Synclavier
Encyclopedia
The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer
, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation
, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation
, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College
with the collaboration of Professor Jon Appleton
, Professor of Digital Electronics, Sydney A. Alonso, and Dartmouth, Thayer School of Engineering student software programmer, Cameron Jones.
it proved to be highly influential among both electronic music
composer
s and music producers, most notably Mike Thorne, an early adopter from the commercial world, due to its versatility, its cutting-edge technology, and distinctive sounds.
The early Synclavier Digital Synthesizer used FM synthesis, and was sold mostly to universities. Some such systems had only a computer and synthesis modules, no keyboard.
and used in their Prophet-T8 synthesizer.
to magnetic disk, and eventually a 16-bit polyphonic sampling system to memory, as well. The company's product was the only digital sampling system that allowed sample rates to go as high as 100 kHz for full digital sound quality, which was unsurpassed and frequently complimented by leading sound design and music recording engineers, who make up the Who's Who of modern music and sound effect recording.
"Tapeless Studio" system among many professionals. There is absolutely no doubt that the Synclavier System was "the" pioneer system in revolutionizing the movie and television sound effects and Foley
effects methods of design and production starting at Glen Glenn Sound
. Although pricing made it inaccessible for most musicians, it found widespread use among producers and professional recording studio
s, competing at times in this market with such high-end production systems as the Fairlight CMI
.
s. Consequently, all of the hardware from the company's main real-time CPU
, all input and output cards, analog-to-digital
and digital-to-analog
cards and all of its memory cards, and more, were all developed internally, as well as all of the software. This was certainly a monumental task at best in those times. In fact, the hardware and software of the company's real-time capability was used in other fields completely remote to music, such as the main Dartmouth College
campus computing node computers for one of the nation's first campus-wide computing networks, and in medical data acquisition
research projects.
of Japan. Though the Synclavier is no longer manufactured, around fifty systems are still in use today.
Related technologies & instruments:
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation
Music workstation
A music workstation is an electronic musical instrument providing the facilities of:*a sound module,*a music sequencer and* a musical keyboard.It enables a musician to compose electronic music using just one piece of equipment.-History:...
, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation
New England Digital
New England Digital Corp. , founded originally in Norwich, Vermont and eventually relocated to White River Junction, Vermont, was best known for its signature product, the Synclavier Synthesizer System, which evolved into the Synclavier Digital Audio System or "Tapeless Studio." The company sold...
, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
with the collaboration of Professor Jon Appleton
Jon Appleton
Jon Howard Appleton is an American composer and teacher who was a pioneer in electro-acoustic music. His earliest compositions in the medium, e.g. Chef d'Oeuvre and Newark Airport Rock attracted attention because they established a new tradition some have called programmatic electronic music...
, Professor of Digital Electronics, Sydney A. Alonso, and Dartmouth, Thayer School of Engineering student software programmer, Cameron Jones.
Overview
Synclavier I
First released in 1977-78it proved to be highly influential among both electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
s and music producers, most notably Mike Thorne, an early adopter from the commercial world, due to its versatility, its cutting-edge technology, and distinctive sounds.
The early Synclavier Digital Synthesizer used FM synthesis, and was sold mostly to universities. Some such systems had only a computer and synthesis modules, no keyboard.
Synclavier II
The system evolved in its next generation of product, the Synclavier II, which was released in early 1980 with the strong influence of master synthesist and music producer Denny Jaeger of Oakland, CA. It was originally Jaeger's suggestion that the FM synthesis concept be extended to allow four simultaneous channels or voices of synthesis to be triggered with one key depression to allow the final synthesized sound to have much more harmonic series activity. This change greatly improved the overall sound design of the system and was very noticeable.Keyboard controller
Synclavier II models used an on-off type keyboard (called the "ORK") while later models, labeled simply "Synclavier", used a weighted velocity-and-pressure-sensitive keyboard (called the "VPK") that was licensed from Sequential CircuitsSequential Circuits
Sequential Circuits Inc. was a California-based synthesizer company that was founded in the early 1970s by Dave Smith and sold to Yamaha Corporation in 1987. The company, throughout its lifespan, pioneered many groundbreaking technologies and design principles that are often taken for granted in...
and used in their Prophet-T8 synthesizer.
