Dave Smith on The Instruments That Shaped Electronic Music

Dave Smith on The Instruments That Shaped Electronic Music | Red Bull Music Academy

Рет қаралды 17,506

9 жыл бұрын

In his 2014 Red Bull Music Academy lecture, Dave Smith discussed the Prophet-5, Minimoog, and many other instruments that have shaped electronic music.
TOPICS:
4:13 - Early computers
7:50 - Minimoog
17:53 - Prophet-5
35:37 - Midi
1:06:30 - Yamaha DX7
1:10:28 - NAMM 1983
Dave Smith is a synthesizer designer and tech visionary of the highest order. He created the first polyphonic synth, the Prophet-5, which has become the obsession of everyone from Parliament to Arcade Fire to James Blake. He’s also considered the Father of MIDI and created some of the first software synthesizers. The Bay-Area based engineer also founded Sequential Circuits, and worked with Korg and Yamaha. And, as if that weren’t enough, he heads up Dave Smith Instruments, who create popular synths like the Tempest, the Tetra, and of course the Prophet 08.
The Red Bull Music Academy is a global music institution committed to fostering creativity in music. We celebrate music, its culture, and the transformative minds behind it. Begun in 1998, the Academy has taken the core principles that underlie its annual workshop for selected participants and applied this curatorial approach to events, lectures, and city-wide festivals throughout the year.
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Пікірлер: 85

@Heathcliff_hensel 9 жыл бұрын

They should've flown in Nick from Sonicstate to conduct the interview.

@junlimited 8 жыл бұрын

+friendofCHAKA Nick would kill it! They should hire him for sure +sonicstate

@redlobsta1 2 жыл бұрын

RIP Dave Smith. Your legacy in electronic music lives forever.

@Veryfoxygrandpa 9 жыл бұрын

Dave Smith was really cool. Interviewer needs to learn more about synthesizers and how to interview.

@jdk997 9 жыл бұрын

Kudos to Dave Smith for sitting through this interview. The person conducting that interview is an obnoxious tool.

@StarfieldBound 9 жыл бұрын

The opportunity to talk to Dave Smith for an hour and a half should be taken very seriously. The interview, the couch with the uncomfortable neck twisting for Dave, the silly follow-up questions; how wasteful. Apologies Dave, you deserved better!

@SpacehotelMusic 9 жыл бұрын

Agreed. Those "MIDI PROBLEMS" questions were embarrassing! Don't bother Dave with these basic non issues. MIDI has been working great for many years for it's basic intended purpose, and anybody who can't plug a MIDI cable from an in to and out and set the same channel needs more help than a few soundbites from Dave Smith.

@davebellamy4867 9 жыл бұрын

SpacehotelMusic Yeah those questions were a pain around 44-45 minutes. However I think we are being a bit hard on this guy because he does get Dave to cover a lot of subjects and a lot of history of synth development. Sometimes if someone lectures on their own or answers listener's questions it can be a bit too much one one subject or somewhat devoid of structure at the other extreme. With the neck twisting well they should have had a curved sofa instead of a straight one!

@FOCtv 9 жыл бұрын

Please Red Bull, get a host who has a clue.

@ericld11 9 жыл бұрын

I can't get past the interviewer. I may not be able to finish this series. unfortunate. I can think of a million great questions for Dave that would let him embellish.

@davebellamy4867 9 жыл бұрын

Actually I thought Dave was allowed to cover lots of areas. I watched another lecture and it wasn't quite as interesting with Dave just talking on his own.

@MrJvandal 9 жыл бұрын

I can't believe how disorganised this interview was. An interviewer should know his audience and encourage the interviewee to share his/her rare and specialist knowledge that would be outside their own understanding. Let's face it if you know who Dave Smith is you are going to know what a saw tooth wave sounds like. For those who don't know who he is a basic introduction to his work is essential to make stories about the other details of his life relevant.

@shookstylez 9 жыл бұрын

Please Red Bull, if you read this: FIRE THIS INTERVIEWER.

@neuron05 9 жыл бұрын

Why? He made Dave feel good enough to talk seemingly free for one and an half hour.

