Oberheim Thomas Elroy, *7 July 1936 Manhattan (Kansas), American designer of electronic musical instruments known under the name of Oberheim. He initially worked with ARP, a manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, designing, among other things, one of the first digital sequencers — the DS-2 (1973). In 1974, together with J. Cooper, he built the SEM (Synthesizer Expander Module), which became the foundation for 2-, 4- and 8-voice analogue synthesizers manufactured by Oberheim Electronics, founded that same year. These synthesizers were equipped with 2, 4 or 8 voltage-controlled oscillator modules respectively, as well as a ‘mini-sequencer’, which was also available separately. Oberheim also designed the programmable OB-1 (monophonic, 1976) and OB-X (polyphonic, 1979) synthesizers, as well as the new Matrix 6 synthesizer module. Oberheim managed the company until 1985 and left it in 1987; the company continued to exist until 1989. Today it is part of the Italian organ manufacturer Viscount, which produces, among other things, the Oberheim OB-12 synthesiser.
Literature: D. Milano Thomas Oberheim. Designer of Synthesizers, “Contemporary Keyboard” III, 1977; M. Vail Vintage Synthesizers, San Francisco 2000.
A Programmer for Voltage Controlled Synthesizers, “Audio Engineering Society Preprint” No. 1172, 1976
