VOLTAGE-CONTROLLED SYNTHESIZERS

VOLTAGE-CONTROLLED SYNTHESIZERS

SYNTHESIZER HISTORY (REVIEW) 1897 Telharmonium (Thaddeus Cahill) 1919 Theremin (Leon Theremin) 1928 Ondes Martenot (Maurice Martenot) 1930 Trautonium (Trautwein) 1945 Electronic Sackbut (Hugh Le Caine) 1956 RCA Mark I & II (Olson and Belar)

Donald Buchla West Coast Robert Moog East Coast In 1964, Buchla, an engineer with a musical background, was approached by the San Francisco Tape Music Center to build a customized synthesizer for their studio. The Buchla 100 used voltage control and featured the first sequencer. Instead of a keyboard, it had programmable metal plates. Moog studied physics and electrical engineering, putting himself through school by selling theremins he built. In 1964, Moog began experimenting with voltage-controlled oscillators, eventually completing an early synthesizer with keyboard control; his first synthesizer was sold in 1965.

Moog and Buchla created the first commercially available voltage-controlled synthesizers. The modular design allowed each unit to be custom made and reconfigurable.

Voltage Controlled Synthesizers Voltage control allows for the automation of synthesis parameters. Instead of changing a parameter by hand, one signal is used to control another. An oscillator producing a sine wave, for example, could be used to control the cut-off of a filter, the volume, or the frequency of another oscillator. Transistors were important to the development of voltage controlled systems. Buchla 200

Modular Synthesizers Independent modules connected by patch cables Moog developed general standards for synthesizer voltages including logarithmic 1-volt-per-octave pitch control and a separate pulse triggering signals Modules typically run on 5 volts, so that an oscillator s lowest pitch would be at 0 and highest at 5V, the lowest volume 0 and the loudest 5, etc. Generally (at least initially) monophonic MOOG MODULAR

EMS Moog 4 Companies Arp Buchla

Synthesizer Functions 1. Sources: produce or generate a signal Oscillators, noise generators, recorded sounds, live sounds 2. Processors: modify a signal Filters, envelope generators (ADSR), effects. 3. Controllers: control the behavior of another function (module) Physical input devices: keyboard, joystick, pedal Automated controls: sequencer, LFO

SOURCES OSCILLATORS (VCO) sine pulse triangle sawtooth NOISE GENERATORS Often the simplest module on the machine. There may be a choice of white or pink noise, or even a species of low frequency noise for random control voltages.

FILTERS signal processing module, Voltage-controlled filter (VCF) much of the timbral flexibility of a synthesizer comes from the filters Boost or cut the amplitude of spectral components Common varieties: low pass (LPF), high pass (HPF), band pass (BP), notch Multi-mode Q characterizes a resonator's bandwidth relative to its center frequency. Higher the Q, narrower the filter

ENVELOPES An envelope generator produces a control voltage that rises and falls once, according to a voltage command. When a command is applied, the output rises to full on (ATTACK) and then falls to some intermediate value (DECAY) remains there for some time (SUSTAIN) and then continues to zero (RELEASE). ADSR design built by Moog at request of Ussachavesky

Modulate the modulators!

The San Francisco Tape Music Center was formed as a cooperative studio in 1962, pooling together tape-composition resources of composers from the San Francisco Conservatory: Morton Subotnick, Pauline Oliveros, Ramon Sender, & Terry Riley (who would use tape loops as an inspiration for minimalism) among others

Morton Subotnick Silver Apples of the Moon (1967) created entirely with the Buchla 100 Synthesizer that he helped develop with Donald Buchla.

http://www.vice.com/motherboard/mbd-vbs-electric-independence-morton-subotnick-v2?article_page=7 A Sky of Cloudless Sulfur (1978)

SWITCHED-ON BACH Performed by Wendy Carlos on a Monophonic Synthesizer! Recorded on an 8-track tape recorder custom-built by Carlos. One of the first classical albums to go platinum Won Three Grammy awards Brought the sound of the Moog synthesizer to the masses.

