Syntaur Presents: Dave Smith, Founder of Sequential

For Episode 14 of Synth Wizards, the Syntaur crew traveled to San Francisco to interview Dave Smith, the founder of Sequential, on March 24, 2022. Sadly, Dave passed away just a few weeks later. We felt that it was appropriate and important to release the full interview - it not only contains information that may be of historical value, but also showcases Dave's humility and kindness.
Interview by Sam Mims
Videography and lighting by Lucas Fowler
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[@mrkeeny]

He seems so healthy and full of life and optimism. So sad and sobering.

[@mauriziomauricone]

He had a heart attack a couple of weeks after this interview on a festival. I really like to know if he was v’eed because he looks very, very healthy.

[@vaportrails7943]

@@mauriziomauriconeIt was also right after a trip to Europe to promote the OB-X8. Meaning he may have been required to get something.

[@mauriziomauricone]

@@vaportrails7943 😢

[@sub-jec-tiv]

41:51 "[The Prophet X is a] highly under-appreciated instrument, cus people are confused." - Dave Smith 🏆 truth

[@Criterionradiohead]

I miss this guy so much. Absolute Legend! Prophet 12 was my first synth. I had wanted a synth for a long time. I had some extra loot and could have bought something practical like a used car or invested it. But I jumped in with both feet and bought a great big polysynth! I don't regret it for a second. It is a source of endless exploration and discovery and is constantly rewarding. I am filled with a tremendous sense of gratitude when using a synthesizer. Synths have so much of the designer in their presentation and performance charachteristics. The genius of the designer is present in the instrument. The sound made with a synth is not something I could make without the synth. And so I feel a bit like I am channeling the genius of these designers... Dave Smith, Moog, Rossum, Kakehashi, Düren, etc etc when I use these instruments! It is an incredible feeling and fills me with gratitude and love. Thank you for this interview. Thank you Dave! Your work and instruments inspire me and enrich my life.

[@ChrisSmout]

Rest in peace, Dave, you absolute legend, and thank you Syntaur for kindly supplying this historic interview.

[@embodie_breaks7089]

I miss seeing videos of him introducing new gear, or at namm hearing him passionately talking about gear. We were all real lucky to have him.

[@davebellamy4867]

Fascinating that Dave said the design was inspired by Bang & Olufsen. The Prophet-5 wedge design does have a bit of that 70s B&O look! No other synth is shaped like it.

[@groovinhighstudios]

Absolutely fantastic! I will definitely refer back to this video for years to come. For the esoteric group of weirdos we are, this means more than any “normal” Joe will ever understand. Thanks for sharing

[@Syntaur]

Thank you - I feel exactly the same!

[@ACCOUNTANTB]

He made everything possible !!! everyone should pray for him !!! - our masters !!! stay in heaven !!!! full of light Mr. Dave Smith !!!!

[@jamestom2510]

Golden Interview. The Minset and character of Dave lives on in his instruments....... Amazing Guy.

[@tonytec59vmix]

This is a great interview alway's like sequenctial & wine country san jose. Dave has made a major impact in synth technology that will last well beyond his life. looking to see his san francisco calif office, too creating more Dave Smith gear in the future his work wont stop.. may he rest in heaven.. thank you for this share..

[@sub-jec-tiv]

Must have been wild, to be building instruments, and then hear them on a YMO or Bowie or Talking Heads record. 🤯 What a great dude. Always approachable. Rest in polyphony 🙏 Still have my Pro-2 (underrated synth!), and Prophet X, that stereo Rossum filter is the best filter i’ve ever heard in a poly synth. (And i’ve owned most of the classics)

[@klaassiersma4892]

My prophet 08 was my first instrument from them, they were so approachable back then., kind of like a small family. I miss them days, and I miss Dave.

