San Francisco, California, founded 1974 by Dave Smith · 1974 to 1987; the name returned in 2018

Vintage Sequential Circuits synthesizers

Dave Smith founded Sequential Circuits in 1974 and sold sequencers and a programmer for the Minimoog and ARP 2600 before building a synth of his own. That synth was the Prophet-5 of 1978, the first polysynth that could store every sound it made, and Sequential led the market from 1978 to 1982. Smith also led the work on MIDI with Roland's Ikutaro Kakehashi, and the Prophet-600 was the first synth to ship with it. The Pro-One put the Prophet sound in a monosynth, the T8 added a 76-key wooden keyboard with polyphonic aftertouch, and the VS of 1986 introduced vector synthesis. Sequential closed late in 1987 and Yamaha bought it. Smith went on to found Dave Smith Instruments in 2002, got the Sequential name back from Yamaha in 2015, and put it on his synths again from 2018. Focusrite bought the company in 2021, and Smith died in 2022. Today's new Prophets, including the 2020 Prophet-5 Rev 4, are separate instruments from the vintage ones here.