The Kurzweil K250 a.k.a. "Kurzweil 250", "K250" or "K-250", manufactured by
Kurzweil Music Systems was the first
electronic musical instrument which produced sound derived from
sampled sounds burned onto
integrated circuits known as
read-only memory (ROM), without the requirement for any type of
disk drive.
Acoustic sounds from brass, percussion, string and woodwind instruments as well as sounds created using
waveforms from
oscillators were utilized. Primarily designed for the professional musician, it was conceived and invented by
Raymond Kurzweil, original founder of Kurzweil Computer Products, Inc.,
Kurzweil Music Systems and
Kurzweil Educational Systems with consultation from
Stevie Wonder;
Lyle Mays, an American jazz pianist;
Alan R. Pearlman, founder of
ARP Instruments Inc.; and
Robert Moog, inventor of the
Moog synthesizer.