Editing Electronic musical instrument (section)

==Digital era 1980–2000==

===Digital synthesis===
{{multiple image
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| image1 = Synclavier1 JB.jpg
| width1 = 100
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = Synclavier I (1977)
| image2 = NED Synclavier VPK (Velocity Pressure Keyboard) 1.jpg
| width2 = 170
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = Synclavier PSMT  (1984)
| footer = 
}}
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Yamaha GS1 FM Synthesizer, CCRMA at Stanford University, ultra strongly edited image.jpg| width1 = 135
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = Yamaha GS-1 (1980)
| image2 = Yamaha VP1 and DX7 @ Yamaha Design Masterworks.jpg
| width2 = 135
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| caption2 = Yamaha DX7 (1983) and Yamaha VL-1 (1994)
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{{main|Digital synthesizer}}
The first [[digital synthesizer]]s were academic experiments in sound synthesis using digital computers. [[Frequency modulation synthesis|FM synthesis]] was developed for this purpose; as a way of generating complex sounds digitally with the smallest number of computational operations per sound sample. In 1983 [[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]] introduced the first stand-alone digital synthesizer, the [[DX-7]]. It used frequency modulation synthesis (FM synthesis), first developed by [[John Chowning]] at [[Stanford University]] during the late sixties.<ref>{{cite journal|last =Chowning|first = John M.|date = September 1973|title = The Synthesis of Complex Audio Spectra by Means of Frequency Modulation|journal = Journal of the Audio Engineering Society|pages = 526–534|volume = 21|number =7|url = https://web.eecs.umich.edu/~fessler/course/100/misc/chowning-73-tso.pdf}}
</ref> Chowning exclusively licensed his [[Frequency modulation synthesis|FM synthesis]] patent to Yamaha in 1975.<ref>{{Cite magazine
  | last = Petzold
  | first = Charles
  | title = Riding the Wave of Sound Synthesis: The Origins of FM Synthesis
  | magazine = [[PC Magazine]]
  | page = 232
  | date = November 29, 1988
  }}</ref> Yamaha subsequently released their first FM synthesizers, the [[Yamaha GS-1|GS-1]] and [[Yamaha GS-2|GS-2]], which were costly and heavy. There followed a pair of smaller, preset versions, the CE20 and CE25 Combo Ensembles, targeted primarily at the home organ market and featuring four-octave keyboards.<ref>{{Cite magazine
 |title=Yamaha GS1 & DX1 
 |magazine=Sound on Sound 
 |date=June 2001 
 |url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug01/articles/retrofmpt1.asp 
 |access-date=2008-04-10 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929090348/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug01/articles/retrofmpt1.asp 
 |archive-date=2007-09-29 
}}</ref> Yamaha's third generation of digital synthesizers was a commercial success; it consisted of the [[Yamaha DX7|DX7]] and [[Yamaha DX9|DX9]] (1983). Both models were compact, reasonably priced, and dependent on custom digital integrated circuits to produce FM tonalities. The DX7 was the first mass market all-digital synthesizer.<ref>{{Citation
  | last1 = Le Heron
  | first1 = Richard B.
  | last2 = Harrington
  | first2 = James W.
  | title = New Economic Spaces: New Economic Geographies
  | publisher = Ashgate Publishing
  | year = 2005
  | page = 41
  | isbn = 0-7546-4450-2}}</ref> It became indispensable to many music artists of the 1980s, and demand soon exceeded supply.<ref>{{Citation
  | title = Three Yamaha Products That Reshaped the Industry Mark 20th Anniversary
  | publisher = Music Trades
  | pages = 70&ndash;74
  | date = February 2004
  | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5264/is_200402/ai_n20430721| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081019204706/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5264/is_200402/ai_n20430721| url-status = dead| archive-date = 2008-10-19}}</ref> The DX7 sold over 200,000 units within three years.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Colbeck
  | first = Julian
  | title = Keyfax The Omnibus Edition
  | publisher = Hal Leonard Corporation
  | date = June 1997
  | page = 208
  | isbn = 0-918371-08-2}}</ref>

The DX series was not easy to program but offered a detailed, percussive sound that led to the demise of the electro-mechanical [[Rhodes piano]], which was heavier and larger than a DX synth. Following the success of FM synthesis Yamaha signed a contract with Stanford University in 1989 to develop [[digital waveguide synthesis]], leading to the first commercial [[Physical modelling synthesis|physical modeling synthesizer]], Yamaha's VL-1, in 1994.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Aikin
  | first = Jim
  | title = Software Synthesizers: The Definitive Guide to Virtual Musical Instruments
  | publisher = Backbeat Books
  | year = 2003
  | page = 4
  | isbn = 0-87930-752-8}}</ref> The DX-7 was affordable enough for amateurs and young bands to buy, unlike the costly synthesizers of previous generations, which were mainly used by top professionals.

