The Prophet of Synthesizers: A Tribute to Dave Smith

Dave Smith - the founder of Sequential Circuits, designer of the Prophet 5, and creator of MIDI - passed away suddenly just prior to the 2022 NAMM show. We at Syntaur had just interviewed him a few weeks prior, for an upcoming Synth Wizards episode. Here are portions of that interview, along with tributes from some of his friends and colleagues.

[MrSmith-rkjq]

Thank you for such a beautiful tribute to my dad <3

[toubakiful]

Making it seem so simple while creating some of the more unique and influential ""machines with a soul"" of this kind is certainly a mark of a genius, nothing less than that. Awesome man and engineer. RIP Dave Smith

[SpacehotelMusic]

Thanks for doing this. The legend that is Mr Smith deserves all the tributes he can get. So sad. :(

I have a Prophet 10 r4 and OB-6. My 2 faves.

[eldjmasterfreddy]

Great job putting this together. Great Engineer, MIDI inventor. RIP Dave Smith.

[masonx]

Rest in Peace Dave.
A true synth wizard and legend. My interest in synthesizers wouldn't have happened if the Prophet 5 never happened.

[Coowallsky]

I was a salesman in the X-Ray business in 82-83. While covering my territory I walked into Michael Boddicker's parents' music store in Cedar Rapids, IA. There I got to see a MemoryMoog for the first time.
While even knowing I wasn't going to purchase it, the salesman grabbed a set of headphones and plugged them into a mixer that the MemoryMoog was also plugged in and told me "take as much time as you want to check it out."
I walked out of the store about 2 hours later with a grin.

Within 4 months I purchased the Sequential Circuits Pro-One.

You always remember your first one.

[MrDeepTune]

One of the saddest news for me in 2022 that he is gone - a few weeks ago, I stiil saw him at SuperBooth / Berlin - one of the nicest and smartest guys he was out there... 😢

[expandingknowledge]

A true Prophet of Synthesis. RIP Dave.

[GeyloFollen]

Thanks to Sam and Syntaur to make this video. You will be missed Dave, thanks for all the things you gave us.

[DarkSideofSynth]

Huge, huge loss. What a guy. MIDI was as revolutionary as TCP/IP, both open standards. If they weren't open, we wouldn't be here using the Internet, and being able to make music with computers, and let devices talk to each other.

[MikeWolf_TV]

A few years ago my friend was sitting in a place once and was talking to this guy explaining midi to him and the guy was very interested in his conversation, latter on my friend found out he was explaining midi to was dave smith :D rest well you mega hero dave <3

[sauce_aux]

Dave’s passing was a real heart-breaker. Dave was a hero of mine, as I’m sure many others.

[michaelmckenna]

A legend has passed but never will be forgotten. Thank you Sam for this tribute.

[donaldpriola]

I was just at Sequential last week, and I'm happy to say that everyone there was extremely welcoming, and sweet--they are continuing in his spirit. One of the employees told me Dave was the best boss he ever had, and I believed him.

[BirdYoumans]

He tried to downplay the importance of MIDI. Don't kid yourself. MIDI was a revolution. Young players accept it as automatic that MIDI plugs are on the back of any serious keyboard, controller or sound module these days. Not before Dave. Before MIDI you more less had to buy into a system from one company if you wanted a synth, sequencer or voice module. Also keep in mind that the first Moog hit in 1964 at the price of a new Volks Wagon. So to buy into a complete system was big bucks. After Dave, you could keep saving up until you had a keyboard from each of the big players, Yamaha, Roland, Oberheim, Sequential, Moog etc and they could all be plugged together and played from one of the keyboards and have the sound of any of them from one controller. In fact, that's what brought about the keyboard controller which made no sound of its own, you just got sound modules and plugged them all in. MIDI may have been the most influential invention ever in the world of synths. In todays world of proprietary everything that would be unheard of. But when you think about it, if having to buy all of one companies system had continued, we would never have bought so many of such a wide variety of companies. It helped everyone instead of hurting them. I wish some other manufacturers in the world could realize that. Working together instead of trying to lock out the competition is better for everyone in the long run. But don't buy a Chevy part and think you're going to put it in a Ford LOL!

[ingoodmusic]

Still can’t believe he’s no longer with us

[DerekStruchel]

Thank you Syntaur for this great tribute! Dave Smith lives whenever we're using one of the instruments he designed, but even more when using MIDI-equipped devices. Thank you Dave!

[russellbutterfield]

RIP Dave. You are and still will be a legend in many many years to come. I own a Prophet X and I have to admit it is the best synth I have ever owned.

[bunkerdigitallabs]

22:04 "The whole MIDI thing" as he waves his hand and says it was a "one shot thing." One of the greatest inventions in the history of music and something that without, I simply would not have been able to produce the kind of music and do the kinds of things I do today without MIDI. My first synthesizer was a Six Trak. My first Drum Machine a Sequential Circuits TOM, my first MIDI interface was the C64 interface for a commodore 64. My first proper music computer, an Atari ST, had MIDI ports built in. I cannot imagine my creative life without Dave Smith and his "one off." He was truly the shining star of inventors in the music industry. What an incredible, humble guy. It hurts to see the great ones pass on.

[smokey]

A true legendary innovator... R.I.P. Dave Smith