Thus, in the broadest sense, the first electrified musical instrument was the Denis d'or keyboard, dating from 1753, followed shortly by the clavecin électrique by the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste de Laborde in 1761.
Thus, in the broadest sense, the first electrified musical instrument was the Denis d'or keyboard, dating from 1753, followed shortly by the clavecin électrique by the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste de Laborde in 1761.
However, neither instrument used electricity as a sound-source. The first electric synthesizer was invented in 1876 by Elisha Gray.
This workshop was also responsible for the theme to the TV series Doctor Who a piece, largely created by Delia Derbyshire, that more than any other ensured the popularity of electronic music in the UK. === Telharmonium === In 1897 Thaddeus Cahill patented an instrument called the Telharmonium (or Teleharmonium, also known as the Dynamaphone).
Between 1901 and 1910 Cahill had three progressively larger and more complex versions made, the first weighing seven tons, the last in excess of 200 tons.
Gray also built a simple loudspeaker device into later models, which consisted of a diaphragm vibrating in a magnetic field. A significant invention, which later had a profound effect on electronic music, was the audion in 1906.
Between 1901 and 1910 Cahill had three progressively larger and more complex versions made, the first weighing seven tons, the last in excess of 200 tons.
By 1912, public interest had waned, and Cahill's enterprise was bankrupt. === Theremin === Another development, which aroused the interest of many composers, occurred in 1919–1920.
Musicologists typically only classify music as electrophones if the sound is initially produced by electricity, excluding electronically controlled acoustic instruments such as pipe organs and amplified instruments such as electric guitars. The category was added to the Hornbostel-Sachs musical instrument classification system by Sachs in 1940, in his 1940 book The History of Musical Instruments; the original 1914 version of the system did not include it.
It is usually considered to constitute one of five main categories in the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, despite not being in the original scheme published in 1914. == Early examples == In the 18th-century, musicians and composers adapted a number of acoustic instruments to exploit the novelty of electricity.
By 1912, public interest had waned, and Cahill's enterprise was bankrupt. === Theremin === Another development, which aroused the interest of many composers, occurred in 1919–1920.
Cowell wrote some compositions for it, and he and Schillinger premiered it in 1932. === Ondes Martenot === The 1920s have been called the apex of the Mechanical Age and the dawning of the Electrical Age.
In 1922, in Paris, Darius Milhaud began experiments with "vocal transformation by phonograph speed change." These continued until 1927.
In 1922, in Paris, Darius Milhaud began experiments with "vocal transformation by phonograph speed change." These continued until 1927.
Other early synthesizers included the Telharmonium (1897), the Theremin (1919), Jörg Mager's Spharophon (1924) and Partiturophone, Taubmann's similar Electronde (1933), Maurice Martenot's ondes Martenot ("Martenot waves", 1928), Trautwein's Trautonium (1930).
This decade brought a wealth of early electronic instruments—along with the Theremin, there is the presentation of the Ondes Martenot, which was designed to reproduce the microtonal sounds found in Hindu music, and the Trautonium. Maurice Martenot invented the Ondes Martenot in 1928, and soon demonstrated it in Paris.
In 1937, Messiaen wrote Fête des belles eaux for 6 ondes Martenot, and wrote solo parts for it in Trois petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine (1943–44) and the Turangalîla-Symphonie (1946–48/90). === Trautonium === The Trautonium was invented in 1928.
In 1929, Joseph Schillinger composed First Airphonic Suite for Theremin and Orchestra, premièred with the Cleveland Orchestra with Leon Theremin as soloist.
This new class of instruments, microtonal by nature, was only adopted slowly by composers at first, but by the early 1930s there was a burst of new works incorporating these and other electronic instruments. === Hammond organ and Novachord === In 1929 Laurens Hammond established his company for the manufacture of electronic instruments.
The Mellertion (1933) used a non-standard scale, Bertrand's Dynaphone could produce octaves and perfect fifths, while the Emicon was an American, keyboard-controlled instrument constructed in 1930 and the German Hellertion combined four instruments to produce chords.
This new class of instruments, microtonal by nature, was only adopted slowly by composers at first, but by the early 1930s there was a burst of new works incorporating these and other electronic instruments. === Hammond organ and Novachord === In 1929 Laurens Hammond established his company for the manufacture of electronic instruments.
Audio tape, which had the advantage of being fairly light as well as having good audio fidelity, ultimately replaced the bulkier wire recorders. The term "electronic music" (which first came into use during the 1930s) came to include the tape recorder as an essential element: "electronically produced sounds recorded on tape and arranged by the composer to form a musical composition".
Cowell wrote some compositions for it, and he and Schillinger premiered it in 1932. === Ondes Martenot === The 1920s have been called the apex of the Mechanical Age and the dawning of the Electrical Age.
The Prophet-5's design paradigm became a new standard, slowly pushing out more complex and recondite modular designs. == Tape recording == In 1935, another significant development was made in Germany.
Three Russian instruments also appeared, Oubouhof's Croix Sonore (1934), Ivor Darreg's microtonal 'Electronic Keyboard Oboe' (1937) and the ANS synthesizer, constructed by the Russian scientist Evgeny Murzin from 1937 to 1958.
In 1937, Messiaen wrote Fête des belles eaux for 6 ondes Martenot, and wrote solo parts for it in Trois petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine (1943–44) and the Turangalîla-Symphonie (1946–48/90). === Trautonium === The Trautonium was invented in 1928.
Musicologists typically only classify music as electrophones if the sound is initially produced by electricity, excluding electronically controlled acoustic instruments such as pipe organs and amplified instruments such as electric guitars. The category was added to the Hornbostel-Sachs musical instrument classification system by Sachs in 1940, in his 1940 book The History of Musical Instruments; the original 1914 version of the system did not include it.
