musc midi mid

MIDI through

Allows for instruments or modules to be chained together

USB

Has MIDI out, in or through built into its function

Sequencers

Before the advent of DAWs, sequencers were used to control multiple MIDI devices

Ikutaro Kakehashi

Father of tr909 and tr808 drum machines + godfather of MIDI

Dave Smith

Designed Prophet-5 (the first polyphonic synthesizer with fully programmable memory) and MIDI

Project 600

The first ever MIDI product shipment in January 1983 NAMM show

TR-808 Drum Machine

Invented by Ikutaro Kakehashi

Analog Synthesizers

Analog sound

Roland System 700

Created by Ikutaro Kakehashi

Model 600 Analog Sequencer

A 16-step analog sequencer, born out of Dave's desire to create a sequencer for his own Minimoog.

Model 800 Digital Sequencer

A digital sequencer capable of storing 16 banks of 16-step sequences for a total of 256 notes.

Model 700 Programmer

A sound programmer for the Minimoog and ARP 2600 that could store a total of 64 programs in 8 banks of 8 programs.

Prophet-5

The world's first fully-programmable polyphonic analog synthesizer, notable for being the first musical instrument with an embedded microprocessor.

Synthesis

the process of creating sounds using electronic signals and instruments to produce soundwaves

Synthesizer

an electronic instrument that generates and MODIFIES sounds

Amplifier

Passed through an amplifier to reduce radiation

Oscillators

a circuit or algorithm that generates a periodic waveform by producing a consistent and repeatable oscillation of voltage or numerical data. This waveform represents a repeating signal, which is the foundation of sound in a synthesizer

Telharmonium

In 1895 Cahill registered his first patent for the Telharmonium, which he himself described as a machine for producing and spreading electronic music. The Telharmonium can in fact be considered the first significant electronic instrument

Dynamophon

He worked on developing the instrument, also called the Dynamophon, for 20 years. His ambitious goal was to construct the perfect instrument, no less, with perfect tones that were mechanically controlled with specific precision.

Telharmonium Instrument Features

The Telharmonium lets players imitate different instruments: organ, piano, and violin.

Cahill's Vision

Cahill's plan to spread the music produced by the Telharmonium through the telephone- which had only recently come about to great success and was considered modern communication technology - was yet another truly revolutionary innovation.

Dial-a-music

Cahill's vision was that music should no longer be reserved for the upper echelons of society who could afford to attend a performance. Instead, everyone should be able to enjoy a live concert.

Theremin

invented by Leon Theremin (1896-1993) (Russia) in 1919

Ondes Martenot

Built a similar concept to the theremin but also has a keyboard

First Programmable Synthesizer

Player-like Piano Roll

Used a player-like piano-like paper roll telling it what notes to play

Synthesizer Control

Unlike the piano, allowed for control of pitch, tone, and loudness

RCA Electric Music Synthesizer Mark 1

1956 - RCA created the electric music synthesizer mark 1

Tuning Forks

12 tuning forks activate electromagnetically

Loudspeaker Recording

Could be uploaded to a loudspeaker and recorded on two records simultaneously

Paper Roll Tape

Punched into a paper roll tape

Automation Features

Enabled automation of pitch, timbre, and envelope

Robert Moog

Founder of Moog music (1934-2005).

Moog synth

Launched in 1964.

Voltage control synthesizer

A modular synthesizer with voltage-controlled oscillator and amplifier.

Donald Buchla

American pioneer in sound synthesis (1937-2016) who popularized the western sound.

Buchla Series 100

A voltage control modular synthesizer.

Minimoog Model D

Introduced in 1970; capable of monophonic and polyphonic sounds.

eMoog

Semi-polyphonic keyboards able to hook up 10 monophonic modular systems at once.

Synclavier

More expensive synthesizer that laid out paths for future companies to explore.

eMoo sample technology

Launched in 1985/6 with two floppy disk loaders.

Roger Lynn

Inventor of the first drum machine.

Velocity

The speed and direction of the soundwave; sound travels at 344 m/s in the air.

Frequency

Measured in Hz; the number of waves that pass a fixed point in a second. Humans can normally hear sound within 20-20K Hz.

Partial tones

Sounds that are a combination of many different frequencies.

Square wave

A richer and buzzier wave; adding a fundamental tone makes it smoother.

Pulse wave

An alternating current with positive and negative sections.

