Dave Smith Instruments "In The Spotlight with the Pro 2" with James Terris

The fourth in Dave Smith Instruments' "In The Spotlight with the PRO 2" series is currently up with James Terris here.

"Growing up in a small Northern California town where most bands played Reggae, Country, or College Rock was challenging for synth player and electronic musician James Terris. His very first synth was a Sequential Circuits Six-Trak sequenced from a Commodore 64, which he used to hone his skills as a composer, synthesist, and sound designer. In 1994 an unexpected turn of events led him to join and help develop the successful tribute act, Super Diamond. While not exactly a foreseen career, it proved to be an enjoyable and lucrative project that tours nationally to this day. James has kept his love of electronic music alive through musical side projects, working as a sound designer, and by occasionally supporting classic 80’s artists such as Howard Jones, Curt Smith (Tears For Fears), Dave Wakeling, Naked Eyes, and more. He has contributed sounds for many of DSI’s products, including the Pro 2."

You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments "In The Spotlight with the Tempest" with Kite Base

The next in the Dave Smith Instruments' "In The Spotlight with the Tempest" series is currently up with Kite Base here.

"Kite Base is an electronic duo consisting of bass guitarists Ayse Hassan (Savages) and Kendra Frost. After releasing tracks ‘Dadum’ and ‘Miracle Waves’ online, plus a cover of ‘Something I Can Never Have’ by Nine Inch Nails, the band have generated tens of thousands of listens and gained further support from the likes of KEXP, BBC Radio 6Music, The Guardian, Pitchfork and Stereogum. This October, in support of their local music community, they revealed details of their debut physical release ‘Soothe’, available as a limited edition 7″ vinyl via Flashback Records- a London based independent record store and label. They have a Tempest called Alan, named after Mr. Turing and he is their surrogate third band mate."

You can find links to all episodes of DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments "In the Spotlight with the Tempest" with Jason Donnelly (Dj Puzzle)

The 2nd in the Dave Smith Instruments' "In The Spotlight with the Tempest" series is currently up with Jason Donnelly (Dj Puzzle) here.

"Jason Donnelly (Dj Puzzle) is a Los Angeles based composer for TV, video games, and film. He got his start producing loop packs for Sonic Foundry (now Magix) back in 2001, which led to his ongoing success and long list of credits including Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, Damaged Core (Oculus VR). Tom Clancy’s The Division, Saints Row The Third, Saints Row IV, Growing Up Hip Hop, Wicked Tuna, Despicable Me 2 DVD featurette, Kroll Show, Portlandia, Lost Girl, The Royals, Nightwatch, Wahlburgers, MLB.TV, MMA, E! News Weekly and more. When he isn’t busy writing for TV, he’s cranking out sample packs for his side project, Soundtrack Loops."


You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments "In the Spotlight with the Prophet 12" with Robert Rich

The second in the Dave Smith Instruments' "In The Spotlight with the PRO 2" series is currently up with Robert Rich here.

"Robert Rich has helped define ambient music, with over 40 albums across four decades. Rich began building his own analog modular synthesizers in 1976, when he was 13, and later studied computer music at Stanford’s CCRMA while researching lucid dreaming. Rich has performed worldwide, and since 1982 his all-night Sleep Concerts became legendary. His 15-hour, Blu-ray Perpetual maintains this tradition. Rich’s sound design graces many films and preset libraries, and as a mastering engineer he has applied his ear to hundreds of albums. His latest release What We Left Behind is available on Bandcamp, CDBaby, and http://robertrich.com."

You can find links to all episodes of DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments In the Spotlight With the Prophet 12 and Ivan Blomqvist

The next interview in Dave Smith Instruments In the Spotlight series is up with Ivan Blomqvist here.

"Ivan Blomqvist is a Swedish pianist/keyboardist, songwriter/composer based in Oslo, Norway. Working mainly with jazz and improvised music, he has a bachelor’s degree in improvisation and jazz from the highly respected Jazz department at the University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. He is currently working as a keyboardist and songwriter in the Future Soul band Rohey, as well as running his own Jazz projects: Ivan Blomqvist 3 Feat Hanna Paulsberg and the club sensation, Mozambique!

We chatted with Ivan about how he’s using the Prophet 12."

You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments In the Spotlight with Alexander Bornstein and the OB-6

The next interview in Dave Smith Instruments' "In the Spotlight with the OB-6" is up with Alexander Bornstein here.

