Beginnings and first polyphonic synthesizers Tom Oberheim founded the company in 1969, originally as a designer and
contract manufacturer of electronic
effects devices for
Chicago Musical Instruments under their Maestro brand, including the PS-1A
Phase Shifter and RM-1
Ring Modulator, Recognizing that customers wanted to play one synthesizer while the DS-2 played a sequence on another, or layer the sound of one synthesizer with another, Oberheim introduced the
Synthesizer Expander Module (SEM), a
semi-modular analog synthesizer
module, in 1974. These were among the first commercially available polyphonic synthesizers. Oberheim introduced the Two Voice and Four Voice at the June 1975
NAMM Show, the first time the company exhibited Oberheim-branded products.
OB-series and The System (1977) In 1977, building on the technology developed for the Polyphonic Synthesizer Programmer, Oberheim introduced the monophonic
OB-1, the world's first completely programmable synthesizer. Following the introduction of the
Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 in 1978, Oberheim developed polyphonic OB-series models, which replaced bulky independent SEMs with internal voice expansion cards which supported digital control of synthesis parameters, and also utilized common cabinetry and power supplies. The first of these was the
OB-X, introduced in 1979, which was available in either 4-, 6-, or 8-voice configurations. The OB-X was succeeded by the OB-Xa in 1980. The first Oberheim product adorned with the blue horizontal pinstripes on black background color scheme that would become the company's signature look, the OB-Xa streamlined manufacturing and troubleshooting by utilizing
Curtis integrated circuits. It also featured the Oberheim Serial Buss, a pre-
MIDI proprietary parallel bus for directly interfacing the OB-Xa with other Oberheim Serial Buss-equipped products, such as the
DMX drum machine introduced in 1980, and the
DSX digital
sequencer introduced the following year. The combination of the DSX, DMX and the OB-Xa (or, later, OB-8) was marketed by Oberheim as "The System". In 1983, the eight-voice OB-8 was released; while aesthetically similar to the OB-Xa, it contained an additional set of front panel functions (dubbed "Page 2" by Oberheim), which effectively doubled the number of programming options it offered relative to its predecessors. OB-series synthesizers and the DMX drum machine became a staple of 1980s
new wave,
synth-pop and
hip hop music, heard on tracks such as
Van Halen's "
Jump",
New Order's
Blue Monday,
Herbie Hancock's "
Rockit",
Madonna's "
Into the Groove",
Prince's "
Let's Go Crazy",
Phil Collins' "
Sussudio", and
Stevie Nicks' "
Stand Back".
Bankruptcy and changes in ownership Oberheim Electronics declared bankruptcy in 1985 and was acquired by a group of lawyers who changed the name to Oberheim ECC. Following the acquisition, Tom Oberheim was creatively still at the helm of the company for a couple of years, before leaving to found Marion Systems. During this time, Oberheim released several new products in its
Matrix series of synthesizers, including the Matrix-12, Matrix-6 and the rack-mounted Xpander. The Matrix line would continue through 1987 with the release of the Matrix 1000, a rack-mounted module that feature limited onboard programming but contained a large number of presets. (2000) After a second bankruptcy in early 1988, Oberheim was acquired by
Gibson Guitar Corporation. Under the direction of Keith McMillen, Oberheim produced the OB-Mx in collaboration with D.N. "Lynx" Crowe and
Don Buchla; the Echoplex Digital Pro digital delay and looper in collaboration with Aurisis Research (released both as an Oberheim- and Gibson-branded product); and re-released the Oberheim Strummer and Matrix 1000. In 2000, Gibson licensed the Oberheim trademark to
Viscount International, an Italian manufacturer. Viscount developed the
Oberheim OB*12 analog modeling synthesizer, the GM-1000 guitar multi-effects unit, the MC series of master keyboards, and the OB32, a
virtual tonewheel organ.
Tom Oberheim returns to the synthesizer market In 2009, Tom Oberheim announced that he was manufacturing a new version of the
SEM. Even though no products had been manufactured under the Oberheim brand for years, the trademark was still owned by Gibson, so new SEMs were manufactured by Marion Systems Corporation, and branded with tomoberheim.com. (2014) In 2011, Tom Oberheim announced plans to design and manufacture a successor to the Four Voice to be named "Son Of 4 Voice" (SO4V), as well as an updated version of the classic Two Voice to be named
Two Voice Pro. The Two Voice Pro, again manufactured by Marion Systems and branded tomoberheim.com, started shipping in 2014. The following year, Tom Oberheim said that he had indefinitely shelved plans for the SO4V. At the January 2016
NAMM Show, Tom Oberheim and
Dave Smith Instruments announced the OB-6, a collaboration with
Dave Smith resulting in Tom Oberheim's first voltage-controlled multi-voiced polyphonic synth since the mid-1980s; Tom Oberheim designed the voice card with the circuits of the SEM's VCOs, VCFs, and VCAs, while control features, arpeggiator/step sequencer and effects processing were designed by Smith using his
Prophet platform. The OB-6 was co-branded Tom Oberheim and Dave Smith Instruments.
Oberheim brand returns In July 2019, Gibson CEO JC Curleigh returned the Oberheim trademark and IP to Tom Oberheim as "a gesture of goodwill to the musical instrument industry." In May 2022, the Oberheim OB-X8 was released, the first Oberheim-branded synthesizer in decades. As with the OB-6, the OB-X8, which offers features from all of Oberheim Electronics' classic OB-series polysynths-the OB-X, OB-Xa,
OB-SX, and OB-8-in a single unit, was designed and built in collaboration with
Sequential. In 2024, Oberheim released the Oberheim TEO-5, a polysynth with an all-new design.
Legacy Marcus Ryle and Michel Doidic both worked for Oberheim as instrument designers, and went on to develop several notable products for
Alesis, including the
ADAT multitrack digital tape recorder, before founding
Line 6 together. ==See also==