Composed and performed on the Synclavier II in the Bregman Electronic Music Studio, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.
Synthesizer-like instruments emerged in the United States in the mid-20th century with instruments such as theRCA Mark II, which was controlled withpunch cards and used hundreds ofvacuum tubes. TheMoog synthesizer, developed byRobert Moog and first sold in 1964, is credited for pioneering concepts such asvoltage-controlled oscillators, envelopes,noise generators, filters, and sequencers. In 1970, the smaller, cheaperMinimoog standardized synthesizers as self-contained instruments with built-in keyboards, unlike the largermodular synthesizers before it.
Synthesizers were initially viewed asavant-garde, valued by the 1960spsychedelic andcountercultural scenes but with little perceived commercial potential.Switched-On Bach (1968), a bestselling album ofBach compositions arranged for synthesizer byWendy Carlos, took synthesizers to the mainstream. They were adopted by electronic acts and pop and rock groups in the 1960s and 1970s and were widely used in 1980s music.Sampling, introduced with theFairlight synthesizer in 1979, has influenced genres such as electronic andhip hop music. Today, the synthesizer is used in nearly every genre of music and is considered one of the most important instruments in the music industry. According toFact in 2016, "The synthesizer is as important, and as ubiquitous, in modern music today as the human voice."[3]
The authors ofAnalog Days define "the early years of the synthesizer" as between 1964 and the mid-1970s, beginning with the debut of theMoog synthesizer.[6]: 7 Designed by the American engineerRobert Moog, the instrument was amodular synthesizer system composed of numerous separate electronic modules, each capable of generating, shaping, or controlling a sound depending on how each module is connected to other modules bypatch cables.[7] Moog developed a means of controlling pitch throughvoltage, thevoltage-controlled oscillator.[8] This, along with Moog components such asenvelopes,noise generators,filters, andsequencers, became standard components in synthesizers.[9][6]
Around the same period, the American engineerDon Buchla created theBuchla Modular Electronic Music System.[10] Instead of a conventionalkeyboard, Buchla's system used touchpads which transmittedcontrol voltages depending on finger position and force.[6] However, the Moog's keyboard made it more accessible and marketable to musicians, and keyboards became the standard means of controlling synthesizers.[6] Moog and Buchla initially avoided the wordsynthesizer for their instruments, as it was associated with the RCA synthesizer; however, by the 1970s, it had become the standard term.[6]
In 1970, Moog launched a cheaper, smaller synthesizer, theMinimoog.[11][12] It was the first synthesizer sold in music stores,[6] and was more practical for live performance. It standardized the concept of synthesizers as self-contained instruments with built-in keyboards.[13][14] In the early 1970s, the British composerKen Freeman introduced the firststring synthesizer, designed to emulatestring sections.[15]
TheMinimoog, introduced in 1970, was the first synthesizer sold in music stores.
After retail stores started selling synthesizers in 1971, other synthesizer companies were established, includingARP in the US andEMS in the UK.[6] ARP's products included theARP 2600, which folded into a carrying case and had built-in speakers, and theOdyssey, a rival to the Minimoog.[6] The less expensive EMS synthesizers were used by Europeanart rock andprogressive rock acts includingBrian Eno andPink Floyd.[6] Designs for synthesizers appeared in the amateur electronics market, such as a design published inPractical Electronics in 1973.[1] By the mid-1970s, ARP was the world's largest synthesizer manufacturer,[6] though it closed in 1981.[16]
Early synthesizers weremonophonic, meaning they could only play one note at a time. Some of the earliest commercialpolyphonic synthesizers were created by the American engineerTom Oberheim,[10] such as theOB-X (1979).[6] In 1978, the American companySequential Circuits released theProphet-5, the first fullyprogrammable polyphonic synthesizer.[9]: 93 Whereas previous synthesizers required users to adjust cables and knobs to change sounds, with no guarantee of exactly recreating a sound,[6] the Prophet-5 usedmicroprocessors to store sounds in patch memory.[17] This facilitated a move from synthesizers creating unpredictable sounds to producing "a standard package of familiar sounds".[6]: 385
The synthesizer market grew dramatically in the 1980s.[9]: 57 1982 saw the introduction ofMIDI, astandardized means of synchronizing electronic instruments; it remains an industry standard.[18] An influentialsampling synthesizer, theFairlight CMI, was released in 1979,[17] with the ability to record and play backsamples at different pitches.[19] Though its high price made it inaccessible to amateurs, it was adopted by high-profile pop musicians includingKate Bush andPeter Gabriel. The success of the Fairlight drove competition, improving sampling technology and lowering prices.[19] Early competing samplers included theE-mu Emulator in 1981[19] and theAkai S-series in 1985.[20]
TheYamaha DX7, released in 1983, was the first commercially successful digital synthesizer and was widely used in 1980s pop music.
