Dave Smith Instruments Rebrands As Sequential

US 40th anniversary of the Prophet-5 marks a move back to the original name 03/09/18

Dave and the Sequential team

In a move timed to mark the 40th anniversary of the Prophet-5 poly synth, Dave Smith Instruments has officially rebranded as Sequential — returning to the name of Dave Smith’s original, ground-breaking company. Going forward, all products and services will bear the Sequential® brand.

Dave Smith explained the decision this way: “This month marks the 40th anniversary of the Prophet-5. That’s a huge milestone. And it felt like the right time for us to completely restore the Sequential brand and bring our journey as a company full circle. The name change also reflects the fact that our instruments are the result of a team effort. It’s not just me. It’s the entire company.”

Founded by Dave in 1974 as “Sequential Circuits,” the original incarnation of the company established itself as a major innovator in the then-nascent field of electronic instruments. In 1978, Sequential Circuits’ flagship keyboard, the Prophet-5, took the music world by storm as the world’s first fully-programmable polyphonic synthesizer—and the first musical instrument with an embedded microprocessor.

Numerous other ground-breaking products soon followed, including the hugely popular Pro-One monosynth, the Prophet 600 (the world’s first MIDI-equipped instrument), the Six Trak (the first multi-timbral synthesizer), and the Prophet VS (the first instrument to feature digital vector synthesis). Sequential Circuits ceased operations in 1987 and the company’s name, shortened to “Sequential” in the mid-1980s, and its assets were acquired by Yamaha. Dave Smith went on to consult for Yamaha and Korg, developing the Wavestation and other innovations.

In 2002, Dave established Dave Smith Instruments to concentrate on solo hardware designs and released the Evolver hybrid analog/digital synthesizer. The DSI product lineup steadily grew to include the Prophet ’08, Mopho, Tetra, Tempest drum machine, Prophet 12, Pro 2, Prophet-6, OB-6, Prophet Rev2, and the Prophet X.

In 2015, with the encouragement of Roland’s Founder, Ikutaro Kakehashi, Yamaha returned the Sequential name to Smith in a gesture of goodwill. “Once Kakehashi-san and Yamaha enabled us to re-acquire the Sequential name, I knew we’d fully adopt it again when the time was right. That time has arrived,” said Dave. “The best part is that we have the same sense of excitement and enthusiasm for making the world a more creative place as we did 40 years ago. Sequential is back, better than ever.”

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