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Sequential Circuits Inc. (SCI) was a California-based synthesizer company that was founded in the early 1970s by Dave Smith, and sold to Yamaha Corporation in 1987. Throughout its lifespan, Sequential pioneered technologies and design principles that have served as a foundation for the development of modern music technology. Sequential was also pivotal in the planning, design, and support of 1982's groundbreaking innovation in electronic music, MIDI. Following the purchase of Sequential Circuits by Yamaha, Dave Smith continued to develop musical instruments through Dave Smith Instruments. In January 2015, he reacquired the rights to use the Sequential brand name from Yamaha president Takuya Nakata. == Products and innovations == Sequential's first products were sequencers and programmer devices for third-party synthesizers. Sequential's first synthesizer, the brainchild of Dave Smith and John Bowen, was the very successful ''Prophet-5'', released in 1978.〔Julian Colbeck, Keyfax Omnibus Edition, MixBooks, 1996, p. 123〕 This was the first affordable, fully programmable polyphonic analog synthesizer, which enjoyed considerable popularity in the early 1980s. By combining full microprocessor control with low-cost synthesizer module chips (initially by Solid State Music and later Curtis Electromusic), Sequential was able to produce a relatively low-cost synthesizer with five voices of polyphony. The then-revolutionary principle of combining five analog voices with easy editing and programming within a compact format established a new standard for polyphonic instruments. With the addition of patch storage (an innovation by Dave Smith with assistance from E-mu's Dave Rossum) 〔Peter Forrest, The A-Z Of Analogue Synthesisers, Short Run Press Ltd, p. 107〕 the user was able to cycle through up to one-hundred sounds at the push of a button. These were viewed as remarkable developments in the synthesizer industry, especially from a previously unknown company that operated out of a California garage. Dave Smith designed, programmed, and built the Prophet 5 in less than eight months. The Prophet-5 was in production from 1978–1984, and sold approximately 8,000 units. Sequential followed up this successful debut with a ten-voice version of the Prophet 5, the ''Prophet-10'', in 1980. The Prophet 10 was packaged in a massive dual-manual format, with a digital sequencer and the ability to play two different timbres simultaneously. When equipped with the optional sequencer, it sold for $9,000 USD. Fewer than 1,000 were produced. In 1981, Sequential released a low-cost monophonic version of the Prophet 5, the ''Pro-One''. The Pro-One became particularly popular, with sales of over 10,000 units.〔http://www.vintagesynth.com/sci/seqpro1.php Pro-One〕 Sequential was also instrumental in developing MIDI, and introduced the first MIDI synthesizer: the ''Prophet 600'' in 1982. At the January, 1983 NAMM convention, this instrument successfully communicated with a Roland Jupiter-6 synthesizer in the first public demonstration of the MIDI protocol.〔(Joseph Akins, ''An Overview of Electronic Music History'' )〕 At the Goodman Music Exposition in 1983, Hybrid Arts and Robert Moore demonstrated Atari's first personal computer, the Atari 800 (8 bit with 48k RAM), communicating with a MIDI equipped Prophet 600. This was made possible through the ''MidiMate'' hardware interface and ''MidiTrack'' program, developed by Moore and his partner, Paul Rother. The MidiMate holds the distinction as the first MIDI to personal computer interface, and physically connected the Prophet 600 to the Atari 800 computer. The virtual interface was achieved through the MidiTrack program, which included a 16 track MIDI recorder/sequencer, full graphic user interface (GUI), and a programmer/editor/librarian. Moore designed the graphics, and programming was accomplished using a light pen. The software application displayed the controls of the Prophet 600 on the Atari's CRT, and made it possible to store over 1,000 sound patches from the Prophet 600 onto a single floppy disk. 1983 also saw the release of the ''Prophet-T8'', which featured a 76-note wooden keyboard (uneven A to C), and implemented a basic MIDI interface. It had an eight-voice architecture that was similar to that of the Prophet 5. The weighted, velocity and aftertouch-sensitive keyboard was so well received that New England Digital adopted it for use in their Synclavier workstations. Dave Smith himself keeps a T8 unit as the main controller keyboard in his home studio. The ''Six-Trak'' was released in 1984. It was one of the first multitimbral synthesizers, and featured MIDI and an on-board six-track digital sequencer. It was designed as an inexpensive and easily portable 'scratch-pad' for writing arrangements. Its larger six voice brother, the ''MultiTrak'' would be released that following year. Sequential released the six voice, six-way multitimbral ''Max'' in 1984, which was heavily dependent upon the accompaniment of an external computer for editing duties. Thus began the ill-fated leap into the new realm of computer-based editing and sequencing, which would prove to be a relatively unsuccessful experiment that set the stage for further financial troubles. Sequential also released two drum machines during the mid-1980s, ''Drumtraks'' (1984) and ''TOM'' (1985). In late 1985, the ''Prophet 2000'' sampler was released, along with Sequential's last analogue synthesizer, the commercially unsuccessful ''Split-8''. The ''Prophet VS'' vector synthesizer, Sequential's only digital synthesizer, was released in early 1986. Boasting a scheme described as vector synthesis, it combined a digital waveform generator and vector joystick to the proven analog Curtis filters, which resulted in a unique instrument with a very distinct sound. The VS is still revered today despite its reliance on rare custom components with high failure rate. Sequential Circuits' final release was the ''Sequential Circuits Studio 440''. This expensive ($5000 USD) unit was constructed like a drum machine, and combined a sampler with a sequencer to make a music composition workstation. This preceded the release of the popular Akai MPC sequencers by several years, which were designed by Roger Linn, a good friend and frequent collaborator of Dave Smith. In 1987, Sequential was finalizing development of a 16-bit sampler called the Prophet 3000, but went out of business and was acquired by Yamaha. Yamaha liquidated the few completed Prophet 3000 samplers at a substantial discount. Like most of the Sequential line, this sampler contained features that were far ahead of its time, such as automatic pitch detection, key-mapping, a remote control interface, and facilities for easily looping and trimming sampled sounds. Many of these technologies were later included in Yamaha's A-series samplers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sequential Circuits」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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