Michael Cattell

Synthesizing the Evolution of the Synthesizer

In contemporary music, it is challenging to find a genre of music that has not been

impacted by the synthesizer. With a wide range of adaptability, it can cover a vast amount of

ground in the world of sound creation; this was apparent from the beginning so much so that

musician unions actually fought to keep synthesizers banned from media production in the hopes

that it would prevent the synthesizer from taking over the jobs of musicians (Pinch and Trocco

148-149). Developed in the 1960s, the synthesizer is an instrument that produces a sound wave

that is affected by different components, with the raw sound wave being produced by an

oscillator and going through components such as a filter and amplifier and out through a speaker,

usually external from the synthesizer itself (Edwards). Different components that feed into the

filter and amplifier, such as an envelope and sound gate, alter the sound in a way to suit the

needs of the musician. Though a simplified explanation, as there are many different parts and

settings that fall out of the purview, that is the bare bones of how a synthesizer works to create

sound. Due to its adaptability and versatility, the synthesizer has had a profound impact on the

music industry, as well as many other industries connected to music; this impact has led to the

synthesizer seeping into the lives of nearly every person through music, film, and television.

The Moog (pronounced MOHG) synthesizer, produced by Bob Moog, and Wendy

Carlos’s utilization of its features on her album Switched-Up Bach led to the synthesizer

becoming a commercially successful instrument, as well as giving it a starting push towards

being a staple of the music industry. In the 1960s, prior to the release of Switched-Up Bach, the

synthesizer did not have much large-scale commercial use, due largely to the public perception

of it. Few people knew how to pronounce “synthesizer” or even what it was. Additionally, the
music that was produced was by academics and composers who did not try to cater their music to

an audience; the focus of these individuals was to make music that was centered around the

mathematics of tonality, which often meant that compositions were atonal and were not

necessarily pleasant to listen to for the average listener (Figueroa). This contributed to the idea

that synthesizers generally only created bad sounding music. Additionally, a $10,000 price tag

prevented most musicians from having access to it. (Kurzweil). All of these culminated in a low

rate of success for keyboard oriented music pieces. The lack of action on the synthesizer scene

would be something that Wendy Carlos would utilize in order to try and change the perception of

the music that a synthesizer could create.

Wendy Carlos’ release of Switched-On Bach (S-OB) in 1968 proved to be a pivotal shift

in the public’s attitude towards synthesizers. Composed of synthesizer arrangements of Johann

Sebastian Bach’s baroque-era pieces, it ended up being an unexpected commercial and creative

success. According to Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco, who wrote the book Analog Days,

detailing the early days of the synthesizer, many significant keyboardists they interviewed for

their book such as Keith Emerson, Patrick Gleeson, and Stevie Wonder attribute S-OB as the

catalyst for their interest in synthesizers (147). As a result of this, S-OB proved to be not only a

commercially successful project, but an incredibly influential one that can serve as a sign of

change in the music industry. As evidence of its influence, many artists released albums

following the S-OB release that aimed to capitalize on the success of S-OB and the name

recognition of Moog, which was apparent through album names such as Switched-On Rock,

Switched-On Santa, Moog Plays the Beatles, and The Plastic Cow Goes MOOOOOOG (Pinch

and Trocco 150-151).

 Despite the success, it simultaneously showed the limitations of the time. While Wendy

Carlos had personal reasons for not performing (she was undergoing hormone therapy to

transition from male to female and was anxious to be seen in public during this process), the

Moog synthesizer was also incredibly impractical to perform on live (Pinch and Trocco 145-

147). The Moog synthesizer was monophonic, meaning it could only play one note at a time. As

many Bach pieces utilized three or four different parts playing simultaneously, it meant that each

part had to be recorded separately when recording in the studio. This meant that in order to

perform the album live, Carlos would have needed three additional Moog synthesizers and three

additional musicians. Given the size of analog synthesizers at the time of S-OB’s release, this

was likely not a feasible option. It would not be long, however, until musicians would be able to

utilize a more portable synthesizer for live performances.

As with other areas of technology in general, with higher demand and popularity comes

more innovation and better products. Following SO-B and the rising popularity of the Moog

synthesizer, the Minimoog synthesizer was developed partially as an effort to bring some

revenue to the Moog company, which was currently going under once the synthesizer market

went flat after the popularity of S-OB died down. It became popular as a performing synthesizer

and also for its unique sound, owing to some technical issues. These issues, however, were not

corrected as the designers and artists who worked with the Minimoog felt that it added a unique

sound to the instrument (Pinch and Trocco 221-223). Many artists purchased Minimoogs and

added them to their array of synthesizers. This adoption and the innovation of existing

synthesizers, bringing them further into more mainstream music, cemented synthesizers as a part

of the music industry for the foreseeable future. However, while popular at the time, these analog
synthesizers would eventually give way to technological advancements, with a new age of

synthesizers emerging.

The release of the first digital synthesizers in the early 1980s began to spell the end of

analog synthesizers being a dominant force, ushering in a new era of pop music that emphasized

a larger role for the synthesizer outside the ones of the 1970s. One of the most popular of the

early digital synthesizers was the Yamaha DX7. Its low price, 16-voice polyphony (meaning it

could play 16 notes simultaneously as opposed to a monophonic synthesizer), and wide variety

of preprogrammed sound patches made it widely accessible, and was usually one of the first

digital synthesizers that artists came into contact with (Twells). While the analog synthesizer

usually had relatively warm and smooth sounds, the DX7, being digital, had much cooler and

glassy sounding patches. One of the more popular patches on the synthesizer was BASS 1. This

patch was used in a variety of songs, such as Take On Me by a-ha and Danger Zone by Kenny

Loggins (Twells). The heavy usage of the BASS 1 patch, and others featured on the DX7,

highlight how synthesizers began to take on a different, more expanded role in music. While the

analog synthesizer was primarily used for lead parts, because synthesizers had an expanded

polyphony they were able to take on more roles, such as playing chords to fill the background of

a song.

