Ernesto Romeo, Composer, keyboardist, synthesizer specialist, with studies in piano, harmony, synthesis and musical technology. He founded the electronic music group Klauss and joined bands like Pez, Espíritu, Cinerama, among others, in addition to groups of electroacoustic music and contemporary tango.
The origin of synthesizers is in modular systems. The concept of any synthesizer format, of all kinds, is – internally and / or externally – “modular”.
The synthesizer is a fascinating device (and a bit tricky to describe it) that has been created for the generation and processing of audio signals and control signals, using separate sections with specific characteristics from modules, such as oscillators, filters, amplifiers, envelopes, noise signal generators, function generators, mixers, ring modulators, waveshapers, attenuators, sample players, sequencers, quantizers, logic gates, reverberators, etc. These interact in multiple ways and with infinite connection possibilities. These sections or modules perform one or more functions within a self-integrated system or an expandable, mutant and programmable system, unlike conventional musical instruments (acoustic, electric or electronic) in which each part of the instrument is intended to a single fixed function and in which the control and evolutionary development of sound over time and of the “musical structure” are exclusively in charge of the actions of the performer and not of the instrument itself. Even in mechanical devices, such as pianolas or music boxes, the “automatic” possibilities are extremely simple compared to the possibilities of an analog or digital synthesizer system.
The combination, interconnection and / or interrelation between the audio and control signal generating and processing modules is what allows programming and synthesis. A synthesizer is not, then, only a musical instrument and it can be given uses that go far beyond “playing music” (which is the primary and exclusive function of a musical instrument). A synthesizer can be from a device for the self-generation of evolutionary soundscapes (sequential, probabilistic, semi-random, random, etc.), it can be a signal processor for electric instruments or microphones or recordings (which in turn can act as controllers of the synthesizer itself), it can be a “keyboard” for playing sounds that evoke characteristics of musical instruments or natural, urban or abstract sounds, it can be the “smart” audio source of an application or a computer game , it can be the element that makes the sounds of people who cannot articulate speech intelligible, it can be used as a device for the generation and transmission of telecommunications signals or for alarm patterns, etc.
Although everything contained in these previous paragraphs may sound complex or confusing, in reality the conceptual and technical principle of the synthesizer is simple and makes use of the properties of electricity (to generate and process oscillations and “movements” of electrical quantities) and forces. Mechanics with specific characteristics in order to be able, through an amplification system, to listen to sounds and sound structures whose characteristics are defined by the relationship between those signals and those controls. As we said, unlike a musical instrument -in which the “parts” that make it up have a specific functionality (for example, the mouthpieces of the saxophones, the hammers of the pianos, the keys of the transverse flutes, the tuners of guitars, harp strings, oboe reeds or drumheads) and are designed to be controlled (played) by a performer – in the synthesizer there are modules with different characteristics (oscillators and / or wave generators periodic and aperiodic in audio frequencies or in low frequencies, mixers, filters, amplifiers, attenuators, generators of “envelope curves”, sequential, inverters, etc.) that can fulfill many functions (even simultaneously and in variable forms and configurations) and that can interact with an interpreter but can also control -totally or partially- the system, allowing the synthesizer to “interpret itself”, generate “compos icions ”or sonic-musical structures and is also used as a processor for other external devices, diluting the conceptions of the interpreter, composer, programmer, producer or designer and those of a technical tool, artistic instrument, functional device or automatizer.
All this has resulted in an extraordinary paradigm that constantly opens doors to new sensory experiences. Even a synthesizer with a minimal number of modules already allows infinite variations. The most common is that in a modular system there are at least one or two generators of periodic oscillations in audio frequencies and a noise generator as “sound” sources and that these are processed timbrally and dynamically by waveshapers, filters and / or wave folders. and by mixers and amplifiers, which can be modulated in frequency and amplitude and dynamically controlled to generate enveloping contours, cyclical variations and / or random evolutions.
