Tom Oberheim - MIDI Proponent

MIDI Proponent

In June 1981, Roland's Ikutaro Kakehashi approached Oberheim with the idea of standardizing a communication protocol between electronic music instruments. Oberheim discussed the idea with Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits, and in November, Smith formally presented the idea to the Audio Engineering Society. Smith finalized the MIDI specification and together, Kakehashi, Oberheim, and Smith successfully coordinated the support of all major manufacturers to widely adopt the new MIDI standard.