In Memoriam

Dennis Colin
12/22/42 - 11/21/15

 

Dennis Colin - A Remembrance

In 1971 I had the pleasure of working at Tonus in Newton Highlands (later ARP Synthesizers) where I met Dennis Colin who was the chief electronics development engineer (and many other titles) of the ARP Synthesizer. We quickly became friends as I was rather astonished by the way this fellow simply knew silicon. But to call Dennis an engineer is a huge understatement: the way a great artist understands color and a great chef understands the properties of food, Dennis simply knew silicon. I was almost immediately convinced he was in there, on a molecular level, discussing transit paths with the electrons. Every minute spent with Dennis was an honor, an education, and a foray into mystical realms of electronics, sound, synthesis, time, dimensions, the universe, and more.

I lost contact with Dennis after I moved to California, but we were re-connected around 2005 when I found him on the phone one day. I could go on for pages praising his audio inventions and unique creativity.

His daughter Melissa has arranged a funeral service at MIT on Friday, Dec. 18. I know that Dennis would be honored to have guests from the audio universe that he loved.

You can read more about the service here: beautifultribute.com/dennis-philip-colin/

And here's a note from daughter Melissa: "Those attending my dad's memorial service will be in for a real treat. We're setting up a few of his inventions: the ARP 2600 (one of the very first prototypes made); the Musichrome Color Wheel; the Hyperphase effects guitar pedal; the 500 watt tube amp. Also worth noting is you will get to meet my dad's best friend Ken, who happens to be the very first employee Alan R. Pearlman (Tonus, Inc. [later renamed ARP Instruments) hired."

And this! JUST in time to honor Dennis Colin!
http://brightsparks.movie/

Barry

Barry Ober
www.soundoctor.com

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