Editing Electronic musical instrument (section)

== Analogue synthesis 1950–1980 ==
{{multiple image |align=right |direction=vertical |width=180
|caption1 = Siemens Synthesizer at Siemens Studio For Electronic Music (ca.1959)
|image1   = DM Recording Studio.jpg
|caption2 = The RCA Mark II (ca.1957)
|image2   = RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer.jpg
}}
{{Main|Analog synthesizer|Synthesizer}}

The most commonly used electronic instruments are [[synthesizer]]s, so-called because they artificially generate sound using a variety of techniques. All early circuit-based synthesis involved the use of analogue circuitry, particularly voltage controlled amplifiers, oscillators and filters. An important technological development was the invention of the [[Clavivox]] [[synthesizer]] in 1956 by [[Raymond Scott]] with subassembly by [[Robert Moog]]. French [[composer]] and engineer [[Edgard Varèse]] created a variety of compositions using [[electronic horn]]s, whistles, and tape. Most notably, he wrote ''[[Poème électronique]]'' for the Philips pavilion at the [[Expo '58|Brussels World Fair]] in 1958.

=== Modular synthesizers ===
{{main|Modular synthesizer}}
[[RCA]] produced experimental devices to synthesize voice and music in the 1950s.  The [[RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer|Mark II Music Synthesizer]], housed at the [[Computer Music Center|Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center]] in [[New York City]]. Designed by Herbert Belar and Harry Olson at RCA, with contributions from [[Vladimir Ussachevsky]] and [[Peter Mauzey]], it was installed at Columbia University in 1957. Consisting of a room-sized array of interconnected sound synthesis components, it was only capable of producing music by programming,<ref name="beginnings"/> using a [[paper tape]] [[Music sequencer|sequencer]] punched with holes to control pitch sources and filters, similar to a mechanical [[player piano]] but capable of generating a wide variety of sounds. The [[vacuum tube]] system had to be patched to create timbres.

[[File:Bob Moog3.jpg|thumb|left|Robert Moog]]
In the 1960s synthesizers were still usually confined to studios due to their size. They were usually modular in design, their stand-alone signal sources and processors connected with patch cords or by other means and controlled by a common controlling device. [[Harald Bode]], [[Don Buchla]], [[Hugh Le Caine]], [[Raymond Scott]] and [[Paul Ketoff]] were among the first to build such instruments, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Buchla later produced a commercial modular synthesizer, the [[Buchla|Buchla Music Easel]].<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Vail
  | first = Mark
  | title = Buchla Music Easel &mdash; Portable performance synthesizer
  | publisher = [[Keyboard Magazine]]
  | page=108
  | date = October 1, 2003
  }}</ref>  [[Robert Moog]], who had been a student of [[Peter Mauzey]] and one of the RCA Mark II engineers, created a synthesizer that could reasonably be used by musicians, designing the circuits while he was at Columbia-Princeton. The [[Moog modular synthesizer|Moog synthesizer]] was first displayed at the [[Audio Engineering Society]] convention in 1964.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Glinsky
  | first = Albert
  | title = Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage
  | publisher = [[University of Illinois Press]]
  | page = 293
  | year = 2000
  | isbn = 0-252-02582-2
  | url = https://archive.org/details/thereminethermus00glin
  }}</ref> It required experience to set up sounds but was smaller and more intuitive than what had come before, less like a machine and more like a musical instrument. Moog established standards for control interfacing, using a logarithmic 1-volt-per-octave for pitch control and a separate triggering signal. This standardization allowed synthesizers from different manufacturers to operate simultaneously. Pitch control was usually performed either with an organ-style keyboard or a [[music sequencer]] producing a timed series of control voltages. During the late 1960s hundreds of popular recordings used Moog synthesizers. Other early commercial synthesizer manufacturers included [[ARP Instruments, Inc.|ARP]], who also started with modular synthesizers before producing all-in-one instruments, and British firm [[Electronic Music Studios (London) Ltd|EMS]].

