Early electronic musical instruments were mostly used to make [avant garde music]?, and included the Theremin and [Ondes Martenot]?.
The most commonly used electronic instruments are synthesizers, so-called because they use the principles of substractive and additive synthesis to create sounds.
A musical synthesizer is a device that creates sounds by direct manipulation of electrical currents which are then used to cause vibrations in the diaphragms of loudspeakers, headphones, etc. This synthesized sound is contrasted with recording of natural sound, where the mechanical energy of a sound wave is transformed into a signal which will then be converted back to mechanical energy on playback (though sampling? significantly blurs this distinction).
The term "speech synthesizer" is also used in electronic speech processing: see vocoder.
Electronic musical instruments are now widely used in all styles of music.
There two major kinds of synthesizers, analog? and digital.
There are also many different kinds of synthesizer methods, both applicable to both analog and digital synthesizers, but commonly most easily achieved with the digital dito:
The earliest electronic musical instrument was the Theremin, invented by Leon Theremin in 1917, which used a vaccum tube oscillator to make sounds that depended on the interactions of the user with an RF field. This was followed in 1928 by the Ondes-Martenot? which had a keyboard as well as several auxiliary controllers. The sound of the Ondes-Martenot is used extensively in the [Turangalila Symphony]? by [Olivier Messiaen]?. However, these were not true synthesizers in the modern sense, as they were not configurable to produce a range of complex sounds by additive or subtractive synthesis, instead generating single pure tones with controllable pitch?, amplitude? and vibrato?.
Early synthesizers used technology derived from laboratory test equipment and analog computers.
In the 1950s, RCA produced experimental devices to synthesize both voice and music. The Mark II Music Synthesizer (1958) was capable of producing music once it had been completely programmed; that is, the system had to be completely re-set for each new piece.
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.
In the mid-1960s, synthesizers were developed which could be played in real time but were confined to studios because of their size. A variety of signal processors were connected to a common controller.
The first widely used electronic musical instruments was the [Moog synthesizer]? designed by [Robert Moog]?, who set up a company to manufacture them. The first instruments were [modular synthesizers]?, and Moog broke into the mass market with the Mini-moog? an all-in-one instrument.
The first playable modern configurable music synthesizer was created by [Robert Moog]? in 1964. It took hours to set up the machine for a new sound. Among the first music performed on this synthesizer are the record "The well-tempered synthesizer" and "Switched-on Bach" by [Walter Carlos]? ([Wendy Carlos]? since a sex change operation).
Other commercial synthesizer manufacturers included ARP?, who also started with modular synthesizers before producing all-in-one instruments.
Miniaturization of the components made it possible, in the 1970s, for synthesizers to become self-contained and movable. They began to be used in live performances.
Most modern synthesizers are now digital, including those which model analog synthesis using digital techniques.
One kind of synthesizer, which starts with a digital recording of an existing sound, which is then transformned digitally, in called a sampler?.
Synthesizers became more usable with the addition of MIDI, a digital control interface, and later with the creation of all-digital synthesizers and sampler?s.
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Synthesizer manufacturers past and present include:
See also:
External links:
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