Synclavier

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Synclavier I

The Synclavier system is a sound generation and production system that was built from 1975 to 1991 by New England Digital (NED). It was developed at Dartmouth College . Initially only a pure digital synthesizer based on FM synthesis , it was soon expanded to include sampling and hard disk recording functions. In the 1980s it was used by many musicians around the world.

history

1979 to 1984

The Synclavier was developed in the mid-1970s by Jon Appleton , an electronic music specialist at Dartmouth College , as musical advisor and by the founders of New England Digital, Sydney Alonso (hardware) and Cameron Jones (software). Initially, the Synclavier was a digital 8-bit synthesizer based on FM and additive synthesis .

In 1978 the Synclavier (also called Synclavier I) appeared. This system manufactured by New England Digital at the time "NEDCO" was the first commercially available digital FM synthesizer. Only a few copies were built.

The Synclavier II followed shortly afterwards in 1979. The system was a computer with a powerful CPU ("B-Processor") developed by NED itself, to which various options could be added depending on the purpose. The Synclavier II was not sold as a musical instrument, but also and primarily as a computer. It was used in research, space travel, industry and for military purposes. “Keyboard option”: The Synclavier II's keyboard, called “ORK” (for “Original Keyboard”), offered a 61-key standard “Pratt-Reed” plastic keyboard without touch dynamics . “FM Synthesizer Option”: The sound generation consisted of the well-known “8 Bit FM / Additive” synthesizer cards, which could now be expanded in blocks of 4 up to 32 voices. A VT100 terminal (“terminal option”), printer (“music printing option”), floppy disk drives and, via an early implementation of the SCSI interface, hard disks with a size of 5–50 MB could be connected to the Synclavier II (“ Winchester option "). The real-time software module ("RTP" for real time program), which made musical applications possible, contained a sequencer with 32 tracks (later 200 tracks). Both the synthesizer and the sequencer functions could be operated directly from the Synclavier II's "ORK" keyboard without a screen. The "sample-to-disk" option (1982) made sampling possible. By playing the samples directly from the hard drive, it was possible to record unanimously, but in the then very high resolution of 16 bit / 50 kHz (better than CD quality) on the ORK keyboard, the Synclavier's sequencer or triggered by external signals or made playable. The maximum length of the played samples was only limited by the hard disk capacity. At the time, these functions represented the limit of what was technically feasible and justified the high price of the systems.

1984 to 1989

In 1984 a new keyboard for the Synclavier was introduced, the "Velocity / Pressure Keyboard" for short "V / PK". The keyboard was now playable with velocity and polyphonic pressure and comprised 76 handcrafted wooden keys. The keyboard was taken over by the company Sequential Circuits, in whose Prophet T8 synthesizer it was originally used. In 1985, NED brought an expansion for the Synclavier onto the market that enabled real 32-voice stereo sampling at 100 kHz at 16 bits ("poly sampling option"). The 32 voices of the sampler were dynamic (on the analog level) (i.e. independent for each sound) and routable to up to 32 symmetrical individual outputs. The Synclavier has now been sold in packages that are named depending on the size of the racks supplied (e.g. "PSMT" (Poly-Sampling-Medium-Tower)). For storage you could fall back on 4 to 32 MB RAM (later up to 1.2 GB), tape drives (tape streamer) and a WORM drive with 2 GB.

Adding 16-track hard disk recording (“direct-to-disc” option) resulted in a complete digital music production system called “Tapeless Studio”. The price for such a system ranged up to $ 400,000.

1989 to 1992

In 1989 New England Digital brought the digital music production systems, Synclavier 3200, Synclavier 6400 and Synclavier 9600, the “Direct-To-Disk” recording system and the “Post-Pro SD” intended for post-production applications onto the market.

1993 until today

Falling prices, ever more powerful PC hardware and cheaper samplers led to financial problems at NED and, towards the end of 1992, meant the end of the company. The maintenance and further development of the hardware and software of the existing Synclavier systems was initially continued by the “Synclavier Owners Consortium”, then by Demas .

Technical specifications

  • Polyphony : 4 to 128 voices, stereo FM in blocks of 8 or stereo sampling in blocks of 4
  • Sampler: Quasi 24 bit (16x8 bit), 100 kHz variable sampling rate in 0.1 kHz steps
  • Sound generation: sampling, FM synthesis, additive synthesis and resynthesis
  • Sample time: variable according to the RAM or hard disk capacity
  • Recording: 16 tracks at 100 kHz, direct-to-disk
  • Keyboard: 76 weighted, velocity-sensitive wooden keys, hammer action, with polyphonic aftertouch and scanning via optical sensors , ribbon controller
  • Memory: RAM (max. 1.2 GB with 128 voices), WORM, tape drive , optical drive , Jaz drive , external hard disk storage
  • Control: MIDI , CV , VITC , SMPTE , trigger

Musicians who use or used the Synclavier

Web links

Commons : Synclavier  - collection of images, videos and audio files