Digital sampling
The company evolved the system continuously through the early 1980s to integrate the first 16-bit digital sampling systemSampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
to magnetic disk, and eventually a 16-bit polyphonic sampling system to memory, as well. The company's product was the only digital sampling system that allowed sample rates to go as high as 100 kHz for full digital sound quality, which was unsurpassed and frequently complimented by leading sound design and music recording engineers, who make up the Who's Who of modern music and sound effect recording.
Tapeless Studio concept
Ultimately, the system was referred to as the Synclavier Digital RecordingDigital recording
In digital recording, digital audio and digital video is directly recorded to a storage device as a stream of discrete numbers, representing the changes in air pressure for audio and chroma and luminance values for video through time, thus making an abstract template for the original sound or...
"Tapeless Studio" system among many professionals. There is absolutely no doubt that the Synclavier System was "the" pioneer system in revolutionizing the movie and television sound effects and Foley
Foley artist
Foley is the reproduction of everyday sounds for use in filmmaking. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass. The best foley art is so well integrated into a film that it goes unnoticed by the audience. It helps to...
effects methods of design and production starting at Glen Glenn Sound
Glen Glenn Sound
Glen Glenn Sound was an audio post production company.The company was founded by Glen R. Glenn in 1936 and provided creative audio services to the television and film industry for five decades....
. Although pricing made it inaccessible for most musicians, it found widespread use among producers and professional recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
s, competing at times in this market with such high-end production systems as the Fairlight CMI
Fairlight CMI
The Fairlight CMI is a digital sampling synthesizer. It was designed in 1979 by the founders of Fairlight, Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie, and based on a dual-6800 microprocessor computer designed by Tony Furse in Sydney, Australia...
.
Technological achievements
When the company launched and evolved its technology, there were no off-the-shelf computing systems and integrated software and sound cardSound card
A sound card is an internal computer expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under control of computer programs. The term sound card is also applied to external audio interfaces that use software to generate sound, as opposed to using hardware...
s. Consequently, all of the hardware from the company's main real-time CPU
Real-time computing
In computer science, real-time computing , or reactive computing, is the study of hardware and software systems that are subject to a "real-time constraint"— e.g. operational deadlines from event to system response. Real-time programs must guarantee response within strict time constraints...
, all input and output cards, analog-to-digital
Analog-to-digital converter
An analog-to-digital converter is a device that converts a continuous quantity to a discrete time digital representation. An ADC may also provide an isolated measurement...
and digital-to-analog
Digital-to-analog converter
In electronics, a digital-to-analog converter is a device that converts a digital code to an analog signal . An analog-to-digital converter performs the reverse operation...
cards and all of its memory cards, and more, were all developed internally, as well as all of the software. This was certainly a monumental task at best in those times. In fact, the hardware and software of the company's real-time capability was used in other fields completely remote to music, such as the main Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
campus computing node computers for one of the nation's first campus-wide computing networks, and in medical data acquisition
Telehealth
Telehealth is the delivery of health-related services and information via telecommunications technologies. Telehealth could be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the telephone or as sophisticated as doing robotic surgery between facilities at different ends of the...
research projects.
Cease of manufacture
New England Digital ceased operations in 1993, the bulk of the assets purchased by FostexFostex
Fostex is a Japanese manufacturer that is one of the largest transducer and OEM speaker makers in the world, founded in July 1973 by Foster Electric Co. Ltd.-Company history:Fostex , founded in July 1973 by Foster Electric Co...
of Japan. Though the Synclavier is no longer manufactured, around fifty systems are still in use today.
Processor
- ABLE computer (1975) – a first product of New England Digital, based on Data General EclipseData General EclipseThe Data General Eclipse line of computers by Data General were 16-bit minicomputers released in early 1974 and sold until 1988. The Eclipse was based on many of the same concepts as the Data General Nova, but included support for virtual memory and multitasking more suitable to the small office...
processor. Later, Synclavier was developed based on it.
Black panel models
- (1970s-late 1980s)
- Synclavier I (1977)
- Hand Operated Processor (HOP box) – a troubleshooting tool for Synclavier system, connected to ABLE computer via "D01 Front Panel Interface Card".
