Sequential Circuits Prophet 600 6-voice polyphonic analogue synthesizer. Serial number #600-1821

The Prophet 600 was the first commercial instrument with MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). The introduction of MIDI in 1983 revolutionised electronic music, as it allowed any MIDI-compatible device to be connected to any other MIDI-compatible sequencer, sound module, drum machine, synthesizer, or computer, even if they are made by different manufacturers. Thus, a whole suite of instruments could be controlled by a single source controller.

The P600 is described by SC as an “digital-analog hybrid” because, rather than directly controlling the analogue oscillators, the keyboard and other controls input to a microprocessor, which “programs” the voices.

Electronics and computer engineer, Dave Smith, founded Sequential Circuits in 1974. In 1981 Smith entered into conversations with other electronic instrument designers, such as Tom Oberheim, of Oberheim synth fame, and Ikutaro Kakehashi, founder of Roland Corporation, to discuss a standard protocol for communication between electronic musical instruments from different manufacturers. He presented a paper outlining the idea of this ‘Universal Synthesizer Interface’ to the Audio Engineering Society later that same year. After further development, and now called MIDI, the new protocol was first demonstrated at the Winter NAMM Show in 1983, when a Sequential Circuits Prophet-600 was successfully connected to a Roland Jupiter-6.