Dave Smith Dies: The Synthesizing Pioneer whose Instruments Backed Michael Jackson, Kraftwerk, and More Was 72 Years Old

Smith later developed MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) in 1982. MIDI is a technical standard that allows music equipment to work together by sending and receiving data signals over a universal cable connection. It has become an industry standard that is still widely used today.

Sequential Circuits was acquired by Yamaha in 1987 and was shut down in 1989. Smith then went to work at Korg, where he created Wavestation, which is used by the bands Lie Depeche Mode and Genesis.

Smith looked to another company, Dave Smith Instruments, in 2002 they released the Mopho monophonic synthesizer and a cheaper version of Prophet. Yamaha returned the rights to Smith in 2014 on behalf of the regular circuits.