Interview of E-Mu's Dave Rossum from 1981

[Dano]

I thought this was interesting: Interview of Dave Rossum in Polyphony Magazine November/December 1981


http://www.siliconbreakdown.com/rossum_interview.htm

[Ashe37]

His story kind of takes away from some of the mystique about the Prophet 5 and Oberheim polysynhs...

[Ry-Fi]

Very cool!

[Mooger5]

Great read! Thanks.

[Dano]

His story kind of takes away from some of the mystique about the Prophet 5 and Oberheim polysynhs...

My thought exactlyI

...glad you guys liked it!

[Ned Bouhalassa]

Thanks for the great link/read!

[Sir Ruff]

yeah, ditto!

Interesting to hear what his concept of a "digital" synth was; really no different than what things like the V-synth are 20 years later. Also interesting to hear his very pragmatic opinions on analog vs. digital. Could've used that during the great analog vs. digital wars of a few years ago.

[kayvon]

So E-mu was named after a drug? E-mu-25. I wonder what that is?

[Mooger5]

I believe E-mu stands for Electronic Music. 25 was the model number of one of their products.

[RyanC]

So E-mu was named after a drug? E-mu-25. I wonder what that is?

I was curious about this as well when I read the interview. A google search led me to believe that it's likely lisinopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor.

This was found at http://www.drugs.com/imprints/e25-10039.html

[bouzoukijoe1]

great interview! thanks for sharing. I have a question, the part where he says

When I finally got my hands on an ARP multi-mode resonant filter, it didn't come anywhere near to the specs they had listed on the spec sheet. Sometimes believing that it's possible to do something can inspire you to exceed what really is possible.

did he mean that the ARP filter actually underperformed, or overperformed against the spec sheet?

[Mooger5]

So E-mu was named after a drug? E-mu-25. I wonder what that is?

I was curious about this as well when I read the interview. A google search led me to believe that it's likely lisinopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor.

This was found at http://www.drugs.com/imprints/e25-10039.html

No, man. Their favourite drug was lysergic acid (LSD 25).

[cornutt]

did he mean that the ARP filter actually underperformed, or overperformed against the spec sheet?

I'm sure he meant that it under-performed. That was the irony; he was beating his brains out trying to equal ARP's specs, when ARP's own product didn't meet its specs.

[Mooger5]

great interview! thanks for sharing. I have a question, the part where he says

When I finally got my hands on an ARP multi-mode resonant filter, it didn't come anywhere near to the specs they had listed on the spec sheet. Sometimes believing that it's possible to do something can inspire you to exceed what really is possible.

did he mean that the ARP filter actually underperformed, or overperformed against the spec sheet?

As I understood it, it underperformed.

[cornutt]

Interesting to hear what his concept of a "digital" synth was; really no different than what things like the V-synth are 20 years later.

Yeah, I wonder how he felt when "digital synth" became synonymous with "sample playback" in the '90s. The irony, of course, being that Rossum himself was a major contributor to that happening -- I'm sure that's not what he meant to have happen, but nonetheless, it did.