RIP Dave Smith (Synth Guy)

Dang it, too many nice people dying lately but what Dave did just cannot be ignored by me and all who love music. He was a former Electrical Engineering and Computer Science student from UC-Berkeley who got his hands on a MiniMoog in the early Seventies. It was awesome but it was irritatingly monophonic (aka, could only play one note at a time). With his partner Dave Rossum, they managed to develop a fully polyphonic synthesizer known to the world as the Prophet-5. It became so ubiquitous, only diehards recognize its trademarked sound immediately via past hits “Thriller” or “Like a Virgin.”

Dave didn’t stop there. He led the charge in the early Eighties to get all the major Japanese synth makers to agree on a standard for everybody’s equipment to play in tune and time  together (synchronized) called MIDI. The world got a successful demonstration in 1983 when his Prophet-600 linked with a Roland Jupiter-6 and worked flawlessly. Today, MIDI is equal to breathing in the music world regardless of how you play or where you record. MIDI’s involvement is there on your computer or at the world’s few remaining recording studios. Still, he was modest enough to share the credit on MIDI’s creation and adoption.

Thanks for everything Dave! You helped make the instruments of too many bands I love to count but I’ll list a bunch since I’m confident they couldn’t have done it without you, your company’s Prophet series and your allies in making MIDI happen in a very proprietary world (how I grow tired of the numerous USB connector types): Duran Duran, Devo, Hot Chip, a-ha, Datarock, They Might be Giants, Hall & Oates, Peter Gabriel, Gary Numan, Thomas Dolby, Tears for Fears, OMD, Thompson Twins, Eurythmics, John Carpenter and the late Vangelis.

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