Dave Smith, who created the Prophet-5 synthesizer and pioneered the use of MIDI, has died. His company, Sequential, shared the sad news, writing, "It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Dave Smith has died. We’re heartbroken, but take some small solace in knowing he was on the road doing what he loved best in the company of family, friends, and artists."
Born in 1950 in San Francisco, Smith founded Sequential Circuits in 1974, and in 1977 debuted the now legendary Prophet-5, which was the world’s first fully-programmable polyphonic synth, and the first musical instrument with an embedded microprocessor. The Prophet-5 can be heard on Michael Jackson's Thriller, Madonna's Like a Virgin, many John Carpenter soundtracks, Radiohead's Kid A, and The Terminator soundtrack, just to name a few.