Oxford Synthesizer Company

The Oxford Synthesizer Company was formed from the ashes of the UK-based Electronic Dream Plant (EDP) company, which produced a unique insect-themed series of synthesizers throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, including: the Wasp, a black-and-yellow instrument with a conductive copper plate keyboard from 1978; the Spider, a 252-step digital sequencer; the Caterpillar; and, the Gnat, a single-oscillator version of the Wasp from 1981, which was produced under the new Electronic Dream Plant (Oxford) Ltd. brand. EDP, which was founded by musician Adrian Wagner (a direct descendant of the famed German Romantic composer Richard Wagner) and electronics designer Chris Huggett, eventually folded; Huggett, together with designers Paul Wiffen and Anthony Harris-Griffin, subsequently produced the OSCar synthesizer under the Oxford Synthesizer Company moniker. Since the 1990s, Huggett has worked as a designer for companies such as Akai and Novation Digital Music Systems, helping to produce the latter’s Bass Station of 1994 and Supernova of 1998.