1977
E-MU 4060
Used to control the Audity (shown) and
other synths, this was the first polyphonic
digital keyboard with a built-in sequencer.
1982
BUCHLA 400
First synthesizer with a built-in digital
sequencer whose events could be
edited on a CRT video display.
1982
ROLAND DIGITAL CONTROL BUS
This direct precursor of MIDI debuted
in the Juno-60 and Jupiter-8 synths and
the JSQ-60 and MSQ-700 sequencers.
SEQUENTIAL PROPHET-600
First MIDI-equipped synth to go on
sale. The Yamaha DX7 followed shortly
thereafter.
1986
DR. T’S ALGORITHMIC COMPOSER
This precursor to KARMA, and Stylus
RMX’s Chaos Generator, ran on
the Commodore 64. Jan Hammer used
it for Miami Vice soundtrack ideas.
1985
MULTITRACK SEQUENCING SOFTWARE
Hybrid Arts MIDITrack (shown) for Atari,
Opcode MIDIMac for Mac, and Dr. T’s
Keyboard Controlled Sequencer for
Commodore 64.
1984
CASIO CZ-101
The first multitimbral MIDI synth featured
49 miniature keys and digital
“phase distortion” synthesis.
1983
OBERHEIM SYSTEM
A short-lived but capable MIDI competitor.
You could record the OB-8
synth on the DSX sequencer (6,000
notes; ten tracks), and tempo sync
to the DMX drum machine.
1990
OPCODE MAX
Now a Cycling ’74 program, it introduced
realtime, user-programmable
MIDI processing.
1997
OPCODE STUDIO VISION
First MIDI sequencer to include audio
tracks streaming directly through the
computer’s CPU.
2002
SEER SYSTEMS REALITY
First soft synth to run directly on your
computer’s CPU. It required a Creative
Labs sound card, which may have
limited its popularity.
OPEN SOUND CONTROL
OSC is introduced as a next-generation
music control language, and is still
making inroads thanks to apps like
TouchOSC (shown).