Tom Oberheim Interviewed by Sweetwater Sound

[@AlexBallMusic]

Four years late, but this is absolutely fascinating. Mitch's approach of just letting him talk and cueing a few key points really makes it perfect. Thank you!

[@videosmonteverdi]

can you imagine Zawinul calling Tom? History in the making. My God

[@peterjhamm]

This guy is so super-cool. Thanks for talking with him, Mitch.

[@IoannisKazlaris]

A living legend, huge amounts of respect for Tom!

[@viciouspinkmusic]

Top man, very humble too, he helped in the creation of countless pieces of music with his inventions. That Includes us, we used his first drum machine and one of his synths on some of our early songs. Bravo, hats off to him.!

[@JGaryThompson]

This is great. I still have, and love, my Matrix6

[@zenithprobe]

Tom really is the best - hardest working man in the biz! I own an SEM and would love to own a TVS one day. too bad I missed out on the TVS pro!

[@jazzjeffjazzjeff]

Oh man oh man! This is 24 karat synth gold! Thanks for posting this! ❤️❤️❤️

[@echoloch500]

I'm still kicking myself for not picking up a two voice pro when you guys were offering them. Toms a legend, his work very clearly reflects that.

[@FransvandenBergeMuziekschuur]

Such a wonderful interview by the amazing Mitch Gallagher. Such a treat.

[@philippezsiga1125]

i am the proud owner of an obxa , matrix6, matrix 1000, dpx1Mister Tom Oberheim is for me the most legendary man with Dave Rossum in the electro music industry.Thank you so much dor all that u have done and what you will do in he future.You changed the history music...RESPECT

[@lovebirdsmusic]

DX, Matrix 1000 and an OB8 here - big love for such a lovely genius guy!

[@rednax3333]

One of my favorite human beings! 😃❤️

[@KeithCanisius]

great interview..no interrupting👍

[@x-project5593]

Agreed. Big tumbs up for the interviewer - perfect job, a pleasure to watch. Same goes for Tom Oberheim - very sympathic, humble person.

[@AudioAtmos]

These have been some of the best interviews. Thanks so much!

[@xaosm_os]

what a legend, how does this not have more views!

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

Two people I immediately know of who purchased the Maestro Phase Shifter that Mr. Oberheim designed were John Paul Jones of Led Zepplin (think the live version(s) of "No Quarter") and the late Terry Kath of Chicago (think "Call On Me," "Searchin' So Long" and "O Thank You Great Spirit"). The Maestro product line was so present in rock music that you can see them used to create control panels during segments of the 1908 film Flash Gordon.

[@markstewart2880]

Awesome interview. Glad I found this gem. I love my OB-6 even more now! :-)

[@Neuri]

what an incredibly humble genius.

[@elifan2523]

Legend

[@Noname7401]

Vary inspirational as i am working on getting into the business myself.

[@pray4mysynths]

Thanks for sharing your journey Tom! It's so inspiring!

[@2112jonr]

Lovely, interesting interview, thank you both :-)

[@jimlutz6691]

If he's not, he should be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Smithsonian in DC.

[@videosmonteverdi]

sweet legend!

[@davebellamy4867]

What a guy.

[@dannybrazen]

amazing insight into the history! hugely important (and now hugely expensive) synths like the SEM, two voice and four voice were then a little tricky for him to sell back in the day! hilarious!

[@DasHemdchen]

Wonderful interview, Tom Oberheim is such a nice guy, contemplating and engineering so many industry‘s firsts, phenomenal. He really is an idol for me, being one step ahead of anything conceivable, mentally ahead of any competitors, ahead of any customer wishes. Kudos to the interviewer, well informed, just encouraging Tom to detail more of his incredible work and life. P.S. I love the sound of the OB-Xa. If I had room for it, it would be mine.

[@giorgiogastaldello4139]

A unique mind!

[@jensingvordsen]

Very,very intresting this.Great man Mr Oberheim. Ill have MSR 2,OB 12 yes i Know ,Matrix 6 ,so i apreciate his instruments , but know Sem,2,4,8 Voice is much more analog sounding.

[@synthartist69]

I wish I could get him to repair my OBXa!! Still sharp as a tack !!

