Synth Pioneer And “Father Of MIDI” Dave Smith Has Died
Dave Smith, a pioneer in synthesizers and one of the people who developed MIDI technology, has died. He was 72.
Smith was born in San Francisco in 1950. In 1974, a few years after graduating from UC Berkeley with degrees in computer science and electronic engineering, he founded Sequential Circuits. He later developed the Prophet-5, the first programmable polyphonic synth. In the early ’80s, he began developing the idea for what would become MIDI — or Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a communications protocol that was able to connect instruments from different manufacturers, as well as computers. This became a massively important invention, and is still used constantly in the recording and performance today.
Over the years, Smith took on various roles at different companies, including stints at Yamaha and Korg. In 2013, he and Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi won the Technical Grammy for their roles in the development of MIDI. In 2015, he regained the Sequential name from Yamaha and released the Prophet-6.
Sequential announced the news of Smith’s passing in an Instagram post last night, writing:
It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Dave Smith has died.
We’re heartbroken, but take some small solace in knowing he was on the road doing what he loved best in the company of family, friends, and artists.
