Who invented the synthesiser?

Answer 1

Elisha Gray (1835-1901) invented the first electric music synthesizer in 1876. He called it a "Musical Telegraph"; it had a two-octave keyboard and he went on tour with it!

Experimenters came up with synthesizers of various sorts during the early 20th century, but none of them were commercially manufactured. The first commercial musical instrument to use waveform synthesis was the Hammond Novachord, which was introduced in 1939. Fewer than 5,000 were made before the outbreak of World War II brought production to a halt. After the war, the concept attracted the attention of academic researchers and prominent composers. RCA built the Mark II Sound Synthesizer at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in New York in 1957. That was the first synthesizer to include a sequencer and several important recordings were made with it. It was, however, a one-of-a-kind piece of equipment. (It still exists, by the way).

The invention of the transistor changed everything. In 1963, Robert Moog demonstrated a modular synthesizer system that made synthesizers much more practical. He standardized the use of logarithmic control voltages for oscillators, filters and amplifiers, which meant that the modules could be used in many different ways. In addition, his patented (filed in 1966) design for a four-pole, voltage-controlled, regenerative low-pass filter was phenomenally successful and widely imitated, but no one could duplicate Moog's VCF sound until the patent expired.

Previous answer:Robert Moog

AKA Robert Arthur Moog

Born: 23-May-1934

Birthplace: Flushing, NY

Died: 21-Aug-2005

Location of death: Asheville, NC

Cause of death: Cancer - Brain

Remains: Buried, Lou Pollack Cemetery, Asheville, NC

Gender: Male

Race or Ethnicity: White

Sexual orientation: Straight

Occupation: Inventor

Nationality: United States

Executive summary: Invented the synthesizer

Invented a synthesizer in 1963, which he demonstrated at the Audio Engineering Society convention of that year. While not the first-ever synthesizer (such had been invented in 1955 by the RCA company), Moog's designs were very good. By 1971 his company Moog Music was marketing the Minimoog Model D, to great success. His synthesizers used real keyboards, a great advantage over competing models; the Moog III sported two keyboards (five octaves each) and a number of different ways to modulate sound -- pitch, timbre, decay, etc. Among early adopters of his instruments were The Monkees, and Wendy Carlos with Switched-On Bach. After leaving Moog Music he formed another company, Big Briar, marketing theremins and other music equipment. Moog was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme (brain tumor) on 28 April 2005, and died in August of that year.

Answer 2

The first electric synthesizer was invented in 1876 by American inventor Elisha Gray , best known for his development of a telephone prototype. Synthesizers gained widespread popularity during the 1970s and 1980s, when they became easier to use and more affordable. Today, synthesizers are used extensively by many renowned music artists.