Early years Alesis Studio Electronics was founded in
Hollywood in 1984 by
MXR co-founder Keith Elliott Barr. Leveraging his ability to design custom
integrated circuits, Barr's company was able to introduce technologically advanced products at prices within the reach of most project studios. Barr liked the idea of the name Algorithmic Electronic Systems and came up with the name Alesis to try to convey that. After enlisting the expertise of Fast Forward Designs, co-founded by veteran
Oberheim Electronics designers Marcus Ryle and Michel Doidic (who went on to found
Line 6), Alesis introduced the MMT8 hardware sequencer and the very successful HR-16
drum machine in 1987. The HR-16 was employed on the English
industrial metal band
Godflesh's first few releases;
Loudwire called it "the most devastating drum machine ever employed". File:Alesis Microverb II 8105.jpg|Microverb II (1988) Image:Alesis HR-16 circuit bent 07.jpg|HR-16 (modified)
The Alesis ADAT At the 1991 Winter
NAMM Show, Alesis introduced the
ADAT digital tape recorder. Alesis created the File Streaming Technology (FST) proprietary disk file system for their ADAT HD24 recorder. Each ADAT could record 8 tracks of 16-bit audio on an
S-VHS videocassette tape, and up to 16 ADATs could be connected together to record 128 tracks of audio simultaneously. With the same digital resolution as an Audio CD and a price that was a fraction of the other
digital recording solutions for
home recording at the time, the ADAT was a tremendous success, and its impact on the recording industry has been recognized by induction to the
TECnology Hall of Fame. Image:ADAT-XT.jpg|Alesis ADAT XT Image:Alesis ADAT XT LRC Remote Control.jpg|Little Remote Control (LRC) ADAT XT Controller Image:Alesis-HD24.jpg|Alesis ADAT HD24 Image:Alesis BRC Master ADAT Controller.jpg|Big Remote Control (BRC) ADAT Master Controller
Boom and bankruptcy For the next ten years, Alesis created a wide variety of products such as the
QuadraSynth synthesizer, D4 and DM5 drum modules, and Monitor One studio monitors. In 1997, Alesis Semiconductor was formed, again taking advantage of Barr's custom integrated circuits to produce and market chips for the audio industry. A series of chips was introduced that ranged from digital signal processors for audio effects to analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters. By 2001, however, the company's business suffered as market trends changed, and on April 27 of that year, Alesis filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In the subsequent restructuring, Jack O'Donnell acquired the company. Image:Alesis QuadraSynth Plus.jpg|Alesis Quadrasynth Image:Electronic drums alesis.jpg|DM5 with Surge Cymbal Image:Alesis M1 & M1 Mk2.jpg|M1 Active
After 2001 Under O'Donnell's direction, Alesis expanded into new product categories such as mixers, portable PA speakers, and other recording equipment while continuing to produce Alesis legacy products like the SR-16 drum machine. Alesis founder Keith Barr died of an apparent heart attack on August 24, 2010, at age 60. Image:Alesis Multimix 8.jpg|Multimix8 Image:Alesis SR-16, Devi Ever OK.jpg|SR-16 Image:Alesis PerformancePad.jpg|PerformancePad Image:Alesis AirFX.jpg|AirFX ==Target market==