- Synclavier I (1977)
- Synclavier II (1979) – 8bit FM/AdditiveAdditive synthesisAdditive synthesis is a technique of sound synthesis that creates musical timbre by explicitly adding sinusoidal overtones together.The timbre of an instrument is composed of multiple harmonic or inharmonic partials , of different frequencies and amplitudes, that change over time...
synthesis, 32Track Memory Recorder, and ORK keyboard. Earlier models were entirely controlled via ORK keyboard with its buttons & wheel, then VT100VT100The VT100 is a video terminal that was made by Digital Equipment Corporation . Its detailed attributes became the de facto standard for terminal emulators.-History:...
terminal was introduced to editing performances. Later models has VT640 graphic terminal for graphical audio analysis (described below).- Original Keyboard (ORK, c.1979) – original musical keyboard controller in a wooden chassis, with buttons and silver control wheel on the panel.
- Sample-to-Disk (STD, c.1982) – a first commercial hard disk streaming samplerSampler (musical instrument)A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
, 16bit sampling at up to 50 kHz. - Sample-to-Memory (STM) – later option to sample sounds and edit them in computer memory.
- Direct-to-Disk (DTD, c.1984) – a first commercial hard disk recording system.
- Signal File Manager – a software program operated via VT640 graphic terminal, enabling 'Additive Resynthesis' and complex audio analysisAudio analysisAudio analysis refers to the extraction of information and meaning from audio signals for analysis, classification, storage, retrieval, synthesis, etc....
. - SMPTE timecode tracking
- MIDI interface
- Synclavier PSMT (1984) – a faster ABLE Model C processor based system, with a new 'Multi-Chanel-Distribution' real-time digital controlled analog signal routing technology, and 16bit RAM based stereo sampling subsystem. Also monaural FM voice card was doubled up and enabling software panning for stereo output.
- Velocity/Pressure Keyboard (VPK, c.1984) – a weighted velocity/after-pressure sensitive musical keyboard controller, in a black piano lacquer finished chassis, with a larger display, extra buttons and silver control wheel on the panel.
Ivory panel models
- (late 1980s-1993), operated via Macintosh IIMacintosh IIThe Apple Macintosh II was the first personal computer model of the Macintosh II series in the Apple Macintosh line and the first Macintosh to support a color display.- History :...
as terminal
- Synclavier 3200
- Synclavier 6400
- Synclavier 9600
- Synclavier TS (Tapeless Studio) – consists of "Synclavier" and "Direct-to-Disk"
- Synclavier Post Pro – consists of "Direct-to-Disk"
- Synclavier Post Pro SD (Sound Design) – consists of small "Synclavier" and "Direct-to-Disk"
Notable Synclavier users
- Tony BanksTony Banks (musician)This article is about the musician. For other people named Tony Banks, see Tony BanksAnthony George "Tony" Banks is a British composer, and multi-instrumentalist, who performs as a keyboardist and a guitarist...
of GenesisGenesis (band)Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
used a Synclavier II on the albums, Genesis and Invisible TouchInvisible TouchInvisible Touch is the 13th studio album by the band Genesis, released in 1986. It reached No.1 in the UK where it remained in the charts for 96 weeks, making it by far the most commercially successful album of their career, eventually selling over 15 million copies worldwide...
and their respective tours, along with solo albums and soundtracks of that period. - Christopher BoyesChristopher BoyesChristopher Boyes is an American sound engineer. He has won four Academy Awards and has been nominated for another nine. He has worked on over 70 films since 1991.-Academy Awards:Boyes has won four Academy Awards and has been nominated for another nine:Won...
- Supervising sound editor/sound designer for the film Avatar, used the Synclavier for blending or layering different sound effects and matching pitches. - Joel ChadabeElectronic Music FoundationElectronic Music Foundation is a not-for-profit 501 organization that produces events, publishes and disseminates media and information, and provides access to materials relevant to the history and creative potential of electronic music....
– composer/founder of Electronic Music FoundationElectronic Music FoundationElectronic Music Foundation is a not-for-profit 501 organization that produces events, publishes and disseminates media and information, and provides access to materials relevant to the history and creative potential of electronic music....
