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 Category :: Music |
Author :: Don Lair  |
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| Article Title :: History of the Synthesizer - A Brief Look Back |
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The synthesizer was a long time in the making. The history of
the synthesizer is one that goes back long before electricity -
many of early composers conceived of the concept, but could
never put it into practice. In fact, it would take the invention
of the silicon chip to make synthesizers possible.
The first synthesizers were very crude in their abilities. They
date back well over 50 years. They were wired manually to create
a given sound. They consisted of an oscillator, or tone
generators, in one of three basic waveforms. These were
sawtooth, square, or sine waves. This signal was then passed
through several other modules to alter the initial tone. These
first synthesizers were not triggered by a keyboard like they
are today and they were abstract in their uses.
It didn't take long for many rock musicians in the 60's and 70's
to realize the benefits of these instruments. Many companies
were formed in these days. For example, Moog, Arp, and Oberheim
were some of the manufacturers that would produce the first
synthesizers. Most of these first models were only able to
produce one note at a time. In 1978, the first polyphonic units
were created. They were still typically analog in their design
and had a very distinct sound.
Dates To Know:
1940's and 1950's: A variety of different
automated electronic musical controllers were built.
1950: RCA produces an experimental device that
synthesizes voice and music.
1958: Daphne Oram from BBC Radiophoic Workshop
produces the Oramics technique.
1960's: Real time synthesizers were designed
but were mainly used in studios. They were simply too large.
1964: The Moog Synthesizer was the first to be
displayed at Audio Engineering Society Convention. Four years
later, it was a hot product.
1967: The album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, &
Jones, Ltd became the first album to hit number one with a
synthesizer used on it. It was from The Monkees'.
1970: The first synthesizer with a built in
keyboard was designed by Moog.
Synthesizers enjoyed many innovations over the course of the
following few years. They would become self contained and then
movable, allowing them to be used throughout the home and
recording studios. The synthesizer has continued to evolve and
is widely used today.
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