WENDY CARLOS From Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Studied Music and Physics at Brown University! 62 Masters in Music Composition at Columbia, with Ussachevsky Met Robert Moog in New York and became one of his first customers, providing feedback for the development of the Moog Synthesizer. Sonic Seasonings is a double album of original music dedicated to the four seasons, with each season taking one entire side. It blended recorded sounds with the synthesizer. The long, atmospheric tracks were predecessors of ambient music. Winter

FILM SCORES BY WENDY CARLOS

The In Sound from Way Out (1966) Jean Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley 1965 - Vanguard Records set up a laboratory in New York for the Perrey-Kingsley experiments. Kingsley was a staff arranger there, and Perrey had been experimenting with tape loops, which he had been introduced to by Pierre Schaeffer. They used several synchronized tape recorders, with an 18-track mixing board to combine early electronic musical instruments (Ondioline, Martenot Waves, etc.), and electronic sounds from oscillator with sounds from natural and acoustic instruments, and a Moog Modular. Their philosophy: The future is upon us, and the future is fun. "To take the mystery out of the legend that says electronic music is an art that is esoteric, exclusively-reserved for a few initiates, an elite of avant-garde intellectuals and artists." One Note Samba - exploration of timbre as main compositional element.

Notes from In Sound from Way Out (1966) Here are a dozen electronic pop tunes. They are the electrifying good-time music of the coming age, the switched-on dance music that will soon be it. This is the lively answer to the question that puzzles and who knows, even frightens people who have heard the serious electronic compositions of recent years and wonder, is this the music of the future? As for that avant-garde wing, we say more power to it. But there are other things in the future, such as pleasure. And so presented here is the electronic "Au Go Go" that might be heard soon from the juke boxes at the interplanetary way stations where space ships make their rest stops. The idiom is strange and yet familiar; here a touch of rock, there a touch of bosa nova, a whiff of the blues in one piece and a whiff of Tchaikowsky in another. But these atoms of pop music are exploded into fresh patterns. They outline a strange new sound world. Computer in Love

ISAO TOMITA Like Carlos, built a career on covering classical works on monophonic synthesizers. Pioneer of Space Synth Music 4 Grammy nominations for his album Snowflakes are Dancing, 1974 Played a Moog III modular synthesizer His sounds are often emulated in synth presets

ARP 2600 Fixed arrangement of modules... a transition towards portable forms. had more stable oscillators that solved the pitch-drifting problem plaguing earlier synths. Dominated the synth market in 1970 ARPS were made popular by Herbie Hancock, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, Nine Inch Nails, Orbital, Joe Zawinul, Depeche Mode, David Bowie, 808 State and many others. Movie director Steven Spielberg used the ARP 2500 in his film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), while the ARP 2600 was the voice of R2-D2 in the Star Wars movies.

Minimoog (1970) The first pre-patched, portable performance synthesizer. Featured pitch bend and vibrato wheels (modulation wheels), which are now standard on all digital synthesizers. popular and affordable ($1500) - sold 13,000 units. the analog circuits were largely the same, but switches replaced patch points in a simplified arrangement called "normalization" Made famous by Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP), first to tour with the instrument. Later used by groups such as Yes, Kraftwerk, Devo, Bob Marley, George Clinton, Chuck Corea and Pink Floyd.

Keith Emerson In designing the minimoog, Bob Moog worked with virtuoso keyboardist Keith Emerson. Emerson played in the band Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) and gladly swapped his modular touring rig for the portability of the Minimoog. ELP also covered a few classical tunes...

Progressive Rock

Characteristics Timbre Exploration with Synthesizers and Orchestration Expansion of Pop Song Structure into Classical and Jazz forms Virtuosic Performances and Musical Complexity Maturation of the Studio as a Compositional Tool

Mellotron (1962) An early polyphonic sampler The Mellotron MKI and MKII models were designed so that the right hand had the lead instruments (strings, flutes, brass) while the left hand played prerecorded rhythm tracks in various styles. Each key played a continuous tape loop. The M400, released in 1970, sold over 1800 units and was used in many progressive rock bands. The tape bank could be removed and loaded with different sounds. Brought orchestral sounds into rock music. Mike Plunder of the Moody Blues introduced the Mellotron to The Beatles, who used it prominently in Strawberry Fields Forever (1967).

