Synthesizers

A synthesizer is two things: it is a device that creates music electronically, and it is a device that sparked both great innovation and experimentation in forms of music as well as great passion either for or against its unique applications.

The synthesizer has its roots in devices created in computer labs, using equipment from analog computers and other forms of laboratory test equipment. The earliest of synthesizers showed up as far back as the 1920's, producing limited sounds and weighing hundreds of pounds. It wasn't until the 1950's that serious attempts at electronically creating music and human voice sounds were attempted.

RCA created experimental devices that were amazing yet very limited in function. The gigantic Mark II Music Synthesizer was introduced at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in New York City in 1958, and had to be completely programmed before it could produce music of any kind. There was a vacuum tube system that had to be patched by hand for each new type of sound, and used a paper tape sequencer that was punched with holes to control pitch and filters. In this fashion it worked like an old-time player piano, but could produce many more sounds.

Music