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.

The year 2016 was marked with Minimoog Model D comeback; most powerful digital Japanese synth hitting the market; Uli Behringer making analog go down in value; modular systems popularity growth (including one famous Greek brand); DJ-controller and sampler rethinking; another Japanese company claiming back its place in the sun - read about 13 most valuable instruments of 2016.

That drum machine wave which drifted the 80s into history as the time for cult dance music instruments brought a lot of units which would be copied and imitated after with enormous zealotry. But while musicians of that epoch had to enjoy vintage synthesizers the future was preparing for them big announcements of legendary drum machines being revised to fit the modern world. Analog renaissance of the XXI century keeps on flourishing and expands adding more and more of new possibilities. Here we’ll take a look at the great drum machines of the past (LinnDrum LM-2, Sequential Circuits TOM, Roland TB-303) as well as contemporary analog beat creatures - Dave Smith Instruments Tempest, Elektron Analog Rytm, and recent Arturia DrumBrute.

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.