Leonardo's musical Soviet military industry: from artillery systems to the world's first studio synthesizer
In our materials we have already touched the unique analog synthesizer ANS and its inventor Yevgeny Murzin. In connection with the revolutionary principles created by Murzin, the device that anticipated the appearance of music editors and all studio synthesizers, as well as the invaluable contribution of Soviet engineers to the development of synthesizers, I decided to devote a separate article to its creator.
The 70 years that the USSR has existed are a complex and contradictory period, which, meanwhile, is rich in amazing stories of inventions and discoveries. In acoustics and music, such inventions were no less than in heavy industry and the military industry, although the latter are much less known. One way or another, I am deeply convinced that the ambiguous attitude towards the Soviet period in the history of our country should not detract from the significance of the inventions of Soviet engineers.
In this article, the story of a talented military engineer who, despite a huge number of circumstances, created the world's first studio musical synthesizer. This post is about a man who, for the sake of his beloved invention, has abandoned the pursuit of generals and the benefits associated with them. In a sense, this succinct life story is devoted to the disappearing type of people who, in the harsh Soviet reality, managed to create unique equipment, open new horizons, were able to bypass bureaucratic, ideological and other obstacles.
Today, any article about the history of synthesizers does not do without mentioning such names as Robert Moog, Ray Kurzweil, Milton Byron Babbitt, while Yevgeny Murzin does not rarely remain forgotten or is mentioned only in passing. That is why the second article in the cycle about the history of synthesizers is dedicated to this person.
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Yevgeny Murzin was born in 1914 in Samara. After graduating from high school, the ambitious weaver’s son enters the Samara Construction College, which he graduated with honors in 1933. Already at this young age, Murzin becomes a music lover and shows great interest in classical music. The inquisitive mind of an excellent student of the Samara Technical School requires more than specialized secondary education, and in 1933 Murzin entered the Moscow Institute of Utility Construction Engineers. Having completed his studies with a red diploma in 1938, Murzin continued his studies at the postgraduate school of the institute.
According to the testimony of Murzin's daughter, already at the end of the 30s, the inventor had the idea of ​​creating a synthesizer. In 1936, the music lover Murzin met with the works of Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin, and already in 1938 a draft of the synthesizer, called ANS, appeared in honor of the great composer. After graduating from graduate school in 1941, Murzin with his project appeals to the Moscow Conservatory. The idea of ​​a young inventor is impressive in the management of the conservatory, but due to its resource intensity, the creation of a prototype synthesizer does not receive support.
Unlike many inventors, Murzin, by virtue of proletarian origin, and, probably, youth, avoided falling into a meat grinder of repression. Unlike, for example, Theremin, the inventor did not have to try the camp balanda and work in the cramped conditions of the Soviet sharashka. Another interesting feature is that Murzin himself was not a radio engineer at the time the synthesizer project was created, he had neither sound engineering nor musical education.
Perhaps an energetic engineer could have achieved the approval of his development as far back as 1941, but the Great Patriotic War began, which for a long time delayed the realization of Yevgeny Murzin’s revolutionary idea.
At the front, the engineer was from 1941, served in artillery. As a gifted and versatile person, the engineer applied engineering knowledge to design a project for an electromechanical system of artillery fire control, after which he sent a draft invention to the command. Assessing the innovation Murzin, the command recalls a talented engineer from the front and attracts to the development of military equipment in NII-5 as a senior lieutenant technician.
According to a friend of Murzin, composer Edward Artemyev, the inventor said that during the war he had the opportunity to analyze the characteristics of air combat and the techniques of German pilots. As a result of this study, he was able to develop effective tactical countermeasures for anti-aircraft batteries and Soviet aviators, which took into account the patterned, typical maneuvering of German aircraft during attacks.
During the war, the engineer developed several modifications of anti-aircraft fire control devices, supervised their testing and launch into mass production. In 1945, in the Moscow State Technical University named after NE. Bauman Murzin defended his thesis in the specialty military instrumentation.
Practically all the post-war years, the engineer is actively engaged in the development of ground sound artillery reconnaissance equipment, instrument-based methods of targeting fighter-interceptors to enemy bombers. For which, according to some information, in 1951, he was awarded the closed Stalin Prize. During the difficult 40s, Eugene found time to improve the design of his synthesizer . There was naturally no time left to create a prototype.
Developing artillery systems, Murzin becomes quite an influential figure, which allows him to find the resources necessary to develop a synthesizer. There is an opinion that the first prototype of the ANS was developed in NII-5 itself, but the stories of the engineer’s relatives and friends refute such assumptions. According to everyone who was familiar with the engineer, the prototype of the ANS synthesizer was going to the room of a communal apartment where Yevgeny Murzin lived. He was actively helped to solder his wife and daughter, as well as guests, conversations with which were not rarely held in the rosin haze.
