Timeline of the Synthesizer
Knowing all aspects of the history of music technology is going to help your understanding of how the subject has developed and evolved. No history has influenced music more than the electronics of the synthesizer. This complex and intriguing subject has single handily changed the depth of a pop music. In the beginning there was a lot of resistance to the weird and unique timbres that these instruments created but as time has gone on we don’t even think twice about hearing a synth in a pop track. The timeline below is in no way a complete list of synth instruments but just a brief overview of some of the most important ones.
Edexcel A2 music technology exam: If a relevant essay question comes up (in question 4) the information below will give you enough to score all 16 marks. Remember this question is predominantly marked on written communication so responses need to be well structured.
Theremin
1920 – Theremin is an instrument that is controlled and played by moving your hand near the two aerials, which manipulate pitch and portamento. The beach boys used this sound on their song ‘Good vibrations’.
1928 – Ondes Martenot is a keyboard instrument that produces theremin tones by manipulating a ribbon underneath the keyboard. This instrument can be heard on radioheads ‘How to Disappear Completely’.
1954 – Hammond B-3 organ is a tone wheel drawbar organ that is played through a rotating Leslie speaker which was used extensively during the
1960s and onwards. Most popularly used by Deep Purple.
1965 – Rhodes piano is a classic electric piano that sounds like a bell crossed with a vibraphone and is very similar to the Wurlitzer electric piano. The Rhode was used by Herbie Handcock on the song ‘Bitch Brew’.
1968 – Hohner clavinet is a classic funk sounding piano commonly used by Stevie Wonder most famously on the song ‘ Superstition’.
Minimoog
1969 – Minimoog is a potable version of the moog modular synth that is synonymous with its monophonic recognisable lead synth sound. Wendy Carlos used this on the album ‘Switched-on Bach.
1977 – Sequential Circuits prophet-5 is a polyphonic analogue synth that can play 5 notes simultaneously. The Prophet-5 was used by Paul McCartney on the song ‘Wonderful Christmas Time’.
Roland TB-303
1981 – Roland Jupiter-8 (JP-8) A polyphonic synth capable of playing 8 notes simultaneously one of its main features includes a built in arpeggiator. Queen used the Jupiter on the song ‘Radio Ga Ga’.
1982 – Roland TB-303 commonly used in dance music during to 1980s Acid house. Used for creating bass lines and has a distinctive squelchy sound. The TB-303 was used on the song ‘Acid Trax’ by Phuture.
Yamaha DX7
1983 – Yamaha DX-7 was the first commercially successful digital synth which used FM (frequency modulation). The DX-7 is capable of creating a wide range of timbres and its real potential comes when re-producing real sounds. One of the main users of this synth was Brian Eno who used the instruments to create unique and interesting timbres.
Korg M1
1988 – Korg M1 is a sampling synth and was used extensively in pop music during the 1980s and 90s this was because of the high accuracy at creating realistic sounding instruments as well as the more unusual sounding timbres.
