Evolution of Hardware

1875 - Elisha Gray

• Made the first synthesizer and loudspeaker.
• Each note was wired to a one tone oscillator.

1899 - The Singing Arc

• Arc lamps were used for light
• Frequencies could be heard from arc lamps
• A student named Duddell played with arc lamps 
• Duddell eventually used the arc lamp as an oscillator
• A video of an arc lamp speaker is on my jimdo.

1902 - Teleharmonium

• The sound would be synthesized from the teleharmonium
• The sound traveled from the source threw wires
• This was an advancement in synths because of the tonewheel

1915 - Audion Piano

• The audion piano was the first vacuum tube instrument
• There was one tube per octave, so only one note per octave at once
• More information can be found on my jimdo under unit 4

1919 - Theremin

• The theremin was played only with hands
• It used the same synthesis technology as the audion
• A video of the theremin can be found on my jimdo
• theremins were not popular but they were an advancement in technolagy

1956 - Pianorad

• Each tone would have its own oscillator
• Each oscillator would have its own speaker
• The instrument was controlled with a keyboard
• The Pianorad was the first real polyphonic synthesizer

1937 - Melodium

• The melodium was used in movie music
• It was invented by Harald Bode and Oskar Vierling
• It was monophonic

1940 - The vocoder

• The vocoder separates the frequencies of an input
• It uses the changes in amplitude of the frequencies to emulate vox
• This effect is just a changing EQ that is still used today
• Ex. Daft Punk - Get Lucky

1940 - Multimonica

• Used a saw tooth generator and a reed organ
• Controlled with a keyboard
• One of the smallest synths of the time
• Offers many parameters for easy changes in sound 

1948 - The Musique Concrete

• Used samples
• Was a style of music that was inspired by electronic music
• Phasers and Flangers were popularly used
• Translates to concrete music in french

1948 - Free Music Machine

• Read graphs and data to make 'free music'
• Was built to play complex rhythms no human could play
• Inspired by the idea of rhythmical freedom

1959 - Oramics

• Electronic music notation read by a machine to change sound 
• One of the first forms of automation
• More information on my jimdo

1959 - The Wurltizer company

• Built electronic instruments
• Most important ones were the electronic organs
• Fully electronic organs and electronic reed organs were most important

1959 - RCA Mark II

• The first fully programable synth
• Machine featured binary sequencer
• All oscillators were vacuum tubes
• Was polyphonic up to four notes

1963 - Mellotron

• Played tapes
• One of the first samplers
• Controlled by keyboard
• When tape play key was released, tape would return to start
• Tapes could be removed or replaced

1963 - Synkey

• One of the first compact synthasizers
• Designed for live performance and experimental music
• Monophonic
• Had 3 keyboards that controled differant sounds

1967 - Moog

• Used transistors (enabled synths to become smaller)
• Moog synths are popular
• Still used today
• More information on my jimdo

1969-1979 - EMS Synthasizers

• A first electronic music studio/building place
• Made the VCS3 to try to make a low budget synth
• Used by Aphex Twin, Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, and more

1963 - Buchla sythesizers

• Made advanced synths
• Played with pads instead of keyboards
• Company still makes MIDI controllers and Synths today

1975 - Synclavier

• Polyphonic instrument 
• Used FM Synthasis
• Digital Sampler with good audio quality
• First Synclavier was made at Dartmouth Collage Vermont

1980 - TR808/TB303

• Bass/Drum Sequencer
• Revolutionary sounds
• Used in Trance, House and many other genres at the time
• Sounds appear in almost every electronic genre today
• Many fake plugins, sounds, and replicas

1983 - Yamaha DX7

• Popular Synth
• Very Sucsessful
• 16 voice Polyphonic
• Used in a lot of 1980's pop music 

Kurzweil SYNTHESIZERS/Samplers

• Made the K250
• K250 was the first successful emulation of a grand piano
• K250 has midi ports for external sequencing
• Company still makes products that are used today

1999 - Jaidon Lalor

• first work - soundcloud.com/mixman2012
• better work - soundcloud.com/amis-hector