[@83Philip]

Thank you for this. RIP Dave Smith

[@hadror13]

RIP Mr Dave Smith. You are greatly missed

[@SpacehotelMusic]

bought and sold a ton of modern analog synths over the last few years, but the Sequential ones have always delivered the most pleasing results and were the most fun to work with. Had Prophet 10 Rev 4, 3 OB-6, Trigon-6, Prophet 6, Rev 2, still got the OB-6 and Dave's last synth, the Trigon-6 and love 'em both! I no longer own any other brand and sold all my vintage too, and it was mostly thanks to Dave once he got back into making VCO analog synths. Thanks Dave for all you did for us musicians and synth fans.

[@matszh]

Talk about quitting on top of the game…There will never be another Dave Smith, he’s a true inspirational legend, profoundly missed.

[@LlewynDaviesTheThird]

Great interview. His advice on knowing my when to stop with product design is pure gold. His comments on growing n the company then and now again really insightful. Rare to hear such clear thinking . Rip dave . Owned and love many of your synths

[@8bug]

Legend. Rest in peace🕊️❤

[@Doctormix]

What an amazing document 🙏Thank you for doing this man ❤

[@davebellamy4867]

58:33 Oh Dave it happened a bit earlier than 2002 when analog modelling came in with the Nord Lead, AN1x and JP8000. I tbink a lot of people wanted anslog - and the digital emulations were kind of partially there but not really. Also, the interface came back with all the knobs, like on the JP8000. I had a JP8000 back in 1997 and it was a bad year for me personally with the death of my mother and after the grief started to pass a year later, I sought out a secondhand Prophet-5 and it was a pretty loose Rev2 SSM chip model. It was £840. Totally different. Magazine articles were coming talking about the old analog synths but the market didn't really take off until the 2000s. Now in the 2020s, it's a bubble I feel. It's gone pretty OTT. The earlier 2000s, it was a joy to find an old synth or to see a new actually model come out with analog filters, etc. It was a resurgence. The digital dark age that Dave regersxto was when I and many others probably wanted a new analig synth but they didn't exist. You would find an old dusty one in a local music store that had been part exchanged for something digital because digital everything was all the rage - and the music shop often just wanted to get rid of it. Plus there were hardly any pop or rock records that used them anymore.

[@Michael_Diekmann]

How about Roland D-50 (1987). It's subtractive synth engine (if you ignore the PCM stuff) is basically one of the first VA synths.

[@magickmarck]

I bought a Korg Polysix for $300 around then!

[@kvmoore1]

WOW, that was such a great interview. Thank you for sharing this. From watching this interview and listening to Dave talk, I've just learned several things about him that I didn't know, such as his involvement in the development of the first software synthesizer and how he ran his company as well as the history of both of his companies, the demise of the old one and the resurrection of the new one. From the development of the first polyphonic synthesizer to have programmable patch memory, to the development of midi, to the development of the first software synthesizer, Dave Smith has made some absolutely amazing contributions to electronic music technology during his lifetime. It was so sad for me to hear of his passing a couple of years ago and it still is today. I'm thankful to be a proud owner of one of his instruments that he designed. Rest in peace, Dave!

[@MrBluGruv]

I think it's incredibly interesting that he spoke of the emulative properties of a synth vs. its ability to create new and original tones. It's one thing to approach synths as a player or as a hobbyist, but so many people approached them as keyboardists before synth tweaking was a thing, and many casual listeners aren't really dialed-in to synthetic tones nor do they really even care what makes them tick or how they are made. After tweaking for decades now myself, personally I've found one of the most gratifying things is taking a synth and actually trying to accurately program in an instrument that is a responsive and convincing model of the instrument it is trying to replicate. People mock the "cheezy" preset patches of yesteryear, but many have zero clue how truly difficult it is to dial that kind of sound in so that it is responsive to the player, not even just convincing in a recording, particularly in the context of some of the programming interfaces of those times. I think the pinnacle of new sound design is being able to take these synth engines and synthetic tones and program them in such a way that it truly feels organic to play them in a way that is consistent with the traditional, acoustic instruments we all knew before synthesizers were a reality.

