SONIC EVOLUTION: Synthesisers

For those interested in DJing, producing, sound engineering or music generally, the offerings of the synthesiser arrive like the second coming of Christ. The synthesiser is somehow omnipotent and omnipresent: used by hip hop producers from the likes of Kanye West and J Dilla to create loops and samples, to techno and new wave music.

Despite the synthesiser grounding contemporary music production, when I told my friends that I was writing about synthesisers their immediate response was ‘what is that?'

So, we must embark on the sonic revolution of synthesisers:

Early Conceptions of the Synth

When electricity was invited at the end of the 18th century, and the hype of the light bulb had died down, it was realised that sound too could be manipulated by electricity. Sound waves could be controlled electronically by a self-vibrating electromagnetic circuit, which - if currents could create vibrations and with an amplifier to hand - could generate sound.

The synthesiser creates audio signals by creating waveforms via analogue or digital circuitry. The sound can then be altered through modules.

… in lay terms, the process of synthesis is making sound electronically which is done through a synthesiser.

Synthesisers can be played by keyboards or controlled by sequencers, software or other instruments, or equipment via MIDI. The ability to sample, record and play back sound at different pitches and variables is all thanks to the synthesiser as an instrument.

The synthesiser in genesis

It is difficult to directly trace the first synthesisers or accurately state who, when and how the contemporary synthesiser came to be as the instrument we know and love as it had various iterations.

In 1901 the telharmonium was conceived by Thaddeus Cahill, which is accredited as the first analogue synthesiser installed in the basement of The Metropolitan Opera house in New York. However, after interfering with US naval transmissions the telharmonium was aborted but is still regarded as an early predecessor.

The development of the vacuum tube amplifier in the early 1900s meant that instruments could be made electric: the electric guitar, the electric violin, the electric piano, the electric organ, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera….

Yet the idea of an instrument to produce sound electronically did not emerge until much later, around 1950.

The RCA Mark I is seen as one of the first programable synthesisers, made by electrical engineers Harry Olson and Hebart Belar - which transformed inputs through modules and created sound through oscillators. This model started a wave (pun intended) of developments in the land of synthesisers. In 1959 Milton Babbit conduced the now famous ‘Composition for Synthesizer’ on the RCA Mark II, which demonstrates the capabilities of the early synthesisers and their eery dystopian sounds.

Darwinism of Synthesis

The 1960s became a decade recognised for electronic sound engineering, for instance, the mass-production of stereo records rather than mono. In terms of the synthesiser: transistors were introduced to replace the vacuum tube amplifier, creating a modular concept whereby different elements could be connected on a modular switchboard to produce sound.

Robert Moog and Herbert Deutsch adapted this breakthrough innovation to produce the first modular synthesiser: the Moog Modular Synthesizer (imaginatively named), this synthesiser came equipped with a keyboard to make it more marketable. Following this synthesisers start appearing on tracks such as the 1966 Beach Boys’ ‘Good Vibrations’. Later this decade, Delia Derbyshire, a mathematician, and musician, used the synthesiser to compose the Doctor Who theme tune for the BBC.

As the technology was still prepubescent, early synthesisers were highly-priced and seen as more experimental than contextual music standards. Synthesisers were avant-garde and countercultural rather than mainstream, allied with the 1960s hippy and psychedelic movement. Jimi Hendrix demonstrates the early experimental nature of premature electronic sounds through his distortion, amplification and feedback which pioneered the expansion in vocabulary for electronic music. Likewise, the Beatles bought into an early synthesiser and the Rolling Stones.

Then, when Wendy Carlos’ composition of ‘switched-on Bach’ became one of the most popular albums of the decade, the synthesisers began to infiltrate more musical genres and adapt mainstream styles.

The development of the 1970 ‘Mini Moog Model D’ took the most popular modules from its predecessor and became physically more compact – aimed at portability and performance for musicians while touring. A big development was that the Mini Moog was one of the first semi-modular monophonic synthesisers meaning the routing options were presented behind a front panel without the need for patch cables. Over the 1960-70 period technology continued to advance but a notable synthesiser was the turn from monophonic (meaning they could only play one note at a time) to polyphonic in 1978.

The introduction of the microprocessor in the 1970s and 80s allows for industrial production of synthesisers, meaning more availability at a cheaper price tag. A plethora of synthesisers flooded the scene which also enabled users to store sounds for the first time.

