Keith McMillen Genius Innovator Has Died

Sad news that music tech innovator Keith McMillen has passed away aged just 67. News came in late yesterday.
Keith McMillen was an innovative inventor and entrepreneur, known for his groundbreaking work in the fields of music technology and sound engineering.

He founded several companies, including Keith McMillen Instruments (KMI) in 2005 , which specialized in creating cutting-edge musical instruments and controllers that redefined how musicians interact with their gear. Keith's passion for music and technology led to numerous patents and accolades throughout his career.

We reviewed several of his products including the Softstep (which Beardyman used for his live gig in Bath!), 12 step, QuNeo and the K-Mix. More recently the K-Board was one of the early MPE enabled controllers and the BopPad, was a highly sensitive pressure enabled multi-zone percussion pad.

Prior to that he founded Zeta Music which contributed much to  modern violin design, he was also VP of Gibson Guitars where he founded an R&D lab that pioneered early work on what later became OSC and with MPE has some origins.

He was deeply committed to empowering musicians through accessible, high-quality and creative use of technology  and leaves  a lasting legacy in the world of music technology. 

We met him at a couple of NAMM shows over the years , he was a charming and helpful man.

Our condolences go out to his family,  friends and co-workers.

RIP Keith McMillen 1957-2024

Full obituary on Keithmcmillen.com

Keith McMillen Instruments Social

• Colourful Portable USB MPE MIDI Keyboard 12-Oct-22
• NAMM 2020: Keith McMillen K-Board Pro 4 MPE With Deckards Dream 17-Jan-20
• K-Board Pro 4 - A Four-Octave MPE Controller 19-Jun-19
• Keith McMillen Instruments Releases BopPad 27-Sep-17
• K-Board Pro 4 In Action With An OB-6 16-Dec-16