In 1983, Yamaha released the first commercially successfuldigital synthesizer, theYamaha DX7.[21] Based onfrequency modulation (FM) synthesis developed by theStanford University engineerJohn Chowning,[22] the DX7 was characterized by its "harsh", "glassy" and "chilly" sounds, compared to the "warm" and "fuzzy" sounds of analog synthesis.[3] The DX7 was the first synthesizer to sell more than 100,000 units[9]: 57 and remains one of the bestselling in history.[21][23] It was widely used in 1980s pop music.[24]
Digital synthesizers typically contained preset sounds emulating acoustic instruments, with algorithms controlled with menus and buttons.[6] TheSynclavier, made with FM technology licensed from Yamaha, offered features such as16-bit sampling and digital recording. With a starting price of $13,000, its use was limited to universities, studios and wealthy artists.[25][26] TheRoland D-50 (1987) blended Roland'slinear arithmetic algorithm with samples, and was the first mass-produced synthesizer with built-in digitaleffects such asdelay,reverb andchorus.[9]: 63 In 1988, the Japanese manufacturerKorg released theM1, a digital synthesizerworkstation featuring sampledtransients andloops.[27] With more than 250,000 units sold, it remains the bestselling synthesizer in history.[27] The advent of digital synthesizers led to a downturn in interest in analog synthesizers in the following decade.[9]: 59
1990s–present: Software synthesizers and analog revival
1997 saw the release ofReBirth byPropellerhead Software and Reality bySeer Systems, the firstsoftware synthesizers that could be played in real time via MIDI.[9] In 1999, an update to the music softwareCubase allowed users to run software instruments (including synthesizers) asplug-ins, triggering a wave of new software instruments.[28] Propellerhead'sReason, released in 2000, introduced an array of recognizable virtual studio equipment.[28]
The market for patchable and modular synthesizers rebounded in the late 1990s.[9]: 32 In the 2000s, older analog synthesizers regained popularity, sometimes selling for much more than their original prices.[29] In the 2010s, new, affordable analog synthesizers were introduced by companies including Moog, Korg,Arturia andDave Smith Instruments. The renewed interest is credited to the appeal of imperfect "organic" sounds and simpler interfaces, and modernsurface-mount technology making analog synthesizers cheaper and faster to manufacture.[29]
Early synthesizers were viewed asavant-garde, valued by the 1960spsychedelic andcounter-cultural scenes for their ability to make new sounds, but with little perceived commercial potential.Switched-On Bach (1968), a bestselling album ofBach compositions arranged for Moog synthesizer byWendy Carlos, demonstrated that synthesizers could be more than "random noise machines",[7] taking them to the mainstream.[6] However, debates were held about the appropriateness of synthesizers inbaroque music, and according to theGuardian they were quickly abandoned in "serious classical circles".[30]
Today, the synthesizer is one of the most important instruments in the music industry,[31] used in nearly every genre.[6]: 7 It is considered by the authors ofAnalog Days as "the only innovation that can stand alongside the electric guitar as a great new instrument of the age of electricity ... Both led to new forms of music, and both had massive popular appeal."[6]: 7 According toFact in 2016, "The synthesizer is as important, and as ubiquitous, in modern music today as the human voice."[3]
