Consumer Electronics

CHAPTER 25

ELECTRONIC MUSIC SYNTHESIZERS

The first Moog synthesizers were made available only in 1964. While electronic musical instruments consist of basically simple circuits, or building blocks, the instrument itself is usually a complex, sophisticated device.

Electronic musical instruments differ markedly from conventional or traditional musical instruments. Electronic instruments use electrons to generate the signals that make up the sounds and in appearance an electronic musical instrument resembles a computer more than a ‘musical instrument'. They are often as complex as a computer to operate as well, demanding of the composer and or player an expertise beyond the knowledge of musicology.

Pioneers in the field of “new” music recognise ...