Editing Synclavier (section)

== History ==
[[Image:NED Synclavier II & floppy disc drive (front).jpg|thumb|Synclavier II and floppy disc drive]]
The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at [[Dartmouth College]] with the collaboration of [[Jon Appleton]], Professor of Digital Electronics, Sydney A. Alonso, and Cameron Jones, a software programmer and student at Dartmouth's [[Thayer School of Engineering]].

=== Synclavier I ===
First released in 1977–78,<ref name="dartmouth">
{{cite web
 | title	= History of Masters Program in Digital Musics
 | url  	= http://digitalmusics.dartmouth.edu/?page_id=7
 | archive-url	= https://web.archive.org/web/20091012182849/http://digitalmusics.dartmouth.edu/?page_id=7
 | archive-date	= 2009-10-12
 | publisher	= Dartmouth College
}}</ref><ref name="chadabe2001">
{{cite magazine
 |author      = Joel Chadabe
 |date        = May 1, 2001
 |title       = The Electronic Century Part IV: The Seeds of the Future
 |url         = http://emusician.com/tutorials/electronic_century4/
 |magazine    = Electronic Musician
 |quote       = In September 1977, I bought the first Synclavier, although mine came without the special keyboard and control panel ...
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20091002070017/http://emusician.com/tutorials/electronic_century4/
 |archive-date = October 2, 2009
}}</ref><ref name=mixmag2006>
{{cite magazine
 | author   = MIX STAFF
 | title	= 1978 New England Digital Synclavier
 | url  	= http://www.mixonline.com/news/news-products/1978-new-england-digital-synclavier/383609
 | date 	= September 1, 2006
 | magazine	= Mix
 | publisher	= Penton Media
 | quote    = From a technology standpoint, the 1978 launch of New England Digital’s Synclavier ...", "... the group ... was able to license FM synthesis from Yamaha.
}}<br/>'''Note''': This magazine article itself lacks sources, and as a result, lacks verifiability.</ref> it proved to be highly influential among both [[electronic music]] composers and [[music producer]]s, including [[Mike Thorne]], an early adopter from the commercial world, due to its versatility, its cutting-edge technology, and distinctive sounds.

The early Synclavier I used [[FM synthesis]], re-licensed from [[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]],<ref name=mixmag2006/>{{Single Source-inline|date=April 2023|reason=request more sources for the "re-license" from exclusive licensee, Yamaha.}}{{efn|At the time, Yamaha was the exclusive commercial licensee from the original inventor, [[John Chowning]] at [[Stanford University]].<ref>{{cite magazine
 |author           = Eric Grunwald
 |title            = Bell Tolls for FM Patent, but Yamaha Sees "New Beginning"
 |url              = https://otl.stanford.edu/documents/0302_su94.pdf
 |magazine         = Stanford Technology Brainstorm
 |publisher        = Office of Technology Licensing (OTL), [[Stanford University]]
 |volume           = 3
 |issue            = 2
 |date = Summer 1994
 |quote            = The technique for synthesizing electronic music, invented by Music Professor John Chowning, brought in over $20 million through an exclusive license to Yamaha Corporation of Japan, which used the technology in its DX-7 synthesizer, enormously popular in the 1980s.
 |access-date      = 2017-10-06
 |archive-url      = https://web.archive.org/web/20170505095843/http://otl.stanford.edu/documents/0302_su94.pdf
 |archive-date     = 2017-05-05
 |url-status         = dead
}}</ref>}} and was sold mostly to universities.  The initial models had only a computer and synthesis modules; later models added a musical keyboard and control panel.

=== Synclavier II ===
{{uncited-section|date=April 2022}}
The system evolved in its next generation of product, the Synclavier II, which was released in early 1980 with the strong influence of music producer Denny Jaeger of [[Oakland, California]]. It was originally Jaeger's suggestion that the FM synthesis concept be extended to allow four simultaneous channels or voices of synthesis to be triggered with one key depression to allow the final synthesized sound to have much more harmonic series activity. This change greatly improved the overall sound design of the system and was very noticeable. 16-bit user sampling (originally in mono only) was added as an option in 1982. This model was succeeded by the ABLE Model C computer-based PSMT in 1984 and then the Mac-based 3200, 6400 and 9600 models, all of which used the VPK keyboard.

