August 31, the Dave Smith Instruments company held a rebranding, timed to the 40th anniversary of their iconic musical instrument Prophet-5. From now on the company itself is called Sequential again, and all the subsequent pruducts will be produced under that label.

Prophet~5 was talked about, copied, imitated, re-created but Dave Smith knew he could do a lot, he could do better, he could do anything and he wasn’t going to be a one-hit-wonder (no matter how great and immortal this kind of fame is) – he tried to make fans forget about “P5” or leave it as a nostalgic shelter putting them on a low-P5 (and P5-free) diet while releasing something just slightly reminiscent of the cult synth. Balancing between the market reality and his own ideas Smith tried to alternate them launching Prophet '08, Prophet 12, Pro 2, Prophet~6 crowning the “ration” with OB-6 made in cooperation with Tom Oberheim. Dave Smith Instruments – is neither a sequent nor a “Sequential”, DSI is a modern self-sufficient brand which is unique and great enough to be followed as a role model.

Arming with voices, memory, presets, stuffing the instruments with the existing and known developments, designs and innovations, releasing synthesizers chockablock with functions, options and features were in fashion during the digital era euphoria apogee. The new wave of obsession with analog synthesizers brought hybrid technologies and the ability to control all the parameters in detail via your personal computer. And it’s very likely that soon we’ll be able to control our instruments via the Internet. Today is also the prime time for peculiar and extraordinary devices which feature unique sounds, combination of unusual technical specification or sport an exclusive interface.