"Alexander Bornstein is an award-winning composer currently based in Los Angeles. His music has been heard on television, independent films, feature films, web series, documentaries in the festival circuit, and concert halls around the U.S. His work has brought him through major music studios including Remote Control Productions and Sonic Fuel Studios.

Alexander is a graduate of New York University’s music composition program. Before this, he studied music and film-making the University of Central Florida in Orlando. For more information about Alexander please visit the contact page."

You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments In the Spotlight with the Prophet-6 and Aidan Carroll

You can find the latest installment of Dave Smith Instruments "In the Spotlight" series with Chevron and the Prophet 12 here.

"Aidan Carroll is an international touring artist, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He has toured and performed with such artists as Lisa Fischer, Melody Gardot, Fred Hersch, Donald Fagen, Warren Haynes, and Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds. As a NYC-based musician, Carroll is a top call for his exceptional bass playing and is quickly becoming known for his diverse work in the studio as a keyboardist, producer, and songwriter. Carroll has recently recorded with Omar Hakim, Lion Babe, Zhu, Kingdom, and done remixes for Anna Wise, Madison McFerrin, Denitia & Sene, and Tribe Called Quest. Aidan is currently at work on his second album which features him on all instruments, production, and vocals. We chatted with him about how he’s using the Prophet-6."

You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments In the Spotlight with the Prophet Rev2 and Jedidiah Lachmann

You can find the latest interview in Dave Smith Instruments In the Spotlight series here.

"Originally from Indiana, Jedidiah Lachmann has lived in California, New York, and Auckland, New Zealand before settling in Nashville. He’s a multi-instrumentalist with experience playing a variety of genres. Over the years he’s played with many different artists including Eisley, Halfnoise, Leeland, Abandon, Seabird, Cole Taylor, Lainey Wilson, Brady Toops, and others. Jedidiah was a part of a band called The Ember Days for six years and recorded two albums and two EPs as part of that group. Currently he splits his time between producing in Nashville and touring with several different artists.

We chatted with him about how he’s using the Prophet Rev2."


You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments "In The Spotlight with the PRO 2" with ROCAsound

The fifth in Dave Smith Instruments' "In The Spotlight with the PRO 2" series is currently up with SEBASTIAN AROCHA MORTON, aka ROCAsound here.

"Composer/Producer/Remixer Sebastian Arocha Morton (aka ROCAsound) graduated from Berklee College of Music and moved to Los Angeles to begin what would become a very fruitful and successful career in Electronic Music Production and Film Scoring. His remixes and productions for Sting, Counting Crows, Samantha James, Donna Summer, Seal, Jody Watley, Santana, Amerie, Vikter Duplaix and Fisherspooner among many others have yielded 6 Billboard #1 singles as well as 2 Grammy nominations. Likewise, his film scoring and composition background have enabled him to bridge electronic and orchestral music for blockbuster films such as Iron Man 2, Robocop, Little Miss Sunshine, Alex Cross, Draft Day, and Houdini, as well as session work with A List composers and artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Sylvian, Chaka Khan, John Debney, and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry. Currently, he is working on production and synth work for USA’s Golden Globe-nominated Mr. Robot and Tomorrowland’s Iron Man Experience debuting this Fall at Disneyworld Hong Kong."

You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments "In the Spotlight with the Prophet 12" with Melissa Mattey

As a follow-up to the "In the Spotlight with the Pro 2" series, DSI has launched a new "In the Spotlight with the Prophet 12" interview series. You can find the first with Melissa Mattey here.

"In a town known for its strong work ethic and an overabundance of world-class musicians, Melissa Mattey may be one of the hardest-working creative talents in Nashville. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, with a focus on synthesis and recording, Melissa deftly juggles three careers without missing a beat. By day she’s an in-demand mix and recording engineer for a broad array of artists including Van hunt and Cam. By night she’s synthesist and composer for the electro-ambient trio Everyone Moves Away. And the rest of the time she’s handling keyboard chores and producing records for Indie favorites, Elliot Root. Did we mention that she tours with both of the aforementioned bands, as well?

We caught up with Melissa in a rare free moment."

You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments In the Spotlight with the Prophet 12 and Chevron

You can find the latest in Dave Smith Instruments' "In the Spotlight" series with Chevron and the Prophet 12 here.