[@Skraboing649]

Amazing work Sam & co. Not only a wonderful portrait of a true visionary and great human being, but also an important historical document for the world of electronic music. Shine on, Dave Smith ❤

[@CaseJams]

Super great interview. Was this posted before? I was watching Deadliest Catch latest episodes and Keith Colburn had what they thought was a mini stroke, man we are all just a few moments from the infinite expanse, and all we can do is leave breadcrumbs. Thank you for these.

[@ZenMountain]

Great!!! Thank you Dave! Blessings✨

[@ModularMemories]

That was great! At Robot Speak (SF Synth/Electronics shop on Haight Street) years ago, I got to play a prototype of the Prophet 12.

[@GTChris]

Thank you for this gem of an interview with a gem of a man.

[@pilleater]

Thank you for this

[@FarkyDave]

I really enjoyed this interview. He was spot on with his analysis of how synthesizers have made a comeback and why they will continue to be around for many years.

[@longcat]

beautiful stuff - RIP Dave - the freewheeling conversation at the end as well as the structured questions, really lovely interview x

[@asdrofllmao]

What a solid guy. Thanks for sharing this one.

[@themusicindustrialcomplex]

Legend

[@raymond_lazer]

Poetry and Art of Science ❤ ❤ ❤

[@spengill]

Fantastic interview, RIP Dave, what an absolute legend of a man

[@AllureMusicLab]

Thanks for all the great synths you gave us Dave!

[@stevencarlfarrell5565]

Thank you so much for this!

[@brandonlewis5444]

Thank you for this. I miss him.

[@har234908234]

I love rehearing the story of Dave getting the name back. It was a cool thing to do... but it also speaks to the mutual respect between all three parties - the other two in a very competitive world.

[@princepaul5557]

Great interview! He will be missed.

[@BlackMan614]

So… was the first concert/live use of the Prophet-5 the Bowie tour of ‘78 w/ rehearsals starting in February? I ask because I read where Roger Powell worked with Dave to get the tuning issues and over-heating problems worked out.

[@davebellamy4867]

Might have been. The 1978 videos sometimes show the Rev1 Prophet-5. Definitely, earlier than the Yes 1978 tour and Wakeman's rig has the Prophet-5. There are a few pics from 1978 that don't show it. It was on top of a Polymoig, I think. I think you can hear the P5 on the 28 October 1978 Yes radio broadcast. I would love to have seen Bowie and Yes from that time.

[@user-vf9pm8sb1l]

love the legend .....

[@alphabeets]

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing this.

[@akamrkris]

Dave Smith, the visionary founder of Sequential Circuits, will be deeply missed. His pioneering work in synthesizers revolutionized music production and inspired countless artists. His legacy will continue to resonate through the sounds he helped create.

[@marcusjknight]

Genius.

[@davebellamy4867]

Only 1300 views and what a gem. Me plus the same number of people as Rev1 and Rev2 Prophet-5s.❤❤

[@magickmarck]

It just came out!

[@davebellamy4867]

14:20 I wonder whether they could have made a 10-voice Rev3 that was reliable with two 5-voice boards. That would have been really cool even without the extra split and dual functions.

[@krazywabbit]

Strong correlation where he talks about knowing when to stop on the hardware build and people creating songs.

[@moonelfcosmo]

💜

[@axs203]

He made his mark in this world. It must have been so exciting back then designing The Prophet. Who remembers Seer Systems Reality in 2000... that was groundbreaking just like midi

[@ProfessorSynth]

Thanks Syntaur 👍

[@capt_howdy]

RIP

[@ruiskate3469]

Hello I have a Piano Motherboard: model: Numa X piano Brand: Studiologic. To be repaired. Can you repair it? Thank you in advance for your attention.

[@suspiciouswatermelon7639]

Wow, you dug up Dave Smith for one last interview??