Synthesizer

:The term "synthesizer" is also used to mean frequency synthesizer, an electronic system found in communications. This article is about the musical instrument.

The start of the analog synthesizer era

Early synthesizers used technology derived from electronic analog computers and laboratory test equipment.

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In the 1950s, RCA produced experimental devices to synthesize both voice and music. The giant Mark II Music Synthesizer, housed at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center] in New York City in 1958, was only capable of producing music once it had been completely programmed. The vacuum tube system had to be manually patched to create each new type of sound. It then used a paper tape sequencer punched with holes that controlled pitch sources and filters, similar to a mechanical player piano but able to generate a wide variety of sounds.

Related Topics:
1950s - RCA - Mark II Music Synthesizer - Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center - New York City - 1958 - Vacuum tube - Paper tape - Sequencer - Player piano

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In 1958 Daphne Oram at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop produced a novel synthesizer using her "Oramics" technique, driven by drawings on a 35mm film strip. This was used for a number of years at the BBC. Hugh Le Caine, John Hanert, Raymond Scott, Percy Grainger (with Burnett Cross), and others built a variety of automated electronic-music controllers during the late 1940s and 1950s.

Related Topics:
Daphne Oram - BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Hugh Le Caine

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By the 1960s, synthesizers were developed which could be played in real time but were confined to studios because of their size. Modularity was the usual design, with standalone signal sources and processors being connected with patch cords or by other means, and all controlled by a common controlling device.

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Early synthesizers were often experimental special-built devices, usually based on the concept of modularity. Donald Buchla, Hugh Le Caine, Raymond Scott and Paul Ketoff were among the first to build such instruments, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Only Buchla later produced a commercial version.

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The first playable modern configurable music synthesizer was created by Robert Moog, who had been a student of Peter Mauzey, one of the engineers of the RCA Mark II. Moog designed the circuits used in his synthesizer while he was at Columbia-Princeton. The Moog synthesizer was first displayed at the Audio Engineering Society convention in 1964. Like the RCA Mark II, it required hours to set up the machine for a new sound, but it was smaller and more flexible. The Moog synthesizer was at first a curiosity, but by 1968 it had caused a sensation.

Related Topics:
Robert Moog - Peter Mauzey - Audio Engineering Society - 1964

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Micky Dolenz of The Monkees bought one of the first three Moog synthesizers and the first commercial release to feature a Moog synthesizer was The Monkees' fourth album, Pisces Aquarius Capricorn & Jones Ltd., in 1967. Pisces Aquarius Capricorn & Jones Ltd. also became the first album featuring a synthesizer to hit #1 on the charts. Also among the first music performed on this synthesizer was the million-selling 1968 album Switched-On Bach by Wendy Carlos. Switched-On Bach was one of the most popular classical-music recordings ever made. During the late 1960s, hundreds of other popular recordings used Moog synthesizer sounds. The Moog synthesizer even spawned a subculture of record producers who made novelty "Moog" recordings, depending on the odd new sounds made by their synthesizers (which were not always Moog units) to draw attention and sales.

Related Topics:
Micky Dolenz - The Monkees - 1968 - Switched-On Bach - Wendy Carlos

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Moog also established standards for control interfacing, with a logarithmic 1-volt-per-octave pitch control and a separate pulse triggering signal. This standardization allowed synthesizers from different manufacturers to operate together. Pitch control is usually performed either with an organ-style keyboard or a music sequencer, which produces a series of control voltages over a fixed time period and allows some automation of music production.

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Other early commercial synthesizer manufacturers included ARP, who also started with modular synthesizers before producing all-in-one instruments, and British firm Electronic Music Systems.

Related Topics:
ARP - Electronic Music Systems

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One major innovation by Moog was in 1970, when they made a synthesizer with a built-in keyboard and without modular design--the analog circuits were retained, but made interconnectable with switches in a simplified arrangement called "normalization". Though less flexible than modularity, it made the instrument more portable and its use much easier. This first prepatched synthesizer, the Minimoog, became very popular, with over 12,000 units sold. The Minimoog also influenced the design of nearly all subsequent synthesizers.

Related Topics:
Minimoog

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In the 1970s miniaturized solid-state components let synthesizers become self-contained and movable. They began to be used in live performances. Soon, electronic synthesizers had become a standard part of the popular-music repertoire, with Giorgio Moroder's "Son of my Father" the first #1 hit to feature a synthesizer (Shapiro, 2000).

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By 1984, Raymond Kurzweil, on suggestion from Stevie Wonder, created the first synthesizer that could duplicate the sounds of orchestral instruments. It was based on recorded samples of actual instruments. Trained conductors and musicians were incapable of distinguishing the Kurzweil synthesizer from the real thing.

Related Topics:
Raymond Kurzweil - Stevie Wonder - Samples - Kurzweil

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Roll your own

During the late 70s and early 80s it was relatively easy to build your own synthesizer. Designs were published in hobby electronics magazines and complete kits were supplied by companies such as Maplin Electronics in the UK.

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