It has been used in many Russian movies—like Solaris—to produce unusual, "cosmic" sounds. Hugh Le Caine, John Hanert, Raymond Scott, composer Percy Grainger (with Burnett Cross), and others built a variety of automated electronic-music controllers during the late 1940s and 1950s.
It was also indispensable to Musique concrète. Tape also gave rise to the first, analogue, sample-playback keyboards, the Chamberlin and its more famous successor the Mellotron, an electro-mechanical, polyphonic keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. == Sound sequencer == During the 1940s–1960s, Raymond Scott, an American composer of electronic music, invented various kind of music sequencers for his electric compositions.
In 1942, Richard Strauss used it for the bell- and gong-part in the Dresden première of his Japanese Festival Music.
It has been used in many Russian movies—like Solaris—to produce unusual, "cosmic" sounds. Hugh Le Caine, John Hanert, Raymond Scott, composer Percy Grainger (with Burnett Cross), and others built a variety of automated electronic-music controllers during the late 1940s and 1950s.
It was based on the subharmonic scale, and the resulting sounds were often used to emulate bell or gong sounds, as in the 1950s Bayreuth productions of Parsifal.
The instrument's use of envelope control is significant, since this is perhaps the most significant distinction between the modern synthesizer and other electronic instruments. == Analogue synthesis 1950–1980 == The most commonly used electronic instruments are synthesizers, so-called because they artificially generate sound using a variety of techniques.
Most notably, he wrote Poème électronique for the Phillips pavilion at the Brussels World Fair in 1958. === Modular synthesizers === RCA produced experimental devices to synthesize voice and music in the 1950s.
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.
Software sequencers were continuously utilized since the 1950s in the context of computer music, including computer-played music (software sequencer), computer-composed music (music synthesis), and computer sound generation (sound synthesis). ==Digital era 1980–2000== ===Digital synthesis=== The first digital synthesizers were academic experiments in sound synthesis using digital computers.
An important technological development was the invention of the Clavivox synthesizer in 1956 by Raymond Scott with subassembly by Robert Moog.
Xenakis used graph paper and a ruler to aid in calculating the velocity trajectories of glissando for his orchestral composition Metastasis (1953–54), 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.
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.
Lejaren Hiller and Leonard Issacson composed Illiac Suite for string quartet, the first complete work of computer-assisted composition using algorithmic composition. In 1957, Max Mathews at Bell Lab wrote MUSIC-N series, a first computer program family for generating digital audio waveforms through direct synthesis.
Three Russian instruments also appeared, Oubouhof's Croix Sonore (1934), Ivor Darreg's microtonal 'Electronic Keyboard Oboe' (1937) and the ANS synthesizer, constructed by the Russian scientist Evgeny Murzin from 1937 to 1958.
Most notably, he wrote Poème électronique for the Phillips pavilion at the Brussels World Fair in 1958. === Modular synthesizers === RCA produced experimental devices to synthesize voice and music in the 1950s.
In 1959 Daphne Oram produced a novel method of synthesis, her "Oramics" technique, driven by drawings on a 35 mm film strip; it was used for a number of years at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
The vacuum tube system had to be patched to create timbres. In the 1960s synthesizers were still usually confined to studios due to their size.
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.
During the late 1960s hundreds of popular recordings used Moog synthesizers.
It was also indispensable to Musique concrète. Tape also gave rise to the first, analogue, sample-playback keyboards, the Chamberlin and its more famous successor the Mellotron, an electro-mechanical, polyphonic keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. == Sound sequencer == During the 1940s–1960s, Raymond Scott, an American composer of electronic music, invented various kind of music sequencers for his electric compositions.
Xenakis used graph paper and a ruler to aid in calculating the velocity trajectories of glissando for his orchestral composition Metastasis (1953–54), 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.
The Moog synthesizer was first displayed at the Audio Engineering Society convention in 1964.
Other early commercial synthesizer manufacturers included ARP, who also started with modular synthesizers before producing all-in-one instruments, and British firm EMS. ===Integrated synthesizers=== In 1970, Moog designed the Minimoog, a non-modular synthesizer with a built-in keyboard.
Chowning exclusively licensed his FM synthesis patent to Yamaha in 1975.
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, notably the Yamaha CS-50, CS-60 and CS-80, the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and the Oberheim Four-Voice.
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.
Designed in 1978 by 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.
Software sequencers were continuously utilized since the 1950s in the context of computer music, including computer-played music (software sequencer), computer-composed music (music synthesis), and computer sound generation (sound synthesis). ==Digital era 1980–2000== ===Digital synthesis=== The first digital synthesizers were academic experiments in sound synthesis using digital computers.
It became indispensable to many music artists of the 1980s, and demand soon exceeded supply.
A paper was authored by Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits and proposed to the Audio Engineering Society in 1981.
In 1983 Yamaha introduced the first stand-alone digital synthesizer, the DX-7.
The Kurzweil K250, first produced in 1983, was also a successful polyphonic digital music synthesizer, noted for its ability to reproduce several instruments synchronously and having a velocity-sensitive keyboard. === Computer music === An important new development was the advent of computers for the purpose of composing music, as opposed to manipulating or creating sounds.
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.
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 modeling synthesizer, Yamaha's VL-1, in 1994.
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 modeling synthesizer, Yamaha's VL-1, in 1994.
Many hobbyist designers also make available bare PCB boards and front panels for sale to other hobbyists. == 2010s == According to a forum post in December 2010, Sixense Entertainment is working on musical control with the Sixense TrueMotion motion controller.
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