The history of audio technology: synthesizers and samplers
The history of audio recordings has many experiments with formats and technologies. We assembled devices that helped composers find the very “new sound”: from the half-forgotten experiments of the Soviet engineers of the 1920s to the instruments of the 1970s.
Photo PMDrive1061 / CC BY-SA / Optigan Optical Organ
One of the first to work on the idea of "artificial" sound began in the USSR. In 1929, during the creation of the film "Five-Year Plan", composer Arseny Avrahamov, engineer Evgeny Sholpo and director-animator Mikhail Tsekhanovsky wondered: is it possible to synthesize sound by recording a graphic image on a film track?
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Convinced that this was possible, Avrahamov and Sholpo, together with inventors Boris Yankovsky and Nikolai Voinov, began to develop devices for creating "drawn sound." The result of their work were three optical synthesizers .
The first device, Nivoton, was developed by Nikolai Voinov. It worked on paper stencils, denoting the sounds of different timbre and height. These stencils Warriors cut with scissors by hand. In the early 1930s, Nivoton was used in the dubbing of several cartoons.
The second unit was designed by Boris Yankovsky. He wanted to create a library of synthetic sounds in order to fill the "timbral gaps" in the symphony orchestra. The result of his work was “Vibroexpononator” - a complex optical device that transports the contents of stencil plates directly onto the surface of a film.
The third device is the “Variofon” by Eugene Sholpo. Unlike other devices, the vario was mechanized: the drawing on the film created rotating disks of different shapes. In the 1930s, the apparatus was used both to create soundtracks and as a synthesizer. The sounding of the recordings created by “Varyophon” resemble 8-bit music.
Work on the “painted sound” ceased during the war and then did not resume fully - Nikolay Voinov and Boris Yankovsky abandoned their designs, and Yevgeny Sholpo died in 1951. Later, the ideas of engineers formed the basis of the world's first polyphonic synthesizer ANS . It was created by Yevgeny Murzin, a former colleague of Boris Yankovsky.
Optical sound synthesis was used in his work and Lev Termen . In the 1930s, the inventor lived in the United States, where, together with American composer Henry Cowell, he created the world's first drum machine. She received the name "rhythmicon".
In the rhythmik between the light source and the photosensor there were rotating discs, one of which set the pitch and the other a rhythmic pattern. It was possible to switch between different tones and rhythms using the built-in 17-key keyboard.
Experiments of a German scientist named Wolja Saraga led to the development of another optical synthesizer - the Saraga-generator.
The first version of the tool was created for the voice of theatrical performances. A neon lamp was placed on one edge of the stage, and a photodetector with a synthesizer module was placed on the other. The movements of the actors interfered with the path of the neon beam, thereby affecting the pitch and timbre of the sound. Later, a simplified version of the instrument appeared, in which the optical sensor controlled only the pitch.
During World War II, Saraga fled to the UK, because of which he temporarily stopped working on the instrument. And after his return to Berlin, the project was dead at all - Saraga-generator could not compete with the transistor synthesizers of the fifties.
Optical synthesis technologies were also used to create early samplers.
One of the first such devices - the Hardy-GoldTueat Organ - was released in 1931. On the disk located in front of the optical sensor of the organ, images of sound waves of instruments were applied, which allowed them to be imitated. Outwardly, the instrument resembled a piano and was controlled using a keyboard. The creators hoped that the organ would seriously compete with traditional symphonic instruments, but the device failed and did not reach the mass consumer.
Similarly, Optigan worked as a sampler for home-made music, created by toy maker Mattel in the early 70s. Due to poor sound quality, it was also not in great demand. Even the professional version, released under the guidance of one of the inventors of the Moog synthesizer, did not fix it. You can hear the instrument on Kraftwerk and The Clash records.
The main competitor of the "Optigan" was the mellotron - a sampler resembling a piano. Inside the instrument was a tape recorder and a set of tapes with eight-second samples. Pressing the key played the corresponding tape, creating the illusion of acoustic sound.
