Dave Smith (engineer)

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. He also led the development of MIDI, a standard interface protocol for synchronizing electronic instruments and audio equipment.

Dave Smith
Smith at the 2015 NAMM Show
Born
David Joseph Smith

(1950-04-02)April 2, 1950
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedMay 31, 2022(2022-05-31) (aged 72)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUC Berkeley, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering
OccupationSynthesizer 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.

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