The history of synths (teaches us a lesson.)

Get a brief history of synths from the early 20th century to the present day, in this talk presented by Mylar Melodies! We'll cover legends such as Bob Moog, Don Buchla, Wendy Carlos, Daphne Oram, and the history lesson will teach us a valuable lesson about how to make the best of synths.

Music by modular synthesist Emile Sprague, taken from the YouTube Audio Library.
Thanks to Marc Doty for valuable advice and historic images of Don Buchla and his machines - and noted on the fact that the early Buchla synths did not have wavefolders!

00:00 Introduction to this miniseries
0:48 What is a synthesizer and ways to use them
2:50 Synths vs 'real' musicians
3:44 The RCA MKII Synthesiser
4:44 The Theremin
5:49 Meet Bob Moog
6:38 The Moog Modular
7:32 Meet Subtractive Synthesis!
8:46 Switched On Bach
9:52 Meet Don Buchla, West Coast Synthesis
10:58 Silver Apples of the Moon
11:26 Tape Music Pioneers
12:55 The Minimoog Model D
15:30 The first golden age of synths
16:29 Enter the disruptive DX7
18:20 Meet FM Synthesis
19:09 The computer revolution
20:11 The big lesson
21:18 Subscribe and stay tuned!

[mareksramek]

I am sad there are no more lessons following this excellent introduction.

[johnathonyoung]

As a newbie to synths, I went down the learning rabbit hole, 40hrs of youtube later, I understood, it makes whatever sound, nothing is set. It was the history that helped be understand that and it’s just a sound wave being manipulated. Thanks for making this in an effort to consolidate and assist.

[wendelynmusic]

I learned synthesis in college in 82 to 85. we had a Buchla 200E series, buchla easel, korg MS20 and couple other small synths that I don't remember what anymore. and we had to recored to 1/4", and 1/2" tape. what a joy it was. So glad you include Buchla. I recently saw a video that didn't even mention him. I still remember how much I enjoyed Silver Apples on the Moon. Blew my mind. The DX7 came out my junior year of College in Japan. our professor bought one from Japan and brought it to school for us to learn. we were in awe. my senior project with a classmate was an Electronic version of Tchaikovsky sequenced on an Amiga computer.

[Asterra]

Ah yes. I am once again wistfully reminded of the fact that I used to possess a wonderful, pure MPEG2 capture of BBC's Alchemists of Sound clocking in at some 1.5GB, but lost it to a hard drive crash, and now I have to settle for the same miserable ~360p, 25fps render you can find pretty much anywhere, since it was never made commercially available. A sad state of affairs for one of my top 3 most beloved documentaries.

[rozzgrey]

I read that the inventor of the voltage controlled modular synth concept was Harald Bode, who conceived it in 1959, built and toured with this synth in 1962 and gave talks that were attended by Bob Moog and Donald Buchla. Bode's machine inspired Moog, who then worked with Bode developing modules like the frequency shifter and vocoder.

[mirzen]

History of synths can go far back as the telegraph but it's cool to bring up Leon Theremin - also the inventor of the rhythm machine with the rhythmicon, first drum machine as well as the burglar alarm and even colour tv monitors - can watch his very extensive and forgotten historic doc in A Electronic Odessy. Bruce Haack, out of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta Canada, was also just as crucial in synth history as Bob Moog - can watch his doc called Bruce Haack: The King of Techno.

[philiptownsend]

I bought Switched on Bach LP in 1971 and ever since have had a big interest in synths, but never had or tried to play one.
That is about to change, I have an Evolution keyboard controller, decent computer and decent speakers.
I am researching soft synths to find something to start with, there are many and it is a big confusing field.
Tyrrell N6 is looking good to me with it's 80's analog sounds, it has a lot of tutorials, a good manual and thousands of patches to import and learn from. All free.
I enjoyed your very informative presentation, excellent delivery, sober and sane, unlike many that have repelled me.

[Jimww]

Fantastic video thanks. But it does seem to stand alone in the 'Learn Synth Series' playlist. Where did the rest go please? Looking forward to seeing more.

[marcpinion]

This was fantastic. Alex is definitely the right person for this. I can’t wait for the rest of the series.

[justshoby]

Great video! Wish the series have had continued!

[markusfuller]

Brilliant informative video Alex. I look forward to the rest of your journey through this series.

[bornagainbornagain]

Thank you for an incredible education. I came into synths backwards. I got into ELP and then recognized the synth in Abbey Road. Then progressive bands like Yes, and then bumped into Larry Fast on Synergy. Once I found Wendy fuggetaboutit. My mind was blown. I did buy a Roland SH-1000 in the mid 70s because the mini moog was too expensive. But with no instruction manual it took me months to learn what knob and how they all interacted. Fell in love with the Envelope control. Igor was not mentioned by you but Wendy gave him credit for the creation of the envelope. That control over the keyboard is lucious. And of course the master Wendy just had to have the touch sensitivity on the keys to get the dynamics and control like the acoustic instruments or piano. We owe so much to Wendy, and all the dots that connect us to this wonderful playground of sound. Can't wait for more videos as good as this one. Thank you so much🙏👏❤

[nonopug]

This is one of the best podcast like videos I have ever seen, not only is it unbelievably rich in quality, but the execution for it was perfect with an amazing host that you can immediately tell has an honest and calmingly passionate love for the topic. All of this came together in a really simple, entertaining, and cohesive way, and left me beyond inspired. Thank you very much for the video!

[riftwytch]

Nice overview. It's odd that you jumped from the Theremin to Moog, but overlooked the Novachord, a polyphonic synthesizer designed in the 1930s.

[bux]

Looking forward to the rest of the series

[Met_Ethio]

Simon and Garfunkel had a surprising use of synth in their song "Save the Life of My Child" they recorded in 1967 and released in 68! I was blown away when I heard it, i had to check the date again.

[cobraofearth]

Pretty crazy how the theremin was made to sound like a saw, which was a really popular instrument at the time . like, a saw that you cut wood with!

[adrianastello]

The Electronic There’s a cool documentary I stumbled upon on here and it blew my mind. Long live Hugh Le

[cyberyogicowindler]

Thanks, but I only miss here some mentioning of pre-Moog era instruments. Inventions like the Variophone, Mixtur-Trautonium or Ondes Martenot could synthesize plenty of very complex sounds long before that. On my playlist "music keyboard & sound chip history" I have collected much info about them.

[JustLeonOfficial]

Amazing video, i unironically teared up.