Electronic Musical Instruments,
Part I, 1890-1980

1. THADEUS CAHILL: TELHARMONIUM (OR DYNAMOPHONE):

• Patent: 1897
• Modified electrical dynamo producing alternating current/voltage at different audio frequencies
• Signal controlled by a polyphonic keyboard (and other controls) and piped through telephone receivers fitted with special horns
• Weight: 200 tons; Length: 60 feet; Cost $200,000
• Boasts programmable spectrum (ie. control over amplitude of harmonics)
• Cahill's vision included piping music to hotels, restaurants etc. via telephone line
• Too expensive and unwieldy to catch on. Also found to interfere with telephone bandwidth.

2. EARLY MONOPHONIC SYNTHESIZERS:

• Invention of valve (vacuum tube triode amplifier valve), lead towards smaller and more manageable systems than Cahill's:
• Theremin (1924); Spharophon (1927); Ondes Martenot (1928); Trautonium (1930)
• Most of these were keyboard controlled (a notable exception being the Theremin) monophonic synthesizers, usually with a simple volume control.
• Used in film scores, and by composers such as Hindemith, Honegger, Milhaud, and Messiaen.
  

  Theremin with his instrument

  Theremin:

  Oldest electroacoustic instrument still in use. 2 controllers: a vertical rod (for pitch) and horizonatal loop (for amplitude). Consists of 2 ultrasonic sine oscillators (ie. higher than human hearing): one has foxed freq., the other is variable. Proximity of player's hand to the vertical rod changes the variable freq. oscillator, producing difference tones in the audible range.

  • Sound Example (played in class): Clara Rockmore (theremin): The Swan (Saint-Saens), from The Art of the Theremin, [Music Library Mcd 4103]
  • Soundfile: Although less virtuosic, a perhaps more musically effective use of the theremin appears in the well-known Beach Boys recording, Good Vibrations [75K, 9'']. The theremin's high-pitch sound is particularly prominent as the fade-out approaches at the end of the song.

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  The Ondes Martinot

  Ondes Martenot:

  produces a pure sinusoidal waveform, to which partials can be added if desired, by pressing various buttons - this is additive synthesis. For controllers, combines two approaches: a keyboard, and a flexible metal strip for poramento.

  • Soundfile: Although less well-known than the Turangalila Symphony, Messiaen's Fete Des Belles Eaux [139K, 18''], for six Ondes Matenot gives a clear indication as to the sound of the instrument.

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3. EARLY POLYPHONIC SYNTHESIZERS:

• The Givelet (1929), and later the Hammond Organ (1935)
• Designed as cheap alternatives to the pipe organ, and, being polyphonic, these were more commerially viable.
• The Givelet could also be controlled automatically, via pre-punched tape!
• The Hammond organ, with its distinctive sound attained a degree of popularity.

4. VOLTAGE CONTROLLED SYNTHESIZERS

The invention of the electronic transistor brought about a revolution in synthesizer design, which -- like present day micro chip technology -- had the effect of making what was already a possibility, both smaller and cheaper. Early VCSs attempted to replace much of the equipment normally found in a "classical" electronic music studios, later ones were built more and more as performance instruments.

Early Voltage Controlled Synthesizers:

Early Voltage Controlled Synthesizers were modular in design, and featured various categories of synthesis tools: eg. Sound Generating modules (oscillators, noise generators) Sound Processing modules (amplifiers, mixers, filters, reverberators, ring modulators etc.), and Control Sources (envelope generators, sequencers, keyboards, pulse generator etc.). All modules were compatible with one another, which was often another advantage over the "classical" studio. Each module had its inputs and outputs available on a central panel, making it possible to patch these together (at least with some of the better models) in any configuration imaginable. [Hence the term synth "patch"].

The Buchla Synthesizer:

Built for the San Francisco Tape Music Center (which featured such luminaries as Morton Subotnick, Ramon Sender, Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, Steve Reich etc.). The Buchla synthesizer was primarily a studio - rather than performance - instrument, and has been associated in particular with early works by Subotnick.

• Sound Example: Morton Sobotnick: Silver Apples of the Moon [available in the IDEAMA collection]

Robert Moog

The Moog Mk 3C Synthesizer

The Moog Synthesizer:

Built very much as a performance instrument, the Moog Synthesizer quickly became one of the most popular synthesizers of its day, the name Moog, for a time, becoming almost synonymous with synthesizer. The models were built in a modular style, and the keyboard and synthesis units were detachable. The music of Walter/Wendy Carlos has been strongly associated with the Moog.

• Sound Example: Wendy Carlos Switched on Bach [Mcd 1144] [reported stolen from Braun music library!]

Further Developments:

By the mid-1970s, is was apparent that the synthesizer was a commercial success, and the race was on to produce better and cheaper models. The early manufacturers were mostly American, but the Japanese were in close pursuit of the market. More and more the tendency was to produce instruments designed for performance, and catering for the growing market in rock/pop music.

The use of Voltage Controlled, "Analog" synthesizers became increasingly widespread in rock/pop music in the 1970s. Here is an example from the German synthesizer group, Kraftwerk, which is quite progressive--in that the technology seems to have been assimilated in a more thorough way than with many other groups of the day.

Soundfile: Kraftwerk: Trans Euro Express [0.57MB, 1'15'']
--Autobahn might have made a better choice, but I could not locate of a copy!