David Cockerell


David Cockerell is an electronics engineer and designer. He started his career in the synthesizer world when Peter Zinovieff hired him to work for his EMS company in Putney in 1966 where he designed classic EMS synthesizers such as the Synthi VCS3, Synthi AKS and Synthi 100. On 1974 he worked for Electro-Harmonix in New York, where he first designed guitar pedals like the Small Stone phaser and Electric Mistress flanger. Still working for Electro-Harmonix, Cockerell designed one of the first digital delay pedals with looping capabilities in 1980, the Instant Replay, followed by the 2 Second Digital Delay in 1981 and the 16 Second Digital Delay in 1982.
Work that later made him go to work in Akai where he was involved in the design of samplers like the S612, S900, S1000 and the famous MPC60.
He is currently working for Electro-Harmonix as a Chief Design Engineer.

Career

EMS

Cockerell was working as a medical technician when a coworker of him, Mark Dowson, introduced him to Peter Zinovieff who was looking for someone with a technical skill to make the sounds that Peter wanted to create.
The company's first commercial synthesizer, the VCS 3, designed by David Cockerell, was produced in 1969, followed after the Synthi KB1 in 1970, also designed by Cockerell.

Electro-Harmonix

Cockerell went to visit some friends in New York in 1974 where he met Electro-Harmonix's founder Mike Matthews, who made Cockerell an offer to work for him as a Chief Design Engineer.

Products designed