Which was the "first" digital synth made?

[augmented5th]

Dicy / pointless question Alert!

Who put out the first digital synth ?

I bet the first to have digital signal processing were hybrids, a sort of combination analog-digital,

So which were the first ones to come out ?

Synclavier? CMI Fairlight? korg? yamaha?

Thanks !

[jupiter8]

That isn't as straightforward as one might think. The first digital "synth" (That i know of) was the Music I program for IBM 704 mainframe done in 1957!
http://www.music.psu.edu/Faculty%20Page ... _labs.html

Then it's kind of a sliding scale. Suddenly you have real time computers. Then you have early prototypes. Then you may have some synths that were only built in 2-3 units. So it's hard to say.

The first one is probably the Synclavier. The first one was released in 1975 but if anyone actually bought it i don't know.

PPG was early with digital as well. The 1020 was released in 1976. It had digital oscillators.

I believe the Buchla 500 had digital oscillators. Released in 1976. They made 3 in total!

[Feng]

I think I've read somewhere that it was the Yamaha DX7

[jupiter8]

I think I've read somewhere that it was the Yamaha DX7

That is very very wrong i'm afraid.Not even close.
The first affordable digital synth maybe.

[BertKoor]

The answer to that is partially in your recent FM thread, the link to the SOS article Shamann posted:

a gentleman by the name of Max Matthews began experimenting with digital computers, to see whether they could become a viable means for generating audio signals. Matthews was far ahead of his time, if only because he realised that -- unlike the primitive analogue signal generators of the time -- computer-generated digital audio could be consistent and controllable. In 1957 he wrote a program called MUSIC I, programmed in assembly code for an IBM 704 mainframe computer. You may think this unremarkable, but you should realise that the 704 was a vacuum-tube (valve) computer utterly incapable of executing the program in real time.

Understandably, MUSIC I was only capable of generating very basic sounds (it had a single triangle-wave digital oscillator) but Matthews continued his developments and, in 1958, wrote MUSIC II. This had four triangle oscillators and was capable of much more interesting sounds. Inevitably, MUSIC III followed. Completed in 1960, Matthews wrote the program for a more advanced (transistor) mainframe called the IBM 7094. Then there was MUSIC IV (1962), MUSIC IVF (written in 1965 by a man named Arthur Roberts) and MUSIC IV BF (1966/67).

But the 1975 Synclavier was probably the first real digital instrument to be used outside the laboratory. The Fairlight CMI came in 1978, although it's predecessor the Quasar I also came out in 1975. All those did additive synthesis, so it could be done completely digitally.

When I think of hybrids I think of synths that employ DCO's: analog oscillators controlled digitally. Roland's Juno-60 (1982) was probably one of the first, but manufacturers at that time were racing each other in competition and innovation, copying concepts 'n all...

There's some great info on www.vintagesynth.com, although you'll have to browse through a lot of manufacturers and models to reconstruct the exact timeline.

[jupiter8]

The RMI Harmonic Synthesizer was released in 1974. Used on Jean Meichel Jarres Oxygen.
That has to be the first digital synth that Joe Public could buy with relative ease.

[dupont]

Isn't it the DX7 ?

[BertKoor]

Isn't it the DX7 ?

Nope, it isn't. The DX7 came out in 1983. Digital synths existed previously...

[augmented5th]

I think I've read somewhere that it was the Yamaha DX7

It was the first affordable (as was pointed out) digital synth using FM synthesis.

[shamann]

The Synclavier was the first commercial digital synth.

[jupiter8]

Do you guys even read the thread before answering ?

[augmented5th]

..
There's some great info on www.vintagesynth.com, although you'll have to browse through a lot of manufacturers and models to reconstruct the exact timeline.

I've spending some time at the vintage synth explorer, it's one of the better sites on the subject, and I love the wood frame on the sides of that site.

Thanks a lot for the link to the SOS article!

[augmented5th]

That isn't as straightforward as one might think. The first digital "synth" (That i know of) was the Music I program for IBM 704 mainframe done in 1957!
http://www.music.psu.edu/Faculty%20Page ... _labs.html
...

That's a great link. Thanks a lot also for the synths you mentioned. I'll check out more infos about them.

[shamann]

Do you guys even read the thread before answering ?

I did. You said "probably." I said definitively that it was the first commercially available digital synth (emphasis on commercial). Don't be so cagey with your language if you want to give an authoritative answer.

[jupiter8]

Do you guys even read the thread before answering ?

I did. You said "probably." I said definitively that it was the first commercially available digital synth (emphasis on commercial). Don't be so cagey with your language if you want to give an authoritative answer.

I said probably to leave the field open for something even older than the RMI.We've already established the Synclavier was released in 75 and the RMI was released in 74. So that one isn't older.It is in fact released one year after.Like 75 is the year that came after 74 ended.

But that does'nt mean that there could be one older still.So in that light i thought that answering Synclavier was'nt too bright.

And don't even get me started on the second genius who suggested the DX7.