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28-686: The Doepfer A-100 is an analog modular synthesizer system introduced by German audio manufacturer Doepfer in 1995. Although there were only 10 module types at time of release, it currently has more than 120 modules plus several different enclosures and accessories. A-100 modules are designed to be rackmounted , each being 3U tall and a multiple of 2HP wide, and a variety of cases are available to house them. This type of racking system, Eurorack , has been adopted by many other manufacturers of synthesiser modules. Modules are patched using standard mono miniature (3.5 mm) leads. This combination of 3U height, multiples of 2HP width, and 3.5 mm leads

56-500: A delay parameter before the attack . Modern synthesizers, such as the Prophet '08 , have DADSR (delay, attack, decay, sustain, release) envelopes. The delay setting determines the length of silence between hitting a note and the attack. Some software synthesizers , such as Image-Line's 3xOSC (included with their DAW FL Studio ) have DAHDSR (delay, attack, hold, decay, sustain, release) envelopes. A common feature on many synthesizers

84-458: A hold time parameter; the sustain level is not programmable. Another common variation in the same vein is the AHDSR (attack, hold, decay, sustain, release) envelope, in which the hold parameter controls how long the envelope stays at full volume before entering the decay phase. Multiple attack, decay and release settings may be found on more sophisticated models. Certain synthesizers also allow for

112-635: A modular design, normalization made the instrument more portable and easier to use. This first pre-patched synthesizer, the Minimoog , became highly popular, with over 12,000 units sold. The Minimoog also influenced the design of nearly all subsequent synthesizers, with integrated keyboard, pitch wheel and modulation wheel, and a VCO -> VCF -> VCA signal flow. In the 1970s, miniaturized solid-state components let manufacturers produce self-contained, portable instruments, which musicians soon began to use in live performances. Electronic synthesizers quickly become

140-851: A number of independent electronic modules connected by patch cables into a patchbay that resembled the jackfields used by 1940s-era telephone operators. Synthesizer modules in early analog synthesizers included voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), voltage-controlled filters (VCFs), and voltage-controlled amplifiers (VCAs). The control voltage varied frequency in VCOs and VCFs, and attenuation (gain) in VCAs. Additionally, they used envelope generators , low-frequency oscillators , and ring modulators . Some synthesizers also had effects devices, such as reverb units, or tools such as sequencers or sound mixers . Because many of these modules took input sound signals and processed them, an analog synthesizer could be used both as

168-433: A sound-generating and sound-processing system. Famous modular synthesizer manufacturers included Moog Music , ARP Instruments, Inc. , Serge Modular Music Systems , and Electronic Music Studios . Moog established standards recognized worldwide for control interfacing on analog synthesizers, using an exponential 1-volt-per-octave pitch control and a separate pulse triggering signal. These control signals were routed using

196-460: A standard part of the popular-music repertoire. The first movie to use music made with a (Moog) synthesizer was the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969. After the release of the film, composers produced a large number of movie soundtracks that featured synthesizers. Notable makers of all-in-one analog synthesizers included Moog, ARP, Roland , Korg and Yamaha . Because of

224-463: Is known more generally as the Eurorack standard, and is in contrast to the older combination of 5U height and 6.35 mm width pioneered by Moog . Other companies such as Analogue Solutions, Analogue Systems, Roland , Moog and Cwejman have also adopted the Eurorack standard, making it relatively easy to integrate their modules into each other's systems. Using certain modules designed specifically for

252-847: The Hammond organ , and the Trautonium , many of these would not be considered synthesizers by the standards of later instruments. However, some of these synthesizers achieved a high level of sophistication, such as the Trautonium of Oskar Sala , the Electronium of Raymond Scott , and the ANS synthesizer of Evgeny Murzin . Another notable early instrument is the Hammond Novachord , first produced in 1938. Early analog synthesizers used technology from electronic analog computers and laboratory test equipment. They were generally "modular" synthesizers, consisting of

280-479: The Kawai K5 (waveforms constructed via additive synthesis). With the falling cost of microprocessors, this architecture became the standard architecture for high-end analog synthesizers. During the middle to late 1980s, digital synthesizers and samplers largely replaced analog synthesizers. By the early 1990s, however, musicians from the techno , rave and DJ scenes who wanted to produce electronic music but lacked

308-547: The Minimoog integrated them into single units, eliminating patch cords in favour of integrated signal routing systems. The earliest mention of a "synthetic harmoniser" using electricity appears to be in 1906, created by the Scottish physicist James Robert Milne FRSE (d.1961). The earliest synthesizers used a variety of thermionic-valve ( vacuum tube ) and electro-mechanical technologies. While some electric instruments were produced in bulk, such as Georges Jenny 's Ondioline ,

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336-565: The Moog synthesizer transistor ladder filter, has spurred a return of DIY and kit synthesizer modules, as well as an increase in the number of commercial companies selling analog modules. Reverse engineering has also revealed the secrets of some synthesizer components, such as those from ARP Instruments, Inc. In addition, despite the widespread availability during the 2000s of relatively inexpensive digital synthesizers that offered complex synthesis algorithms and envelopes, some musicians are attracted to

364-455: The "hands-on", practical controls of analog synths – potentiometer knobs, faders, and other features – offering a strong appeal. Envelope generator In sound and music , an envelope describes how a sound changes over time. For example, a piano key, when struck and held, creates a near-immediate initial sound which gradually decreases in volume to zero. An envelope may relate to elements such as amplitude (volume), frequency (with

