Korg has been on the cutting edge of electronic music equipment for nearly half a century. Their products range from DJ equipment and effects processors to drum machines and synthesizers. Korg gear is among some of the most widely-used music equipment in the world, an example of which is the Korg M1, which is reported to be the best-selling workstation ever created.

Founded in Japan in 1972, the Roland Corporation is a leading manufacturer of hardware synthesizers, drum machines, grooveboxes and other electronic music equipment. One of the company's subdivisions is the Boss Corporation and Roland also owns a majority interest in Cakewalk.

Yamaha is a multinational corporation known for a number of products ranging from musical instruments to motorcycles. Originally founded in 1887, today the company's electronic music equipment can be found in studios worldwide. Yamaha purchased Sequential Circuits in the late 1980's and acquired Steinberg in 2004. Yamaha also held a majority interest in Korg from 1989 until 1993.

Originally founded in 1929 in Japan, Akai has since relocated to Singapore and produces a range of consumer electronics. The company's electronic music instrument subdivision, Akai Professional, was created in 1984 and is perhaps most well-known for its hardware samplers.

German software developer Native Instruments Software Synthesis GmbH is one of the foremost publishers of music production software. Native Instruments releases include software synthesizers, samplers, effects processors and DJ software.

Based in Rhode Island, Alesis produces a variety of electronic music gear ranging from hardware synthesizers and drum machines to effects processors and MIDI controllers. They have released a number of products that have brought technology previously available only in professional studios onto the consumer market, most notably the Alesis ADAT (Alesis Digital Audio Tape) recorder.

Clavia is a Swedish synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1983 by Hans Nordelius and Mikael Carlsson in Stockholm. Their first product was the Digital Percussion Plate 1, the first electronic drum pad with sampling capabilities ever produced commercially. This eventually evolved into the ddrum line of electronic percussion units, which Clavia continued to produce until selling the ddrum brand in 2005.

German company Steinberg produces a variety of music software including MIDI sequencers and virtual instruments. Steinberg's first releases were MIDI sequencing programs for Commodore 64 and Atari ST personal computers. The first version of their flagship digital audio workstation Cubase was released in 1989 and has since become the industry standard for sequencing and editing audio.

German manufacturer Access Music introduced their Virus series of virtual analog hardware synthesizers in 1997 and have since released several versions of the synth, including software implementations.

Novation is a UK enterprise that produces an assortment of hardware synthesizers along with other electronic music equipment. Novations MIDI controllers also enjoy widespread popularity.

Following its foundation in 1971, E-mu Systems initially focused primarily on the production of modular synthesizers. Over the coming decades E-mu expanded its product line to include its famous Emulator series of hardware samplers along with various other gear.

The Boss Corporation is a subdivision of Roland and primarily manufacturers gear aimed at guitar players including numerous hardware effects units as well as drum machines and grooveboxes.

German Waldorf Music AG (formerly Waldorf Electronics GmbH) was founded by a former PPG employee and produces a number of popular hardware and software synthesizers and effects. Some of their most famous products make use of wavetable synthesis, such as the MicroWave.

M-Audio produces a range of audio interfaces, MIDI controllers, microphones and studio monitors for both the DJ and professional electronic musician market.

The first incarnation of the legendary Moog Music synthesizer manufacturer was founded in 1952 and later filed for bankruptcy in 1986. The company re-opened nearly two decades later and continues to release new versions of their classic hardware synthesizers along with other gear.