PK-6 Proteus Keys
64-voice expandable synthesizer
A good all-purpose synthesizer, most suitable for pop-rock genres with the stock factory sounds, but expandable via 16 or 32 MB SIMMS, available for many genres like techno, vintage, world, classical etc. "PK" stands for "Proteus Keyboard".
E-mu PK-6 audio demos in .mp3
Factory Demo Sequences:
Stream all audio examples below:
| User Bank 0, PK-6 Bank 4 | |
| 0. jam:Grand Piano | A nice grand piano, full-bodied and jazzy. The mod wheel brightens up the sound. |
| 1. jam:EP | Ultra-cool, '60s-style Fender Rhodes electric piano. Mellow character, Mk1-style. |
| 2. jam:ClavFunk | Vintage-sounding Clavinet |
| 3. jam:B There | This one is a screamer: overdriven Hammond B-3 with fast Leslie engaged. |
| 4. jam:Reel Wurly | Very cool and vibey Wurlitzer EP-200 sound. The mod wheel adds a great-sounding chorused tremolo effect. |
| 5. jam:Gtr & Choir | Dreamy and hypnotic guitar and choir combo. Perfect for smooth jazz. |
| 6. jam:Brass | Standard brass ensemble |
| 10. jam:Orchestral | Epic and majestic orchestral setup. |
| 14. jam:Solo & Sctn | Classy chamber orchestra |
| 15. jam:FM JazzSplit | Nice! Two of the most typical FM sounds, e.bass and e.piano. These are the '80s!! |
| 19. key:Synthetic | Typical '80s synth |
| 28. key:Easy Tine | Excellent, dreamy tine electric piano - L.A. style circa 1984. |
| 30. key:Wash Out | Very cool pad sound - the modulation wheel opens up the filter and introduces the "whoosh" sound. |
| 37. mix:Bass&Piano | Standard bass/piano sound. |
| 46. mix:Nock Back | Intriguing, different synth setup - with a cool echoed synth. |
| 47. bas:Fatty | Mega-fat electronic bass |
| 50. bas:Sluggo | Heavily detuned synth bass. Works as a solo synth too. |
| 51. bas:Perc DX | Classic FM DX100 "Solid Bass" sound. |
| 52. led:MellowPercLd | Very mellow and nostalgic '70s Minimoog solo sound. |
| 57. led:R&B Lead | Another Minimoog solo type sound. |
| 59. orc:Str+Winds | Classic orchestral combo. |
| 68. syn:Deluxxe | Full-synth setup. |
| 69. syn:Exlastic | Nice resonant sweeps |
| 72. syn:The Praise | Very nice chapel organ. |
| 73. syn:IndianGarden | Outstanding sitar emulation. Velocity triggers pitch envelope. |
| 78. pad:Simplex | Beautiful preset!!! A gorgeous, mysterious string pad- but the aftertouch engages the filter and takes it to the next level - sci-fi. |
| 82. brs:SoloTrumpet1 | Standard trumpet |
| 85. vox:Vapor Vox | Dazzling synth pad - the mod wheel acts on the filter. Oddly, this can resemble a train horn! |
| 90. sfx:Bellagio | Charming Italian town/Las Vegas hotel/casino gives us a Lovely shimmering pad - with bells in the background. |
| 91. arp:New Aging | The arpeggiator in action - and beautifully so. |
| 103. arp:ElectroGroov | Very, very cool electronic groove |
| 110. kit:Wide Dance | Note how clean, punchy and powerful the drum samples are on this machine. |
| 115. bts:Perc Jam | Funky percussion jam. This is the Beats mode. |
| 116. bts:Bass Patrol | Modern techno-house beat. |
| 118. bts:FaithHealer | Great drum 'n' bass pattern. |
| 127. bts:Statik One | Another excellent d 'n' b pattern. |
| User Bank 1, PK-6 Bank 0 | |
| 2. str:Golden | Sweet and graceful violins. |
| 3. bas:Sustainer | Hip fingered bass. |
| 4. gtr:Clean String | Clean Stratocaster sound. |
| 14. bpm:Trekia | Beautiful sound!!! A bubbling bass on the left, and a silky string ensemble on the right, while the velocity-switched filter adds character. |
