Lorenz Schwarz Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG)
Summer Semester 2024 Course info
← Overview
Early developments of electronics
History of electronic instruments until the 1960s
Fundamentals of analog synthesis
Two key compositions of electronic music
Aesthetic discussions: artistical legitimization of electronic
Development of long-distance communication for both commercial and military purposes, beginning in the 1840s:
The first inventions in the field of electronic music were based on telegraphy and telephony and used electromagnetic and electromechanical sound generation techniques:
Distribution of music and experimental sound around the turn of the 19th/20th century using telegraph and telephone lines.
A fundamental invention in the history of electronic music was the grid "Audion" vacuum tube in 1906 by American electrical engineer Lee de Forest (1873 – 1961):
A small voltage at the grid controls the flow of electrons between the electrodes.
Vacuum Tube.
Electronic musical instrument that is played without physical contact by moving hands near antennas, whereas the distance controls amplitude and frequency.
Lev Sergeyevich Termen (1896 - 1993)
Clara Rockmore (1911 - 1998) Lithuanian musician
Depiction of heterodyne oscillators producing differential tones.
Performed by Clara Rockmore
▶ Listen online (external link)
The Birds (1963 American film), Oskar Sala and Remi Gassmann
"If you want to play the trautonium, you have to build one."
Composed by Paul Hindemith (1935), performed by Oskar Sala
Musical electronic instruments until 1960
Since general purpose synthesizers did not exist until the 1960s, composers had to use mainly laboratory tools such as impulse, noise and sine generators together with additional building blocks like filters and ring modulators.
Both the theremin and the trautonium, along with other early electronic instruments, were used in films for sound effects and film music:
Composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 - 2007) and Herbert Eimert (1897 - 1972) recognized the precision of electronic sound production.
Rigidity or stiffness of early electronic music through the use of laboratory equipment such as function generators.
12-note music serialism:
Use of synthesizers:
(1953)
Institutional and government-supported establishments played a crucial role in fostering the aesthetic discussion about musique concrète (Pierre Schaeffer) and elektronische Musik (Meyer-Eppler) in the 1950s:
The development of smaller and more efficient electronic components and devices in the 1950s allowed for less complex circuits at lower costs:
In the 1960s, Don Buchla and Robert Moog developed modular electronic instruments based on voltage control.
Control signals can vary:
Modular analog synthesizers are consisting of separate modules, such as oscillators, filters, and sequencers, which can be interconnected and configured in various ways with patch cables to create unique sounds and effects.
Self-contained modules perfoming one specific function:
Subtractive synthesis in electronic music involves starting with a complex waveform generated by an oscillator and then filtering out certain frequencies using a filter module to shape the sound:
BBC's Music Now, originally broadcast 8 February, 1970
▶ Watch online (external link)
Simplified schematic of voltage controlled subtractive synthesis.
Moog synthesizer in popular music in the late 1960s:
American instrument designer and electronic-music pioneer:
Buchla: tone control and sequencing real time modification of sounds (controller)
Waveshaping with sigmoid shaping function.
Composing complex periodic sounds of individual sine waves with specific frequency and amplitude relationships. Based on the theory of French mathematician and physicist Joseph Fourier (1768 - 1830).
VCV Rack is a free, open-source environment for virtual modular synthesis, based on the patching conventions of Eurorack systems.
It provides access to different synthesis approaches:
Download VCV Rack (free edition) ↗
The Library of Congress recognizes recordings of cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance. Selected electronic and computer-music entries include:
Wendy Carlos is a composer and electronic music innovator known for her groundbreaking albums and film scores.
Wendy Carlos (*1939): Switched-On Bach (1968)
"Switched-On Bach" by Wendy Carlos, released in 1968, is an electronic music album that reimagines Johann Sebastian Bach's compositions using Moog synthesizers, showcasing the versatility and expressive potential of analog synthesizers.
Grammy Award
3. Brandenburgisches Konzert (First, Second, and Third Movement)
Wendy Carlos
1968
American avant-garde composer and electronic music pioneer renowned for his experimental works and seminal album "Silver Apples of the Moon," which pushed the boundaries of electronic music in the 1960s.
Commissioned by Nonesuch Records (Elektra Records)
Morton Subotnick
1967
Roads, Curtis. Computer Music Tutorial. 1996.
Roads, Curtis. "Early Electronic Music Instruments: Time Line 1899-1950." Computer Music Journal, vol. 20, no. 3, 1996, pp. 20-23.
Strange, Allen. Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, and Controls. Responsive Ecologies Lab, 2022.
Pinch, Trevor J., and Frank Trocco. Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer. Harvard U.P., 2004.
Holmes, Thomas B. Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music, and Culture. Routledge, 2020.
Glinsky, Albert, and Francis Ford Coppola. Switched on: Bob Moog and the Synthesizer Revolution. Oxford University Press, 2022.
Darter, Tom, and Greg Armbruster. The Art of Electronic Music. Quill, 1985.
Ross, Alex. The Rest Is Noise. Clipper, 2009.
Complete source and rights information for locally reproduced third-party material:
© 2024 Lorenz Schwarz
Original text, diagrams, illustrations, photographs, audio, and video are licensed under CC BY 4.0, except where otherwise noted.
Third-party material: See the preceding rights notices.
Contact: lschwarz@hfg-karlsruhe.de