Here’s a brief summary of electronic instruments and the main synthesis types. The first of each type are listed here, and all are featured in my book, ‘Synthesizer Evolution’.
1600 - Electricity - The modern discovery of electricity by William Gilbert, who wrote ‘De Magnete’.
1759 - Clavecin Électrique - the first instrument featured in ‘Synthesizer Evolution’; a kind of bell-ringing instrument driven by a Leiden jar.
1897 - The Telharmonium - early tonewheel instrument, invented by Thadeus Cahill, weighing 200 tons, and which could be played over the telephone network of New York City.
1906 - Audion valve - invented by Lee de Forest, used for early ‘heterodyne’ oscillators (beat-frequencies in the audio range of radio-frequency valves).
1922 - Theremin - remotely controlled instrument invented by Lev Teremin (‘Leon Theremin’), using the heterodyne effect.
1928 - Ondes Martenot - keyboard instrument, also using the heterodyne effect.
1930 - Coupleaux-Givelet Organ - early direct valve oscillator instrument with timbre controls.
1932 - Electric piano is invented by the Neo-Bechstein company, using electro-static pick-ups on the tines.
1935 - Hammond Tonewheel Organ - invented by Laurens Hammond.
1936: Mixturtrautonium - Built by Oskar Sala and used on the soundtrack for Hitchcock’s The Birds.
1939 - Hammond Novachord - first commercial synthesizer, using valves for oscillators, tone and envelope control.
1944: Rhodes Piano - first prototype by Harold Rhodes. Uses pick-ups on strings: not a synthesizer!
1949 - Chamberlin - used tape recordings of instruments and rhythms. First was the ‘Rhythmate’ playing back recordings of a drummer: it’s not a true drum machine.
1951 - RCA Sound Synthesizer - room sized experimental sound lab - which also introduced the word ‘synthesizer’ in the modern sense.
1958 - BBC Radiophonic Workshop - founded by Daphne Oram and Desmond Briscoe. Brings electronic music to wide public audience.
1959 - Wurlitzer Side Man 5000 - The world’s first true drum machine. Valve based sound and electro-mechanical sequencer for rhythms.
1961 - Harold Bode - Proposes the principle of Voltage Control for synthesizers.
1955 - Hammond B3 - the all-time classic electric organ. ‘Additive’ tone control using sliders, but not a synthesizer.
1963 - The Synket - three-manual, transistor based synthesizer for the composer John Eaton, designed by Paul Ketoff.
1963 - Mellotron - building on the Chamberlin’s technology using tape-recordings of instruments.
1963 - Buchla Series 100 Modular Synthesizer - First transistorised Modular Synthesizer, designed for Morton Subotnick at the San Francisco Tape Center.
1964 - Moog Modular - Robert Moog’s first modular synthesizer, designed with composer Herb Deutsch.
1969 - EMS VCS3 - the first portable semi-modular analogue synth - 3 oscillators and a pin-matrix.
1969 - EML Electrocomp Model 100 - with 4 VCOs was one of the earliest duophonic synths.
1970 - Moog Minimoog (Model D) - the breakthrough portable analogue classic - 3 oscillators and hard-wired architecture.
1972 - ARP Odyssey - Following the Minimoog, the ARP Odyssey becomes a highly popular monosynth. By the mid-70s, ARP own 40% of the synthesizer market.
1972 - Eminent 310 Unique - the first string synthesizer, using divide-down oscillators for full polyphony and individual vibrato for a richer sound. Notably used by Jean-Michel Jarre on Equinoxe I (1978).
1973 - Yamaha GX-1 - The first polyphonic analogue synthesizer.
1974 - RMI Harmonic Synthesizer - early additive synthesizer.
1977 - New England Digital Synclavier - Introduces digital additive synthesis, ahead of the introduction of its sampling capabilities in 1982.
1977 - Yamaha CS-80 - the pre-eminent analogue polysynth - eight note polyphony and gorgeous tones.
1978 - Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 - the first synth with a microprocessor, used for storing patches. Anoher of the of the classic analogue polysynths.
1978 - Crumar DS-1, EDP Wasp, PPG 1020 - early use of Digitally Controlled Oscillators (DCOs) for better tuning stability.
1978 - PPG 360 - Introduces Wavetable synthesis - the ability to use digital waveforms and to sequence them as part of an individual patch.
1980 - Casio Casiotone VL1 - first commercial digital synthesizer, albeit a home keyboard.
1980 - Yamaha GS-1 - First commercially available FM synthesizer. Using John Chowning’s patent (Stanford University), FM goes on to power the Yamaha DX7 (1983), the best selling synth of all time, at that point.
1981 - Casio Casiotone 401 - the home keyboard that introduced the joys (curse?) of chord auto-accompanient (though these had been a feature of earlier, often Italian, preset rhythm machines)
1982 - Sequential Circuits Prophet 600 - first synthesizer to feature MIDI ports.
1983 - MIDI standard agreed - driven by Dave Smith (Sequential Circuits) and Ikaturo Kakehashi (Roland), based in part on Roland’s DCB interface.
1983 - Yamaha DX7 - the breakthrough FM synthesizer.
1984 - Casio CZ-101 - the first of Casio’s ‘Phase Distortion’ synthesizers, a technique similar to FM synthesis.
1985 - Atari ST 520 - the computer that had built in MIDI ports and enabled the connected studio to evolve.
1987 - Roland D-50 - the best-selling synth that brought Sample & Synthesis to the masses (earlier S&S synths were made such as Kurzweil K250 (1984) and the 360 Systems Digital Keyboard (1982)).
1987 - Casio HZ-600 - the first of Casio’s Spectrum Dynamic Synthesis synths (using digital oscillators).
1988 - Sequential Circuits Prophet VS - introduces Vector Synthesis - realtime control of oscillators using a joystick.
1988 - Korg M1 - one of the best selling synths of all time; used sample & synthesis.
1994 - Yamaha VL1 - the first physical modelling synth - modelling real-world instruments using maths not samples, digital waves or analogue oscillators.
1996 - Doepfer A100 - Modular synth introducing the Eurorack format which was to dominate the 21st century modular scene.
1995 - Korg Prophecy - the first analogue modelling synth - modelling analogue circuits in software.
1997 - Propellerhead Software Rebirth - computer based modelling software (modelling the Roland TB-30, TR-808 (version 1) and TR-909 (fro version 2).
2015 - Korg Arp Odyssey - the first of the rebooted vintage synthesizers as modern clones of the originals.