Colleagues of the inventor of the military research institutes ironically called ANS as a balalaika, but understanding the companion’s dedication to a strange hobby of that time, they helped to get scarce radio elements. Murzin’s high salary by Soviet standards (who in the 50s reached the rank of colonel) greatly facilitated the work on the prototype tool. Realizing the value of Murzin’s military developments, the leadership of the scientific research institute turned a blind eye to an unusual hobby for a military engineer, which he considered to be a matter of his life.
Creating a working prototype of the invention, Murzin used his own funds, as well as the help of friends who financially supported the inventor in those cases when his own funds were not enough to purchase the necessary materials, parts and elements.
By 1958, Yevgeny Murzin managed to complete the first prototype of the ANS. Even the first handicraft model of the synthesizer had characteristics unprecedented for that time:
In addition, the synthesizer was the first polyphonic instrument of this type in the world and implemented the photo-optical principle of reproduction, which has no analogues in the world. Details about the principles of the synthesizer ANS, we wrote in this article .
The finished prototype struck composers and responsible comrades from the USSR Ministry of Culture. As a demonstration of the technical superiority of the Land of Soviets, the second prototype of the device with improved characteristics, created already with the active support of the Soviet Council of Ministers committee on radio electronics, went to the London and Paris technical exhibitions in 1961.
The composers instantly felt the revolutionary approach to creating music, the synthesizer made it possible to completely exclude the performer from the process of creating it, and draw sound canvases on the synthesizer plates as needed by the author. Many prominent composers of the time became associates of Murzin in the matter of improving his invention, for example, Eduard Artemyev, Nikolai Nikolsky, Peter Meshchaninov, Stanislav Kreichi.
There is a known document drawn up in the Union of Composers regarding the synthesizer and the initiative of Murzin in the name of USSR Minister of Culture Furtseva, here is its text:
It is interesting that, at the time of the creation of the laboratory, in 1967, Murzin, as the chief engineer and author of the basic principles of managing active air defense systems, successfully completes a large-scale project that promises him while continuing his military career (new position and rank of general) . Despite the bright prospects for career growth, Murzin goes to the reserve and chooses his ANS.
frame from A. Tarkovsky's film “The Mirror”
A special place music created on ANS, occupies in the Soviet cinema. Already named composers work with a synthesizer: Artemyev, Nikolsky, Meshchaninov, Kreychi, Gubaidulina, Nemtin, Schnittke and many others join them. other
In Soviet cinema there are a lot of films, famous episodes and fragments, where music or sound effects are created using ANS, for example:
In 1990, a collection of works by composers Alfred Schnittke, Edison Denisov, Sophia Gubaidulina, Eduard Artemyev and Oleg Buloshkin was published, which was created in 1971 on the ANS.
Another interesting fact related to the inventor is interesting. Murzin’s studio was planned to be housed in the house-museum of Scriabin, but the premises where they planned to do this occupied 10 rooms of a communal apartment. Through the efforts of Evgeny Murzin, who connected his military and party ties, the families who lived there were settled in 10 separate apartments, which seemed almost impossible for 1967.
In 1970, after a long illness, the creator of the world's first studio synthesizer and first music editor - ANS, Yevgeny Murzin died. The studio was headed by his deputy Malkov. In subsequent years, the studio, initially only formally related to the record company “Melody”, gradually came under the full control of this organization. According to the composers who worked there, the loss of independence had a very negative effect on the creative atmosphere.
Today there are several computer ANS emulators, for example, virtual ANS:
Evgeny Alexandrovich Murzin was buried at the Vvedensky cemetery, on the grave there is a modest granite obelisk. Despite a significant contribution to the development of revolutionary technical approaches, ideas of creative freedom and the creation of synthesizers, the name of Yevgeny Murzin is rarely remembered at home and practically do not know abroad.
The 70 years that the USSR has existed are a complex and contradictory period, which, meanwhile, is rich in amazing stories of inventions and discoveries. In acoustics and music, such inventions were no less than in heavy industry and the military industry, although the latter are much less known. One way or another, I am deeply convinced that the ambiguous attitude towards the Soviet period in the history of our country should not detract from the significance of the inventions of Soviet engineers.
In this article, the story of a talented military engineer who, despite a huge number of circumstances, created the world's first studio musical synthesizer. This post is about a man who, for the sake of his beloved invention, has abandoned the pursuit of generals and the benefits associated with them. In a sense, this succinct life story is devoted to the disappearing type of people who, in the harsh Soviet reality, managed to create unique equipment, open new horizons, were able to bypass bureaucratic, ideological and other obstacles.
Today, any article about the history of synthesizers does not do without mentioning such names as Robert Moog, Ray Kurzweil, Milton Byron Babbitt, while Yevgeny Murzin does not rarely remain forgotten or is mentioned only in passing. That is why the second article in the cycle about the history of synthesizers is dedicated to this person.