; In September 1977, he bought the first Synclavier without musical keyboard (ORK), and wrote custom software to control Synclavier via various devices. - Chick CoreaChick CoreaArmando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
used the Synclavier on various Elektric Band albums from 1986–1991 as well as various Elektric Band tours. - Paul DavisPaul Davis (singer)Paul Lavon Davis was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his radio hits and solo career which started worldwide in 1970. His career encompassed soul, country and pop music...
- singer/songwriter, producer at Monarch Sound in Atlanta. - Vince DiColaVince DiColaVince DiCola is an Italian-American composer, keyboardist, and arranger best known for his work on the The Transformers: The Movie, Staying Alive and Rocky IV soundtracks...
- It was used Extensively in studio, also on Soundtracks Rocky IVRocky IVRocky IV is a 1985 American film written by, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the fourth and most financially successful entry in the Rocky franchise...
& TransformersTransformersA transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling.Transformer may also refer to:* ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet computer manufacturer by Asus...
(1985) - Patrick GleesonPatrick GleesonPatrick Gleeson is a musician, synthesizer pioneer, composer and producer, from California, USA.Gleeson began experimenting with electronic music in the mid-'60s at the San Francisco Tape Music Center using a Buchla synth and other devices....
– film score composer, used the Synclavier to score Apocalypse NowApocalypse NowApocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
. - Michael HoenigMichael HoenigMichael Hoenig is a German composer who has composed music for several movies and games, in addition to two solo albums...
– film scoring work on the Synclavier, including The WraithThe WraithThe Wraith is a 1986 action/science fiction film, directed and written by Mike Marvin. The film was later featured in an episode of Cinema Insomnia....
. - Trevor HornTrevor HornTrevor Charles Horn CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring in north-east England....
– used the Synclavier to produce records by Frankie Goes to HollywoodFrankie Goes to HollywoodFrankie Goes to Hollywood were a British dance-pop band popular in the mid-1980s. The group was fronted by Holly Johnson , with Paul Rutherford , Peter Gill , Mark O'Toole , and Brian Nash .The group's debut single "Relax" was banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts and...
, YesYes (band)Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
, and Grace JonesGrace JonesGrace Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and...
(Slave to the RhythmSlave to the RhythmSlave to the Rhythm is the seventh album by Grace Jones. It was produced by Trevor Horn and released in 1985. The album was written by Bruce Woolley, Simon Darlow, Stephen Lipson and Trevor Horn...
), among others. - Michael JacksonMichael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
– particularly on his 1982 album Thriller, programming by Steve PorcaroSteve PorcaroSteven Maxwell "Steve" Porcaro is an American keyboardist and composer, who was an original member of the rock/pop band Toto....
, Brian Banks and Anthony Marinelli. The gong sound at the beginning of "Beat ItBeat It"Beat It" is a song written and performed by American recording artist Michael Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones . It is the third single from the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller . Eddie Van Halen was hired to add the song's distinctive overdriven guitar solo, but was prevented by his...
" comes courtesy of the Synclavier. - Mark KnopflerMark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
–So Far Away- The Princess Bride (1987) – With the exception of the guitar sounds, every sound you hear is generated by the Synclavier, including hand claps etc. Last Exit to BrooklynLast Exit to Brooklyn (album)Last Exit to Brooklyn is a 1989 [soundtrack album]] by Mark Knopfler for the film Last Exit to Brooklyn. Although the album credits Knopfler as an artist, all the songs are performed by Guy Fletcher.-Track listing:...
(1989) – All sounds except guitar and horns produced by the Synclavier. Tracking for On Every StreetOn Every StreetOn Every Street is the sixth and final studio album by British rock band Dire Straits, released in 1991 . It made #1 on the UK Albums Chart.-History:...
was completed on a Synclavier. - KraftwerkKraftwerkKraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
- used on their albums Electric CaféElectric CaféElectric Café is the ninth studio album by the electronic group Kraftwerk, originally released in 1986. In October 2009 it was re-released under its original working title, Techno Pop.-Background:...
and The Mix (Kraftwerk album) and in their live performances until the use of laptops - John McLaughlinJohn McLaughlin (musician)John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
used it on the albums Adventures in RadiolandAdventures in RadiolandAdventures in Radioland is a 1987 album by the John McLaughlin-headed group Mahavishnu, released by the Relativity label which represents McLauglin's interest in electronic technology...
and MahavishnuMahavishnu (album)Mahavishnu is an album by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, released in 1984 by Warner Bros. Records. In 1980's, McLaughlin reformed the Mahavishnu Orchestra for release of the two albums Mahavishnu and Adventures in Radioland...