=== Keyboard controller ===
[[Image:NED Synclavier VPK, MIM PHX.jpg|thumb|Display and control wheel on VPK (1984)]]
Synclavier II models used an on/off type keyboard (retroactively called the ORK) while later models, labeled simply ''Synclavier'', used a weighted velocity- and pressure-sensitive keyboard (called the VPK) that was licensed from [[Sequential Circuits]] and used in their [[Prophet-T8]] synthesizer.

=== Digital sampling ===
[[Image:NED Sample-To-Disk logo.jpg|thumb|STD: Sample-To-Disk interface (c.1982)]]
{{See also|Sampler (musical instrument)}}
The company evolved the system continuously through the early 1980s to integrate the first 16-bit [[Sampler (musical instrument)|digital sampling system]] to magnetic disk, and eventually a 16-bit polyphonic sampling system to memory, as well. The company's product was the only digital sampling system that allowed sample rates to go as high as 100&nbsp;kHz.

=== Tapeless studio concept ===
{{See also|Digital audio workstation|Hard disk recorder}}
Ultimately, the system was referred to as the ''Synclavier Digital Recording Tapeless Studio'' system among many professionals. It was a pioneering system in revolutionizing movie and television sound effects and [[Foley artist|Foley]] effects methods of design and production starting at [[Glen Glenn Sound]]. Although pricing made it inaccessible for most musicians (a Synclavier could cost anywhere from $25,000 to $200,000),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vintagesynth.com/misc/synclav.php|title=New England Digital Synclavier - Vintage Synth Explorer|website=www.vintagesynth.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2016/05/19/200000-synclavier-now-a-200-app/|title=$200,000 Synclavier Synthesizer Now A $200 App|last=synthhead|date=20 May 2016|website=synthtopia.com}}</ref> it found widespread use among producers and professional [[recording studio]]s, competing at times in this market with high-end production systems such as the [[Fairlight CMI]].

=== Technological achievements ===
When the company launched and evolved its technology, there were no [[Commercial off-the-shelf|off-the-shelf]] computing systems, integrated software, or [[sound card]]s. Consequently, all of the hardware from the company's main [[Real-time computing|real-time CPU]], all input and output cards, [[analog-to-digital]] and [[digital-to-analog]] cards and its memory cards were developed internally, as well as all of the software. The hardware and software of the company's real-time capability were used in other fields completely remote to music, such as the main Dartmouth College campus computing node computers for one of the USA's first [[Campus network|campus-wide computing networks]], and in [[Telehealth|medical data acquisition]] research projects.{{cn|date=August 2024}}

=== End of manufacture ===
New England Digital ceased operations in 1993. According to Jones, "The intellectual property was bought up by a bank—then it was owned by a Canadian company called Airworks—and I bought the intellectual property and the trademark back from a second bank which had foreclosed on it from Airworks."

=== Reincarnations ===
In 2019, Jones released an [[iOS]] version of the Synclavier dubbed Synclavier Go! using much of the original code base.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://thehub.musiciansfriend.com/behind-the-brand/synthesis-pioneer-cameron-jones-talks-history-and-making-a-new-synclavier |title=Synthesis Pioneer Cameron Jones Talks History and Making A New Synclavier |date=27 March 2019 |author=Neal Andrew Emil Gustafson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927002206/https://www.musiciansfriend.com/thehub/synthesis-pioneer-cameron-jones-talks-history-making-new-synclavier |archive-date=27 September 2020 |url-status=live |website=>Musician's Friend}}</ref> Jones has also worked with [[Arturia]] to bring the Synclavier V software version of the instrument to their V Collection plugin suite.

In 2022, Synclavier Digital released and started production on the Regen, a desktop FM synthesizer. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Synclavier Regen |url=https://www.synclavier.com/synclavier-regen/ |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=Synclavier |language=en-CA}}</ref>