Synclavier

The Synclavier was an early digital synthesizer, a system that could play many notes at once, and a music workstation. It was made by the New England Digital Corporation in Norwich, Vermont. The Synclavier came in different versions from the late 1970s until the early 1990s.

Many famous musicians used the Synclavier to create their music. Because it changed the way music was made and had a big effect on audio technology, the Synclavier was honored in 2004 by being placed in the TECnology Hall of Fame. This award is given to products and ideas that have made a lasting difference in how we develop audio technology.

History

The Synclavier began as a project at Dartmouth College with help from Jon Appleton, a professor, and others. The first version, called Synclavier I, came out in 1977–78. It was very important for making electronic music and was used by many music makers because it could create many different sounds.

The Synclavier used special technology to blend simple tones into richer sounds. It could also record real sounds, like instruments or voices, and change them in interesting ways. Only about 20 of these first models were made, mostly for schools. Later versions, like the Synclavier II, added more features and better sound quality. These machines were very expensive, often costing between $25,000 and $200,000, so they were mostly used by professional studios and music producers.

Later models used a special keyboard that could sense how hard it was played, making the sounds more expressive. The Synclavier was also used to create sounds for movies and television.

The company that made the Synclavier had to build almost everything themselves because there were no ready-made parts for such advanced machines at the time. They stopped making them in 1993, but the Synclavier’s ideas lived on in other technologies. In later years, new versions of the Synclavier were made for computers and mobile devices.

Models and options

The Synclavier came in many different models and options. It started with a prototype called the Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer in 1973.

The main processor used was called the ABLE computer, introduced in 1975. It helped control the synthesizer and was used for other tasks too.

There were several models over the years:

• Synclavier I (1977): The first full model.
• Synclavier II (1980): Added sampling and new ways to create sounds.
• Synclavier PSMT (1984): Faster processing and better sound control.

Later models from the late 1980s, like the Synclavier 9600, used Apple Macintosh computers for control.