.
- Pat MethenyPat MethenyPatrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
– American jazz guitarist. - Mr. MisterMr. MisterMr. Mister is an American pop rock band most popular in the 1980s. The band's name came from an inside joke about a Weather Report album called Mr. Gone where they referred to each other as "Mister This" or "Mister That", and eventually selected "Mr. Mister." Mr. Mister may be considered as...
- Used On Albums i wear the faceI Wear the FaceI Wear the Face is the debut album released from Mr. Mister, released in 1984 on the RCA label. It was re-released on October 5, 1990.The only single released was "Hunters of the Night" which was co-written with George Ghiz, who was the band's manager at the time. It reached a high of #57 on the...
, welcome to the real world, & go on...Go On...Go On... was the third album by American pop band Mr. Mister. It was released in 1987, and featured a more serious tone than their previous album Welcome to the Real World, which was commercially successful...
. - Jack NitzscheJack NitzscheBernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche was an arranger, producer, songwriter, and film score composer. He first came to prominence in the late 1950s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spector, and went on to work with the Rolling Stones, Neil Young and others...
's score for the movie StarmanStarman (film)John Carpenter's Starman is a 1984 science-fiction fantasy film directed by John Carpenter that tells the story of an alien who has come to Earth in response to the invitation found on the gold phonograph record installed on the Voyager 2 space probe.The screenplay was written by Bruce A. Evans,...
was performed entirely using Synclavier II. - Jean-Luc PontyJean-Luc PontyJean-Luc Ponty is a French virtuoso violinist and jazz composer.- Early years:Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians on 29 September 1942 in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano...
– Used the Synclavier on many albums between 1983 and 1993. - Danny Quatrochi used Synclavier on Sting's album The Dream of the Blue TurtlesThe Dream of the Blue TurtlesThe Dream of the Blue Turtles is the first solo album by British pop singer-songwriter Sting, released in the United States on 1 June 1985, a year after The Police had unofficially disbanded...
(1985). - Gary RydstromGary RydstromGary Roger Rydstrom is an American sound designer and director. He has won seven Academy Awards for his work in sound for movies.-Career:...
– used the Synclavier for sound designSound designSound design is the process of specifying, acquiring, manipulating or generating audio elements. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking, television production, theatre, sound recording and reproduction, live performance, sound art, post-production and video game software...
, as seen in a bonus featurette on the Monsters, Inc.Monsters, Inc.Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 American computer-animated film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It was directed by Pete Docter, co-directed by Lee Unkrich and David Silverman, and written by Jill Culton, Peter Docter, Ralph Eggleston, Dan Gerson, Jeff Pidgeon, Rhett...
DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. - Craig SafanCraig SafanCraig Safan is a Hollywood film composer whose biggest scores include The Last Starfighter, Angel, Fade to Black, Major Payne, Remo Williams, and music to the TV series Cheers, for which he won numerous ASCAP awards.After getting his start in theater, Safan moved to film composing in the 1980s,...
- film composer scored several films during the 1980s on the Synclavier including Stand and DeliverStand and DeliverStand and Deliver is a 1988 American drama film, based on the true story of high school mathematics teacher Jaime Escalante. Edward James Olmos portrayed Escalante in the film and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.-Plot:...
, Warning SignWarning signA traffic warning sign is a type of traffic sign that indicates a hazard ahead on the road that may not be readily apparent to a driver.In most countries, they usually take the shape of an equilateral triangle with a white background and a thick red border...
, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream MasterA Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream MasterA Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is a 1988 American slasher film and the fourth film in the Nightmare on Elm Street series. The film was directed by Renny Harlin.-Plot:...
. - Howard ShoreHoward ShoreHoward Leslie Shore is a Canadian composer, notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he won three Academy Awards. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg,...
, film score composer – pictured with a Synclavier on the cover of Berklee Today, Fall 1997. - Alan SilvestriAlan SilvestriAlan Anthony Silvestri is an American film composer and conductor.-Career:Silvestri is best known for his collaborations with director Robert Zemeckis, having scored Romancing the Stone , the Back to the Future trilogy , Who Framed Roger Rabbit , Death Becomes Her , Forrest Gump , Contact ,...