[@dez1989]

I've loved Oberheims since I started playing the synth and bass in the early 80's. I've since accrued quite a few wonderful synths. Fell in love with Moog and Oberheim due to Geddy Lee and Rush using these synths. Personally I'd love to ask Tom why he wouldn't consider bringing the price of his synths down so more people could afford to purchase a synth from a legend like himself. He could still make a killing! Instead of selling 1 synth for 3 to 4 grand he could sell 10 synths to make the profit he made by selling the 1 for a huge price tag. He would sell so many units so fast, he'd never be able to keep up with the demand! It's not like Tom is hurting for cash these days. He would rule/dominate the market! He gets upset because Behringer took his OBXA and they’re going to mass produce it and make a killing. Well he's not changing his business model. He sells a few for big bucks. If he helped put one of his synths out and undercut everyone around, he'd make a killing on how many synths he'd sell. I don't understand how some of these dinosaurs think anymore. He used to make one of the best poly synths on the market. Too bad he as well as many other companies can't seem to get the message. The more people have one of your synths, the more common they become. More people will hear what you are doing with that synth and want one. If they aren't really expensive, you'll sell many, many more units. It's not hard to understand, however it seems like the selling practices of these companies will never change. If all you sell is to 1 demographic (The typical cork sniffers), you can't get angry when your company is on it's way to bankruptcy. They no longer have the market cornered like they used to... thank God! We now have a choice!

[@kimdiez2681]

Blablablablablablablablabla.

[@dez1989]

@@kimdiez2681 Cork Sniffer! Blah,Blah, Blah!

[@thorz.2222]

Oberheim did exactly that after the Matrix 12, they went all digital, cut down the specs, and sold synths for less money (and less capability so they could lower the price). They didn't survive for many years after that. The market changed drastically, musicians switched to the sample based synths and the older analog synths died. It's only been the last five years or so that Analogs are making a comeback. Yamaha experienced the same changes, but they adapted and came up with the Motif series.

[@dez1989]

@@thorz.2222 You are correct! That is called "Too little Too late". Plus there are many great Synths that have come out in the last 5 years that did not brake the bank financially. And many of them are selling like hot cakes. It also proves the adage that you can make just as much money from selling in bulk! Plus seeing how prices are through the roof on just about everything. My question is just WHY? You are called one of the most respected synth makers from the inception of the movement. You see how many people love your sound and wish they could afford any synth that would make those beautiful sounds. Most of those people will never get the chance to have one for their weekend rock star band. What keeps your mind from understanding if you can make a great synth at an affordable price, do you have any idea how many you'd make by selling in bulk? You would make many people so happy by using your legendary name on an affordable megasynth! You would go down in history. Yea you are still legendary but you would gain so much love and respect by just about everyone if you would have made an affordable synth where anyone could afford it. Something around 1800.00 to 2200.00. It isn't the easiest thing to come up with 2200.00, however it is within your grasp by saving your cash.

[@Oberheim.OB-XA]

@@thorz.2222 SIM FAMOSO YAMAHA CS-80 UM MOSTRO ANOS 80 DOMINIO DA MÚSICA EMU II NA TV E CLIPS VEIO DX7 MUITO MAS BARATO S-50 ROLAND MENOS DA METADE DE UM EMU O PREÇO DE FM MUDOU O CENÁRIO MUSICAL .

[@Leon-zu1wp]

The man who gave DMX his name

[@PhuckHue2]

why did Oberheim go out of business? their synths were popular

[@187onasimp]

Popular sound and "Affordable" are two different things.

[@chieftp]

DX7

[@Elhardt]

It wasn't just Oberheim that went out of business. It was most other popular American synth companies that did. Arp, Moog, Sequential Circuits, Octave... Analog was on its way out and digital synths and samplers were taking over. American companies fell behind and/or made bad business decisions and the big Japanese companies were leading. The Yamaha DX7, Roland D-50, and Korg M-1 were the beginning of the end for those American companies.

[@johnadams5489]

@@187onasimp True. Oberheim were very expensive to make and cost a lot of money back in those days. In 1979 the OBX 6 voice retailed for $5000.00. That's $17,000 in today's money. A lot of people couldn't afford an Oberheim or a Prophet 5.

[@RAGINxxXxxCAJUN]

The DX7 happened. That killed Moog, Sequential and Oberheim:(

[@station2station544]

Tom pretty much fell off the earth. He had some eurorack products in the pipeline as well as software updates to the Two Voice Pro. Nothing ever became of the prototypes. I would have loved a SEM-X.