Sequential Pro 3: More New Jams And A Brief History Of Dave Smith And Sequential Circuits

I just got this Sequential Pro 3 last week, if you didn't happen to see my first test drive video. Sequential is a U.S. Company started by Dave Smith way back in the 1970s, starting with the legendary Prophet 5 polyphonic synthesizer.

He is actually quite famous for his development in the synthesizer and electronic music world, He is known as the driving force behind the invention of MIDI technology, musical instrument digital interface, a universal way of letting gear "talk" to each other, letting one be able to control one instrument and it's parameters\notes\settings from another piece of gear.
I believe he actually "won" a Grammy for his contribution to this technology, something that undoubtedly helped shape the world of music these last 40 plus years.

They didn't even patent the technology, giving it away to developers in hopes that it would create a universal language that all the different manufacturers would use to increase the comparability of different types of musical instruments. It was the early 80s and electronic musical instruments was still in it's infancy. today, you can purchase a fully MIDI compatable electronic clarinet if you so desired!

unfortunately, the market for manufacturing musical instruments is a pretty competitive business and by the late 80s, Sequential Circuits would call it a day, the name eventually being bought by Yamaha. Dave Smith worked for some other manufacturers, designing software synthesizers and even digital hardware stnths, such as the Korg Wavestation. In in 2002, he started Dave Smith Instruments and began the manufacture of new, forward-thinking products, such as the Evolver.

Dave Smith Instruments was around doing their thing for a while when Yamaha gave him back the Sequential name in 2018, in an act of good faith.... that's pretty honorable if you ask me-i can't imagine an American company just giving someone the name that they bought the rights to!

To this day, they continue the tradition of making high quality, forward-thinking instruments of the future... now, check out this video for some more explorations with the Pro 3, their flagship mono\paraphonic synthesizer... perhaps a little history can let one enjoy the sounds a little more!