– in producing the scores for the 1980s films The Clan of the Cave BearThe Clan of the Cave Bear (film)The Clan of the Cave Bear is a 1986 film based on the book of the same name by Jean M. Auel and was directed by Michael Chapman.-Plot:The film stars Daryl Hannah as Ayla, a young Cro-Magnon woman who was separated from her family during an earthquake and found by a group of Neanderthals...
and Flight of the NavigatorFlight of the NavigatorFlight of the Navigator is a 1986 Disney science fiction film directed by Randal Kleiser and written by Mark H. Baker and Michael Burton, about a 12-year-old boy named David who is abducted by an alien space craft and finds himself caught in a world which has changed around him...
. - Paul SimonPaul SimonPaul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
– on Simon's 1983 album Hearts and Bones, Tom CoppolaTom CoppolaThomas Wilkinson Coppola is a pianist and arranger, known for being a principal member of the group Air...
is credited for Synclavier for the following tracks: "When Numbers Get Serious," "Think Too Much (b)," "Song About the Moon" and "Think Too Much (a)," and Wells Christie is credited with Synclavier on "Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War." On his 1986 album Graceland, Paul [Simon] is credited under "Synclavier" for the following tracks: "I Know What I Know" and "Gumboots". - Mark SnowMark SnowMark Snow is an American composer for film and television.Born in New York, he grew up in Brooklyn, graduating from the High School of Music and Art and, afterwards, the Juilliard School of Music...
– film and television score composer; Synclavier used on The X-FilesThe X-FilesThe X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
. - James StroudJames StroudJames Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in pop, rock, and country music. In the 1990s he was the president of Giant Records and held several credits as a session drummer...
- Producer used a synclavier II on many hit albums he produced for - Mike Thorne – producer, one of first musicians to buy a Synclavier, used it on records by Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soft CellSoft CellSoft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They consist of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The duo is most widely known for their 1981 worldwide hit version of "Tainted Love" and platinum debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret...
("Tainted LoveTainted Love"Tainted Love" is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of The Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1965. It attained worldwide fame after being covered by Soft Cell in 1981, reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart, and has since been covered by numerous groups and...
"), Marc AlmondMarc AlmondMarc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...
, and Bronski BeatBronski BeatBronski Beat were a popular British synthpop trio who achieved success in the mid 1980s, particularly with the 1984 chart hit "Smalltown Boy". All members of the group were openly homosexual and their songs reflected this, often containing political commentary on gay-related issues...
, among others. - WhodiniWhodiniWhodini is a hip hop group that was formed in 1981. The Brooklyn, New York-based trio consisted of vocalist and main lyricist Jalil Hutchins; co-vocalist John Fletcher, aka Ecstasy ; and turntable artist DJ Drew Carter, aka Grandmaster Dee.-Early years:Whodini was among the first hip-hop groups to...
- Synclavier II was used on albums EscapeEscape (Whodini album)Escape is the second album by hip-hop group Whodini, released in 1984 on the Jive label. The album spawned the hit singles "Five Minutes of Funk," "Friends," and "Freaks Come Out at Night". This was one the first rap albums ever to include a synclavier...
and Back In BlackBack in Black (Whodini album)Back In Black, released in 1986, was the third album by American hip hop group Whodini. The album spawned three singles: "Funky Beat," "Growing Up," and "One Love." The album was certified platinum by RIAA.- Track listing:...
. - Guy FletcherGuy FletcherGuy Wilson Fletcher is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known for his position as the keyboardist in the British rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his involvement in nearly every part of Mark Knopfler's solo work to date.-Biography:Fletcher was born into a...
of Dire StraitsDire StraitsDire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
- Synclavier was used on albums Brothers in armsBrothers in Arms (Dire Straits album)- Original LP track listing :- 2005 Re-Issue 2 LP track listing :The 2005 Limited Edition Deluxe 180 gram High Performance Vinyl reissue contained the full-length versions of all songs by spreading out the songs over two half speed mastered LPs....
