Chronology of synth DIY
This chronology of synth DIY shows a sequence of groundbreaking events and related circumstances in the history of DIY electronic music instrument creation, concentrating on electrically produced sounds and excluding electromechanical musical instruments.
Timeline[edit | edit source]
For more depth on a subject most external links go to a Wikipedia article. Usually only the first occurrence is shown.
Year | Synth DIY | Background |
---|---|---|
1816 | First working electrical telegraph (UK) | |
1837 | Charles Grafton Page observes what he later calls "galvanic music" (USA). | |
1863 | On the Sensations of Tone book by Hermann von Helmholtz (Germany) | |
1874 | Electric Telegraph for Transmitting Musical Tones by Elisha Gray (USA) | |
1876 | Telephone by Alexander Graham Bell (USA) | |
1896 | Telharmonium by Thaddeus Cahill (USA) | |
1898 |
| |
1900 | William Duddell demonstrates his singing arc. (UK) | |
1906 | Audion invented by Lee de Forest (USA) | |
1908 | Hugo Gernsback publishes first hobby electronics magazine Modern Electrics (USA) | |
1885 |
| |
1905 | Helmholtz sound synthesizer by Max Kohl (Germany) | |
1912 |
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1913 |
| |
1915 | Audion piano (USA) | |
1919 |
| |
1921 | RadioShack retailer, until 2015 (USA) | |
1924 | The Staccatone project in Practical Electrics (USA)[2] | |
1925 | Bell Labs (USA) | |
1928 |
| |
1929 |
| |
1930 | Trautonium by Friedrich Trautwein (Germany) | |
1934 | Invention of the ring modulator by Frank A. Cowan (USA) | |
1935 |
| |
1937 | Warbo Formant Organ by Harald Bode (Germany) | |
1938 |
| |
1939 | Novachord by Laurens Hammond (USA) | |
1941 |
| |
1942 | Kits of parts sold for Ondioline electronic sub-assemblies.[note 1] |
|
1944 | Ta'abir al-Zaar, (The Expression of Zaar) musique concrète by Halim El-Dabh (Egypt) | |
1945 | Hugh Le Caine's Electronic Sackbut (Canada) |
Wide availability of war surplus electronics.[4][5] |
1946 |
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1947 |
| |
1948 |
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1949 |
14 year old Bob Moog builds a theremin from plans printed in Electronics World. (USA) |
|
1950 |
| |
1951 | Studio für elektronische Musik des Westdeutschen Rundfunks (Germany) | |
1952 | Raymond Scott begins to develop the Clavivox, patented in 1959. (USA) | A la recherche d’une musique concrète book by Pierre Schaeffer (France) |
1954 |
| |
1955 |
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1956 |
Forbidden Planet soundtrack by Bebe and Louis Barron (USA) | |
1957 |
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1958 |
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1959 |
Raymond Scott begins developing the Electronium. (USA) |
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1960 |
Dermatron by Bruce Haack (USA)[note 2] | |
1961 |
DIY Theremin by Dan Horowitz, Electronics Illustrated magazine (USA) |
|
1962 |
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1963 |
Fred Judd builds a prototype synthesizer (UK) |
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1964 |
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1965 |
µA709 first commercially successful monolithic IC op-amp (USA) | |
1966 |
Good Vibrations hit single by The Beach Boys (USA) | |
1967 |
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1968 |
Switched-On Bach studio album by Wendy Carlos (USA) | |
1969 |
| |
1970 |
Bruce Haack meets Raymond Scott (USA)[10] |
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1971 |
Psych-Tone by Don Lancaster in Popular Electronics magazine (USA) |
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1972 |
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1973 |
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1974 |
Serge (USA) |
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1975 |
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1976 |
Synapse: The Electronic Music Magazine until 1979 (USA) |
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1977 |
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1978 |
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1979 |
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1980 |
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1981 |
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1982 |
Electronic Music Circuits by Barry Klein (USA) |
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1983 |
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1984 |
Roland Juno-106 (Japan) | |
1985 |
Digital Polyphonic Keyboard project by D. G. Greaves, Wireless World (UK) |
|
1986 |
Electronic Synthesiser Construction book by R. A. Penfold (UK) |
Internet (USA) |
1987 |
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1988 |
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1989 |
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1991 |
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1992 | Analogue Heaven mailing list (USA) | |
1994 |
J. Donald Tillman publishes till.com (USA) |
Analogue Systems (UK) |
1995 |
Synth-diy mailing list (The Netherlands)[12] |
|
1996 |
|
Doepfer creates the Eurorack format with the A-100 (Germany) |
1997 |
| |
1998 |
Synthesis Technology MOTM by Paul Schreiber, until 2023 (USA) |
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1999 |
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2000 |
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2003 |
Ray Wilson publishes Music From Outer Space website (USA) |
electro-music.com[15] (USA) |
2005 |
Yves Usson publishes Yusynth website (France) |
|
2006 |
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2008 |
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2009 |
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2010 |
Befaco (Spain) |
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2011 |
synthCube (USA) |
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2012 |
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2013 |
Bastl Instruments (Czech Republic) |
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2014 |
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2015 |
Modular Addict (USA) |
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2016 |
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Alfa Rpar AS produces IC for synth and audio (Latvia) |
2018 |
Sound Semiconductor (USA) | |
2019 |
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2020 | Global chip shortage |
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ^ a b Exact year uncertain.
