Synth Master and The Man Behind The Invention of MIDI, Dave Smith, Dies Aged 72

Dave Smith came up with some of the musical technology that changes the music industry forever. He also developed synth technology back in the 1970s and 1980s

Dave Smith, a pioneer in synthesizer development in the 1970s and 1980s, has died. In a message released on Wednesday, the official Instagram account for Sequential, the synthesizer business he started in 1974, confirmed his death “with heavy hearts.”

The post read, “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.” Smith was 72 at the time of his death.

Smith released various sequencers and programmers for use with the Moog and ARP synthesizers of the time with Sequential (originally known as Sequential Circuits), before designing his release: the Prophet-5, the first polyphonic synth with programmable memory, allowing sounds to be stored and accessed at any time.

The Prophet-5 soon established itself as the industry standard, being utilized to record epochal 80s blockbuster LPs such as Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Madonna’s Like a Virgin, as well as boundary-pushing soundtracks by era composers such as John Carpenter and Vangelis.

Though the Prophet-5 would become Sequential’s flagship instrument and would undergo numerous improvements in subsequent versions, Smith’s biggest contribution to synth technology may be the introduction of MIDI.

Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) was invented by Smith (together with Roland pioneer Ikutaro Kakehashi and Sequential engineer Chet Wood) and allowed hitherto impossible levels of synchronization and communication between different instruments, computers, and other recording equipment.

As president of Seer Systems in the 1990s, Smith developed the world’s first computer synthesizer, and in 2002, he found Dave Smith Instruments, an instrument manufacturer.

He has received numerous lifetime honors for his contributions to the world of musical technology, including a Technical Grammy in 2013 for the invention of MIDI(an honor he shared with Kakehashi).

Many synth-pop and electronic artists paid tribute to Smith after his death, expressing gratitude for his contributions to popular music.

Martin Doherty of Chvrches tweeted that the band “would not exist in this form without his innovations,” and famed electronic producer Richie Hawtin was one of the many celebrities who left sympathetic comments on the Sequential IG post, writing, “Dave was one of a kind. Lost an inspiration & a friend.”