This was in the previous music conference, but I have yet to figure out how to link this item there (via Backtalk). My intention is to cover a lot of ground here, and on a number of levels. I may remember what was covered in the previous item, and I may not. http://www.bigbriar.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.100.exe/archives.html? L+scstore+hdgl2782ffee02ee+1044280942 is an excellent link that provides a little bit of history regarding Leon Theremin and Robert Moog. To be clear, Robert Moog was inspired by the invention of the theremin, and went on to produce an early line of synthesizers that bear his name. Big Briar, Inc. was founded by him in 1978 and the above link is to the company website. Apparently, he is still making Moog synths and theremins, although they seem marketed more to collectors than performers. http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/ is another huge gateway link that provides more information than I could possibly cover here. http://tilt.largo.fl.us/faq/synthfaq.html is one linked there, and the section titled "11 notable synthesizers in history" is worth looking at. Besides synthesizers, electronica covers drum machines, MIDI, and reverb machines, to start. Notable pioneers in the field include Wendy (Walter) Carlos, Brian Eno, and Kraftwerk. Electronics seem to have changed music in an even larger way if the concept is broaded to studio work and sound engineering. The very obvious example of this that I can think of is the hand of the producer and/or mix master: many pop hits are mixed and remixed, and they are often musicians as well in that regard, providing alternate instrumental tracks and sequences, although they are not marketed as the musicians.3 responses total.
Digital vs. analog is also a huge distinction in this genre, as far as sound, although many musicians simply sample old analog sounds, and higher bit-rates of sampling have improved mimicry of traditional instruments. The limitations are clearest with stringed instruments. Digital solutions seem to "clean up" the sound, which sometimes limits the amount of reverb that acoustic stringed instruments would have.
One solution that has been developed is electronic pickups on acoustic instruments, especially for MIDI devices. Bruce Hornsby uses one occasionally. I'm not sure how they're used in practice-- whether the sound is changed in amplification, or there is some blending of the natural sound with synthesized sound.
I think Hornsby just uses a piano-key sensor rig to output MIDI... essentially just the guts of a MIDI keyboard fitted under the keyboard of a regular piano, and used to add synthesized sounds to the piano sound.
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