At GearFest 2015, Sweetwater’s Mitch Gallagher hosted a panel discussion, featuring three pioneers of electronic instrument design:
- Roger Linn invented the LM-1 Drum Computer (the first sample-based drum machine) in 1979. He later designed the Akai MPC60, which combined a sampling drum machine with a real-time MIDI sequencer. More recently, he’s collaborated with Dave Smith on the Tempest drum machine and created the LinnStrument.
- Dave Smith founded Sequential Circuits, and his Prophet-5 was the world’s first fully programmable polyphonic synth, as well as the first musical instrument with an embedded microprocessor. He’s also the father of MIDI.
- Tom Oberheim has created many classic synth designs, including the Oberheim SEM, 2-Voice 4-Voice, OB-1 & OB-Xa.
In the discussion, Linn, Smith & Oberheim share stories of the creation of some of electronic music’s most iconic gear, the early days of MIDI, their take on the current state of the industry and thoughts on the future of electronic instruments.
About GearFest
GearFest is music gear retailer Sweetwater’s annual gear and pro audio festival. The free two day event, which took place June 12-13 at Sweetwater’s campus in Fort Wayne, Indiana, attracted more than 10,100 participants, up 27% over 2014.
Thanks for posting this!
I ended up watching the entire video in one take. Inspiring stuff!
great video, does anybody have any news on the new Linn Drum?
any mention of the new Linn Drum?
I was kind of disappointed in some of their comments on the future of electronic instruments, sounds like they think there is nothing else left to come up with our innovate and that the standard subtractive synth will continue to be the way things are.
Real imaginative responses….
I think the point they were trying to make is that standard subtractive synthesis is a great foundation for musically useful sound creation. Just like the piano or guitar, it can have an inspirational place in musical creation for hundreds of years to come. While I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the guys talk about the past and the future of their creations, watching the video was an exercise in frustration. It was as if someone’s eight-year-old nephew was running the camera.
I would expect that a company who sells audio equipment would be able to record a video with decent sound quality…
It wasn’t filmed by Sweetwater – it’s from THE MUSICIAN NETWORK (TMNtv).
It seems like company’s official event videos always take ages to get out – probably because they take the time to get the sound right and do post production.