- ^ Can't find better dates for Bruce Haack's electronic creations.
- ^ Trevor Pinch writes about building one in Evocative Objects - Things We Think with by Sherry Turkle, MIT Press, 2007, ISBN 0262201682, p. 162
References[edit | edit source]
- ^ First Radio Hams / Amateurs, Electronics Notes
- ^ The ‘Staccatone’. Hugo Gernsback & C.J.Fitch. USA, 1923, 120 Years of Electronic Music
- ^ The Ondioline - The design and development of an electronic-musical instrument
- ^ The Death Of Surplus by Brandon Dunson, Hackaday, 7 December 2015
- ^ Government surplus sales after Second World War by Neil Cryer
- ^ Electronic and Experimental Music by Thom Holmes, 5th edition, Routledge, Nov 2015, ISBN 1-138-79273-X
- ^ Remembering The Engineer Who Created Rock's Unmistakable Fuzz by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, 10 June 2018
- ^ a b Buchla 200e: Part 1 by Gordon Reid, Sound On Sound, December 2005
- ^ The History of Electronic Drum Sets – 1960s to the 2020s by Mike O'Connor, Electronic Drum Advisor, 10 September 2020
- ^ Biography Bruce Haack
- ^ A sampling of techniques for computer performance of music by Hal Chamberlin, Byte, September 1977
- ^ synth-diy archive by Rick Jansen, 7 July 1999
- ^ Circuit Board Update 4/23, Gene Stopp, Synth-diy mailing list, 23 Apr 1996
- ^ ASM-1 Homepage release note, Magnus Danielson, Synth-diy mailing list, 23 Oct 23 1996
- ^ Thanks For A Great Year, electro-music.com, 28 Dec 2003
- ^ Mini Wiki Getting Started Guide, Mod Wiggler forum, Nov 2008
- ^ Getting Started – A Mini Wiki Tutorial, Muff's Modules Wiki, Nov 2008 - archived
- ^ Korg Volca Beats, Bass & Keys, Sound On Sound, October 2013
Further reading[edit | edit source]
- The Synthesizer: A Comprehensive Guide To Understanding, Programming, Playing, And Recording The Ultimate Electronic Music Instrument by Mark Vail, 2014 – despite the title it's mainly about the history of synthesizer development.
- Electronotes edited by Bernie Hutchins – the early and influential electronic music DIY mailing list would be a useful resource for tracing the development of synth DIY.
External links[edit | edit source]
- History of Synth DIY: Opinions requested, Mod Wiggler Forum, Jun 2021
- Collaborative Graphical Timeline of Modular History, Mod Wiggler Forum, Aug 2016
- Timeline History of Eurorack?, Mod Wiggler Forum, Sep 2012
- Do It Yourself: The History and Present State of DIY Synth Kits by Mark Brend, Reverb, 25 Aug 2022
Video[edit | edit source]
Wikipedia[edit | edit source]
Timelines[edit | edit source]
- 120 Years Of Electronic Music
- Synth timeline, Vintage Synth Explorer
- Timeline of Synthesis by Marc Doty
- Synthesizer Timelines, Lists & Histories
- A Chronology / History of Electronic and Computer Music and Related Events 1900–2015 by Paul Doornbusch - archived
- The History of Synthesizers – Part 1 and The History of the Synthesizer – Part 2, vintagesynthpads.com
- ETHW:Timeline
- History of electronic music
- A brief history, Constructive Synthesis