Electronic Musical Instruments 1870 - 1990

porkmarras · 12.18.2006, 11:50 AM

http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/
120 Years Of Electronic Music (update v3.0)
Introduction

This site charts the development of electronic musical instruments from 1870 to 1990. For the purposes of this project electronic musical instruments are defined as instruments that synthesise sounds from an electronic source. This definition leaves out a whole section of hybrid electronic instruments developed at the end of the last century that used electronics to manipulate or amplify sounds and tape recorders/ Musique Concrete, it has been decided to leave in some non electronic instruments such as the Futurists "Intonarumori" due to their importance in the history of modern music.

The main focus of the site is on instruments developed from the beginning of the century until the 1960's. The more modern and current Synthesiser companies have been included for the sake of 'historical completeness' but are already well documented elsewhere on the internet, a comprehensive set of links are provided. Work currently (2004)in progress is a section documenting audio synthesis software from 1950 to 2004

'120 Years Of Electronic Music' is an ongoing project and the site will be updated on a regular basis. Most of the sections have been updated in this revision and a links page and bibliography have been added.
Please send your comments, complaints, suggestions and information to the author: Simon Crab

krastian · 12.18.2006, 03:25 PM

That's an awesome site.....great chronology.

LittlePuppetBoy · 12.18.2006, 03:34 PM

Interesting

nomadicfollower · 12.18.2006, 11:01 PM

"Imagine that every key of an organ's keyboard immobilises in a specific position, or moves a determined element, more or less rapidly, in a group of transparent filters which a beam of white light pierces, and this will give you an idea of the instrument Baranoff-Rossiné invented. There are various kinds of luminous filters: simply coloured ones optical elements such as prisms, lenses or mirrors; filters containing graphic elements and, finally, filters with coloured shapes and defined outlines. If on the top of this, you can modify the projector's position, the screen frame, the symmetry or asymmetry of the compositions and their movements and intensity; then, you will be able to reconstitute this optical piano that will play an infinite number of musical compositions. The key word here is interpret, because, for the time being, the aim is not to find a unique rendering of an existing musical composition for which the author did not foresee a version expressed by light. In music, as in any other artistic interpretation, one has to take into account elements such as the talent and sensitivity of the musician in order to fully understand the author's mind-frame. The day when a composer will compose music using notes that remain to be determined in terms of music and light, the interpreter's liberty will be curtailed, and that day, the artistic unity we were talking about will probably be closer to perfection..."

The future of music? It gets me excited anyway (however old).

nicfit · 11.12.2007, 02:58 PM

http://it.qoob.tv/users/user_videoList.asp?id=18181

here are some nice vids on some electronic stuff (in italian but the images are priceless)

porksarramkrop, hope it's fine to "use" your old thread for this, didn't feel like opening a new one.

the guy who did those has a nice blog too
http://it.qoob.tv/users/power_page.asp?id=18181
but it's in italian (maybe the links he puts at the end of the post are in english..didn't check all of 'em)

12.18.2006, 11:50 AM	#1
porkmarras invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: London - UK Posts: 14,313	http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/ 120 Years Of Electronic Music (update v3.0) Introduction This site charts the development of electronic musical instruments from 1870 to 1990. For the purposes of this project electronic musical instruments are defined as instruments that synthesise sounds from an electronic source. This definition leaves out a whole section of hybrid electronic instruments developed at the end of the last century that used electronics to manipulate or amplify sounds and tape recorders/ Musique Concrete, it has been decided to leave in some non electronic instruments such as the Futurists "Intonarumori" due to their importance in the history of modern music. The main focus of the site is on instruments developed from the beginning of the century until the 1960's. The more modern and current Synthesiser companies have been included for the sake of 'historical completeness' but are already well documented elsewhere on the internet, a comprehensive set of links are provided. Work currently (2004)in progress is a section documenting audio synthesis software from 1950 to 2004 '120 Years Of Electronic Music' is an ongoing project and the site will be updated on a regular basis. Most of the sections have been updated in this revision and a links page and bibliography have been added. Please send your comments, complaints, suggestions and information to the author: Simon Crab __________________
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12.18.2006, 03:25 PM	#2
krastian invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Baltimore Posts: 7,808	That's an awesome site.....great chronology. __________________ Confusion is next and next after that is the Truth.
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12.18.2006, 03:34 PM	#3
LittlePuppetBoy expwy. to yr skull Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Aylmer(now Gatineau), Quebec Posts: 1,756	Interesting __________________
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12.18.2006, 11:01 PM	#4
nomadicfollower invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: North America Posts: 2,672	"Imagine that every key of an organ's keyboard immobilises in a specific position, or moves a determined element, more or less rapidly, in a group of transparent filters which a beam of white light pierces, and this will give you an idea of the instrument Baranoff-Rossiné invented. There are various kinds of luminous filters: simply coloured ones optical elements such as prisms, lenses or mirrors; filters containing graphic elements and, finally, filters with coloured shapes and defined outlines. If on the top of this, you can modify the projector's position, the screen frame, the symmetry or asymmetry of the compositions and their movements and intensity; then, you will be able to reconstitute this optical piano that will play an infinite number of musical compositions. The key word here is interpret, because, for the time being, the aim is not to find a unique rendering of an existing musical composition for which the author did not foresee a version expressed by light. In music, as in any other artistic interpretation, one has to take into account elements such as the talent and sensitivity of the musician in order to fully understand the author's mind-frame. The day when a composer will compose music using notes that remain to be determined in terms of music and light, the interpreter's liberty will be curtailed, and that day, the artistic unity we were talking about will probably be closer to perfection..." The future of music? It gets me excited anyway (however old).
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11.12.2007, 02:58 PM	#5
nicfit invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: banana boat Posts: 15,570	http://it.qoob.tv/users/user_videoList.asp?id=18181 here are some nice vids on some electronic stuff (in italian but the images are priceless) porksarramkrop, hope it's fine to "use" your old thread for this, didn't feel like opening a new one. the guy who did those has a nice blog too http://it.qoob.tv/users/power_page.asp?id=18181 but it's in italian (maybe the links he puts at the end of the post are in english..didn't check all of 'em) __________________ 11:11 11-11-11 I Ascended.
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