JUNE 2022 UPDATE 

Just wanted to say a few words regarding the passing of one of the legends of the synthesizer world..Dave Smith, inventor of the Prophet 5 synthesizer and MIDI, left our earthly plane the last week of May, 2022. I knew Dave, did some sound design work for some of his synth products. He was a kind soul, a humble and generous man, an electronics genius, and it is safe to say he singlehandedly changed music forever with his invention, the Prophet 5, which was the world's first programmable polyphonic synthesizer, and of course MIDI, the interface musicians use to this day to connect their keyboards to computers or other keyboards. Dave was one of the "founding four" fathers of modern synthesizers, the other three being Bob Moog, Alan R. Pearlman, and Tom Oberheim (Tom being the last remaining living member of the club).

Dave Smith never forgot anyone he met. Whenever I first stopped by his booth at NAMM shows, he would always ask me, "hey, wanna do a shot?" Meaning tequila. That's how you knew you were in with Dave..that invitation. He always answered my emails and calls. I learned just two days before this year's NAMM show that he had passed away..and NAMM without Dave wasn't something I wanted to attend, so I didn't go. Instead I stayed home, powered up my Sequential Prophet 6 synthesizer, which was one of his products, and lost myself again in its wonderful, evocative sound. 

Here's to you, Dave Smith. There will never be another like you.