MOTM

It is with heavy heart that I report the passing of John "PAiA" Simonton, sometime last 
week, following a battle with cancer.

John created PAiA something like over 30 years ago, and was a constant source of 
inspiration, education, and affordable synthesizers to at least a couple of generations of 
us. I know that I am immersed in my career today, in part, because of the knowledge and 
skills I obtained from reading John's "Lab Notes" in Polyphony magazine (ancestor to 
Electronic Musician) and building his synthesizer circuits.

I had a computer sequencer, D/A and multiplexed S/H outputs YEARS before almost 
anyone else I knew because of his designs (mid-to-late '70s!), and my early experiences 
with his 8700 computer/controller laid hugely valuable groundwork for my subsequent 
involvement with computers and other hi-tech meldings of art and machines.

And, of course, my fond memories of solder fumes and analog circuitry eventually led me 
right here to MOTM...

I never met him in person, but we shared some great emails over the last few years--- I 
just had to thank him for affecting my life so positively--- he said he always got a kick out 
of hearing about the success of his customers in their 30s who first bought a kit from him 
back when they were teenagers (like me!)...   :)

If I hear anything further about services, etc., I'll pass them on--- but mainly, I just wanted 
to speak up in honor of this fine gentleman and genius--- I shall greatly miss his 
presence in this world. My sincere condolences to his family and PAiA colleagues.

Thank you, John!!!!! Rest well, my friend.

-Russell

This is a bad year for the ghurus of electronic music.

John got me started on my path with a Gnome kit in the early 1970's. His
generous and well written circuit descriptions provided a great insight
into the world of synthesizer design.

He was a true pioneer in the field with an role that influenced thousands.

John Blacet


>     It is with heavy heart that I report the passing of John
> "PAiA" Simonton, sometime last
>  week, following a battle with cancer.
>
>  John created PAiA something like over 30 years ago, and was a constant
> source of
>  inspiration, education, and affordable synthesizers to at least a couple
> of generations of
>  us. I know that I am immersed in my career today, in part, because of the
> knowledge and
>  skills I obtained from reading John's "Lab Notes" in Polyphony
> magazine (ancestor to
>  Electronic Musician) and building his synthesizer circuits.
>
>  I had a computer sequencer, D/A and multiplexed S/H outputs YEARS before
> almost
>  anyone else I knew because of his designs (mid-to-late '70s!), and my
> early experiences
>  with his 8700 computer/controller laid hugely valuable groundwork for my
> subsequent
>  involvement with computers and other hi-tech meldings of art and
> machines.
>
>  And, of course, my fond memories of solder fumes and analog circuitry
> eventually led me
>  right here to MOTM...
>
>  I never met him in person, but we shared some great emails over the last
> few years--- I
>  just had to thank him for affecting my life so positively--- he said he
> always got a kick out
>  of hearing about the success of his customers in their 30s who first
> bought a kit from him
>  back when they were teenagers (like me!)...   :)
>
>  If I hear anything further about services, etc., I'll pass them on--- but
> mainly, I just wanted
>  to speak up in honor of this fine gentleman and genius--- I shall greatly
> miss his
>  presence in this world. My sincere condolences to his family and PAiA
> colleagues.
>
>  Thank you, John!!!!! Rest well, my friend.
>
>  -Russell
>
>
>
>
>
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>      To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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>


-- 
John Blacet

Bummer year for synthesis.  :-(

Everybody oot there, eat your greens and stay off of the roads.

:-(  :-(

PLL, BFG

On 29-Nov-05, at 2:07 AM, pacificamsx wrote:

> It is with heavy heart that I report the passing of John "PAiA"  
> Simonton, sometime last
> week, following a battle with cancer.
>

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Greg Amann <greg.amann@s...> wrote:
>
> Bummer year for synthesis.  :-(
> 
> Everybody oot there, eat your greens and stay off of the roads.
> 
> :-(  :-(
> 
> PLL, BFG>>


Also, it wouldn't hurt to wear a helmet, if you ARE out on the road.

Very sorry to hear about Mr. Simonton.

- Dana

> 
> On 29-Nov-05, at 2:07 AM, pacificamsx wrote:
> 
> > It is with heavy heart that I report the passing of John "PAiA"  
> > Simonton, sometime last
> > week, following a battle with cancer.
> >
>

Very sad to hear this.

