The MAX is one of the weirder synths Sequential Circuits ever made. It came out in 1984, right after the Six-Trak, with 80 sounds built in, everything from organs and brass to some really strange space effects. Here’s the odd part. You couldn’t program it from the keyboard at all. If you wanted your own sounds, you had to hook it up to a Six-Trak or a computer like a Commodore 64. It also had a little six-track recorder, but it wiped everything the second you turned it off. When In Tune magazine reviewed it in 1985, they basically said it was a cool idea that wasn’t finished yet, and at £725 it was a tough sell.
The coolest part of the MAX was its little recorder. You could put a bass line on one track, chords on a few others and drums on another, then play the whole thing back from one keyboard. It even came with drum sounds built in, so you didn’t need a drum machine. The worst part was the buttons. In Tune said they felt spongy, and a few of them actually fell out during the review. There were no pitch bend or mod wheels either, so it wasn’t much fun to play live.
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