@SpacehotelMusic 9 жыл бұрын

danron "What is this LFO thing". He his interviewing a synth design legend, at least read a book on the BASICS of synthesis before doing so, no? :)

@neuron05 9 жыл бұрын

SpacehotelMusic That would be better yes =)

@junlimited 8 жыл бұрын

+Marcusmiller I've cringed through every one of this asshole's interviews on RBMA since the start. Some many amazing conversations with legends ruined by his arrogance and general stupidity.

@junlimited 8 жыл бұрын

+onestepplus1 the one with Zdar is agonising.

@Five2nd 9 жыл бұрын

HOW IS THIS MAN ALLOWED TO INTERVIEW ANYONE?

@NEALBEARD2 9 жыл бұрын

'Midi-evil' WTF!!!!!! That made me cringe SO much, MORE than once, as the interviewer KEPT saying it. MIDI changed the face of music forever- and still allows my old gear to communicate with the latest DAW. Dave Smith and Ikutaru Kakehashi gave MIDI away, so that technology and music could progress... he shoud have been thanked and congratulated for revolutionising how music is made, not chastised by someone who probably doesn't know one end of a MIDI cable from the other... yes, Dave Smith deserved much better than this.

@dafragsta 9 жыл бұрын

I'm sure at some point Dave Smith thought he was getting punked. The questions couldn't be less relevant.

@JymeBale 9 жыл бұрын

The Wendy Carlos Switched on Bach was played on the radio a lot, I remember it well, they were just talking about it on this video and they didn't know, I was blown away by the synth she had and played. Bob Moog built it, one of his very first, very large.

@Nosh_Feratu Жыл бұрын

Damn, so sad that we've lost Dave this year. His influence and contribution to music, and especially electronic music is simply immeasurable.

@keithruddell1800 9 жыл бұрын

yep.. the interviewer makes this really awkward and hard to listen to. he's completely oblivious to the tension building much like character Bruno. he's also not listening enough, Dave had to repeat twice what he went to school for.

@kneillx1523 2 жыл бұрын

I’ve seen a few of these videos, and like everyone else, don’t understand why these people were hired to conduct the interviews. There are a ton of intelligent music enthusiasts that would love to meet these guys and ask some interesting stuff.

@TYBO-xl1xz Жыл бұрын

Salute to Kawai Korg Roland and Yamaha for seeing Dave Smith’s vision, R.I.P. to the Legend

@tomm7243 9 жыл бұрын

Every time this Interviewer conducts one of these RBMA Lectures he always completely ruins it. He doesn't have enough knowledge of the subject matter to be doing this. RedBull you must sack this guy. He has screwed up far to many of these lectures. The Don Buchla Lecture is even worse. He is outright rude and obviously disinterested, at some points during the Buchla one he rolls his eye. smh

@transmutationdotse 9 жыл бұрын

Yeah they put these things together so unprofessionally. And also when many interviews are on the subject of audio its not very nice RedBull to have the audio levels all wrong in so many videos.

@davebellamy4867 9 жыл бұрын

You know the interview is not so bad. One thing he does is let Dave talk plenty and he does feed him some opportunities to explain how all kinds of aspects of his work.

@SpacehotelMusic 9 жыл бұрын

Sadly in many cases, he gets him to explain the same (very basic concept) multiple times. It's clear Dave is thinking 'wtf?' at many points of this. There was some good points raised though with some interesting answers, so it wasn't all bad. Dave was fine and held his cool, I'd have lost my patience with that guy fast. :)

@jerodrivera5515 9 жыл бұрын

So sad. This guy has a legend at his fingertips and talks to him like a 4th grader. Luckily Dave Smith is so genuine he doesn't let it bother him

@pkdick1 9 жыл бұрын

you have dave smith in front of you prepared to answer anything and you ask him about synthesis basics, what a waste

@PaulLutz34 9 жыл бұрын

what an inspiration & genius. well played during this interview too... very interested in the Prophet 5 after seeing this. layout seems very logical, i come from using a little phatty so seems to have everything im familiar w// using out in the open. great stuff thanks!

