-1991)
JellyTelly
Jeremy Wakefield (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
João Plinta (Used at least Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral)
John Napier (Composed for seven episodes of Kablam! with Proteus 2 Orchestral being one of the sound modules used for the Life with Loopy segments)
John Zuker (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for Life with Louie)
Jonathan Wolff (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral for Yo Yogi!)
Josh Mancell (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for at least one project)
Kazumi Totaka (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World for Yoshi's Story)
Kenneth Burgomaster (Music engineer who used Proteus 2 Orchestral for Saban Entertainment licensed content)
Keith Hopwood (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for Discworld)
Kick Production (Music composing studio that has used Proteus 2 Orchestral for several production works)
Kidsongs (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral in the 1990's)
Kirby Super Star (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock)
Knowledge Adventure 1996 Logo (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for their logo's fanfare using the Snare Drumroll, Piatti and Gong keys from Percussion 1 (Patch #58))
Koji Kondo (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock for Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island)
Kurt Heinecke (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral in VeggieTales: LarryBoy and the Fib from Outer Space.)
La Rueda de la Fortuna (1995-1997 Mexican game show [adapted from the long-running American game show Wheel of Fortune] that used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral)
La Usurpadora (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral samples for some scores)
Liz Kitchen (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for some scores on Playdays in the 1990s, as well as on Tweenies and Tikkabilla)
Luigi's Mansion (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Lyrick Studios 1996 Logo (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Madeline (Used at least Proteus 2 Orchestral in the 1990s)
Mario Artist: Paint Studio (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock)
Mario Kart 64 (Used Proteus 3 World)
Mario Kart DS (Used Proteus 3 World)
Mario Kart Wii (Used Proteus 3 World)
Mark Simon (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for DiC produced content such as Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad)
Mr. Bean (Used some patches from the Proteus 2 Orchestral from around 1991 until 1995)
Murray McFadden (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral to compose the closing theme for seasons 1-4 of Captain Planet)
Myst (Used Proteus MPS)
Neptuno Films (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for their logo's fanfare involving Pizzicato 1 (Patch #17), Xylophone (Patch #54), Glockenspiel (Patch #55) and the Snare Drumroll and Piatti keys from Percussion 1 (Patch #58). Used for their second logo from 1994-2005 and carried over to their third/current logo since 2005.)
New Super Mario Bros. (Used Proteus 3 World)
New Super Mario Bros. U (Used Proteus 3 World)
No Doubt (Used Proteus 2000 for the 2001 song, Hey Baby)
Noriyuki Iwadare (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for Lunar: The Silver Star's score)
Paul Bush (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for Discworld)
Paul Brier (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for utilizing the snare drum (snare drum and snare roll) keys from the Percussion 1 patch (Patch #58) for the song, "Everyone Has Strengths To Be Proud Of" from the Cathy Bollinger album, "My Turn, Your Turn".)
Paul Ray (Music engineer who used Proteus 2 Orchestral for Saban Entertainment licensed content)
Paul Robb (One of the founding members of the synthpop-freestyle band Information Society, who has used the entire E-mu Proteus library for his music recordings)
Paulo Tatit (Used at least Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral from around 1994 up until around the mid-2000s)
Pete Levin (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral for The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley video series)
Pet Shop Boys (Used various Proteus sound modules for their music scores)
Pure West (Canadian music department studio who used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock, Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World for some productions.)
Peter Lurye (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for Elmo's World Seasons 1 through 3 and the North American, Canadian French, Italy, Brazil and Mexico versions from Seasons 1 through 3 of Bear In The Big Blue House)
Richard Friedman (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for Disney Sing Along Songs starting in 1992 as well as Proteus 3 World for later releases of the series)
Richard Scarry's Best Busy People Video Ever! (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock, Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World)
Richard Scarry's Best Learning Songs Video Ever! (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock, Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World)
Richard Scarry's Best Silly Stories and Songs Video Ever! (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock, Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World)
Richard Scarry's Best Sing-Along Mother Goose Video Ever! (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral)
RiHappy (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for commercials in the 1990s and/or 2000s)
Rock 'N Learn (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock from 1997 up until around the 2000s)
Ron Wasserman (Music engineer who used Proteus 2 Orchestral for Saban Entertainment licensed content)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Rugrats (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for some episodes)
Sakura Card Captors (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral samples for the Japanese version broadcast from 1998 to 2000)
Sesame Street (Used several Proteus sound modules)
Shining Force CD (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Shuki Levy (Music engineer who used Proteus 2 Orchestral for Saban Entertainment licensed content)
Simon & Schuster Interactive 1995 Logo (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for The Busy World of Richard Scarry audio variant of the logo)
Sonic SatAM (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for season 2 in 1994)
Sony Wonder (Their second logo's music score used some samples from Proteus 2 Orchestral)
South Park (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral in "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics")
SpongeBob SquarePants (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for episodes until the 2000s)
Stephen James Taylor (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral in the Mickey Mouse Works episode, How to Be a Waiter and the underscore of Timon and Pumbaa.)
