Join Mitch Gallagher as he moderates "The Inventors of Synth" panel discussion at Gearfest '15. Featuring industry icons Dave Smith, Tom Oberheim, and Roger Linn discussing their thoughts on the past, present, and future of analog synthesizers and controllers.
Legendary synth designer and Grammy-winner Dave Smith was the founder of Sequential Circuits in the mid-'70s. His Prophet-5, the world's first fully programmable polyphonic synth, was the first musical instrument with an embedded microprocessor. Dave is also known as the driving force behind the development of the MIDI specification. He has continued to innovate, and recently unveiled his latest synth creation, the Sequential Prophet-6.
A pioneer of the synth and MIDI world, Tom Oberheim co-designed the Synthesizer Expansion Module (SEM), a device that allowed musicians to simultaneously combine live playing and sequenced playback - a concept that pre-dated the MIDI revolution. In 1981, he, along with Roland's Ikutaro Kakehashi and Sequential's Dave Smith, developed the MIDI spec, which changed the course of modern music. Tom recently re-released his famed Two Voice synth.
Technical Grammy award-winner Roger Linn invented the LM-1 Drum Computer (the first sample-based drum machine) in 1979. He later designed the Akai MPC60, which combined a sampling drum machine with a real-time MIDI sequencer. His guitar effects unit, AdrenaLinn, has been used on hit recordings by John Mayer and Red Hot Chili Peppers. In 2014 he released the LinnStrument, an expressive MIDI performance controller.