392-452: The 1960s, analog synthesizers were built using operational amplifier (op-amp) integrated circuits , and used potentiometers (pots, or variable resistors ) to adjust the sound parameters. Analog synthesizers also use low-pass filters and high-pass filters to modify the sound. While 1960s-era analog synthesizers such as the Moog used a number of independent electronic modules connected by patch cables , later analog synthesizers such as

420-669: The budget for large digital systems created a market for the then cheap second hand analog equipment. This increased demand for analog synthesizers towards the mid-1990s, as larger numbers of musicians gradually rediscovered the analog qualities. As a result, sounds associated with analog synths became popular again. Over time, this increased demand for used units (such as the 1980 Roland TR-808 drum machine and Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer). Late 1970s-era drum machines used tuned resonance voice circuits for pitched drum sounds and shaped white noise for others. The TR-808 improves on these designs, by using detuned square wave oscillators (for

448-406: The complexity of generating even a single note using analog synthesis, most synthesizers remained monophonic . Polyphonic analog synthesizers featured limited polyphony, typically supporting four voices. Oberheim was a notable manufacturer of analog polyphonic synthesizers. The Polymoog was an attempt to create a truly polyphonic analog synthesizer, with sound generation circuitry for every key on

476-583: The control voltage determining pitch and the other to trigger the envelope generator. The envelope generator became a standard feature of synthesizers. Following discussions with the engineer and composer Vladimir Ussachevsky , the head of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center , in 1965, Moog developed a new envelope module whose functions were described in f T1 (attack time), T2 (initial decay time), ESUS (sustain level), and T3 (final decay time). These were later simplified to

504-568: The cow bell and cymbal sounds) and analogue reverberation (for the handclap sound). The demand for the analog synth sound led to development of a variety of analog modeling synthesizers —which emulate analog VCOs and VCFs using samples, software, or specialized digital circuitry, and the construction of new analog keyboard synths such as the Alesis Andromeda , Prophet '08 , and Moog's Little Phatty , as well as semi-modular and modular units. The lapse of patents in recent years, such as for

532-458: The creator of the Moog synthesizer , in the 1960s. The composer Herbert Deutsch suggested Moog find a way to articulate his synthesizer so notes did not simply trigger on and off. Moog wired a doorbell button to the synthesizer and used a capacitor to store and slowly release voltage produced from hitting a key. He refined the design to remove the need to push a separate button with every keypress, with two switches on every key: one to produce

560-515: The keyboard. However, its architecture resembled an electronic organ more than a traditional analog synthesizer, and the Polymoog was not widely imitated. In 1978, the first microprocessor -controlled analog synthesizers were created by Sequential Circuits . These used microprocessors for system control and control voltage generation, including envelope trigger generation, but the main sound generating path remained analog. The MIDI interface standard

588-462: The modern ADSR form (attack time, decay time, sustain level, release time) by ARP . The most common kind of envelope generator has four stages: attack, decay, sustain, and release (ADSR). While attack, decay, and release refer to time, sustain refers to level. Some electronic musical instruments can invert the ADSR envelope, reversing the behavior of the normal ADSR envelope. During the attack phase,

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616-546: The modulated sound parameter fades from the maximum amplitude to zero then, during the decay phase, rises to the value specified by the sustain parameter. After the key has been released the sound parameter rises from sustain amplitude back to maximum amplitude. Some envelopes, such as that of the Korg MS-20 , have an extra parameter, hold. This holds notes at the sustain level for a fixed length of time before decaying. The General Instrument AY-3-8910 sound chip includes only

644-478: The purpose, it is possible to use the A-100 system to emulate a Trautonium or a Theremin , as well as to use it as a vocoder . The following modules have been, or are still being, manufactured by Doepfer: Analog synthesizer The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium , were built with a variety of vacuum-tube (thermionic valve) and electro-mechanical technologies. After

672-436: The same building blocks, but integrated them into single units, eliminating patch cords in favour of integrated signal routing systems. The most popular of these was the Minimoog . In 1970, Moog designed an innovative synthesizer with a built-in keyboard and without modular design—the analog circuits were retained, but made interconnectable with switches in a simplified arrangement called "normalization". Though less flexible than

700-500: The same types of connectors and cables that were used for routing the synthesized sound signals. A specialized form of analog synthesizer is the analog vocoder , based on equipment developed for speech synthesis. Vocoders are often used to make a sound that resembles a musical instrument talking or singing. Patch cords could be damaged by use (creating hard-to-find intermittent faults) and made complex patches difficult and time-consuming to recreate. Thus, later analog synthesizers used

728-443: The sounds of monophonic and polyphonic analog synths. While some musicians embrace analog synthesizers as preferable, others counter that analog and digital synthesis simply represent different sonic generation processes that both reproduce characteristics the other misses. Another factor considered to have increased use of analog synths since the 1990s is weariness with the complex screen-based navigation systems of digital synths, with

756-468: The use of filters ) or pitch . Envelope generators , which allow users to control the different stages of a sound, are common features of synthesizers , samplers , and other electronic musical instruments . The most common envelope generator is controlled with four parameters: attack , decay , sustain and release ( ADSR ). The envelope generator was created by the American engineer Robert Moog ,

784-460: Was developed for these systems. This generation of synthesizers often featured six or eight voice polyphony. Also during this period, a number of analog/digital hybrid synthesizers were introduced, which replaced certain sound-producing functions with digital equivalents, for example the digital oscillators in synthesizers like the Korg DW-8000 (which played back PCM samples of various waveforms) and

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