The Synthesizer
The first synthesizer was so big it filled an entire room, but in the 1960s inventors like Bob Moog built downsized machines which would revolutionise pop music.
The first synthesizer was so big, it filled an entire room, but during the 1960s inventors built downsized machines which would go on to revolutionise pop music.
Pink Floyd鈥檚 Nick Mason charts the work of synth pioneers Bob Moog, Don Buchla and Dave Smith in the story of the most influential electronic instrument of all time.
We learn how the synth came to sing with multiple voices, and how Japanese giants came to dominate the market - but arguably at a cost to creativity.
The series is produced in association with the Open University.
CONTRIBUTORS
Brian Kehew, producer and music historian
Tom Rhea, electronic music historian
Herb Deutsch, musician and collaborator with Bob Moog
Morton Subotnick
Suzanne Ciani
Peter Zinovieff, EMS and inventors of the VCS3 synthesizer
Mark Mothersbaugh, Devo
Nick Rhodes, Duran Duran
Rick Wakeman
Dave Smith, Sequential Circuits and inventor of the Prophet 5
DJ Jazzy Jeff
(Photo: A Moog synthesizer Credit: Getty Images)
Last on
Broadcasts
- Sat 25 May 2019 11:06GMT大象传媒 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Sun 26 May 2019 19:06GMT大象传媒 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
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Nick Mason speaks to The Open University about Pink Floyd鈥檚 unique musical innovations.