Jump to content

Oxford Synthesiser Company

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

The Oxford Synthesiser Company (OSC) was a small British synthesizer manufacturer, active during the early 1980s. It was founded in 1982 by electronics design engineer Chris Huggett, with Paul Wiffen, after Electronic Dream Plant folded.[1][2]

In 1984, the company introduced the OSC OSCar, a synthesizer that "raised eyebrows" in part due to its "monstrous" appearance.[2][1] Nevertheless, the keyboard became popular with musicians including Stevie Wonder, Keith Emerson, and Jean-Michel Jarre, and bands such as Ultravox and The Legendary Pink Dots.[2][1]

Despite the initial success of the OSCar, the company was unable to compete with the likes of Yamaha, which introduced the DX7.[1] OSC went out of business in 1986.[2]

Products

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Oxford Synthesiser Company OSCar". Electronic Musician. Vol. 36, no. 11. 2020. p. 33. Retrieved 22 September 2024 – via EBSCOhost.
  2. ^ a b c d Vail, Mark (1 December 2002). "Oxford Synthesiser Company OSCar -- Programmable monophonic synth". Keyboard. p. 120. Retrieved 22 September 2024 – via Gale General OneFile.