Stephen Rucker (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock, Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World for Captain Planet and the Planeteers in seasons 4-6)
Steve D’Angelo and Terry Tompkins (Used at least Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Super Mario Maker (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock)
Super Mario 64 (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock)
Super Mario Sunshine (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World)
Super Metroid (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock)
Super Smash Bros. (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral for at least one score)
Susumu Hirasawa (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for some of his music albums)
SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Tales from the Crypt (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for some episodes from around 1991 until Mid 1996 and also for the series finale in 1996)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (The 1987 series that used Proteus 2 Orchestral for the final three seasons from 1994 up until the series finale in 1996)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral for some scores)
Teletubbies (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral [using the Pizzicato 1 (Patch #17), Tremolo Strings (Patch #19), Flute (Patch #24), Piccolo (Patch #25), Bass Clarinet (Patch #29), Section Winds (Patch #33), Trumpet 1 (Patch #39), Tuba (Patch #45), Timpani (Patch #50), Xylophone (Patch #54), Glockenspiel (Patch #55), Snare Drum (snare drum, snare roll, rim shot and rim click sounds) and Piatti keys from Percussion 1 (Patch #58), Harp (Patch #60), Harpsicord (Patch #62) and Whistl'n Joe (Patch #125) instrument patches] and Proteus 3 World [using the Accordion (Patch #1), Blue Grass (Patch #3), Spirit Catch (Patch #4), Percussion 1 (Patch #8), Shofar (Patch #11), AmbiJewsHarp (Patch #25), Nu Age (Patch #42), Ocarina Solo (Patch #45) and On Land (Patch #95) instrument patches])
The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
The Adventures of T-Rex (Used some sound patches from Proteus 2 Orchestral)
The Busy World of Richard Scarry (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Used Proteus 3 World)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock)
The Little Lulu Show (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
The Magic School Bus (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral)
The Powerpuff Girls (The second pilot "Crime 101" used Proteus 2 Orchestral in 1995)
The Secret World of Alex Mack (Used samples from Proteus 2 Orchestral)
The Terrible Thunderlizards (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock, Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World)
The X-Files (Used the Whistl'n Joe instrument patch (Patch #125) for the theme song)
Thomas & Friends (Used Proteus 2 XR Orchestral in seasons 3-7, with season 4 introducing the use of Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and season 5 introducing the use of Proteus 3 World and season 6 introducing the use of Proteus 2000 and Virtuoso 2000; the use of the aforementioned sound modules altogether continued up until the season 7 finale)
Tom & Jerry Kids (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Tomb Raider 2 (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Tommy Barbarella (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral during his time at the Diamonds and Pearls Tour of The New Power Generation from 1991-1996, as part of Prince's backing band)
Tommy Goodman (Used at least Proteus 2 Orchestral for My Little Pony Tales)
Tony Banks (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Bibleman (The first episode, broadcast in 1995, used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Toy Story (The 1995 video game that used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock, Proteus 2 Orchestral and Proteus 3 World for the PC version released in 1996)
Trollies Radio Show Sing-A-Long (Used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Tune Buddies (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock and Proteus 2 Orchestral for the closing theme song, "In Tune With")
Urikupen Kyūjotai (1974 Japanese anime whose 1991 Saban Entertainment adaptation, known as Jungle Tales, used Proteus 2 Orchestral)
Williams Electronics (Used Proteus 1 Pop/Rock, Proteus 2 Orchestral, and Proteus 3 World for their many Williams/Bally physical pinball machines)
Yoshi's Island DS (Used Proteus 3 World)
Yoshi: Touch & Go (Used Proteus 3 World)
Yoshihiro Tsukara (Used Proteus 3 World for Mario Party 8)

And other users