In Latin America, electronic and electroacoustic music has its origins in the second half of the 1950s -even in many countries almost simultaneously- and the meeting of composers, engineers, physicists, performers, designers, art theorists and multidisciplinary and technical artists gave It forms laboratories, studies, equipment and works that created a rich, original and avant-garde panorama of which we can learn a lot through these historical investigations:
Latin American Electroacoustic Music, by Carlos Trilnick. May, 2010
Latin American Electroacoustic Music Collection, de Ricardo Dal Farra. Abril, 2010
And in relation to the design of proto-synthesizers and approaches to the construction of voltage-controlled modular systems in Latin America during the 60s and early 70s (times in which the first commercialized synthesizers appeared in the US and Europe, such as the Moog, Buchla, EMS, ARP and EML) we can mention, among other pioneers, Raúl Pavón Sarrelangue (Mexico), Fausto Maranca, Jorge Menyhart and Fernando Von Reichenbach (Argentina) and Jose Vicente Asuar (Chile).
Two particularly successful albums recorded in the late 1960s set the evolutionary course for synthesizers into the future: “Silver Apples Of The Moon”, of Morton Subotnick (made with a modular Buchla system) and “Switched-On Bach” of Wendy Carlos (made with a modular Moog). Subotnick’s album, with its characteristic experimental, atonal and random climate of a great step in the opening of the timbral and expressive possibilities that allows a voltage control system (which includes sequencers and random generators) interpretable in real time in front of the system indirect of the electro-acoustic composition by collage that was the usual in electronic music before the synthesizer but Carlos’s album directly broke all the molds, entering a field where electronics had not reached so much: classical music and popular music in all its forms. dimensions.
Upon its release in July 1967, “Silver Apples of the Moon” was a surprise success for the Nonesuch record company, becoming one of the best-selling records in the classical category and also selling respectable in wider circles as an experimental album. , becoming an underground “hit” and had international critical acclaim. But “Switched-On Bach” directly became the best-selling classical music album of all time, entering the Billboard charts and being the first to reach platinum status and reached a massive audience influencing to many musicians outside the experimental music circles, contributing in a definitive way to the massification of synthesizers, which soon began to be manufactured in more simplified, economical and portable versions and also, for the most part, oriented to more traditional musical uses (made it common for synthesizers to use keyboards as a controller interface), which made large modular systems less and less common towards the end of the 70s and early 80s.
Towards the end of the 80s and beginning of the 90s, when electronic musical instruments totally dominated by digital began to circulate, in particular by samplers or synthesizers and electronic drums that used samples, digital waves as audio sources, with all the original brands and legendary early years of synthesizers such as Moog, Buchla, ARP, Oberheim, Sequential, (currently out of the picture, melted or dissolved in other brands), begins to emerge from the under (in many cities of the world), a tendency to reuse those analog synthesizers and machines of the 60s, 70s and early 80s that had been considered obsolete and outdated. The characteristics of analog audio and the ability to use the full control panels in real time to perform performances with the synthesis parameters (and, in the case of modular systems and “patchable” synths, create audio and control paths personalized) together with the very low price at which these “old-fashioned” equipment were obtained, gave rise to a new twist that broke the linear inertia where only the most modern technologies were aesthetically valid in contemporary music.
In 1994 Dieter Döpfer launches the analog and MIDI synth, rack, MS-404 , inspired by synthesizer / sequencer Roland TB303 Bass Line, which had been a “failure” 12 years earlier but it was being revitalized by its use in the house, acid and techno music scenes. In 1995 Dieter began to market the line Modular Doepfer A-100, analog and hybrid modules (oscillators, filters, envelopes, amplifiers, ring modulators, mixers, sequncers, etc.) and modular systems, all in Eurorack format, giving a new and unexpected boost to the “abandoned” modular world. Soon more brands would join that made modules in Eurorack standard and with other formats, including Technosaurus, MOTM, Wiard, among others, those who adopted the Moog 5U format (Synthesizers.com, Moog). An important movement was also generated to create sound devices and DIY modules (a scene also enriched by the movement of circuit bending) and many designers began to share for free online (the work of Yves usson It is commendable in that field) circuits, plans, data and instructions for the construction of modules allowing many people to start in home or professional manufacturing.
