Synthesizers
Peter Vogel and his schoolmate, Kim Ryrie, created the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument (CMI) in 1975. The innovative computer based synthesizer helped revolutionize the music industry while providing cutting edge technology that allowed musicians to create and perform new sounds. Among the...
Keith Huxtable worked for Rose Music (now Yamaha) in Melbourne for 13 years beginning in the early-1970s. Starting in the service department and moving into product management, he witnessed the rapid development of electronic keyboards, MIDI, and synthesizers during that era. A special memory was a...
Mike Martin grew up tinkering on his grandmother’s piano before and taking piano lessons throughout his school years. Hearing his first synthesizer helped provide the motivation to work towards buying his first one in the early 1980s which he still has today. Mike got his official start in the...
Paul Shaffer served as the band leader and musical director for David Letterman's late-night television program from 1982 until David retired in 2015. Along the way, hundreds of noted musicians sat in with the program's house band allowing Paul to play alongside many of his friends and heroes. ...
Laurie Spiegel joined Bell Labs in 1973 wanting to explore what digital computers could offer for musical composition beyond what she'd been able to do with traditional acoustic, written and analog electronic music technologies. She worked at Bell Labs, independently, under the sponsorship of her...
Michael Cotten was the original keyboardist for the band the Tubes, which took full advantage of the innovations in synthesizers of the 1970s and 80s. Michael experimented with electronic sounds and the latest keyboards within the early recordings of the band. After his time with the Tubes, Michael...
Larry Dvoskin can trace his passion for music back to an early age when he was classically trained on the piano. He purchased a guitar while in high school to gain the attention of girls and soon joined a rock band. Later, Larry gravitated towards the emerging electronic keyboards and the Hammond...
David Mash studied guitar in much the same way his mother studied the piano. He was focused on the classical traditions and even took lessons from Andre Segovia. His mother was a student of a student of Chopin! His contributions to music education, which is vast in scope, began when David was 15...
Chris Noyes began studying guitar at the age of 8, taking lessons at a Washington DC area music store. The bands he played in as a kid often included politicians, in fact one band played at Robert Kennedy's house! In 1972, he entered Berklee and remained until his retirement in 2018. Back in 1969,...
David Frederick was working for ARP Synthesizers in the early 1970s when he had an idea to create a special musical experience for the trade show in Chicago. He called it the NAMM JAM and the event became somewhat legendary, mostly due to the fact that many retailers were hearing the ARP 2600 for...