Keith Barr, who also took part in the creation of MXR, founded the company Alesis Studio Electronics in 1984 in Hollywood, using his experience to create studio products. The company’s first achievement was the XT Reverb digital reverb, presented for the first time in 1985 – back then, it only cost $799.
In 1986, Alesis produced the first profesional 16-bit effect processor to ne priced under a thousand dollars, the MIDIverb. The company then partnered up with the future founder of Line 6, Marcus Ryle, and launched the MMT8 hardware sequencer as well as the famous HR-16 beatbox in 1987.
Keith Barr is also the mind behind the Andromeda A6, one of the world’s revered synthesizers.
In 2001, the company was going through troubled times and was sold to Jack O’Donnell, who already owned Numark’s DJ division at Akai. All three companies are now regrouped as Numark Industries, LLC.
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