Moody Blues Days of Future Passed (1967) Pioneers of Progressive Rock One of the first concept albums, released the same year as Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Day Begins; Dawn; The Morning; Lunch Break; The Afternoon; Evening; The Night (Nights in White Satin). First to combine orchestral sounds with rock Prominently features the Mellotron. Nights in White Satin was not popular at first because of its 7 minute length, eventually went to #2 on the charts, selling over 1 million copies.

PINK FLOYD bridged rock, synth, experimental, conceptual trends. Their first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), contained a nearly ten-minute improvisational psychedelic instrumental Interstellar Overdrive. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios at the same time as The Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper; reached #6 on the British Pop Charts. Syd Barrett, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, Richard Wright Excerpt from Interstellar Overdrive

Ummagumma (1969) Meddle (1971) Several Species of Small Furry Animals... from Ummagumma (1969) featured experiments with tape loops and speed changes. Echoes takes up the whole of side 1

Dark Side of the Moon (1973) The Dark Side of the Moon is one of the top selling albums worldwide, over forty million sold as of 2004. Concept album: a unified statement with philosophical lyrics exploring conflict, greed, paranoia, aging, time & madness. Speak to Me includes samples of breath, a heart beat (heard throughout the album, the sound was created with a specially treated bass drum), a cycling cash register, a crazy person, and a helicopter-like sound flying in stereo. Dark Side was produced at Abbey Road Studios. One of the first quadraphonic works, using new 24-track tape recorders.

Dark Side of the Moon (1973) The Dark Side of the Moon is one of the top selling albums worldwide, over forty million sold as of 2004. Concept album: a unified statement with philosophical lyrics exploring conflict, greed, paranoia, aging, time & madness. Dark Side was produced at Abbey Road Studios. One of the first quadraphonic works, using new 24-track tape recorders. On the run shows off some of their synth parts

King Crimson (1969) Original band members included Robert Fripp and Greg Lake Excerpt from In the Court of the Crimson King

Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP) Keith Emerson was the first synthesizer superstar. ELP was the first band to tour with the Minimoog; Emerson developed pitchbend techniques that were widely imitated. Lucky Man (1970) was their first hit on their debut album. Tarkus (1971), their second LP, was a popular concept album about reverse evolution, and featured virtuosic playing and complex rhythms often with changing meters (such as bars of 5 or 7 instead of the rock standard 4/4. ELP is credited with both the rise and fall of progressive rock. Solo from Lucky Man

YES Formed in 1968 The early 70s saw the release of the three classic Yes albums: The Yes Album (1970), Fragile (1971) and Close to the Edge (1972). Bassist Chris Squire was the first bass player to add electronic guitar effects to his playing. Jon Anderons, vocal; Steve Howe, guitar. Yes incorporated classical and jazz influences, multi-part suites that lasted 20 minutes or longer, extended solos with virtuosic musicianship and instrumental interludes.

YES Formed in 1968 Classically trained keyboardist Rick Wakeman, joined the group in 1971, whose credits included playing with David Bowie and Lou Reed. For the first time you could go on stage and give the guitarist a run for his money... a guitarist would say Oh shit, he s got a Minimoog, so they re looking for eleven on their volume control - it s the only way they can compete.

GENESIS Formed 1967 Their sixth album, Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974), was a double-disc concept album. Brian Eno worked on several tracks, adding synth sounds and strange vocal processing. The extended tour, a multimedia show with theatrical performances, costumes, three-screen projections, smoke machines and a light show, produced 102 performances. Peter Gabriel left the band at the end of the tour to pursue a successful solo career. Original members included Peter Gabriel (vocals), Mike Rutheford (bass), Tony Banks (keyboards). Phil Colins (drums/vocals) joined the band in 1970. Excerpt from The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging

ARP 2500