Chris Huggett

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.

Electronic Dream Plant

EDP WASP

Main article: 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 Wagner), who had ideas for an inexpensive synthesizer.^[1] Electronic Dream Plant (commonly abbreviated to EDP), a British audio synthesizer manufacturing firm in Oxfordshire was formed.^[2]

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 ^[1] Huggett later designed the Spider sequencer and the Gnat synthesizer before EDP's demise in 1982.^[3]

Oxford Synthesizer Company

OSC OSCar

Main article: OSC OSCar

After EDP, Huggett went on to form Oxford Synthesizer Company (OSC) with financing and management from his parents.^[4] He designed the OSC OSCar with Paul Wiffen and Anthony Harris-Griffin.^[5] 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.^[6]

Akai

Akai S1000

Main articles: Akai and Akai S1000

Huggett later moved on to Akai, where he wrote the operating system for the Akai S1000 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.^[7]

Novation Digital Music Systems

BassStation

Nova

Supernova II (rear

Remote 25 SL

Main article: 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 Supernova.^[8] 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.^[9]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Paul Wiffen and Mark Vail, Vintage Synthesizers, Miller Freeman, 1993, p. 54
2. ^ Julian Colbeck, Keyfax Omnibus Edition, MixBooks, p. 19.
3. ^ "EDP Wasp". Sound On Sound. (February 1995). http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/feb95/edpwasp.html. 
4. ^ Paul Wiffen and Mark Vail, Vintage Synthesizers, Miller Freeman, 1993, p. 56
5. ^ Julian Colbeck, Keyfax Omnibus Edition, MixBooks, p. 92.
6. ^ http://www.airburst.co.uk/oscar/intro.htm/ The OSCar Homepage
7. ^ Paul Wiffen and Mark Vail, Vintage Synthesizers, Miller Freeman, 1993, p. 57
8. ^ "Oxford Synthesizer Company Oscar". Sound On Sound. (September 1999). http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep99/articles/oscar.htm. 
9. ^ "Chris Huggett and the History of Novation". http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pdf/spec/701053.pdf. 

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 Plant
• AKAI professional
• Novation Digital Music Systems

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Name	Huggett, Chris
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