Sequential Founder & ‘Father Of MIDI’ Dave Smith Has Died
Sequential announced today that founder Dave Smith has died:
“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Dave Smith has died.
We’re heartbroken, but take some small solace in knowing he was on the road doing what he loved best in the company of family, friends, and artists.”
Dave Smith (1950–2022) was one of the most influential electronic music gear designers, not just of his generation, but of all time.
He founded Sequential Circuits in 1974, which went on to release a string of classic instruments, including the Prophet-5, the world’s first fully-programmable polyphonic synth; the Pro-One, widely considered to be one of the best monophonic synthesizers of all time; and the Drumtraks, the first MIDI-compatible sample-based drum machine.
In 1981, Smith presented a paper at the Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention in New York proposing a USI (Universal Synthesizer Interface), as a technical solution for interconnecting electronic musical instruments. With the input of several other companies, Smith developed this into MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), and went on to create the first MIDI synth, the Prophet-600, in December 1982. At the January 1983 NAMM show, MIDI debuted as a new standard, when a Prophet-600 and a Roland Jupiter 6 were connected and performed together.
After Sequential went under, Smith worked with both Yamaha and Korg, where he helped create the Wavestation. In 1997, he developed the first professional software synth, Reality.
Smith prefered hardware, though, so in 2002 he launched Dave Smith Instruments with the Evolver hybrid analog/digital synthesizer in 2002. This was followed with a series of modern classics, including the Prophet X, the Prophet-6 and the OB-6 (in collaboration with Tom Oberheim).
Fomte: SYNTHTOPIA