To date in Eurorack format there are over 10,000 models of modules available, many of them very accessible, thanks to hundreds of electronic craftsmen dedicated to the business and also both Moog and Buchla, who have returned to manufacture systems modular in their own formats accompanied by other brands that also develop new modules or clones of vintage modules, new designs based on classic modules, making the electronic music scene pick up in an absolutely revitalized way, the path of the modular, the “patchable”, allowing new artists to face the creation and electronic art performance without necessarily being related to traditional ways of making music and playing instruments.
Also artists from the early days of synthesizers, such as Morton Subotnick, Suzanne Ciani, Klaus Schulze, have returned to their work with modular and hybrid systems controlled by voltage and MIDI creating a very fruitful and enriching dialogue with the most recent generations. In Latin America there is a very active, vigorous and creative scene of users of modular and “patchable” systems, with the presence of this type of synthesizers in live sets or on recordings becoming more and more common and also giving rise to the emergence of many people dedicated to design. and the manufacture of modules, modular systems, cabinets, patchable synthesizers, sequencers, controllers, MIDI-CV interfaces, etc. very high quality.
We can mention in Argentina (to exemplify with the Latin American scene of which I am a native) to the great enterprise Core Modular Systems (of Francisco Tripodi Arley, Santiago Villa y Micaela Perez ) that makes complete lines of 5U and Eurorack modules of an extraordinary level, to Sebastian Cordoves (now living in Berlin) who did (since about 2010) various, complete and highly versatile systems on request, SeboSynths. Also to the engineer Hernan Baldi who is one of the world’s leading analog synthesizer technicians. Then GS Music (founded by Guido Salaya), who expanded his remarkable analog / MIDI synthesizer Apollo to be controlled by voltage in several of its parameters. We continue with Third Arm (Founded by Manuel Osorio) who specializes in giving workshops for the assembly of modules, synthesizers and electronic sound machines. Olivella Modular by Kevin Olivella who designs Eurorack hi-end modules. Volt Crafty by Marcelo Malmierca, his various MIDI / CV interfaces, analog synths and his programmers. Then Coverup by Ignacio Merle and Lihue Sosa who make cabinets for Eurorack and accessories. Antonus, an initiative started by Toni Gutierrez from Barcelona in Argentina and which now continues from BCN, with a line that includes, in addition to the most reliable and advanced contemporary version of the ARP 2600, the Antonus 2600, Step brother sequencer-expander and al Eurorack Sidecar.
On the other hand, within the very active creative panorama of the synth community in Argentina, it is important to highlight the influence that Facebook groups such as Argensynth (created by Bruno De Vincenti) and Eurocrack Modular Synthesizers (created by Jeremías Fernández), in the dissemination of knowledge and works, in the exchange of equipment, in the generation of content and meetings and even events.
In other countries in South America, to name a few examples, we have another scene in Chile “Effervescent” with initiatives promoted by artists and designers very active in the modular universe like Mika Martini, Andres Grumann, Christopher Korenblit, Francisco Muñoz, Claudio Iglesias, Francisco Juacida, White Sample, Claudio Merlet, Felipe Electryxeed, Cesar Venegas Daroch / CEMS, Skeleton, among others. In Ecuador, the producer Daniel Green field, founder of Sonorous, is strongly pushing the modular scene from its own space and from ESPOL Cultural. In Brazil we find Vinicius, responsible for the manufacturing of the systems Vinicius Electrik Brazil already artists like Paulo Beto, Amanda Chang, Roberto Ladislau and so many others doing very deep work with modular systems. Peru has the recognized Atomosynth, in Colombia at Caperooza who already built their first modular synthesizer.
The present allows us to enjoy the definitive installation of the conception and modular practice of synthesis in very diverse areas, of increasing scope and accessibility.
The origin of the synthesizer returns recharged and full of new vigor.
