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Oberheim Electronics was started in 1973 by Tom Oberheim. Originally a manufacturer of electronic effects devices, and briefly an ARP Instruments dealer, Oberheim went on to create several ground-breaking products in the early days of synthesizers and electronic music including the DS-2 (one of the first digital music sequencers) and the SEM (the first commercially available polyphonic synthesizer, available in two-, four-, and eight-voice configurations). Many famous musicians have used Oberheim synthesizers, including Dennis DeYoung of Styx, Joe Zawinul of Weather Report, Geddy Lee of Rush, and Jan Hammer (used SEM modules to power his main synth). Oberheim expanded on the SEM by using it as a basic building block for his later, less expensive analog synths such as the OB-X and OB-Xa. Oberheim continued to make synthesizers until the late 80s. Other famous Oberheim synths include the OB-1 (monophonic), the OB-8, the Matrix 6, the Matrix 12, and the Matrix 1000.
Oberheim was acquired by Gibson, a larger musical instrument manufacturer. Its current product line includes electric guitar effects processors, MIDI modules, and keyboards.
External links
- Official Oberheim Page (http://www.gibson.com/products/oberheim/) at Gibson Musical Instruments
- Oberheim Abbey (http://forum.onecenter.com/cgi-bin/forum/forum.cgi?fid=analog) Synthesizer Discussion Forum
- Oberheim Zone (http://www.synthzone.com/ober.htm) at SynthZone.com
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