In San Francisco’s North Seashore neighborhood, most hidden gems are delivered by the scent of pizza dough, however there’s not a single trace that the headquarters of one of the influential corporations in music historical past is hiding subsequent door to Authentic Joes. There is not even an indication. The one method you would possibly know they work there’s for those who noticed James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem lurking on the entrance door.
Even when you do not know a sine wave from asawtooth, you have in all probability heard a Sequential synthesizer earlier than. The unique Prophet-5 synth, launched in 1978, supplies the bass solo on Burning Down the Home by Speaking Heads. Michael Jackson had one within the studio for Thriller. He helped outline the sound of ’80s synth-pop bands, from Tears for Fears to the Pet Store Boys.
And 22 years after its launch, Prophet created the haunting keyboard chords for Radioheads Child A’s opening monitor, Every part In Its Proper Place.
The corporate was based by Dave Smith, who may be credited with a variety of musical improvements. Smith pioneered polyphony in analog synthesizers, earlier than which synthesizers might solely play single notes, slightly than advanced chords. It was additionally the primary to include microprocessors to retailer preset sounds. However extra importantly, he invented MIDI, primarily the USB of digital music, which debuted in 1983 and continues to be the business commonplace to at the present time. Smith died in 2022, shortly after the corporate was bought to audio interface firm Focusrite, however he labored from the workplaces of Sequentials till his loss of life.
[Dave] he bought the corporate and made some cash, sufficient to retire, mentioned David Gibbons, who joined Sequential as CEO in 2021. He was in his 70s, however he did not wish to retire, he wished to maintain making issues. He appreciated to joke that when folks requested him what he did in his free time, he would say the identical factor he did in his job designing synths.
Dave Smith, founding father of Sequential, has died aged 72.
Courtesy of Sequential
Dave Smith, founding father of Sequential, has died aged 72.
Courtesy of Sequential
A prototype Prophet-5 sits in entrance of photographs and memorabilia devoted to Sequential founder Dave Smith on North Seashore in San Francisco on January 6, 2022.
Adam Pardee/Particular to SFGATE
Founder Dave Smith bought the corporate in 2022 and labored out of Sequentials workplaces till his loss of life. (Sequential / Adam Pardee/Particular to SFGATE)
The Smiths’ legacy continues in North Seashore, the place Sequential Circuits operates on the third ground of a nondescript workplace constructing. The house used to deal with an structure observe and appears extra like a mixture of a design agency and artisan store than your common SF tech firm. The elevator opens into a couple of chambers after which transforms into an engineering workshop for repairing and designing the digital innards of synthesizers. However the actual star of the house is a pair of showrooms overlooking Stockton Road, boasting the corporate’s full vary of synthesizers.
Sequential CEO David Gibbons poses for a photograph on the studio on North Seashore in San Francisco on January 6, 2022.
Adam Pardee/Particular to SFGATESequential does not normally enable friends, however makes exceptions for, you realize, touring rock stars. In late 2022, all the LCD Soundsystem stopped throughout the San Francisco residency. There is a poster of their showroom signed by an all-star forged of musical superstars, together with the Killers, Rufus du Sol and main digital artists like Telefon Tel Aviv and MSTRKRFT.
Synth nerds have loads of native storefronts the place they will get their fingers on a Sequential instrument, each Mission Synths and Robotspeak carry their wares, however it’s uncommon to see the complete catalog in a single place (particularly since Oaklands Classic closed Synthesizer Museum). When requested for a demo, Gibbons steps into the just lately reissued Sequentials on the Oberheim OB-X8 (primarily based on a basic synth from 1983) to shred a sci-fi solo, then switches to the precise preset used on Van Halens Soar.
The 12 merchandise on show are professional-grade devices that might be the centerpiece of a studio and as such do not come low-cost, the compact Take 5 being essentially the most inexpensive at $1,499 retail and the Prophet-5 model priced at $3,599.
An assortment of keyboards and synthesizers inside Sequential’s North Seashore workplaces and studio in San Francisco on January 6, 2022.
Adam Pardee/Particular to SFGATE
A Prhphet-6 synthesizer inside Sequential’s North Seashore workplaces and studio in San Francisco on January 6, 2022.
Adam Pardee/Particular to SFGATE
An assortment of keyboards and synthesizers inside Sequential’s North Seashore workplaces and studio in San Francisco on January 6, 2022.
Adam Pardee/Particular to SFGATE
Keyboards and synthesizers at Sequential’s workplaces. (Adam Pardee/Particular to SFGATE)
The rationale for the excessive worth is the analog parts, reminiscent of resistors, transistors and amplifiers, that are all assembled in a producing plant in South San Francisco. Simply as any conventional piano or acoustic guitar sounds somewhat completely different primarily based on its building, so do analog synthesizers. Though it is less expensive to make use of digital parts that may be programmed like a pc, musicians fetishize analog building for each the sound and heavy-duty really feel {that a} Prophet-5 weighs 32 kilos.
[Digital circuitry] it makes a really clinically repeatable sound. And your ear will get bored in a short time. Analog circuits are very prone to adjustments relying on temperature and environmental components, which makes them very troublesome to maintain in tune, Gibbons mentioned. We put plenty of time and power into the essential engineering of the analog circuit to essentially reproduce that analog sound, which has variations that you simply discover natural and pure and interesting to take heed to.
As such, these devices usually want some repairs after a couple of years, therefore the crew of technicians working within the again workplaces of Sequentials. Whereas nobody needs to interrupt their gear, Sequential prides itself on the corporate’s restore operations, going as far as to have considered one of its workers bounce on stage with James Blake at his Mezzanine present in 2013 for an emergency restore of Prophet 08 (who additionally performed final years Portola Fest).
Inside a Sequential synthesizer beneath restore at their North Seashore workplace in San Francisco on January 6, 2022.
Adam Pardee/Particular to SFGATE
Gus Callahan of Sequential repairs a circuit board inside a Sequential synthesizer at their North Seashore workplace in San Francisco on January 6, 2022.
Adam Pardee/Particular to SFGATE
Gus Callahan repairs a Sequential synthesizer (Adam Pardee/Particular to SFGATE)
Though right now a lot of the Sequentials product line exceeds the price range of a struggling San Francisco musician, Sequentials’ longevity is an inspiring counterpoint to the continuing theme of San Francisco shedding its inventive class. It is an instance of how technological innovation can gas inventive creation, relationship from Dave Smiths invention of MIDI and the unique Prophet mannequin, to his newer creations, which mix 80s analog concepts with extra trendy options .
These are key elements of the foundations of music, mentioned Sequential product designer AndrewMcGowan, who has labored with Smith because the ’70s. [Dave Smiths] the sound and DNA is within the final 40 years of music and has modified the path of music.
An assortment of keyboards and synthesizers inside Sequential’s North Seashore workplaces and studio in San Francisco on January 6, 2022.
Adam Pardee/Particular to SFGATE
