Analog synthesizer
Electronic sound generator using analog circuits and signals.
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An analog synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with vacuum-tube and electro-mechanical technologies, and after the 1960s they were built using operational amplifier integrated circuits and potentiometers. Analog synthesizers have been significant in the development of electronic music, from early modular systems connected by patch cables to later integrated units like the Minimoog, and they experienced a resurgence in the 1990s and 2000s.
Quick Facts
- Key technology
- Vacuum tubes
- op-amps
- VCOs
- VCFs
- VCAs
- Notable manufacturers
- Moog
- ARP
- Serge
- EMS
- Roland
- Korg
- Yamaha
- Oberheim
- Sequential Circuits
- Peak era
- 1960s–1970s (modular and integrated designs)
- Resurgence
- 1990s–present (used and new analog hardware, Eurorack)
Facts from the source article.
Background
The earliest analog synthesizers emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, including the Trautonium, and used vacuum-tube and electro-mechanical technologies. In the 1960s, modular synthesizers like those from Moog used independent modules connected by patch cables, with voltage-controlled oscillators, filters, and amplifiers.
In the 1970s, miniaturized solid-state components allowed portable instruments for live performances, and synthesizers became standard in popular music. During the 1980s, digital synthesizers largely replaced analog, but by the early 1990s, musicians in techno and rave scenes rediscovered cheap second-hand analog equipment, increasing demand. This led to analog modeling synthesizers and new analog hardware from companies like Moog, Korg, and Behringer, as well as the Eurorack modular format.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Analog synthesizer (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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