Dave Smith

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Claim to Fame

Dave Smith is generally known as the driving force behind the generation of the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) specification, in fact, in 1981 he coined the acronym. Dave presented the idea of a USI (Universal Synthesizer Interface) after meetings with Tom Oberheim and Roland's Ikutaro Kakehashi. The plan was to create a common communications protocol between electronic instruments from different manufacturers around the world. The result was MIDI. MIDI was first publicly demonstrated at the Winter NAMM show in 1983, when a Prophet-600 was succesfully connected to a Roland JP-6. Musical Instrument Digital Interface, or MIDI, is a system designed to transmit information between electronic musical instruments. ... Thomas E. Oberheim, known as Tom Oberheim, is the inventor of the first polyphonic music synthesizer. ... It has been suggested that Orlando (character) be merged into this article or section. ... Ikutaro Kakehashi (梯 郁太郎 KAKEHASHI Ikutarō) was born in Osaka on February 7th, 1930 , founder of the Roland Corporation. ... Musical Instrument Digital Interface, or MIDI, is a system designed to transmit information between electronic musical instruments. ... Musical Instrument Digital Interface, or MIDI, is a system designed to transmit information between electronic musical instruments. ... The NAMM (National Association of Musical Merchants) Show is the largest musical trade show in the world. ... It has been suggested that Orlando (character) be merged into this article or section. ...

History

Dave has Masters degrees in both Computer Science and Electronic Engineering from UC Berkeley. Dave founded Sequential Circuits, the premier manufacturer of professional music synthesizers, in the mid-70s. In 1977, he designed the Prophet 5, the world's first microprocessor-based musical instrument. This revolutionary product was the world's first polyphonic and programmable synth, and set the standard for all synth designs that have followed. The Prophet instruments played a major part in the recordings of all popular music styles, and are still prized by musicians today. In 1981 Smith started developing the idea of MIDI. In 1987 he was named a Fellow of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) for his continuing work in the area of music synthesis. The University of California, Berkeley (also known as Cal, UC Berkeley, UCB, or simply Berkeley) is a prestigious, public, coeducational university situated in the foothills of Berkeley, California to the east of San Francisco Bay, overlooking the Golden Gate and its bridge. ... Sequential Circuits Inc. ... The Prophet 5 was an analog synthesizer manufactured by Sequential Circuits in San Jose, California between 1978 and 1984. ... Musical Instrument Digital Interface, or MIDI, is a system designed to transmit information between electronic musical instruments. ... Established in 1948, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) draws its membership from amongst engineers, scientists, manufacturers and other organisations and individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. ...

After Sequential, Dave was President of DSD, Inc, and President of the research and development division of Yamaha, where he worked on physical modeling synthesis and software synthesizer concepts. He then started the Korg R&D group in California, which went on to produce the professional musician favorite Wavestation products and other technology. He then took over as President at Seer Systems and developed the world's first software based synthesizer running on a PC. This synth, commissioned by Intel, was demonstrated by Andy Grove in a Comdex keynote speech in 1994. Over 10 million of his second-generation software synth have been sold, which was licensed to Creative Labs in 1996, and is responsible for 32 of the 64 voices in the AWE 64 line of Sound Cards. The third generation is the world's first first fully professional software synthesizer, Reality, released in 1997. Reality was rated the highest of any synth by Electronic Musician magazine. Currently he's designing hardware instruments again with the Evolver and Poly Evolver synths. Yamaha may refer to: Yamaha Corporation – A manufacturer of a diverse range of musical instruments and electronics. ... A synthesizer (or synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument designed to produce electronically generated sound, using techniques such as additive, subtractive, FM, physical modelling synthesis, phase distortion, or Scanned synthesis. ... Korg Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments. ... A synthesizer (or synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument designed to produce electronically generated sound, using techniques such as additive, subtractive, FM, physical modelling synthesis, phase distortion, or Scanned synthesis. ... // PC may stand for: Society & linguistics Political correctness, language that appears calculated to provide a minimum of offense Police Constable (also Pc), in the UK and Canada Presbyterian Church (USA), a Christian denomination Privy Council, a body that advises the head of state of a nation (see also Queens... Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, SEHK: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation, is an American multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ... Creative Technology Ltd. ... A synthesizer (or synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument designed to produce electronically generated sound, using techniques such as additive, subtractive, FM, physical modelling synthesis, phase distortion, or Scanned synthesis. ...

Sequential Circuits Products

• Prophet 5

The Prophet 5 was Dave Smith's first commercialized product and was first introduced by Sequential Circuits in 1978. The Prophet 5 was an analog synthesizer, and groundbreaking in that it was one of the first analog synthesizers to implement patch memory, a feature which scanned the settings of every parameter on the synthesizer and stored it into internal memory. The Prophet 5 was an analog synthesizer manufactured by Sequential Circuits in San Jose, California between 1978 and 1984. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (936x317, 64 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (936x317, 64 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Prophet 5 was an analog synthesizer manufactured by Sequential Circuits in San Jose, California between 1978 and 1984. ... The Prophet 5 was an analog synthesizer manufactured by Sequential Circuits in San Jose, California between 1978 and 1984. ...

• Prophet 10

Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 Introduced in 1980, the Prophet-10 was essentially 2 Prophet-5s in one big (and heavy!) enclosure. There were two 5-octave keyboards, allowing the musician to play two different sounds at one time. It also included a polyphonic sequencer module, with its own tape backup module, and up to 10,000 note storage. With the sequencer option, it sold for $9,000, and less than 1,000 were made.

• Pro One - 1980
• Pro FX - 1982
• Prophet 600 - 1982
• Prophet T-8 - 1983
• Six Trak - 1984
• Drumtraks - 1984
• Prophet 2000 - 1985
• Phrophet VS - 1986
• Studio 440 - 1986
• Prophet 3000 - 1987 (Final Secuential Circuits product)

MIDI Sound Examples

Doogie Houser MD Theme Song

Super Mario Brothers

Awards

Dave Smith

-Induction into the TECnology Hall of Fame at the AES show by Mix Magazine in September 2005.

-Received (AES) Fellowship Award in 1987, which is given to a member who had rendered conspicuous service or is recognized to have made a valuable contribution to the advancement in or dissemination of knowledge of audio engineering or in the promotion of its application in practice.

External links

• 2006 audio interview: Sequential Circuits, Korg, Yamaha, soft synths, and his new Evolver synths.
• Dave Smith: The father of MIDI — interview with Smith, from MacMusic
• Dave Smith Instruments
• The Dave Smith Ego Museum — includes brief history of Smith's involvement with synthesisers & MIDI
• Dave Smith Documentary