| 57. key:B-3 Lo/Hi | The mod wheel switches from slow to fast Leslie. |
| 60. key:B-3 Leakage | Uncanny emulation |
| 72. bas:ATC 3* | Wonderful deep synth bass - presumably sampled from a Studio Electronics ATC-series synth |
| 93. bas:Slap 1 | Solid and realistic slap bass. |
| 105. bas:Upright 2 | Pleasing jazz contrabass. |
| 122. led:OneBigMoFo! | Fat Minimoog lead. |
| User Bank 2, PK-6 Bank 1 | |
| 0. kit:Acoustic 1&2 | Excellent studio drums. |
| 1. kit:Acoustic 3&4 | Very '80s-sounding kit. |
| 7. kit:Kit 05 | Contemporary hip-hop kit. |
| 11. kit:Kit 09 | Hypnotic trip-hop kit. |
| 37. bts:WhatNow!#$%? | Hip early 2000's beat. |
| 49. bts:Electro | Very cool synth+drum pattern. |
| 63. kit:KastOff | Vinyl-flavored loops |
| 107. prc:Kalimba | Splendid kalimba samples. |
| User Bank 3, PK-6 Bank 2 | |
| 19. led:HippoSauce | Love the name :-) Groovy Minimoog solo synth. |
| 21. vox:Aah 1 | Realistic choir samples. |
| 23. vox:Ooh 1 | Great for pads. |
| 25. vox:Filter 1 | E-mu filters are great. |
| 35. vox:Luna'sWood | Magnificent synth pad!!! |
| 43. str:Tron Strings | Realistic Mellotron strings |
| 72. orc:S.Sax&Winds | Breathy sax |
| 88. brs:Matrix Horn | Exquisite analog brass - presumably sampled from an Oberheim Matrix-series synth (Matrix-12 maybe?). |
| 91. wnd:Oboe | Nice oboe. |
| 92. wnd:Clarinet | Nice clarinet. |
| 105. gtr:Nylon | Fine acoustic guitar. |
| 106. gtr:Electric Pwr | Reminds me of the Eagles. |
| 109. gtr:Thrash Lead | Marvelously programmed distorted guitar! |
| 111. gtr:Surf 2 w | Delightful '60s sound |
| 121. gtr:Seduced | Ravishing guitar-synth sound! |
| PK-6 Bank 3 | |
| 0. pad:Richness | Alluring synth/string pad. |
| 3. pad:OutofTime | Fascinating and hypnotic nature pad. |
| 5. pad:OldSaws | Decent rendition of the ARP/Eminent Solina String Ensemble. |
| 7. pad:EvenMoEPIC! | Stunning soundtrack pad |
| 17. pad:Star Seeker | Pleasing vector-type synth pad |
| 18. pad:Trilogy | Exquisite pad |
| 20. pad:Paddy Cake | Very Jarre. |
| 48. syn:JP Six | Presumably sampled from a Roland Jupiter-6. |
| 54. syn:Ubu II | Intriguing throaty synth fx. |
| 56. syn:Matrix Pad | Gorgeous. These are the '80s. |
| 57. syn:CZone | Nicely sampled from the CZ-bass on the Casio CZ-line of synths. |
| 59. syn:Asian Dreams | Delightful Asian pad. |
| 75. sfx:Goblins | Out of this world synth fx. |
| 77. sfx:8BitGameOver | Nintendo time. |
| 80. arp:Synth Bass | Powerful!!! |
| 84. arp:Plucked 5ths | Hypnotic |
| 124. syn:Pliedes | Cool arpeggio. Maybe the programmer meant Pleiades?? |
E-mu
PK-6 pictures
(click on thumbnails to enlarge them)
E-mu PK-6 manuals
PDF Manual found on line: PK-6RevE.pdf
E-mu PK-6 factory patches
in sysex data
Resources:
- Review in "Keyboard magazine" Janfebmarch 198___
Features
- light and portable;
- solid on-board ROM (pop-rock)
- Beats mode, arpeggiator, triggers, knobs
- expandable with many other E-mu ROMs
| Year of release: | |
| Polyphony: | 64-voice |
| Sound generation method: | |
| Preset memories | |
| MIDI: | in, out, thru |
| Sound expansion capabilities: | yes, from 32 to 128 MB using SIMMS |
| Sequencer | no |
| Arpeggiator | yes, 16 simultaneously |
| Effects | yes |
| Touch sensitivity | yes |
| Aftertouch | yes |
The "Song made only with this instrument" trial: _________ The PK-6 performs well. Note in particular...
Links
| SITE | Type of resource | DESCRIPTION |
| Home page | website. | |