Sequential: Американдық синтезатор компаниясының тарихы

American synthesizer company

Sequential is an American synthesizer company founded in 1974 as Sequential Circuits by Dave Smith. In 1978, Sequential released the Prophet 5, the first programmable polyphonic synthesizer, which was widely used in the music industry. In the 1980s, Sequential was important in the development of MIDI, a technical standard for synchronizing electronic instruments. In 1987, Sequential went out of business and was purchased by Yamaha. Smith continued to develop instruments through a new company, Dave Smith Instruments. In 2015, Yamaha returned the Sequential Circuits trademark to Dave Smith Instruments, which rebranded as Sequential in 2018. In 2021, Sequential was acquired by the British audio technology company Focusrite. Smith died in 2022.

The engineer Dave Smith founded Sequential Circuits in San Francisco in 1974. The first Sequential Circuits product was an analog sequencer for use with Moog and ARP synthesizers, followed by a digital sequencer and the Model 700 Programmer, which allowed users to program Minimoog and ARP 2600 synthesizers. The Model 800, launched in 1975, was controlled and programmed with a microprocessor. At the time, Smith had a full time job working with microprocessors, then a new technology. He conceived the idea of combining them with synthesizer chips to create a programmable synthesizer, but did not pursue the idea, assuming Moog or ARP would design the instrument first. the Prophet 5 used microprocessors to store sounds in patch memory. This facilitated a move from synthesizers creating unpredictable sounds to producing "a standard package of familiar sounds". The Prophet 5 became a market leader and industry standard, used by musicians such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Dr Dre, and by film composers such as John Carpenter. The smaller Pro One, essentially a monophonic Prophet 5, saw more success. Smith and the Sequential engineer Chet Wood designed an interface using Roland's Digital Control Bus (DCB) as a basis. This standard was discussed and modified by representatives of Roland, Yamaha, Korg, and Kawai. The protocol was named Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) and unveiled by Kakehashi and Smith, who received Technical Grammy Awards in 2013 for their work. In 1982, Sequential released the Prophet 600, one of the first MIDI equipped synthesizers. In 1984, they released the Drumtraks, one of the first drum machines with MIDI control.

In 1987 Sequential Circuits released their final product, the Prophet 3000 digital sampler. Only several dozen units were produced before the company went out of business. Smith blamed the closure on the decision to move to computer audio in prior years: "We were too small and under capitalized, and we were a few years too early in the market It drained our resources, so by the time we pulled back to professional instruments, it was too late." In 2015, Sequential released the Prophet 6, followed in 2018 by the Prophet X, which featured sample playback and digitally controlled oscillators. On August 31, 2018, the 40th anniversary of the Prophet 5, Dave Smith Instruments rebranded as Sequential. On September 30, 2020, Sequential announced an updated reissue of the original Prophet 5. Sequential reported revenues of $18.3 million in 2020. On 27, April 2021, Sequential was acquired by the British audio technology company Focusrite. Smith died on 31 May 2022.