The portable Minimoog (1970), much smaller than the modular synthesizers before it, made synthesizers more common in live performance.[14] Early synthesizers couldonly play one note at a time, making them suitable for basslines, leads and solos.[33] With the rise of polyphonic synthesizers in the 70s and 80s, "the keyboard in rock once more started to revert to the background, to be used for fills and atmosphere rather than for soloing".[6]: 207 Some acts felt that using synthesizers was "cheating";Queen wrote in their album liner notes that they did not use them.[34]
The Minimoog took a place in mainstreamAfrican-American music, most notably in the work ofStevie Wonder,[6] and injazz, such as the work ofSun Ra.[33] In the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the Minimoog was widely used in the emergingdisco genre by artists includingAbba andGiorgio Moroder.[33] Sampling, introduced with theFairlight synthesizer in 1979, has influenced all genres of music[8] and had a major influence on the development of electronic andhip hop music.[35][36]
TheRoland TB-303 (1981), in conjunction with theRoland TR-808 andTR-909 drum machines, became a foundation ofelectronic dance music genres such ashouse andtechno when producers acquired cheap second-hand units later in the decade.[42] The authors ofAnalog Days connect the synthesizer's origins in 1960s psychedelia to theraves and British "second summer of love" of the 1980s and the club scenes of the 1990s and 2000s.[6]: 321
Synthesizers are common in film and television soundtracks.[6]: 273 In 1969,Mort Garson used a Moog to compose a soundtrack for the televised footage of theApollo 11 moonwalk, creating a link between electronic music and space in the American popular imagination.[50] ARP synthesizers were used to create sound effects for the 1977 science fiction filmsClose Encounters of the Third Kind[6]: 9 andStar Wars, including the "voice" of the robotR2-D2.[6]: 273
The rise of the synthesizer led to major changes in music industry jobs, comparable to the earlier arrival ofsound in film, which put live musicians accompanyingsilent films out of work.[54] With its ability to imitate instruments such as strings and horns, the synthesizer threatened the jobs ofsession musicians. For a period, the Moog was banned from use in commercial work, a restriction negotiated by theAmerican Federation of Musicians (AFM).[6] Robert Moog felt that the AFM had not realized that his instrument had to be studied like any other, and instead imagined that "all the sounds that musicians could make somehow existed in the Moog — all you had to do was push a button that said 'Jascha Heifetz' and out would come the most fantastic violin player".[55]
The musicianWalter Sear persuaded the AFM that the synthesizer demanded skill, and the category of "synthesizer player" was accepted into the union. However, players were subject to "suspicion and hostility" for years.[6]: 149 In 1982, following a tour byBarry Manilow using synthesizers instead of an orchestra, the BritishMusicians' Union attempted to ban synthesizers, attracting controversy.[56] That decade, a few musicians skilled at programming the Yamaha DX7 found employment creating sounds for other acts.[57]
Insubtractive synthesis, complex waveforms are generated by oscillators and then shaped with filters to remove or boost specific frequencies.
Synthesizers generate audio through various forms ofanalog anddigital synthesis.
