Alesis
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Alesis is a manufacturer of electronic musical instruments owned by Numark and based in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
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[edit] Targeted market
The products manufactured by Alesis are mainly for studio and live performance (as opposed to practice) use and are targeted at professional and semi-professional musicians. Alesis is known for budget equipment but has sometimes produced surprisingly high-quality and innovative gear such as the Nano-Synth, Nano-Bass, Nano-Piano, Andromeda A6 analog synthesizer and software analog modeling synthesizer called Ion. The Micron is based on the Ion.
Alesis achieved an early success with their original MidiVerb device, a stereo reverb (2 in, 2 out) at a reasonable price. Although the MIDI specification was not extensive, it was sufficient. The unit responded to patch changes 1-63 to select different preset reverb sounds, higher numbers activated "Defeat" mode (which was Alesis parlance for Mute). The MidiVerb was built using off-the-shelf parts, which enabled the device to be repaired in the field easily.
The list of popular Alesis gear includes the MicroVerb, SR-16 drum machine (introduced in 1991 and still in production), the Quadrasynth line of sample-based synths, and the ADAT 8-track digital tape recorder, ubiquitous in the early 90s.
The company suffered financial turbulence in 2001 following an April 27 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, after investing heavily in the hard-disk equivalent of the ADAT, the HD24. In the subsequent restructuring, Jack O'Donnell (president of Numark Industries) acquired the company.
[edit] List of Alesis Gear
- M1 Active (Mk1 and Mk2)
- M1 Active 520 and 620
- HR-16, HR-16:B
- Quadrasynth
- Quadrasynth Plus
- S4
- S4 Plus - Rack version of Quadrasynth -
- QS6
- QS6.1
- QS6.2 Voice Expandable Synth
- QS7
- QS7.1
- QS7.2
- QS8 88-key Synthesizer Keyboard
- QS8.1 88-key Synthesizer Keyboard
- QS8.2 88-key Synthesizer Keyboard
- QSR
- SR-16
- ION Analog Modeling Synthesizer
- Fusion 6HD 61 note Semi-Weighted Keyboard Workstation
- Fusion 8HD 88 Note Fully Weighted Keyboard Workstation
- A6 Andromeda Polyphonic Analog Synth
- Micron
- MMT8
- Performance Pad
- Control Pad
- XGuitar
[edit] See also
- Numark Industries
- Akai (also owned by Numark)
- Alesis Fusion workstation
- Alesis Quadrasynth
[edit] External links
- Academy of Contemporary Music - The Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford is Europe’s leading school for Rock and Pop musicians and is sponsored by Alesis.
- Alesis Official Website
- Numark Industries Official Website
