Synclavier

The New England Digital Synclavier System was a powerful, integrated system for music synthesis and recording, first developed at Dartmouth College. Released in the late 1970s, Synclaviers were purchased by hundreds of artists and recording studios, most notably Frank Zappa and Michael Jackson particularly on the Thriller album, often at prices in excess of $200,000. It boasted a 100 kHz sampling rate and storage on large magneto-optical discs.

Related Topics:
New England Digital - Music - Recording - Dartmouth College - Frank Zappa - Michael Jackson - Magneto-optical

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The Synclavier is no longer manufactured, but many systems are still in use in the recording industry, particularly in Sound Design for major movies and in music compostion and performance.

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The Synclavier is based around two separate systems - FM voices and SAMPLE voices - combined together under one dedicated Real Time Performance control software interface. There is also the option to add the Direct-to-Disk? hard disk recording system which is also controlled seamlessly using the same control software. The Synclavier is famous for its depth of sound, versatility at sound creation and production, and speed of use.

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For information on the company that originally made the Synclavier, see New England Digital.

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