"Chevron is known for his work in many subgenres of electronic music. The two albums on Mike Paradinas’ Planet Mu label spanned IDM, breakcore, braindance, chiptune, dubstep, electro, and acid. As part of the current crop of artists spearheading the UK acid revival, Chevron has always made this genre a significant part of his output, with releases on 030303, Acid Waxa and Balkan vinyl. Chevron now resides in Reykjavík, Iceland and is working on two new albums which will be announced soon. For more info check out chevvers.com.

We chatted with him about how he’s using the Prophet 12."



You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments In the Spotlight with the Mopho X4 and Fabian Almazan

You'll find the full interview at Dave Smith Instruments here.

"Recently nominated for a Grammy for his work on Terence Blanchard’s Breathless, pianist and composer Fabian Almazan found his musical roots as a child in his homeland of Havana where he first became involved in the classical piano tradition. When his parents could not afford to pay for private piano lessons and having migrated to Miami, Florida, pianist Conchita Betancourt was gracious enough to impart free lessons. Thanks to Mrs. Betancourt’s exceeding generosity, Fabian was able to audition for the New World School of the Arts High School in Miami where he studied from 1998 to 2002. In 2002 Fabian was selected for the piano chair in the National 2002 Grammy High School Jazz Combo. The following year, Almazan attended the newly up and running Brubeck Institute fellowship program based in northern California where he studied with Mark Levine and performed with Dave Brubeck and Christian McBride. In 2003, Fabian moved to New York City to study with Kenny Barron at the Manhattan School of Music..."

You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments "In The Spotlight with the PRO 2" with Marc Doty

The tenth in Dave Smith Instruments' "In The Spotlight with the PRO 2" series is currently up with Marc Doty here.

"Marc Doty is the composer, synthesist, and educator responsible for the popular analog synth demonstration YouTube channel, Automatic Gainsay."

You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments In The Spotlight with Raphaella and The Prophet-6

The latest installment of Dave Smith Instruments' In the Spotlight series is up with Raphaella and the Prophet-6. Click through for the full interview.

"Raphaella is a a triple-threat producer, writer and singer based in North London who’s vocal and vocal samples you may already be familiar with from a number of heavily supported releases at BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra. She’s been collaborating with a plethora of emerging and heavyweight talent such as Rudimental, Gorgon City and MNEK, Wilkinson, Armin Van Buuren, Watermat, Henri PFR, Dimension, Culture Shock, NVOY, Michael Calfan, MIST, Kideko, Jack Wins, Yungen, Friction, Dirtcaps, among others — recording and vocal producing the majority of her features from her studio in north London where she produces material for herself and other artists. Raphaella is also a Platinum and Gold selling songwriter. Her latest single, Turn Around, reached number 3 on the Hype Machine charts. Her songwriting for other Artists includes Yellow Claw’s Love & War, which amassed over 25 million Spotify streams, and K-pop EXO Thunder, whose EP Overdose was number 1 on USA Heat seekers Billboard chart and which recorded over 660,000 pre-orders, the highest number ever reached at that time. Her scores have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4."

You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments In The Spotlight With the OB-6 and Kat Day

Read the full interview with Kat Day on Dave Smith Instruments here.

"Kat Day is one half of the British Berlin-based audio visual duo, The KVB. Originally formed in London in 2010, the pair is known for their prolific output, and has released 5 albums and a number of EPs. In the past year alone they have toured Asia, Latin America, and Europe, along with festival shows in South Africa and San Francisco. They are currently working on their follow up to 2016’s Of Desire which was recorded at Geoff Barrow’s (Portishead, Beak) studio in Bristol and released on Barrow’s label, Invada Records.

We chatted with Kat about how she’s using the OB-6."

You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments In The Spotlight With the REV2 and Cypriot Pianist Nicolas Melis

You can find the full interview on DSI's website here.

"Cypriot Pianist Nicolas Melis enjoys an international career performing as a concert soloist as well as a keyboardist. At a young age, he represented Cyprus at the international music festival Steinway for Young Pianists in Hamburg, Germany. A graduate of the University of Music and Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy,” Melis, who has studied Piano Performance in Classical music and Contemporary Improvisation, has won numerous competition awards both at a national and international level including the 1st Prize at the International Piano Competition for young musicians of H.O.N in Athens, Greece and a special prize at the 1st international piano competition of E.P.T.A. in Zagreb, Croatia amongst others.