In 1982 Yamaha released the DX7 which introduced a new method of synthesis known as Frequency Modulation (FM) which relied on digitally generated waves to create nuanced sounds. The DX7, unlike other synthesisers, relied on less sound manipulation so was more usable. The DX7 is reflected in 80s synth wave music, like New Order or Depeche Mode, dance music, like Whitney Houston and Wham!, and the creation of EDM and synth-pop, like Human League or the Pet Shop Boys. Thanks to MIDI interface computing during the 80s access to synthesisers grew and technology and software became standardised. Virtual music exploded during this decade due to personal computers and the widespread development of sound editing and processing software.

Other sampling equipment followed similar developments such as the creation of pulse code modulation (PCM). In 1987 Akai, a Japanese company, created an MPC which would become standard in hip hop beats, enabling producers to edit existing records and rebirth tracks (sampling). For instance, J Dilla, Dr Dre, Kanye West, and DJ Shadow are some producers and artists known for their reliance on MPCs.

The infusion of technology in the 80s changed the way music was experienced. In Detroit and Chicago, the hometown of Motown and soul, the synthesiser allowed house music and techno to grow from rich musical soils. While robots mechanised labour in the automotive capital of America, rhythmic drum machines and electronic blends began to infiltrate audibly. Club culture in Detroit and Chicago was huge as it offered escapism, huge tracks such as ‘Strings Of Life’ (Rythim is Rythim) and ‘Good Life’ (Inner City) demonstrate the power that the electronic revolution was musically embodying - led by Juan Atkins a futuristic music producer from Detroit.

In the late 80s, electronic music like acid house and techno reached Europe and the Balearic party islands spreading epidemically to inspire artists such as Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream in Germany. Further intruding the UK to soundtrack the anti-Thatcherite illegal rave scene appropriated named ‘The Summer Of Love’ in ode to its 1960s liberal idols.

Juan Atkins christened the sounds of techno and enabled electronic influences to initiate genres such as trance (Sash!, N-trance), jungle (Goldie, ShyFX), acid house (808 State, the Shamen), EDM (Chemical Brothers, Faithless, Deee-Lite, Daft Punk, Robert Miles) and whatever you want to categorise Aphex Twin as. Synthesisers also fused genres into experimental dimensions such as rock, like Pink Floyd, electropunk like The Prodigy or Everything but the Girl, ambient music for instance Brian Eno, or even jazz, take Miles Davis’ 1986 album Tutu, or Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters, Thrust, Flood or Man-Child.

My fascination with synthesisers and electronic music is in their adaptability, as understanding and capabilities of technology advance, the boundaries of music seemingly are infinite. The synthesiser's late arrival to music not only meant the creation of new genres, but also the expansion of established artists and their modes of inspiration. The story of Fuaná music stands testament to this:

In 1968 a shipment carrying the latest synthesisers vanished as it set off from its harbours in Baltimore to an exhibition in Rio de Janeiro. The ship reappeared sometime later with its crew missing and on the shores of Cabo Verde (now Cape Verde) off the West Coast of Africa. The police seized the ship and the cargo, however when discovering the multitude of keyboards and synthesisers the anti-colonial leader called Amílcar Cabral declared the instruments should be dispersed to the archipelago’s schools.

Contextually, Cabo Verde was a Portuguese colony, many civilians were living under repression. Artistic expression often resulted in punishment. However, with no understanding of synthesisers and free from Western influence, the synthesiser was used in fusion with indigenous folk dances. The sound of Fuaná was born, completely different to the influence of synthesisers in the West and unique. Fuaná was seen as rebellious and as a channel for expression - the futuristic and somewhat trippy sounds of 70/80s fauná sound can be heard on albums such as Space Echo (Analogue Africa No.20) or Synthesise the Soul: Astro-Atlantic Hypnotica from the Cape Verde Islands 1973-1988:

Due to the digital advances of software computers, synthesisers dematerialise following device simulation. Yet increased accessibility promises an abundance of sound possibilities and mixes, all due to the synthesiser as an instrument. Synthesisers are also coming back into a trend just as we see CDS and records, gaining a reputation as collectors’ items with music enthusiasts. Producers such as Floating Points still uses his Buchla synthesiser to make dance music with a classical edge and the list of synthesisers used by Four Tet remains endless.