The Prophet from Silicon Valley: The Complete Story of Sequential Circuits

Great read and great pictures.. Really enjoyed this.

I've never been much of a player but have always had a technical interest in synthesizers, especially vintage analog/digital hybrid polysynths. The story of Dave Smith and Sequential is very well told here and contains enough technical detail to appeal to someone with a casual interest in synthesizer technology. The author does a great job of linking Sequential's rise and fall with the changing technology and marketplace of the time as well as its own morphing corporate culture. If you're interested in the culture, technology and business of synthesizers, this book should be very appealing.

Excellent, well written book. Often these types of independently published books are poorly written and full of typos and grammatical errors. Not the case here. The writing is consistently good. The book is very informative and interesting with the right amount of detail. It is well researched. There are many excellent pictures, diagrams and vintage print ads throughout, mostly in color. Which brings me to the Kindle version. I initially bought the Kindle version until I read the disclaimer at the beginning which states that the majority of the pictures were not included to save space. This is basically a bunch of BS in my opinion, but I sent an email to Amazon and they refunded the cost of the Kindle version and I bought the print version instead. I'm really glad I did because the pictures and graphics are vital to the text. Anyone who is interested in this subject will want them. There are also 50 pages of appendices including specs on all of the Sequential instruments, which aren't included in the Kindle version. I don't know why the Kindle version is so poorly done, but avoid it and buy the print version. It's worth the extra cost. This is the best book I have seen or read on the subject of vintage synthesizers and it inspired me to buy a restored Prophet 5 myself, one of the best purchases I have ever made.

I've been interested in synths since I was 15 or 16 (I started building the PAiA 2720 kit-based synth while still in high school), and remember fondling a Prophet 5 in about 1979. So this book sounded very interesting -- and it is. It's very well written and has tons of pictures of the various Sequential Circuits product as well as advertisements and the like. Even though I'm a guitar player and can barely play keyboards, I've had a number of synths over the years just to play around with, and the book has me lusting for a Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 6. This might end up being the most expensive book I've ever bought ;^) .

One of the most factual accounts of any music manufacturing company every written. Packed with staff recollections, photos, brochures, anecdotes - an amazing tribute to the late Dave Smith and Sequential Circuits.

This is a very well-written, fascinating history of Sequential Circuits, hitting on technical, musical, and business aspects. Great quotes throughout from people in all sorts of roles in the company, as well as competitors and musicians, provide valuable color to the historical sections. The large number of photos make the print version a must over the Kindle version. I’d love to see a book like this about Moog or Ensoniq.

This was such a good read. . .it made me buy a Take 5 and I’m jonesing hard for a Prophet 12!

This is the best book on synths I've ever read. The writing style is clear and enjoyable, it's in depth without being boring, and it gives you a glimpse of what was going on in the music world while these instruments were being developed. The book not only gives thorough information on the entire Sequential product line, but what was going in inside the company during its relatively short lifespan. There's an index of the products, along with the companies that can still service them. Simply put: if I could give it a six star rating I would.

Excellent historical tale from the people that lived it. I enjoyed this immensely as I could track my keyboards from the PRO 1 I first bought and learned synthesis on. Fascinating time that everyone is swinging back to for its creative ‘edge’

This is a fantastic book for any synth nerd, with loads of detail! One note of warning: I bought the Kindle version, which has no images at all. The book relies on these somewhat, so that's a big fail – I ended up buying the full paperback in the end, which is what I should have done in the first place.

A very complete history of the synth-saga that will blow your mind! A definitive book for every synth enthusiast !!

Despite the odd-looking cover, this book is extremely thoroughly researched and well-written, and a true labour of love in documenting the history of Sequential Circuits. It is illustrated throughout with full-colour photos, and it has a musician's-perspective burning enthusiasm for its subject, more so than a conventional academic publication such as Pinch and Trocco's Analog Days (which I hasten to add, is also a must own). Very highly recommended to anyone interested in the history of electronic music technology. I might also add that Australia's proximity to the book's publishers in New Zealand means that the price on Amazon Australia is about as good as you'll find anywhere.

Jedem Vintage-Synth Fan ans Herz zu legen. David Abernethy hat beeindruckend viel recherchiert und hier zusammengestellt. Viele persönliche Anekdoten und Details, die es bisher im "großen Internet" nicht zu finden gab. Es ist überraschend, wieviel Details man nach so viel Jahrzehnten noch zusammentragen kann. Die ist besonders beeindruckend, wenn man bedenkt, dass der Autor kein Journalist ist.Das Buch enthält eine komplette Übersicht über alle Sequential Produkte incl. Bestell- und Modellnummern und vielen technischen Details. Das allein ist den Kauf wert. Es finden sich auch reichlich nfos zu zeitgenössischen Mitbewerbern und Mitstreitern, allen voran Yamaha und Oberheim. Hier schreibt ein Sammler, und Kenner der ersten Stunde, der das, wovon er schreibt, versteht, also kein "externer" Journalist, der Fakten zwar auch recherchieren, aber oft nicht richtig gewichten und einordnen kann. Der Autor hat hier einer wichtigen Phase der Popmusik ein Denkmal gesetzt und gleichzeitig eine echte Enzyklöpädie geschaffen.Es gibt zwar ein paar wenige technische Fehler, die ich gefunden habe, zum Beispiel zu den technischen Details der Konkurrenzprodukte oder der Vorläuferinstrumente (Orgel und Stringsynths, aber das lässt sich in einer zweiten Auflage sicher ausbügeln und isr ohnehin nur für echte Synth-Nerds von Relevanz.Fazit: Kaufen und lesen und als kompetentes Nachschlagewerk ins Regal stellen. (Falls dort kein Platz mehr ist, eines der langweiligen Architektur- oder Fotobände wegwerfen.)