Jump to content

RIP Dave Smith


Rain

Recommended Posts

https://mixdownmag.com.au/news/legendary-synth-pioneer-and-sequential-founder-dave-smith-has-passed-away/

Synths weren't all that popular amongst us metalheads when I was a teenager, but I've always had a fascination for sounds of all sorts, and eventually I outgrew the stereotypes. That being said, I knew nothing about synths themselves, but eventually, I started working with digital audio and I remember a Prophet patch in Native Instuments' Generator that I really dug, and the name stuck with me. Then they released their Pro-5 and I was over the moon. 

Besides Robert Moog, Smith and the Prophet are the first names I remember from when I started actually learning about synths and using synth sounds in my music. 

 

Sad day. But what a legacy!

 

  • Like 2
  • Sad 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sad one for sure.

 

The newly released Prophet 10 (and Prophet 5) are outstanding.

Dave Smith somewhat recently collaborated with Tom Oberheim to release the Sequential OB6.

Shame to see him pass... when there's somewhat of a renaissance with analog synths.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sad news, have to agree that he brought real analogue back to the masses.......... again.  Amazing guy. I've been  wanting  an OB6 since they first came out.

 

Edited by RBH
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A great loss.  Dave was such an innovator and a real pioneer in the area of MIDI technology, and he continued to be right through his last years.  I mentioned in the Coffee House that you can find a great Panel Discussion that included Dave, Roger Lynn, and Tom Oberheim back at the 2015 Gearfest on the Sweetwater website.  It's about 90 minutes long, but very interesting to listen to whether you are an old hand or new to electronic music and synths.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I once read a Gearslutz thread where some pissant refuted a Dave Smith comment by posting "who the hell knows or cares who Dave Smith is?". I stopped hanging out on that forum soon after. This is for anyone who still doesn't know who the hell Mr. Smith was.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now I am wondering where my first MIDI interface is.  It was a Sequential (for the Commodore 64).  That led me into dabbling with assembly language programming with MIDI on the C-64. The interface "manual" (more of a guide/booklet) had all I needed to understand how to access and send MIDI data using the chips.  Not 100% sure, but I seem to recall it also had asm code segments (setting the chips, reading the registers, etc.).

Thank you, Dave Smith!

Edited by User 905133
removed a comma
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had one of those too! I couldn't afford the full package, though, which included the cheapest POS MIDI keyboard ever made. Still, I was convinced that it was the future of electronic music. Fortunately, MIDI was becoming standard and it wasn't long before I had a proper synth (Jupiter 6) with a MIDI port on it. That's what I first recorded with in Cakewalk 1.0.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...