Interest in the instrument declined in the 1980s with the advent of more convenient electronic samplers, which were easier than the mellotron and did not require such careful care. However, the musicians of the 1990s and 2000s returned to the instrument because of its characteristic sound: the mellotron can be heard in the works of Radiohead, Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers and other modern artists.
One of the first electromechanical synthesizers was trautium developed by the German engineer Friedrich Trautwein in 1929.
Instead of a keyboard, the instrument used a wire located above the metal plate. Pressing the wire closed the electrical circuit and sent a signal to a tube sound generator. The game on trautonium resembled a game on a slide guitar: the metal plate was marked up according to the steps of the chromatic scale.
The tool attracted the attention of composer Paul Hindemith (Paul Hindemith) and his student Oskar Sala (Oskar Sala), who in the early 1930s performed the first works written specifically for the trautonium. Sala continued to write music for the instrument, but the composer failed to popularize it. The most famous use of the synthesizer was the soundtrack for Alfred Hitchcock's Birds - Oscar recorded the day the cries of crows and gulls.
In the 1930s, American Lawrence Hammond (Laurens Hammond) developed a more popular electromechanical instrument - the Hammond organ. The sound in the instrument produced a gear-shaped synchronous generator that rotated near the electromagnetic pickup.
At first, the Hammond organ became popular in religious institutions - it was an inexpensive alternative to the spiritual organs - and then from rock musicians. The sound of the instrument is immortalized on the albums of Deep Purple, ELP and other groups of the 60s-70s.
Over time, transistor models appeared, and digital versions of the organ are used to this day - they can be heard at concerts of many jazz musicians .
What else can you read in our "World Hi-Fi":
Sound insulation method, extinguishing up to 94% noise
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Technological musical instruments up to the 20th century
Vinyl instead of a postage stamp: an unusual rarity
The world's first "gender-neutral" voice assistant
Photo PMDrive1061 / CC BY-SA / Optigan Optical Organ
Optical instruments
One of the first to work on the idea of "artificial" sound began in the USSR. In 1929, during the creation of the film "Five-Year Plan", composer Arseny Avrahamov, engineer Evgeny Sholpo and director-animator Mikhail Tsekhanovsky wondered: is it possible to synthesize sound by recording a graphic image on a film track?
')
Convinced that this was possible, Avrahamov and Sholpo, together with inventors Boris Yankovsky and Nikolai Voinov, began to develop devices for creating "drawn sound." The result of their work were three optical synthesizers .
The first device, Nivoton, was developed by Nikolai Voinov. It worked on paper stencils, denoting the sounds of different timbre and height. These stencils Warriors cut with scissors by hand. In the early 1930s, Nivoton was used in the dubbing of several cartoons.
The second unit was designed by Boris Yankovsky. He wanted to create a library of synthetic sounds in order to fill the "timbral gaps" in the symphony orchestra. The result of his work was “Vibroexpononator” - a complex optical device that transports the contents of stencil plates directly onto the surface of a film.
The third device is the “Variofon” by Eugene Sholpo. Unlike other devices, the vario was mechanized: the drawing on the film created rotating disks of different shapes. In the 1930s, the apparatus was used both to create soundtracks and as a synthesizer. The sounding of the recordings created by “Varyophon” resemble 8-bit music.
Work on the “painted sound” ceased during the war and then did not resume fully - Nikolay Voinov and Boris Yankovsky abandoned their designs, and Yevgeny Sholpo died in 1951. Later, the ideas of engineers formed the basis of the world's first polyphonic synthesizer ANS . It was created by Yevgeny Murzin, a former colleague of Boris Yankovsky.
Optical sound synthesis was used in his work and Lev Termen . In the 1930s, the inventor lived in the United States, where, together with American composer Henry Cowell, he created the world's first drum machine. She received the name "rhythmicon".
In the rhythmik between the light source and the photosensor there were rotating discs, one of which set the pitch and the other a rhythmic pattern. It was possible to switch between different tones and rhythms using the built-in 17-key keyboard.
