Analog Synthesizers: Understanding, Performing, Buying, 2nd Edition

3 The birth of analog, the manufacturers and the artists

In the first chapters we saw how an analog sound circuit works, what it can do and how it can be turned to musical use. Attempts to use this kind of circuitry for musical purposes date back almost as far as the use of electricity itself; early experiments in the electrical and audio fields showed that an electronic “musical instrument” was a possibility, simply because an electronic oscillator like the Hartley design could create a range of apparently “musical” pitches. Controlling the pitch to create a meaningful musical performance has been the problem ever since; novelty effects such as the “singing arc”, in which an electrical discharge through the air creates a musical tone, having ...