Insubtractive synthesis, complexwaveforms are generated by oscillators and then shaped with filters to remove or boost specific frequencies.[9] Subtractive synthesis is characterized as "rich" and "warm".[58]
Infrequency modulation (FM) synthesis, also known as phase modulation, a carrier wave is modulated with the frequency of a modulator wave; the resulting complex waveform can, in turn, be modulated by another modulator, and this by another, and so on.[60] FM synthesis is characterized as "harsh", "glassy" and "chilly".[3]
Inwavetable synthesis, synthesizers modulate smoothly between digital representations of different waveforms, changing the shape andtimbre.[62]
Insample-based synthesis, instead of sounds being created by synthesizers, samples (digital recordings of sounds) are played back and shaped with components such as filters, envelopes and LFOs.[63]
Invector synthesis, pioneered by theProphet VS, users crossfade between different sound sources using controllers such as joysticks, envelopes and LFOs.[64]
Ingranular synthesis, an audio sample is split into "grains", usually between one hundredth and one tenth of a second in length, which are recombined and played back.[65]
Voltage-controlled amplifiers (VCAs) control the volume orgain of the audio signal. VCAs can be modulated by other components, such as LFOs and envelopes.[9] A VCA is apreamp that boosts (amplifies) the electronic signal before passing it on to an external or built-in power amplifier, as well as a means to control its amplitude (volume) using anattenuator. The gain of the VCA is affected by acontrol voltage (CV), coming from an envelope generator, an LFO, the keyboard or some other source.[67]
With added filter resonance effect, for a "wet" sound.
The filter may be controlled with a second ADSR envelope. An "envelope modulation" ("env mod") parameter on many synthesizers with filter envelopes determines how much the envelope affects the filter. If turned all the way down, the filter produces a flat sound with no envelope. When turned up the envelope becomes more noticeable, expanding the minimum and maximum range of the filter. The envelope applied on the filter helps the sound designer generating long notes or short notes by moving the parameters up and down such as decay, sustain and finally release. For instance by using a short decay with no sustain, the sound generated is commonly known as astab. Sound designers may prefer shaping the sound with a filter instead of volume.[citation needed]
Envelopes control how sounds change over time. They may control parameters such asamplitude (volume), filters (frequencies), or pitch. The most common envelope is the ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) envelope:[9]
Attack is the time taken for initial run-up of level from nil to peak, beginning when the note is triggered.
Decay is the time taken for the subsequent run down from the attack level to the designated sustain level.
Sustain is the level during the main sequence of the sound's duration, until the key is released.
Release is the time taken for the level to decay from the sustain level to zero after the key is released.
A sample of Eurodance synthesizer riff with use of rapid 1/16 notes arpeggiator
Arpeggiators, included in many synthesizer models, take inputchords and convert them intoarpeggios. They usually include controls for speed, range and mode (the movement of the arpeggio).[68]
Synthesizer clones are unlicensed recreations of previous synthesizers, often marketed as affordable versions of famous musical equipment. Clones are available as physical instruments and software. Companies that have sold software clones includeArturia andNative Instruments.Behringer manufactures equipment modelled on instruments including the Minimoog,Pro-One, andTB-303, anddrum machines such as theTR-808. Other synthesizer clones include the MiniMOD (a series ofEurorack modules based on the Minimoog), the Intellijel Atlantis (based on theSH-101), and the x0x Heart (based on the TB-303).[69]
^abShepard, Brian K. (2013).Refining Sound: A Practical Guide to Synthesis and Synthesizers. Oxford University Press.ISBN9780199376681.The first digital synthesizer to make it into the studios of everyone else, the Yamaha DX7, became one of the most commercially successful synthesizers of all time.
^abTech, Computer Music Specials 2008-10-13T15:29:00 286Z (13 October 2008)."A brief history of computer music".MusicRadar. Retrieved1 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Kuit, Roland (2014).SoundLab I: The Electronic Studio. Publisher's number: 13664. The Netherlands, The Hague: Donemus.
Kuit, Roland (2014).SoundLab II: Architectures for Philosophers. Publisher's number: 13665. The Netherlands, The Hague: Donemus.
Kuit, Roland (2014).Laboratory of Patching: Illustrated Compendium of Modular Synthesis. Publisher's number: 13662. The Netherlands, The Hague: Donemus.
Kuit, Roland (2014).To be On, to be OFF, that's the SWITCH. Publisher's number: 13666. The Netherlands, The Hague: Donemus.
