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Dave Smith (engineer)
American audio engineer and inventor (1950–2022) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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David Joseph Smith (April 2, 1950 – May 31, 2022) was an American engineer and founder of the synthesizer company Sequential. Smith created the first polyphonic synthesizer with fully programmable memory, the Prophet-5, which had a major impact on the music industry.[2] He also led the development of MIDI, a standard interface protocol for synchronizing electronic instruments and audio equipment.
Dave Smith | |
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![]() Smith at the 2015 NAMM Show | |
Born | David Joseph Smith[1] (1950-04-02)April 2, 1950 |
Died | May 31, 2022(2022-05-31) (aged 72) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
Alma mater | UC Berkeley, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering |
Occupation | Synthesizer designer |
In 2005, Smith was inducted into the Mix Foundation TECnology (Technical Excellence and Creativity) Hall of Fame for the MIDI specification. In 2013, he and the Japanese businessman Ikutaro Kakehashi received a Technical Grammy Award for their contributions to the development of MIDI.