')
The beginning of the path "Samara nugget"
Yevgeny Murzin was born in 1914 in Samara. After graduating from high school, the ambitious weaver’s son enters the Samara Construction College, which he graduated with honors in 1933. Already at this young age, Murzin becomes a music lover and shows great interest in classical music. The inquisitive mind of an excellent student of the Samara Technical School requires more than specialized secondary education, and in 1933 Murzin entered the Moscow Institute of Utility Construction Engineers. Having completed his studies with a red diploma in 1938, Murzin continued his studies at the postgraduate school of the institute.
According to the testimony of Murzin's daughter, already at the end of the 30s, the inventor had the idea of ​​creating a synthesizer. In 1936, the music lover Murzin met with the works of Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin, and already in 1938 a draft of the synthesizer, called ANS, appeared in honor of the great composer. After graduating from graduate school in 1941, Murzin with his project appeals to the Moscow Conservatory. The idea of ​​a young inventor is impressive in the management of the conservatory, but due to its resource intensity, the creation of a prototype synthesizer does not receive support.
Unlike many inventors, Murzin, by virtue of proletarian origin, and, probably, youth, avoided falling into a meat grinder of repression. Unlike, for example, Theremin, the inventor did not have to try the camp balanda and work in the cramped conditions of the Soviet sharashka. Another interesting feature is that Murzin himself was not a radio engineer at the time the synthesizer project was created, he had neither sound engineering nor musical education.
Military genius with dreams about the prospects of electronic music
Perhaps an energetic engineer could have achieved the approval of his development as far back as 1941, but the Great Patriotic War began, which for a long time delayed the realization of Yevgeny Murzin’s revolutionary idea.
At the front, the engineer was from 1941, served in artillery. As a gifted and versatile person, the engineer applied engineering knowledge to design a project for an electromechanical system of artillery fire control, after which he sent a draft invention to the command. Assessing the innovation Murzin, the command recalls a talented engineer from the front and attracts to the development of military equipment in NII-5 as a senior lieutenant technician.
According to a friend of Murzin, composer Edward Artemyev, the inventor said that during the war he had the opportunity to analyze the characteristics of air combat and the techniques of German pilots. As a result of this study, he was able to develop effective tactical countermeasures for anti-aircraft batteries and Soviet aviators, which took into account the patterned, typical maneuvering of German aircraft during attacks.
During the war, the engineer developed several modifications of anti-aircraft fire control devices, supervised their testing and launch into mass production. In 1945, in the Moscow State Technical University named after NE. Bauman Murzin defended his thesis in the specialty military instrumentation.
Practically all the post-war years, the engineer is actively engaged in the development of ground sound artillery reconnaissance equipment, instrument-based methods of targeting fighter-interceptors to enemy bombers. For which, according to some information, in 1951, he was awarded the closed Stalin Prize. During the difficult 40s, Eugene found time to improve the design of his synthesizer . There was naturally no time left to create a prototype.
Revolutionary synthesizer, soldered in a communal
Developing artillery systems, Murzin becomes quite an influential figure, which allows him to find the resources necessary to develop a synthesizer. There is an opinion that the first prototype of the ANS was developed in NII-5 itself, but the stories of the engineer’s relatives and friends refute such assumptions. According to everyone who was familiar with the engineer, the prototype of the ANS synthesizer was going to the room of a communal apartment where Yevgeny Murzin lived. He was actively helped to solder his wife and daughter, as well as guests, conversations with which were not rarely held in the rosin haze.
Colleagues of the inventor of the military research institutes ironically called ANS as a balalaika, but understanding the companion’s dedication to a strange hobby of that time, they helped to get scarce radio elements. Murzin’s high salary by Soviet standards (who in the 50s reached the rank of colonel) greatly facilitated the work on the prototype tool. Realizing the value of Murzin’s military developments, the leadership of the scientific research institute turned a blind eye to an unusual hobby for a military engineer, which he considered to be a matter of his life.
Creating a working prototype of the invention, Murzin used his own funds, as well as the help of friends who financially supported the inventor in those cases when his own funds were not enough to purchase the necessary materials, parts and elements.
Short triumph and revenge of Soviet reality
By 1958, Yevgeny Murzin managed to complete the first prototype of the ANS. Even the first handicraft model of the synthesizer had characteristics unprecedented for that time:
576 pure tones spanning the range of 42-10800 GHz, 8 octaves
72-step temperament
4 optical discs, each disc - 144 tracks (2 octaves)
diameters 120-30mm, width 0.31mm
rotation speeds: 12, 3, 3/4, 3/16 rev / sec
2 tape recorders of the author's design for recording playback sound
powerful amplifier, in the terminal of which more than 70 lamps were used
In addition, the synthesizer was the first polyphonic instrument of this type in the world and implemented the photo-optical principle of reproduction, which has no analogues in the world. Details about the principles of the synthesizer ANS, we wrote in this article .