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=== Sampling ===
{{multiple image |align=right |direction=vertical
|image1   = Fairlight CMI.jpg |width1=167
|caption1 = A Fairlight CMI keyboard (1979) <!-- , featuring signatures from 43 celebrity musicians, composers and producers. -->
|image2   = Kurzweil K250 (lowreso).jpg |width2=220
|caption2 = Kurzweil K250 (1984)
}}
{{main|Sampler (musical instrument)|Sampling (music)}}
The [[Fairlight CMI]] (Computer Musical Instrument), the first polyphonic digital [[Sampler (musical instrument)|sampler]], was the harbinger of sample-based synthesizers.<ref>{{Citation
  | last      = Holloway
  | first     = David
  | title     = Fairlight's Peter Vogel
  | publisher = [[Keyboard Magazine]]
  | page      = 104
  | date      = July 1, 2006}}</ref> Designed in 1978 by [[Peter Vogel (computer designer)|Peter Vogel]] and [[Kim Ryrie]] and based on a dual [[microprocessor]] computer designed by Tony Furse in Sydney, Australia, the Fairlight CMI gave musicians the ability to modify volume, attack, decay, and use special effects like vibrato. Sample [[waveform]]s could be displayed on-screen and modified using a [[light pen]].<ref>{{Citation
  | last      = Scott | first = David
  | title     = Music computer - you draw sounds you want to hear
  | publisher = [[Popular Science]]
  | page      = 154
  | date      = May 1984
}}</ref> The [[Synclavier]] from [[New England Digital]] was a similar system.<ref>{{Citation
 |title=1979 Fairlight CMI 
 |publisher=Mix Magazine 
 |date=September 1, 2006 
 |url=http://mixonline.com/TECnology-Hall-of-Fame/fairlight-computer-musical-090106/index.html 
 |access-date=2008-05-30 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080503025417/http://mixonline.com/TECnology-Hall-of-Fame/fairlight-computer-musical-090106/index.html 
 |archive-date=May 3, 2008 
}}</ref> [[Jon Appleton]] (with Jones and Alonso) invented the Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer, later to become the New England Digital Corp's Synclavier. The [[Kurzweil K250]], first produced in 1983, was also a successful polyphonic digital music synthesizer,<ref>{{Citation
  | last1 = Battino
  | first1 = David
  | first2 = Kelli 
  | last2 = Richards
  | title = The Art of Digital Music
  | publisher = Backbeat Books
  | year = 2005
  | page = 58
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1cSfFMaR0QkC&q=Kurzweil+K250&pg=PA58
  | isbn = 0-87930-830-3
}}</ref> noted for its ability to reproduce several instruments synchronously and having a velocity-sensitive keyboard.<ref>{{Cite magazine
  | last = Porter
  | first = Martin
  | title = The Impact of the Kurzweil 250
  | magazine = [[Computers & Electronics]]
  | publisher = [[Ziff Davis]]
  | pages = 42&ndash;43
  | date = July 1984
}}</ref>

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=== Computer music ===
{{multiple image |align=right |direction=horizontal
|caption1 = [[Max Mathews]] (1970s) playing realtime software instrument.
|image1   = <!--Mathews260.jpg apparently deleted --> |width1=117
|caption2 = [[ISPW]], a successor of [[Sogitec 4X|4X]], was a DSP platform based on [[Intel i860|i860]] and [[NeXT Computer|NeXT]], by [[IRCAM]].
|image2   = ISPW - IRCAM Signal Processing Workstation.jpg |width2=153
}}
{{main|Computer music|Software synthesizer}}
An important new development was the advent of computers for the purpose of composing music, as opposed to manipulating or creating sounds. [[Iannis Xenakis]] began what is called ''musique stochastique,'' or ''[[stochastic music]]'', which is a method of composing that employs mathematical probability systems. Different probability algorithms were used to create a piece under a set of parameters. Xenakis used graph paper and a ruler to aid in calculating the velocity trajectories of [[glissando]] for his orchestral composition ''Metastasis'' (1953&ndash;54), but later turned to the use of computers to compose pieces like ''ST/4'' for string quartet and ''ST/48'' for orchestra (both 1962).

The impact of computers continued in 1956. [[Lejaren Hiller]] and [[Leonard Issacson]] composed ''[[Illiac Suite]]'' for [[string quartet]], the first complete work of computer-assisted composition using [[algorithm]]ic composition.<ref>{{cite book|last =Schwartz|first = Elliot|date =1975|title= Electronic Music: A Listener's Guide|publisher = Praeger|page = 88|isbn =  9780275537302}}</ref>

In 1957, [[Max Mathews]] at [[Bell Lab]] wrote [[MUSIC-N]] series, a first computer program family for generating digital audio waveforms through direct synthesis.  Then [[Barry Vercoe]] wrote [[MUSIC-N|MUSIC 11]] based on [[Music 4|MUSIC IV-BF]], a next-generation music synthesis program (later evolving into [[csound]], which is still widely used).

In mid 80s, [[Miller Puckette]] at [[IRCAM]] developed graphic signal-processing software for [[Sogitec 4X|4X]] called [[Max (software)|Max]] (after Max Mathews), and later ported it to [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] (with [[Dave Zicarelli]] extending it for [[Opcode Systems|Opcode]]<ref>{{cite web|last = Ozab|first = David |url = http://www.atpm.com/6.05/barline.shtml |title = Beyond the Barline|website = ATPM|date = 2000}}</ref>) for real-time [[MIDI]] control, bringing algorithmic composition availability to most composers with modest computer programming background.

=== MIDI ===
[[File:Midiaansl.jpg|thumb|MIDI enables connections between digital musical instruments]]
{{main|Musical Instrument Digital Interface}}
In 1980, a group of musicians and music merchants met to standardize an interface by which new instruments could communicate control instructions with other instruments and the prevalent microcomputer. This standard was dubbed MIDI ([[Musical Instrument Digital Interface]]). A paper was authored by [[Dave Smith (engineer)|Dave Smith]] of [[Sequential Circuits]] and proposed to the [[Audio Engineering Society]] in 1981. Then, in August 1983, the MIDI Specification 1.0 was finalized.

The advent of MIDI technology allows a single keystroke, control wheel motion, pedal movement, or command from a microcomputer to activate every device in the studio remotely and in synchrony, with each device responding according to conditions predetermined by the composer.

MIDI instruments and software made powerful control of sophisticated instruments easily affordable by many studios and individuals. Acoustic sounds became reintegrated into studios via [[Sampling (music)|sampling]] and sampled-ROM-based instruments.

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