especially on the song Money for Nothing (song)Money for Nothing (song)"Money for Nothing" is a single by British rock band Dire Straits, taken from their 1985 album Brothers in Arms. It was one of Dire Straits' most successful singles, peaking at number one for three weeks in the United States, and it also reached number one for three weeks on the U.S. Mainstream... - Alan WilderAlan WilderAlan Charles Wilder is a British musician, formerly of Depeche Mode. His current musical project is called Recoil, started as a side project to Depeche Mode. When he left the latter in 1995, it became Wilder's primary project...
used the Synclavier a lot during his years with Depeche ModeDepeche ModeDepeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
. - Stevie WonderStevie WonderStevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
– In an episode of The Cosby Show, Wonder records different snippets of the Huxtable's voices onto his Synclavier. - Frank ZappaFrank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
– in 1982 one of the first Synclavier owners; 1984's Thing-FishThing-Fish-1995 Rykodisc CD Release:- Cast :*Thing-Fish—Ike Willis*Harry—Terry Bozzio*Rhonda—Dale Bozzio*The Evil Prince—Napoleon Murphy Brock*Harry-As-A-Boy—Bob Harris*Brown Moses—Johnny "Guitar" Watson*Owl-Gonkwin-Jane Cowhoon—Ray White- Musicians :...
(underscoring), Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect StrangerBoulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect StrangerBoulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger is a 1984 album featuring the music of Frank Zappa, conducted, in part, by Pierre Boulez. It is also known as, simply, The Perfect Stranger...
(underscoring) and Francesco ZappaFrancesco Zappa (album)Francesco Zappa is a 1984 album by Frank Zappa. It features chamber music by the Italian composer Francesco Zappa, who composed between 1763 and 1788. David Ocker played a piece of Francesco Zappa's music for Frank Zappa because it was popular with some college music students...
(solely Synclavier); 1985's Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of PreventionFrank Zappa Meets the Mothers of PreventionFrank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention is a 1985 album by Frank Zappa. It was originally released in two slightly different versions in the US and Europe. The two versions were later combined and reissued on a compact disc: first in the US on Rykodisc in 1986 Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of...
(sampled sounds); 1986's Grammy-winning album Jazz from HellJazz from HellJazz from Hell is a Grammy Award–winning instrumental album from Frank Zappa. It was released in 1986 by Barking Pumpkin Records and by Rykodisc .-Album information:...
("St. Etienne" excepted, solely Synclavier); 1994's Civilization Phaze III completed in 1993 shortly before his death, released posthumously, musical portions composed and recorded exclusively using the Synclavier. - Eddie JobsonEddie JobsonEdwin "Eddie" Jobson is an English keyboardist and violinist noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K., and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976-77...
- in 1985 made an album Theme of SecretsTheme of SecretsTheme of Secrets was a 'new age' album written and produced by Eddie Jobson, released in 1985. There are eight tracks on the album. "This masterpiece of soundscapes was created by using the Synclavier computer, and is a brilliant album from start to finish."- Features :A music video of one...
using the Synclavier only.
See also
- New England DigitalNew England DigitalNew England Digital Corp. , founded originally in Norwich, Vermont and eventually relocated to White River Junction, Vermont, was best known for its signature product, the Synclavier Synthesizer System, which evolved into the Synclavier Digital Audio System or "Tapeless Studio." The company sold...
- Jon AppletonJon AppletonJon Howard Appleton is an American composer and teacher who was a pioneer in electro-acoustic music. His earliest compositions in the medium, e.g. Chef d'Oeuvre and Newark Airport Rock attracted attention because they established a new tradition some have called programmatic electronic music...
- Fostex Foundation 2000Fostex Foundation 2000The Fostex Foundation 2000 was a high-end digital audio workstation that Fostex introduced in 1993, at a cost of about $60,000. Many of its engineers were refugees from the recently bankrupt New England Digital, makers of the highly regarded and much more pricey Synclavier music workstation...
(derived product)
Related technologies & instruments:
- FM synthesis
- Sampler (musical instrument)Sampler (musical instrument)A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
- Hard disk recording
- Digital audio workstationDigital audio workstationA digital audio workstation is an electronic system designed solely or primarily for recording, editing and playing back digital audio. DAWs were originally tape-less, microprocessor-based systems such as the Synclavier and Fairlight CMI...
External links
- Synclavier Web Site
- "What Makes The Synclavier So Special And Different?" Steve Hills, Synclavier European Services
- Synclavier Early History