Dewanatron

Dewanatron may possibly be the most revolutionary synthesizer company today. Founded by Leon Dewan and his brother Brian, the duo are adamant fans of music and musicians in their own way. Possibly the most famous piece of gear they manufacture is a synthesizer they have dubbed the "Swarmatron"used today by Trent Reznor and can be heard on the song "Big Black Boots" by Reznor's side project How to Destroy Angels. Equally as intriguing as the instruments they manufacture is the history behind the brothers themselves.

Leon Dewan dropped out of high school to assist his father's fledgling company and help with the inventions and built his first synthesizer out of an old Texas Instruments calculator, a electronic quiz game, and a radio. At the age when most people would be green and looking for work, Leon had already graduated from Yale with a degree in nuclear physics without ever receiving his high school diploma. Brian Dewan had just an unlikely story. He once made his living building furniture, but found his passion for synthesis while recording various synths at Oberlin College.

Together the brothers make some of the most intriguing instruments. The rare use of these instruments has had a significant impact on popular music however. As the rage for more dubstep, techo, and electronica hybrids of music make their way into the mainstream, more and more interesting sonic textures can be traced back to the brothers and their innovative synths. As these synths that they create are heard they always maintain a rare ambiguous quality.

From a technical and professional standpoint, I'm completely impressed. Leon prints all of his own circuit boards and everything just shy of making their own capacitors is done in house with little production cost.