Dave Smith has announced that Dave Smith Instruments will rebrand itself as “Sequential” — reclaiming the mantle of Smith’s original company. Going forward, all products and services will bear the Sequential brand.
Company founder Dave Smith explained the decision, saying “It seems incredible, but this month marks the 40th anniversary of the Prophet-5. That’s a huge milestone. And it felt like the right time for us to completely restore the Sequential brand and bring our journey as a company full circle. The name change also reflects the fact that our instruments are the result of a team effort. It’s not just me, it’s the entire company.”
In 2015, with the encouragement of Roland’s Founder, Ikutaro Kakehashi, Yamaha returned the Sequential name to Smith in a gesture of goodwill.
“Once Kakehashi-san and Yamaha enabled us to re-acquire the Sequential name, I knew we’d fully adopt it again when the time was right. That time has arrived,” said Smith. “The best part is that we have the same sense of excitement and enthusiasm for making the world a more creative place as we did 40 years ago. Sequential is back, better than ever.”
In addition, in a private event held in historic North Beach, San Francisco, Dave Smith and a group of music industry friends, insiders, and artists today celebrated the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5.
Smith described the early days of the Prophet-5: “The demand for the Prophet-5 was incredible. For the first several years we simply couldn’t keep up. Artists and their management would call our offices begging us to sell them whatever we had. It was a crazy time.”
As analog synthesizers gradually gave way to cheaper digital instruments in the 1980s, Sequential eventually phased out the Prophet-5. The final unit to roll off the production line is still owned by Smith.
“It’s amazing that this month marks the 40th anniversary of the Prophet-5. It’s such a landmark achievement that I felt it was the right time to fully restore the Sequential brand and bring our journey full circle,” he adds. “The name change also reflects the fact that our instruments are the result of a team effort. It’s not just me, it’s the entire company. We have the same excitement and enthusiasm for making inspiring instruments as we did when the Prophet-5 was first created. Sequential is back. And we’re better than ever.”