He is a founding member of Cyprus’ leading blues band, The Zilla Project, who released their first album This One’s for the President in 2014. The band has successfully collaborated with a number of international artists including Adam Levy (USA), Bex Marhsall (UK), Gil Edwards (N0R), The Blues Wire (GR), and Panos Mouzourakis (GR). After having toured Greece in 2016 they perfomed at the Palais Des Natios in Geneva, Switzerland and enthused their audience with three more performances in the city. The band has also performed in London and headlined the August Full Moon festival in Crete.

Recently Melis collaborated and recorded keys for Loizos Pafitis’album The Underdog, and is slated to record for alternative rock band Belua’s second album. The Zilla Project’s next album is expected to be released in 2019.

We chatted with him about how he’s using the Prophet Rev2."

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You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments In The Spotlight With the Prophet-6 and Warren Walker of The Kandinsky Effect

You can find the full interview on DSI's website here.

"Warren Walker was raised in the rural Northern California gold rush town of Grass Valley. He became enamored with music at a young age, and by his early teens he was performing on jazz and blues gigs with his guitarist father, Thomas Walker.

Walker earned a BM from the University of Nevada’s rigorous jazz program, where he studied with stellar musicians such as Peter Epstein, David Ake, Hans Halt, Andy Heglund, and Larry Engstrom. After graduation, Walker lit out for Europe to pursue his career as a musician. In February, 2007, he settled in Paris, France and quickly forged ties with some of that city’s most adventurous players. In Paris, Walker formed the Warren Walker Trio (renamed The Kandinsky Effect), and began performing and touring internationally with it and other projects.

Walker maintains an international presence through various groupings with international tour schedules; including The Kandinsky Effect, oddAtlas, Collektor, and TwinLux.

We chatted with Warren about how he’s using the Prophet-6."

You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments In The Spotlight With the OB-6 and Holly Jamieson of MONOWHALES

You can find the full interview on DSI's website here.

"Holly Jamieson has been an active member of the Toronto Indie Rock scene since her work with Wide Eyed Tour Guide back in 2010. A self-taught piano-player-turned-synth-player, Holly has quite a varied musical background, ranging from classical violin to a Bachelor of Music in Voice. Yet despite her training in multiple disciplines, nothing grabbed Holly as much as working with synthesizers. In 2012 she joined MONOWHALES (formerly Ginger Ale & The Monowhales) as the synth player and backup vocalist. In 2016, MONOWHALES garnered attention when the music video for their single Home went viral, receiving over a million views. Holly and the band followed this up with the single Take It Back, which climbed to number 25 on the Canadian Alternative Rock Chart. Their most recent EP Control Freak is where Holly expands her approach to include synth bass, which is featured on most tracks on the EP. Holly has always loved performing with MONOWHALES and has performed alongside bands such as Matt & Kim, The Beaches, The Pack AD, and Coleman Hell. Holly’s most recent personal project has involved combining her love of synthesis with an interest in 3D printing. This has led her to study engineering, synth design, and 3D design."

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You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments In The Spotlight With the REV2 and Yair Albeg Wein

You can find the full interview on DSI's website here.

"Israeli-born Yair Albeg Wein represents the new generation of composers who combine their unique traditional musical training with the gift of technological shrewdness. Yair grew up in a house with a long tradition in the arts: his mother a graduate pianist and educator of the prestigious Warsaw Music Academy, his uncle Yossi Wein, a world-renowned cinematographer and filmmaker. Since a young age, Yair has shown exceptional musical abilities, from playing the recorder to wining first prize competitions for classical guitar in which he was rated as the best guitar player in Israel for his age group. Yair attended the Jerusalem Music Academy.

Yair has credits spanning Israel to London to Hollywood. His scores are featured in Israeli TV shows, feature films, and worldwide advertisement campaigns. Yair’s music is also featured in some of the most exclusive catalogs of the industry including Sonic Symphony, Really Slow Motion, Demented Sound Mafia, and Warner Bros.

We chatted with Yair about how he’s using the Prophet Rev2."

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You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.

Dave Smith Instruments In the Spotlight with Zak Riles and the Pro 2

Dave Smith Instruments' latest "In the Spotlight" interview is up with Zak Riles and the Pro 2 here.

You can find previous posts featuring DSI's Spotlight series here.