3 Electronic Maestros Interviewed 133
thesixthreplicant writes "New Scientist interviews 3 pioneers of electronic music: Bob Moog, the inventor of the first commercial synthesiser, the Moog; Australian Peter Vogel, creator of the first electronic sampler, the Fairlight (16 bit sampling in 1979!); and Dave Smith, the father of MIDI."
The Fairlight wasn't 16-bit until 1985 (Score:5, Informative)
Just in case... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:A little help please.... (Score:2, Informative)
Other common synths seen in 1980s music videos:
the first commercial synthesiser ? (Score:1, Informative)
while Moog was a pioneer and respecty is due, he was not even close to the "first"
but dont take my word for it, go look it up [obsolete.com]
synthesisers have been around for 120 years !
120 Years Of Electronic Music (Score:2, Informative)
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120 Years Of Electronic Music
Origins:
The origins of electronic music can be traced back to the audio analytical work of Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (1821-1894) the German physicist, mathematician and author of the seminal work "SENSATIONS OF TONE: Psychological Basis for Theory of Music" (c1860). Helmholtz built an electronically controlled instrument to analyse combinations of tones the "Helmholtz Resonator", using electromagnetically vibrating metal tines and glass or metal resonating spheres the machine could be used for analysing the constituent tones that create complex natural sounds. Helmholtz was concerned solely with the scientific analysis of sound and had no interest in direct musical applications, the theoretical musical ideas were provided by Ferruccio Busoni, the Italian composer and pianists who's influential essay "Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Music" was inspired by accounts of Thaddeus Cahill's 'Telharmonium'.
1870-1915: Early Experiments
The first electronic instruments built from 1870 to 1915 used a variety of techniques to generate sound: the tone wheel (used in the Telharmonium and the Chorelcello)- a rotating metal disk in a magnetic field causing variations in an electrical signal, an electronic spark causing direct fluctuations in the air (used uniquely in William Duddell's "Singing Arc' in 1899) and Elisha Grey's self vibrating electromagnetic circuit in the 'Electronic Telegraph', a spin-off from telephone technology. The tone wheel was to survive until the 1950's in the Hammond Organ but the experiments with self oscillating circuits and electric arcs were discontinued with the development of vacuum tube technology.
1915-1960: The Vacuum Tube Era.
The engineer and prolific US inventor Lee De Forest patented the first Vacuum tube or triode in 1906, a refinement of John A. Fleming's electronic valve. The Vacuum tube's main use was in radio technology but De Forest discovered that it was possible to produce audible sounds from the tubes by a process known as heterodyning. twentieth century by radio engineers experimenting with radio vacuum tubes. Heterodyning effect is created by two high radio frequency sound waves of similar but varying frequency combining and creating a lower audible frequency, equal to the difference between the two radio frequencies (approximately 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz). De Forest was one amongst several engineers to realise the musical potential of the heterodyning effect and in 1915 created a musical instrument, the "Audion Piano" . Other instruments to first exploit the vacuum tube were the 'Theremin' (1917) 'Ondes Martenot' (1928), the 'Sphäraphon' (1921) the 'Pianorad' (1926). The Vacuum tube was to remain the primary type of audio synthesis until the invention of the integrated circuit in the 1960's.
1960-1980: Integrated Circuits.
Integrated Circuits came into widespread use in the early 1960's. Inspired by the writings of the German instrument designer Harald Bode, Robert Moog, Donald Buchla and others created a new generation of easy to use, reliable and popular electronic instruments.
1980-present: Digital.
The next and current generation of electronic instruments were the digital synthesisers of the 1980s. These synthesisers were software controlled offering complex control over various forms of synthesis previously only available on extremely expensive studio synthesisers. Early models of this generation included the Yamaha DX range and the Casio CZ synthesisers.
http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/intro.html [obsolete.com]
'gue' ? more like *horrible choking sound* (Score:4, Informative)
That 'g' is more like a horrible choking sound - I'd sound it out and put it on my site (I'm Dutch), but no thanks
Early Fairlights were the true classics. (Score:4, Informative)
The classic Fairlight sound came from the Fairlight Series II (1982) and Series IIx (1983, with faster processor and factory-MIDI) defined the classsic "Fairlight" sound, not the Series III - so 16-bit is meaningless here. The Series II used variable speed playback, rather than skipping samples in a wavetable to speed up/slow down the sound. When combined with some fantastic analog filters, the sound was something special, with a great low-end. The other part of the magic was "Page R" -- the realtime 8-track (single note) sequencer that allowed you to work with the Series II's lightpen in a pseudo-graphical environment (ASCII characters in a music sequencing grid).
By the time the Series III came out, E-mu had released several samplers including the Emulator I and II (both 8 bit, although the II used companding A/D-D/A converters to give a higer signal to noise). The Series III lost the coloured magic of the Series II sound by using increasingly perfect 16-bit recording, and it wasn't long before companies like Akai started making $5000 16-bit samplers that put Fairlight out of business.
Re:Remember those .mod files? (Score:3, Informative)
Later similar file formats like S3M utilised more advanced sound hardware available for the PC, like the Gravis Ultrasound (or the alternative for those of us with less money, a lot of CPU time). Not being stuck with the limitations of the Amiga's sound hardware, these were capable of producing higher quality sound.
Re:Fairlight & Moog (Score:3, Informative)
His company is now called Moog Music [moogmusic.com] -- previously there was somebody else who owned the rights to the name "Moog", but apparently he's won them back. I'm not sure if he's retired the name Big Briar or whether they simply exist in parallel.
Their signature product is a modern version of the classic Minimoog synthesizer, called the Minimoog Voyager [moogmusic.com] -- very, very cool (albeit expensive
Also check out Dave Smith's current company, Dave Smith Instruments [davesmithinstruments.com]. They make a similarly cool, though quite different (and much less expensive) synthesizer called the Evolver [davesmithinstruments.com], and are currently gearing up for a keyboard version [davesmithinstruments.com].
One interesting thing is that both Moog and Dave Smith clearly have taken to heart the experience of having had their respective companies fail in the '70s, and seem to be trying very hard to avoid the excesses which caused those previous failures. Until fairly recently, I think D.S.I. was basically a one-man company (and still, if you send email with a problem or suggestion, it will probably be Dave Smith who answers...).
Re:Pioneers? (Score:2, Informative)
Amongst the artists in the category doing interesting things I would include: Throbbing Gristle, Clock DVA, Cabaret Voltaire, Human League/Heaven 17, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Die Form, Duran Duran, etc. Synth-pop is surely part of the genre, for good or ill. And we most likely have to include stuff like Michael Oldfield, etc. It just goes all over the place - I think Eno was working with synthsizers, tape loops, and delays even in early Roxy Music. Tape loops are like early sampling.
Don't believe the hype: Kraftwerk, while great, probably invented very little.
Yes, there were other, even commercial, pioneers (Score:5, Informative)
'Sampling' was first done in the analog domain, by an instrument named the Mellotron. It had an organ keyboard with a magnetic tape, tape head, and capstan mechanism under each key, and activated whem the key was pressed. The samples were factory-recorded (for new sounds you had to record a new tape for each key) and the machine was playback-only, but it fits the name sampler. It was used by the Beatles ("Strawberry Fields Forever"), King Crimson, and most of the Moody Blues albums of the '60's and '70's, among others. And yes, the Mellotron was a commercial product.
And what about Les Paul (Score:5, Informative)
1) Multitrack recording
2) Echo, and flange effects
3) Electric Guitar
4) Electronic Synth
I mean, come on people...