@MrJvandal 9 жыл бұрын

41:40 this is an absurd line of questioning. It's like asking "When my phone doesn't work what causes that?" Pretty sure he only brings up so he can tell the story which is actually a little derogatory to Smith.

@BeatsAndGuitars 9 жыл бұрын

Love everything about this interview except for the host. The host is disrespectful.

@everythingyoucanimaginerec4593 8 жыл бұрын

+Uprightest hes German what do you expect

@ELEKTROGOWK 2 жыл бұрын

Dave is legendary. He is for me on the same step like Neil Armstrong. MIDI, one small step for Dave, but one giant leap for the synth world. 😍👍

@SpacehotelMusic 9 жыл бұрын

Feel sorry for the Legend that is Dave Smith having to answer (over and over) some of these wacky, basic, non issue questions. Some of his answers were very interesting but some of the questions should have taken out the back and shot. ;)

@tonykara 9 жыл бұрын

Best question so far at 54:05 :)

@davebellamy4867 9 жыл бұрын

Here is another interview with some gem anecdotes about Sequential Circuits, Dave Smith and the early Prophet-5s. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mrqkYLVmt7-qqKs.html It is Robert Rich. Go to 55m21s for his amusing talk about the Rev 1 Prophet-5 (on the Robert Rich video at this link, not not this Dave Smith one)!

@oholm09 2 жыл бұрын

Dave smith has passed away at age 72

@TheAstroKid 3 жыл бұрын

Great interview, 👍🏿

@DJSTOEK 2 жыл бұрын

🖤

@dvamateur 9 жыл бұрын

Well, of course I have a lot of appreciation for Dave Smith for his involvement in MIDI and all, but for some reason I don't find any of the Sequential Circuits or Dave Smith Instruments products any desirable. Whereas I am total sucker and alwas in lust for Roland and Yamaha products from between 1987-1991. So, I am very much enjoying the fact that there's "no market" for vintrage digital (oxymoron term) synths, becuase the prices are reasonable, and I can cultivate my hobby. The fact that a Sony PCM-7040 or PCM-800 both cost far less than a cheesy iPhone, I mean, there's has never been better times in my life. Thank you all analog suckers for making my hobby possible to fund :)

@davebellamy4867 9 жыл бұрын

I do love Prophet synths but I do agree that there is lots of good stuff to be had from all eras. I still have my Kawai K4 and Q80 sequencer. They were affordable at the time and can probably be got almost for free now.

@dvamateur 9 жыл бұрын

Dave Bellamy I am still looking on eBay for the Kaway K5. Arguably the best additive synthesizer every produced. Hard to find one in good condition though. I like the Casio VZ-1 as well, very powerful machine. When these become really rare, and if all the manufacturers will offer is 3-octave mini keys synthesizers made of plastic and plexiglass, those older 5-octave machine might start appreciating in price. I mean, most of those synthesizer from between 1987-1991 are very playable as keyboard instruments.

@Superlover 9 жыл бұрын

dave is such a nice guy. met him in person as well. this interviewer just sucks. i feel sorry for dave!

@davebellamy4867 9 жыл бұрын

There is another good Dave Smith talk here (just him): kzfaq.info/get/bejne/itN9nJyep8q3fYU.html

@TYBO-xl1xz Жыл бұрын

That last statement was ironic

@tonykara 9 жыл бұрын

Best comment at 58:55 :)

@jimmymarquez 9 жыл бұрын

26:00 Dude!!, wake up!!

@jasonjasonjasonjasonjason 8 жыл бұрын

I laughed so much at that General MIDI joke. Everyone saying bad things about the interviewer, could you come up with a midi joke that makes Dave Smith laugh? That was a great moment. :D

@SpacehotelMusic 9 жыл бұрын

"where did you find the wood?"... err a forest? these questions... well at least they make me laugh.

@lisbonlion1967 9 жыл бұрын

Interviewer is awful.

@bengalinsky4300 9 жыл бұрын

Is the interviewer high? He doesn't really seem to be listening.

