The latest episode of 8-Bit Keys takes a look at the very rare Sequential Music Mate keyboard for the Commodore 64.
Sequential Music Mate sold for US $99 and was billed as ‘a complete music software package, featuring 4-color graphics, recording and playback.’
If you’ve used the Sequential Music Mate, leave a comment and let us know what you think of it!
I’m baffled about how the bloke seems to know a lot, but doesn’t know the keyboard in the picture is a Prophet-600, which was historically quite significant.
well it looks like a 600 but it has to be a prototype or something because it is not branded, the membrane panel has less buttons, no unison track switch, no keyboard tracking switch and it seems like the knobs aren’t even labeled.
I’ve been following his channel for a long time. he knows a TON about vintage computers and tech in general, but not very much about synthesizers (although he has a love for 2 op FM models). He’s got his 8-bit keys channel which focuses on just that, and then his “8-bit guy” channel, which is a broader vintage/retro technology and computer channel. He is certainly one of my favorite YouTube creators at the moment.
There’s two ways you can look at this:
1. Dave Smith pioneered hardware midi controllers and software based synths
2. Even the legendary Dave Smith has produced his share of dodgy products
I’m somewhere in between 🙂
Dave Smith was and is always pushing the forefront of technology. He gets credit for inventing MIDI, which only requires two wires btw. I see this as Dave using the best technology he could find and create to put synthesizers in more people’s homes. It may seem limited and junky, but I think this must have been an important stepping stone.