The finished prototype struck composers and responsible comrades from the USSR Ministry of Culture. As a demonstration of the technical superiority of the Land of Soviets, the second prototype of the device with improved characteristics, created already with the active support of the Soviet Council of Ministers committee on radio electronics, went to the London and Paris technical exhibitions in 1961.
The composers instantly felt the revolutionary approach to creating music, the synthesizer made it possible to completely exclude the performer from the process of creating it, and draw sound canvases on the synthesizer plates as needed by the author. Many prominent composers of the time became associates of Murzin in the matter of improving his invention, for example, Eduard Artemyev, Nikolai Nikolsky, Peter Meshchaninov, Stanislav Kreichi.
Artemyev described these events as follows:
“After the conservatory, I happened to meet Yevgeny Murzin and his synthesizer ANS. A stunning impression. A world that I had never heard before ... I understood the intrinsic value of sound, its ability to contain the macroworld and the microworld. ”
Using support, after the appearance of the industrial design of the ANS, under the leadership of Murzin, a “central electronic music studio” is being created.
There is a known document drawn up in the Union of Composers regarding the synthesizer and the initiative of Murzin in the name of USSR Minister of Culture Furtseva, here is its text:
Dear Ekaterina Alekseevna!
In 1961, the State Committee of the USSR Council of Ministers for Radio Electronics completed the development of an industrial design of an electronic musical instrument — the ANS. (ѕ) ANS in the hands of the composer is a means of producing music. (ѕ) In order to generalize the experience of using ANSs, a central electronic music studio should be established at the Ministry of Culture of the USSR
First Secretary of the USSR Union of Composers T. Khrennikov
First Secretary of the Union of Composers of the RSFSR D. Shostakovich
It is interesting that, at the time of the creation of the laboratory, in 1967, Murzin, as the chief engineer and author of the basic principles of managing active air defense systems, successfully completes a large-scale project that promises him while continuing his military career (new position and rank of general) . Despite the bright prospects for career growth, Murzin goes to the reserve and chooses his ANS.
frame from A. Tarkovsky's film “The Mirror”
A special place music created on ANS, occupies in the Soviet cinema. Already named composers work with a synthesizer: Artemyev, Nikolsky, Meshchaninov, Kreychi, Gubaidulina, Nemtin, Schnittke and many others join them. other
In Soviet cinema there are a lot of films, famous episodes and fragments, where music or sound effects are created using ANS, for example:
- “The Diamond Hand” - the plastered paw chases Gesha (Mironov), and then grabs him by the nose.
- When in "Solaris" a heavy, iridescent humming sounds like an oppressive sound background - the ocean is alarmed, nerves are wound up.
- When in “Come back tomorrow,” Frosya Burlakova, dumbfounded from Moscow, faints at three railway stations.
- When in “Liberation” Hitler is poisoned.
- Soundtracks for "Siberiade" and "Mirror" are almost entirely created on the ANS
- (This list goes on and on)
In 1990, a collection of works by composers Alfred Schnittke, Edison Denisov, Sophia Gubaidulina, Eduard Artemyev and Oleg Buloshkin was published, which was created in 1971 on the ANS.
Another interesting fact related to the inventor is interesting. Murzin’s studio was planned to be housed in the house-museum of Scriabin, but the premises where they planned to do this occupied 10 rooms of a communal apartment. Through the efforts of Evgeny Murzin, who connected his military and party ties, the families who lived there were settled in 10 separate apartments, which seemed almost impossible for 1967.
In 1970, after a long illness, the creator of the world's first studio synthesizer and first music editor - ANS, Yevgeny Murzin died. The studio was headed by his deputy Malkov. In subsequent years, the studio, initially only formally related to the record company “Melody”, gradually came under the full control of this organization. According to the composers who worked there, the loss of independence had a very negative effect on the creative atmosphere.
Artemyev tells about it this way: After Murzin died, the studio was headed by his deputy Malkov - he had remarkable organizational skills, but could not get along with people and was not flexible. The studio lost its independence, it was made part of the company "Melody", and gradually it lost everything. It is natural that, in the absence of an initiative, the ANS was never launched in the series.
Today there are several computer ANS emulators, for example, virtual ANS:
Evgeny Alexandrovich Murzin was buried at the Vvedensky cemetery, on the grave there is a modest granite obelisk. Despite a significant contribution to the development of revolutionary technical approaches, ideas of creative freedom and the creation of synthesizers, the name of Yevgeny Murzin is rarely remembered at home and practically do not know abroad.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/370009/
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