[[File:R.A.Moog minimoog 2.jpg|thumb|right|Minimoog (1970, R.A.Moog)]]

===Integrated synthesizers===

In 1970, Moog designed the [[Minimoog]], a non-modular synthesizer with a built-in keyboard. The analogue circuits were interconnected with switches in a simplified arrangement called "normalization." Though less flexible than a modular design, normalization made the instrument more portable and easier to use. The [[Minimoog]] sold 12,000 units.<ref>{{Citation
 |title=1970 Robert Moog Moog Music Minimoog Synthesizer 
 |publisher=Mix Magazine 
 |date=September 1, 2006 
 |url=https://www.mixonline.com/technology/1970-robert-moog-moog-music-minimoog-synthesizer-383632
 |url-status=live
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727202827/https://www.mixonline.com/technology/1970-robert-moog-moog-music-minimoog-synthesizer-383632
 |archive-date=27 July 2018 
}}</ref> Further standardized the design of subsequent synthesizers with its integrated keyboard, pitch and modulation wheels and VCO->VCF->VCA signal flow. It has become celebrated for its "fat" sound&mdash;and its tuning problems. Miniaturized solid-state components allowed synthesizers to become self-contained, portable instruments that soon appeared in live performance and quickly became widely used in popular music and electronic art music.<ref name="montanaro">{{cite web |last      = Montanaro |first      = Larisa Katherine |title      = A Singer's Guide to Performing Works for Voice and Electronics, PhD thesis Doctor of Musical Arts |url      = http://www.lib.utexas.edu/etd/d/2004/montanarolk042/montanarolk042.pdf |publisher      = The University of Texas at Austin |date      = May 2004 |quote      = In 1969, a portable version of the studio Moog, called the Minimoog, became the  most widely used synthesizer in both popular music and electronic art music |access-date      = 2008-06-28 |archive-url      = https://web.archive.org/web/20080911010735/http://www.lib.utexas.edu/etd/d/2004/montanarolk042/montanarolk042.pdf |archive-date      = 2008-09-11 |url-status      = dead }}</ref>

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| caption1 = [[Yamaha GX1|Yamaha GX-1]] <span style="font-size:90%;">(ca.1973)</span>
| image2 = E-mu Modular System @ Cantos.jpg
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| caption2 = [[E-mu Modular System]] <span style="font-size:90%;">(ca.1973)</span>
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[[File:SCI Prophet 5.jpg|thumb|right|Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 (1977)]]

===Polyphony===
{{main|Polyphony (instrument)#Synthesizer}}
Many early analog synthesizers were monophonic, producing only one tone at a time. Popular monophonic synthesizers include the Moog [[Minimoog]]. A few, such as the Moog Sonic Six, [[ARP Odyssey]] and EML 101, could produce two different pitches at a time when two keys were pressed.  [[Polyphony (instrument)|Polyphony]] (multiple simultaneous tones, which enables [[Chord (music)|chords]]) was only obtainable with electronic organ designs at first. Popular electronic keyboards combining organ circuits with synthesizer processing included the ARP Omni and Moog's Polymoog and Opus 3.

By 1976 affordable polyphonic synthesizers began to appear, such as the Yamaha CS-50, CS-60 and [[Yamaha CS-80|CS-80]], the [[Sequential Circuits Prophet-5]] and the [[Oberheim]] Four-Voice. These remained complex, heavy and relatively costly. The recording of settings in digital memory allowed storage and recall of sounds. The first practical polyphonic synth, and the first to use a microprocessor as a controller, was the [[Sequential Circuits]] [[Prophet-5]] introduced in late 1977.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Wells
  | first = Peter
  | title = A Beginner's Guide to Digital Video
  | publisher = AVA Books (UK)
  | page = 10
  | year = 2004
  | isbn = 2-88479-037-3}}</ref> For the first time, musicians had a practical polyphonic synthesizer that could save all knob settings in computer memory and recall them at the touch of a button.  The Prophet-5's design paradigm became a new standard, slowly pushing out more complex and recondite modular designs.
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