Electronic Music Synthesizer Research Articles

Helically wound pitch-determining element for electronic musical instrument

A control apparatus for determining the pitch of the sound produced by an electronic music synthesizer incorporates a conductive ribbon having a manually adjustable contact with a second conductive element, the second element comprising an elongate helically wound resistance element supported by being cemented in a groove in a base member.

New approaches to analog music synthesis

Analog, voltage-controlled electronic music synthesizers have been developed over a period of about ten years into a fairly standard commercial product. While these synthesizers are unquestionably useful for certain types of music, they are also limited in many ways. A number of fairly simple “new modules” involving conventional circuitry and conventional electronic components can be developed and added to the conventional set of synthesizer modules. New types of excitation sources for driving processing type modules are also possible. Beyond these, new developments in electronics make possible entirely new synthesis devices and suggest new approaches to older unsolved problems. As one example, digital control of analog synthesis based on a microprocessor approach makes it possible to realize musical structures and developments of a greater complexity than is possible with manual control alone. As a second example, charge-transfer analog shift registers provide, analog delay in a compact and inexpensive form, thus making possible new approaches to special musical effects, reverberation, and pitch extraction, to name a few.

Contemporary uses of electronic music synthesizers in pop music

I will play taped excerpts from various recordings I have contributed to as a synthesizer player and arranger. The recordings span the period from 1970 to the present, by “charted” (top 200) artists, such as Jefferson Starship, Lenny White, Dr. Hook, Pablo Cruise, and Herbie Hancock. I will discuss each selection and in some cases will present the tracks in various special mixes which will make clear the role of the synthesizer. My general purposes are (1) to relate contemporary practice among pop recording artists; (2) to discuss certain limitations of contemporary instruments, emphasizing those that may be particularly interesting to the members of the Acoustical Society; and (3) to point out some unexplored directions which might be taken for users of this wonderful musical instrument.

Electronic demonstrations for the teaching of acoustics

Courses in elementary acoustics taught at many universities provide introductions to the following six topics: physical acoustics, environmental acoustics, the physiology of hearing, auditory psychophysics, musical acoustics, and the nature of human speech. Electronic demonstrations can be used to enhance instruction in each of the six areas. For example, the modules of an electronic music synthesizer together with an audio system and conventional electronic instrumentation form a versatile laboratory for experiments in sound. Among the demonstrations which can be done are the following. Wave interference can be demonstrated by extracting the separate signals from a stereo recording of signals A + B and A − B. Tone and noise bursts can be used to find the speed of sound, echo and reverberation times. Filter banks, set according to mean audiometric presbycusis data, can show the effects of aging on the frequency response of human hearing. Gently nonlinear electronic devices aid the recognition of combination tones normally generated by the inner ear. Analog delay lines can create repetition pitch from a source of white noise. Sine wave signals from many oscillators can be summed and varied to study the perception of pitch of an inharmonic tone complex like that of a chime. The phase variation of a single rectangular wave with pseudorandom pulse width modulation simulates chorus effect. Much of the effect of nonlinear mode mixing in conventional musical instruments can be simulated by patched of linear electronic components, transient generators and voltage controlled signal processing modules. Three resonant filters allow the synthesis of vowel sounds. Frequency shifted or ring modulated speech sounds can exhibit the importance of vowel formant transitions. Intelligibility experiments with chopped speech serve as an introduction to redundancy, autocorrelation and information theory. We note that one does not pursue this informal experimenting with signal processing equipment for long before one discovers effects which are hard to understand. Further pursuit can lead to new results. For example, our intelligibility experiments with chopped speech suggest that redundancy, measured in spoken English text agrees with that found by Shannon for written text.

The electronic music synthesizer and the physics of music

We describe the principal modules of analog electronic music synthesizers and discuss some ways that we have used a synthesizer in demonstrations, psychophysical experiments, and an undergraduate laboratory course in the physics of music and acoustics. We consider the synthesis of both steady and transient auditory phenomena.

Compositional Limitations of Electronic Music Synthesizers

WHILE electronic music is a relatively recent phenomenon in the history of the art, it may have a profound impact on the entire field. To a certain extent, it has already had such an impact, but this fact has not been grasped by very many people outside of those actively engaged in the field. In the world at large there is widespread confusion and misunderstanding as to just what electronic music is, what potential it offers, and its overall contribution to our musical culture. Part of this confusion is the normal reaction to anything that is so new. New music generally takes many years for its value to be recognized and acknowledged. But the other part of this confusion is due to the fact that electronic music, by its very nature, has forced a reevaluation of many fundamental ways of thinking about music. Electronic music often seems to consist of sounds which cannot be obtained on conventional instruments. Even when the sounds are more

Physics for Musicians

A musical acoustics course, which stresses laboratory work in electronics and acoustical measurements, is described. Through this course, the instructor and several students have become interested in electronic music and have constructed a computer-controlled electronic music synthesizer. Courses of this type, which present physics to musicians and artists, are particularly significant because of the similarities between science and the arts.

Electronic music synthesis for recordings

Electronic music synthesis is a process whereby several parts or elements of a musical composition that are performed or produced as separate entities are combined to form the entire or rendered composition. Since the entire process can seldom be carried out in real time, the synthesis of music has not been a performing-type rendition; therefore, the final product takes the form of a record that can be reproduced at any given time. Electronic music synthesis includes the modification and combination of conventional and original sound sources, manual and programmed electronic music synthesizers, and digital computers.

Electronic Music Synthesis

The modern systems of communication have been applied to the electronic synthesis of music in the form of the electronic music synthesizer. The electronic music synthesizer is a machine which provides means for producing a tone with any frequency, intensity, growth, duration, decay, portamento, timbre, vibrato, and deviations. If these properties of a tone are specified, the tone can be produced by the synthesizer from a coded record. For implementing the electronic synthesis of music an improved and enlarged electronic music synthesizer Mark II has been developed and built. The new electronic music synthesizer and the use of the new synthesizer by professional musicians will be described.

Electronic Music Synthesis

The modern systems of communication have been applied to the electronic synthesis of music in the form of the electronic music synthesizer. The electronic music synthesizer is a machine which provides means for producing a tone with any frequency, intensity, growth, duration, decay, portamento, timbre, vibrato, and deviations. If these properties of a tone are specified, the tone can be produced by the synthesizer from a coded record. For implementing the electronic synthesis of music an improved and enlarged electronic music synthesizer Mark II has been developed and built. The new electronic music synthesizer and the use of the new synthesizer by professional musicians will be described.

Electronic Music Synthesizer

The electronic music synthesizer is a machine that produces music from a coded record. The coded record, is produced by a musician, musical engineer, or composer with a fundamental understanding of the composition of sound. The electronic music synthesizer provides means for the production of a tone with any frequency, intensity, growth, duration, decay, portamento, timbre, vibrato, and variation. If these properties of a tone are specified, the tone can be completely described. The advantage of the electronic music synthesizer is that it can produce new and radical tone complexes for musical satisfaction and gratification. The new system does not displace the artist and musician of today. It does not take the place of talent combined with work. The electronic music synthesizer provides the musician, musical engineer, and composer with a new musical tool with no inherent physical limitations.

New developments in electronics

Since the advent of the vacuum tube we have become accustomed to marvels coming from research laboratories. There have been tape-recorded color television, a light amplifier, an electronic cooling system, and the latest: an electronic music synthesizer.