It so happened that Cowell himself quickly lost interest in the instrument. However, twenty years later, the rhythmicon received a second life. He was accidentally discovered by producer Joe Meek (Joe Meek), from whose filing the rhythmicon sounded on the soundtrack to the film “Doctor Strangelove”, and later on Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream LPs.
Experiments of a German scientist named Wolja Saraga led to the development of another optical synthesizer - the Saraga-generator.
The first version of the tool was created for the voice of theatrical performances. A neon lamp was placed on one edge of the stage, and a photodetector with a synthesizer module was placed on the other. The movements of the actors interfered with the path of the neon beam, thereby affecting the pitch and timbre of the sound. Later, a simplified version of the instrument appeared, in which the optical sensor controlled only the pitch.
During World War II, Saraga fled to the UK, because of which he temporarily stopped working on the instrument. And after his return to Berlin, the project was dead at all - Saraga-generator could not compete with the transistor synthesizers of the fifties.
Samplers
Optical synthesis technologies were also used to create early samplers.
One of the first such devices - the Hardy-GoldTueat Organ - was released in 1931. On the disk located in front of the optical sensor of the organ, images of sound waves of instruments were applied, which allowed them to be imitated. Outwardly, the instrument resembled a piano and was controlled using a keyboard. The creators hoped that the organ would seriously compete with traditional symphonic instruments, but the device failed and did not reach the mass consumer.
Similarly, Optigan worked as a sampler for home-made music, created by toy maker Mattel in the early 70s. Due to poor sound quality, it was also not in great demand. Even the professional version, released under the guidance of one of the inventors of the Moog synthesizer, did not fix it. You can hear the instrument on Kraftwerk and The Clash records.
The main competitor of the "Optigan" was the mellotron - a sampler resembling a piano. Inside the instrument was a tape recorder and a set of tapes with eight-second samples. Pressing the key played the corresponding tape, creating the illusion of acoustic sound.
Mellotron was loved by musicians - it can be heard on albums by bands such as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and King Crimson. Radio and television workers also did not stand aside: in 1965, a special mellotron model, the FX Console, was released specifically for the BBC. It was used to create sound effects in programs and TV shows.
Interest in the instrument declined in the 1980s with the advent of more convenient electronic samplers, which were easier than the mellotron and did not require such careful care. However, the musicians of the 1990s and 2000s returned to the instrument because of its characteristic sound: the mellotron can be heard in the works of Radiohead, Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers and other modern artists.
Electromechanical tools
One of the first electromechanical synthesizers was trautium developed by the German engineer Friedrich Trautwein in 1929.
Instead of a keyboard, the instrument used a wire located above the metal plate. Pressing the wire closed the electrical circuit and sent a signal to a tube sound generator. The game on trautonium resembled a game on a slide guitar: the metal plate was marked up according to the steps of the chromatic scale.
The tool attracted the attention of composer Paul Hindemith (Paul Hindemith) and his student Oskar Sala (Oskar Sala), who in the early 1930s performed the first works written specifically for the trautonium. Sala continued to write music for the instrument, but the composer failed to popularize it. The most famous use of the synthesizer was the soundtrack for Alfred Hitchcock's Birds - Oscar recorded the day the cries of crows and gulls.
In the 1930s, American Lawrence Hammond (Laurens Hammond) developed a more popular electromechanical instrument - the Hammond organ. The sound in the instrument produced a gear-shaped synchronous generator that rotated near the electromagnetic pickup.
At first, the Hammond organ became popular in religious institutions - it was an inexpensive alternative to the spiritual organs - and then from rock musicians. The sound of the instrument is immortalized on the albums of Deep Purple, ELP and other groups of the 60s-70s.
Over time, transistor models appeared, and digital versions of the organ are used to this day - they can be heard at concerts of many jazz musicians .
What else can you read in our "World Hi-Fi":
Sound insulation method, extinguishing up to 94% noise Zoo professions related to the audio industry Technological musical instruments up to the 20th century Vinyl instead of a postage stamp: an unusual rarity The world's first "gender-neutral" voice assistant Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/447062/
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