Chris Huggett
Encyclopedia
Chris Huggett is an engineer/designer who co-founded Electronic Dream Plant
(EDP) and Oxford Synthesizer Company, who is currently technical director at Novation Digital Music Systems
, all manufacturers of audio synthesizers.
), who had ideas for an inexpensive synthesizer. Electronic Dream Plant (commonly abbreviated to EDP), a British
audio synthesizer manufacturing firm in Oxfordshire
was formed.
Huggett designed EDP's most successful product, the Wasp, a synthesizer with a hybrid digital VCO / analog VCF design. Employing a unique contact keyboard (with no moving parts), the Wasp was priced at £199, which was less than half the price of any comparable synth at the time Huggett later designed the Spider sequencer and the Gnat synthesizer before EDP's demise in 1982.
with Paul Wiffen and Anthony Harris-Griffin. The OSCar was intended to be an affordable yet sophisticated performance synthesizer with state-of-the-art sounds. The OSCar was a more substantial synthesizer than the Wasp, with dual oscillators and a full-size three-octave keyboard. The OSCar was also one of the first programmable synthesizers, and included both an arpeggiator and a step sequencer.
sampler
alongside David Cockerell, who designed the hardware. Huggett remained at Akai for successive models of Akai's rackmount sampler line, including the S3200, whose operating system he completed in 1993.
. Huggett's involvement with Novation has continued through all of their hardware synths and MIDI controllers ever since, including the Nova and Supernova 2 synths and the ReMOTE & ReMOTE SL series of controllers.
Electronic Dream Plant
Electronic Dream Plant was a British firm which manufactured audio synthesizers during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The company was formed by musician Adrian Wagner and electronics designer Chris Huggett; the company was small and none of their products were particularly successful commercially...
(EDP) and Oxford Synthesizer Company, who is currently technical director at Novation Digital Music Systems
Novation Digital Music Systems
Novation Digital Music Systems Ltd. is a UK musical equipment manufacturer. Founded in 1992 as Novation Electronic Music Systems, the company specialises in MIDI controllers and analog modeling synthesizers, which they have manufactured in China....
, all manufacturers of audio synthesizers.
Electronic Dream Plant
In 1977, Huggett had been working for Ferrograph, for 3M in their digital multi-track division, and as a freelance studio maintenance engineer. He met up with synthesist Adrian Wagner (a descendant of the German composer Richard WagnerRichard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
), who had ideas for an inexpensive synthesizer. Electronic Dream Plant (commonly abbreviated to EDP), a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
audio synthesizer manufacturing firm in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
was formed.
Huggett designed EDP's most successful product, the Wasp, a synthesizer with a hybrid digital VCO / analog VCF design. Employing a unique contact keyboard (with no moving parts), the Wasp was priced at £199, which was less than half the price of any comparable synth at the time Huggett later designed the Spider sequencer and the Gnat synthesizer before EDP's demise in 1982.
Oxford Synthesizer Company
After EDP, Huggett went on to form Oxford Synthesizer Company (OSC) with financing and management from his parents. He designed the OSC OSCarOSC Oscar
The OSCar was a synthesizer manufactured by the Oxford Synthesiser Company from 1983 to 1985. It was ahead of its time in several ways and was one of the few mono-synths to have MIDI. Around 2000 were made.- History :...
with Paul Wiffen and Anthony Harris-Griffin. The OSCar was intended to be an affordable yet sophisticated performance synthesizer with state-of-the-art sounds. The OSCar was a more substantial synthesizer than the Wasp, with dual oscillators and a full-size three-octave keyboard. The OSCar was also one of the first programmable synthesizers, and included both an arpeggiator and a step sequencer.
Akai
Huggett later moved on to Akai, where he wrote the operating system for the Akai S1000Akai S1000
The Akai S1000 is a 16-bit professional stereo digital sampler, released by Akai in 1988. The S1000 was among the first professional-quality 16-bit stereo samplers. Its abilities to splice, crossfade, trim, and loop music in 16-bit CD-quality sound made it popular among producers of this era...
sampler
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
alongside David Cockerell, who designed the hardware. Huggett remained at Akai for successive models of Akai's rackmount sampler line, including the S3200, whose operating system he completed in 1993.
Novation Digital Music Systems
While working for Akai, Huggett provided advice and support to Novation's founders, working on the development of the BassStation, which had the Wasp filter in it. He later joined Novation full time to design the Novation SupernovaNovation Supernova
The Novation SuperNova is a virtual analogue synthesizer made by the British company Novation. It was the predecessor of the cut-down Nova and was considered, at the time, to be the company's flagship synthesizer.-Overview:...
. Huggett's involvement with Novation has continued through all of their hardware synths and MIDI controllers ever since, including the Nova and Supernova 2 synths and the ReMOTE & ReMOTE SL series of controllers.
External links
- http://www.keyboardmuseum.com/pre60/older.html Keyboard Museum, Electronic Musical Instrument 1870 - 1980
- http://www.novationmusic.com/ Official Novation Website
See also
- Electronic Dream PlantElectronic Dream PlantElectronic Dream Plant was a British firm which manufactured audio synthesizers during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The company was formed by musician Adrian Wagner and electronics designer Chris Huggett; the company was small and none of their products were particularly successful commercially...
- AKAI professionalAkaiAkai is a consumer electronics brand, founded by Saburo Akai as , a Japanese manufacturer in 1929. It is now headquartered in Singapore as a subsidiary of Grande Holdings, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate, which also owns the formerly Japanese brands Nakamichi and Sansui. The Akai brand is now used...
- Novation Digital Music SystemsNovation Digital Music SystemsNovation Digital Music Systems Ltd. is a UK musical equipment manufacturer. Founded in 1992 as Novation Electronic Music Systems, the company specialises in MIDI controllers and analog modeling synthesizers, which they have manufactured in China....