This expansion of what the synthesizer could do went even further, culminating in a new

style of synthesizer, though more in function than a technological leap: a music workstation.

Workstations became very popular within studios as they could do so much more than previous

synthesizers. One of the most popular workstations ever (and most popular synthesizers in

general as well) was Korg’s M1, which was dominant from its release in 1988 through the 1990s.

Owing to its easy to use interface and the amount of stuff it could do, from 16-voice polyphony
to expansive sound presets. It was also one of the first workstations to feature multiple sets of

percussion samples that were pre-maped, meaning that the user did not have to manually set each

drum or percussion sound to each key on the synthesizer (Colbeck). This innovation led to many

studios purchasing them, with Korg eventually selling roughly 250,000 models; they became

incredibly popular in an age without computer software such as Pro Tools or Logic Pro. The M1

was also used outside of the music industry, becoming used in television as well. One notable

use of the M1 was in the Seinfeld theme, with the producers using the “SlapBass” preset to

create the iconic theme (Twells). Workstations are still very popular today; Korg still produces

new and different workstation models, and other companies produce them as well.

As computers became more prevalent in society, as did music production software for

these computers. Included in the software more and more were virtual synthesizers, which

helped to increase the accessibility of classic synthesizer sounds to those without the money to

buy numerous synthesizers to produce unique sounds. Pro Tools, an early version of music

production software, initially did not come with a virtual synthesizer installed. It would not be

until 2005 that virtual instruments, including synthesizers, would be included in the software

(Thornton). In the present, Pro Tools is one of many large name music production software

names that compete for market share, and has a large variety of virtual instruments. This is

indicative of a trend within the music industry to market towards more than just individuals with

a record label deal, but also to people who only play at home and make music for themselves or

those around them.

Another example of this marketing trend can be seen with GarageBand, Apple’s free

music production software available on their devices, including the iPhone. Garageband is used

by both prominent musicians and groups, such as Radiohead and Kendrick Lamar, at various
stages of the recording process and amateur musicians and groups who may not have access to

the professional-level production software that may cost them too much money (Wang). At its

yearly launch event, Apple tends to discuss its free creative apps, which includes GarageBand, as

opposed to its professional apps, such as the professional-level version of GarageBand, Logic

Pro. This highlights how influential marketing teams view marketing to the average consumer as

opposed to just professional musicians and studios. As GarageBand is free, people are able to

create music at a much lower cost and be more creative. Additionally, the fact that the free apps

are able to do as much as they could incentivize people to purchase more Apple products, such as

a MacBook, since they would not have to purchase additional software for significantly more

money. This increased accessibility to production software with virtual instruments, such as

synthesizers, allows people to do more experimentation with a significantly larger variety of

synthesizer settings (i.e. synthesizer model, different settings, combining models, etc.) without

having to shell out thousands of dollars on the actual physical synthesizer models themselves.

In conclusion, synthesizers have evolved from analog synthesizers to comparatively more

complex digital and virtual synthesizers. The need for synthesizers and the impact they have had

in different aspects of different industries have caused them to evolve to the needs of these

industries. In the future, it is possible that there will be some blend of synthesizers and artificial

intelligence, as there is currently a project going on at Google that concerns this (Finamore). The

impact of the synthesizer and how it has transformed music makes it difficult to discern whether

or not a person might be listening to an acoustic instrument, or a synthesizer that was

programmed to sound like an acoustic instrument.

 Works Cited

Colbeck, Julian. “Korg M1.” Electronic Musician, 1 Jun. 2001,

https://web.archive.org/web/20040923104413/http://emusician.com/elecinstruments/

emusic_korg/index.html

Edwards, Nate. “Synthesizer Basics Explained — with Audio Samples.” Sweetwater, 7 Aug.

2018, https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/synthesizer-basics-explained-with-audio-

samples/

Figueroa, Joshua. “Switched-On Bach: How Wendy Carlos Became Electronic Music Royalty.”

KMFM 89.5, 6 Apr, 2018, https://www.kmfa.org/pages/2531-switched-on-bach-how-

wendy-carlos-became-electronic-music-royalty

Finamore, Emma. “A tribute to the synth: how synthesisers revolutionised modern music.” BBC,

14 Sept. 2018,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3ryZCdlXtpkNG3yRl3Y7pnh/a-tribute-to-

the-synth-how-synthesisers-revolutionised-modern-music

Kurzweil, Ray. “Robert Moog.” Wired, 1 Nov. 2005,

https://www.wired.com/2005/11/robert-moog-1934-2005/

Pinch, Trevor, and Frank Trocco. Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog

Synthesizer. Harvard University Press, 2002.

Thornton, Mike. “The History of Pro Tools - 2000 to 2007.” Pro Tools Expert, 11 Mar. 2018,

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2018/2/26/the-history-of-pro-tools-2000-

to-2007
Twells, John. “The 14 most important synths in electronic music history – and the musicians

who

use them.” Fact, 15 Sept. 2016, https://www.factmag.com/2016/09/15/14-most-

important-synths/

Wang, Amy. “ Inside Garageband, the Little App Ruling the Sound of Modern Music.” Rolling

Stone, 16 Mar. 2019, https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/features/apple-garageband-

modern-music-784257/