JH.

I'll second that. Very sad news. What a terrible year
for our community!

I'm using my PAIA-based tube preamp every day here -
both for my Rhodes E-piano and also for the bass
guitar.... 

Best,
Dino



--- "JH." <jhaible@...> wrote:

> Very sad to hear this.
> 
> JH.
> 
> 
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In 1974, I could not afford a Minimoog, so I ended up getting a Paia 
2700 series synthesizer.   I expanded it, over the years.   Each 
Christmas meant a few more modules.    I got those little expander 
boxes to add more modules.  My first computer was a Paia 8700 which I 
still have.   In fact, I have all my Paia modules and they all still 
work.

I sure learned a lot from that stuff, and I know lots of folks reading 
on this group did also.   It was our starter synth.

I did get to meet John in 1975.  Paia was having some kind of open 
house thing during my spring break.   I travelled to Oklahoma City from 
Albuquerque to go to it.  It was there that John had an IMSAI 8080 
computer he was using to demo synth polyphony.   It was amazing to see 
at the time.

Dang, it has been a tough year for the synth crowd. 

For John, I thank you for all the hours of fun.   I also want to thank 
you for helping me to develop a really good ear for tuning.   I got 
excellent training for hours and hours trying to tune up the first rev 
of a 2720 oscillator.   :-)


Andy Miller



--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "pacificamsx" <pacificamsx@e...> wrote:
>
> It is with heavy heart that I report the passing of John "PAiA" 
Simonton, sometime last 
> week, following a battle with cancer.
>

Here's a place to post remembrances of John Simonton and Paia:
    http://paiafans.blogspot.com
--
john

FYI:
********

PAiA Electronics, Inc.
3200 Teakwood Ln. 
Edmond, OK 73013 USA
www.paia.com <outbind://4/www.paia.com>

Founder and president of PAiA Electronics Dies at 62
In Memoriam: John Stayton Simonton, Jr.
June 24, 1943 ­ Nov. 25, 2005

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii to John and Eva Simonton, John Simonton grew up in
New Orleans, LA graduating from the Sam Barth School for Boys and the
Metairie Park Country Day School. In 1965 while finishing his electrical
engineering and psychology degree at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, LA
he met and married Linda Brumfield Simonton.

After completing his degree in 1967, John moved to Oklahoma to work for the
first computerized jet engine test facility at Tinker A.F.B.

In 1968, John founded PAiA Electronics, Inc. in Oklahoma City, a company
dedicated to providing synthesizer kits to the do-it-yourself electronic
musician. John Simonton designed hundreds of products including the Gnome
MicroSynthesizer, the SMPL System SMPTE / MIDI / Machine synchronizer and
the PAiA Programmable Drum Set, which is credited with being the first
commercially available user-programmable percussion box.

Many music artists received their first exposure to synthesis with PAiA¹s
modular systems, and scores of engineers, scientists and technicians were
first exposed to their professions through his many trade journal articles.
His work with starved tube circuitry produced the TubeHead series of
preamplifiers and his most recent project was PAiA's Theremax theremin.

A widely read author and contributor in the electronic popular press, John
was also the publisher of Polyphony magazine, which was first published in
1975 and later renamed Electronic Musician. Electronic Musician eventually
sold to Mix Publications of Berkeley in 1985. John was also the founding
partner in High Technology, Inc. the first computer store in Oklahoma in
1976, which became the first wholesale distributor for Apple Computer, Inc.
in 1977. 

Deeply dedicated to doing what was right, John was a mentor and inspiration
to many do-it-yourselfers. He not only encouraged them to pursue avocations
and careers in engineering and music, but provided the tools that helped
them realize their dreams.

He is survived by wife Linda Simonton, daughter D. Stayton (Staci) Craig,
son John S. Simonton III (Trey), granddaughters Nikki Craig and Callie
Simonton, and grandson Christopher Kai Simonton.

A memorial service to celebrate John¹s life will be held at 6 p.m.,
Saturday, Dec. 10 at the Omniplex Science Museum, 2100 NE 52nd Street,
Oklahoma City. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the John S.
Simonton Memorial Fund at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, PO Box
1146, Oklahoma City 73101.

###