A Brief History of Synthesizers

Music has its own unique appeal, which transcends boundaries and touches every single soul. The most versatile amongst all instruments, which have transformed the entire musical landscape globally,is the synthesizer. Synthesizers have the magic to bring life to any performance.

History of synthesizers is replete with interesting twists and turns. The mid 80s proved to be a booming phase for this magical instrument. The history of electronic music reached a new height with the emergence of the synthesizer.

Some of the synthesizer models which absolutely proved to be the delight of musicians are as follows

CZ-2600S
CZ-3000
CZ-101
CZ-230S
CZ-1000
CZ-5000
CT-6500

Types of synthesizers

Synthesizers are primarily of three different kinds, which are as follows

Analog
Digital
Software

There are also synthesizers, which are a combination of the above-mentioned kinds known as hybrid synthesizers.

There are many synthesis methods, which have gradually evolved over the years. Some of them are as follows

Frequency modulation synthesis
Phase distortion synthesis
Physical synthesis
Sample-based synthesis
Sub harmonic synthesis
Subtractive synthesis
Additive synthesis
Granular synthesis
Wavetable synthesis

Synthesizers first hit the market in 1971. It was then that the first pre-wired synthesizer made its maiden appearance in the musical circuits. However, it was then a much simpler device. It had monophonic features and had no memory unlike future synthesizers.

The late 70s and early 80s, there was a spurt of initiatives to build ones own synthesizer. Many media reports at that time also flashed designs that were published in hobby electronics magazines. There are also interesting anecdotes on how synthesizers were evolved in each household.

Some of the noteworthy synthesizer manufacturers who has contributed to the history were as follows

Access Music
Alesis
ARP
Arturia
Akai
Buchla and Associates
Casio
Clavia

Further research in the field of synthesizers however, led to the emergence of a much-matured device in 1975, which had polyphonic features. This particular category of synthesizer was capable of playing 2-8 notes at one time depending on the model. This kind of synthesizers had amazing storage capacity with 16 separate memory slots.

The bass synthesizer was perhaps the most popular version of synthesizers, which has carved a niche for itself in the history books. This version of synthesizer was capable of producing new sounds for this version. What contributed greatly to the popularity of synthesizers were its unique features. Synthesizers could easily be integrated and synchronised with other musical instruments.

The year 1978 saw the emergence of the first fully equipped polyphonic synthesizers. This device was capable of producing 5 tones at one go. It also had increased memory capacity with 32 different memory slots. They later emerged as the most popular accompanier in the musical circuits.

However, the history of synthesizers underwent a paradigm change with the advent of lead keyboard. They were also known as analog synthesizers. These kind of synthesizers gave musicians greater freedom to editing.

Traversing a long interesting road synthesizers have emerged as the most popular musical instrument. It has become an integral part of the entire musical journey globally.