Philip Dodds

Philip Dodds seemed to always be drawn to electric musical instruments as a teen, so it was no shock that he made a major contribution to the field of keyboard and synthesizer development over his long and successful career. He was hired by ARP in 1970 as the world was first being introduced to the many new sounds being produced electronically. He worked his way to vice president of ARP and years later held that same position at Kurzweil Music. One of the many fun parts of his career took place in 1977 when a young movie director named Steven Spielberg requested that an ARP technician set up a large unit for an upcoming movie. Philip worked on the synthesizer on the set and gained the directors attention with his knowledge of the instrument. When a cast member became ill, Philip was hired for the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.