Triangle wave

Buzzier wave with the same odd harmonics as square wave.

Sawtooth wave

The buzziest wave, characterized by a jagged shape.

Envelopes

Include Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release.

Sampling

The act of taking a portion (sample) of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a sound recording in a different song or piece.

Musique Concrète

A genre of electroacoustic music made from acousmatic sound, featuring sounds from recordings of instruments, voice, and the environment.

Mellotron

An electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard developed in the early 1960s, with a playing time of approximately eight seconds per tape strip.

EMS Musys System

the first digital sampler, developed by Peter Grogorno (software), David Cockerell (hardware and interfacing) and Peter Zinovieff (system design and operation).

PDP-8s

mini-computers that had 12,000 bytes of read-only memory, backed up by a hard drive of 32k and by tape storage (DecTape).

Fairlight CMI

(Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital sampling synthesizer designed in 1979 by the founders of Fairlight (Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie).

Qasar M8

an earlier synthesizer that attempted to create sound by modeling all of the parameters of a waveform in real time.

Roger Linn

creator of first drum machine (LinnDrum).

MPC

one of the first machines you could load your own samples into.

Em-U SP-1200

became an icon of hip-hop's golden age, due to its ability to construct the bulk of a song within one piece of portable gear.

SP-1200 storage capacity

can store up to 100 patterns, 100 songs, and has a 5000 note maximum memory for drum sequences.

Antecedent

4 measures of a question phrase - ends in a suspension.

Consequence

4 measures of an answer - ends in a tonal resolution.

Skip melody

can be built mostly on leaps.

Basic song form

aaba

Amplitude

the measure of the height of a sound wave.

Frequency

the frequency of sound waves is measured in Hz, or the number of waves that pass a fixed point in a second.

Infrasound

sounds with frequencies below 20 Hz.

Strophic

repeating sections

Thru-composed

composing new information throughout the entire composition → non repetitive.

Oscillator

a circuit that generates a repeating waveform, providing the raw waveforms that will be processed and shaped into the finished sound.

Sine wave oscillator

the most basic type of oscillator, which generates a pure sine wave.

Filter

an extractor of specific frequency components from a complex sound.

Harmonic structure

the composition of harmonics present in a sound.

Subtractive synthesis

A technique that involves removing energy from certain frequency ranges of harmonically rich sounds.

Low-pass filter

A filter that allows low frequencies to pass through and attenuates high frequencies.

High-pass filter

A filter that allows high frequencies to pass through and attenuates low frequencies.

Band-reject filter

A filter that attenuates a specific range of frequencies and allows frequencies outside that range to pass.

Band-pass filter

A filter that allows a specific range of frequencies to pass through while attenuating frequencies outside that range.

LFO

An oscillator that vibrates at a frequency too low for human hearing, used to modulate parameters in a synth or effect.

LFO parameters

Includes wave shape, frequency, and depth, which define the characteristics of the wave.

ADSR

An envelope control mechanism that stands for attack, decay, sustain, release, controlling the level of sound over time.

Attack

The portion of the envelope that represents the time taken for the amplitude to reach its maximum level.

Decay

The progressive reduction in the amplitude of a sound over time, starting after the attack phase has peaked.

Sustain

The period of time during which the sound is held before it begins to fade out.

Release

The final fade or reduction in amplitude over time.

Sine wave

A wave that shows how the amplitude of a variable changes with time and has a smooth oscillation.

Square wave

A wave that sounds richer and buzzier, containing harmonics in whole odd-number multiples of the fundamental frequency.

Pulse wave

An alternating current signal with a duty cycle, distinguished from a square wave by its on/off time ratio.

Triangle wave

A wave that contains odd harmonics tapering off from the fundamental, sounding clearer than a sine wave.

Sawtooth wave

A jagged wave that is the richest in harmonics, producing a buzzy sound, often used in subtractive synthesis.

Velocity

The word that best defines the speed and direction of a soundwave.

Amplitude

The loudness and height of a sound wave.

Frequency range of the human ear

20-20KHz

Fundamental components of a synthesizer

Oscillator, filter, LFO, ADSR.

Sections of a traditional pop song

Intro, verse, chorus, bridge.

Three sections of a basic sonata song form

Exposition, development, recapitulation.

Diatonic songwriting

Involves overlapping elements of melody and harmony that contribute to a strong foundation of composing.

Drum machine impact

Changed the way music is created.