@Emmbedd 7 жыл бұрын

"Where did you find the wood?" & "How many X of Moog they sold?" - this sums up the non great work of the host.

@rayek4eq 8 жыл бұрын

Dude, this interviewer is doing all the bad things... holding the key down longer than Dave was talking, asking him to explain stuff that's way below his expertise, asking too much shit about Moog and not anything about his synthesizers yet (I'm 20 minutes in... no mention of Sequential or DSI)... This guy interviewed Larry Heard :/

@augustwest304 2 ай бұрын

16:15 😂

@2bitTank 9 жыл бұрын

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! REDBULL AND SYNTHS BRO!!!1 nothing like trying to relax with a redbull. little chichat. ya know? good times waste.

@shookstylez 9 жыл бұрын

This interviewer is seriously talking about his Daddy? I don't give a sh*t!!!

@liverawkstar 9 жыл бұрын

Torsten Schmidt (the interviewer) fairly well sucks in every interview he does at RBMA, except maybe the one he does with Gareth Jones

@screameryeah 9 жыл бұрын

The interviewer's ignorance on the subject matter is such that it hurts. And it's not the first time. He ruined sooo many great interviews. Red Bull, please, get your shit together and fire this guy.

@neuron05 9 жыл бұрын

Dave should give his developer the possibility to finish a product. Dave Smith Instruments leave unfinished firmwares for a lot of products.

@GaryGreenwood 9 жыл бұрын

Simply the worst interviewer I have had the misfortune to witness - poor Dave Smith.

@tonato17 8 жыл бұрын

he refers to Dave's creations to "...one of your machines", not instruments.. what an ignorant and a lack of respect this guy doing an interview to such a legend.

@andylambertemail 9 жыл бұрын

Yeah totally douchy host

@jimixdnb 9 жыл бұрын

poor dave... he didn't deserve this...

@CutTheCrabOfficial 9 жыл бұрын

one of the Founding father of MIDI have to answer all these basic question. Do your homework INTERVIEWER!!!!

@pkdick1 9 жыл бұрын

43 mins, FFS

@YotamPiano 5 жыл бұрын

I absolutely adore Dave Smith but the interviewer is not fit for the job. Better if they just let Dave talk about whatever he wants to just sharing his vast knowledge and experience, the other guy ruined it

@pwinterhalter 9 жыл бұрын

terrible interviewer

@ketamu5946 9 жыл бұрын

Red Bull! If you get Dave Smith a Synthbuilder into your lectures. MAke shure he doesn´t sit infront of total noobs! Thats like feeding jetfuel to a bicycle. Useless. At least give them the basics of Audiosynthesis before they attend a lecture with someone that legendary. Then your interviewer doesn´t need to ask for explanation for LFO and etc. he could have asked sooo much more intelligent questions but like a beercap the audience was very limited in mind... and bored

@MrJvandal 9 жыл бұрын

The people who are watching aren't "Noobs" there are some very talented musicians and producers in that audience... Just bad interview technique and poorly thought out questions.

@ketamu5946 9 жыл бұрын

then they all must be playing drums, gits and be singers. Or just using samples in garage band. if he needs to explain the build up of a synth its wasted time! What is an LFO? i mean the guy who did the interview was bad but the "talents" had no clue of anlog tec at all!!! If any of them where in the electronic music biz they use samples from the libary and nothing else. thats not talent thats lazy and noob stuff. if a synth inventor has to talk about basic stuff its like einstein teaching a kindergarden math... nothing else

@AS-ni8bq 7 жыл бұрын

WORST INTERVIEWER EVER

@mogigrumbles 4 ай бұрын

This interviewer is abysmal. You’re seriously asking how to troubleshoot your midi problems?

@busch028 9 жыл бұрын

Crap. An hour and a half with Dave Smith and the interview (not Dave Smith) was absolutely TERRIBLE. Just unprofessional and direction/organization of the interview was sloppy. "But on the monophonic one…." How 'bout you show some respect and learn the names of the products that your GUEST put a lot of hard time in developing.