The Siemens Synthesizer (or "Siemens Studio für Elektronische Musik") was developed in Germany in 1959 by the German electronics manufacturer

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

, originally to compose live electronic music for its own promotional films. (See also excerpt of pp
157
ndas
160
from ) From 1956 to 1967, it had a significant influence on the development of electronic music. Among others,

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and

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completed important electronic works there.

History

In 1955,

established an audio laboratory, the Siemens Studio für Elektronische Musik, in its

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

facilities to produce electronic music for its publicity films. Siemens engineers Helmut Klein and Alexander Schaaf were charged with assembling the components for the studio and providing a means for controlling the composition, synthesis, and recording of music. The organization of the studio was completed by 1959. A second model was installed in 1964. The studio was closed in 1967 but its main control room and equipment have been preserved as part of a museum exhibit at the

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science museum, science and technology museum, technology, with a ...

in Munich. From 1959 until its closure, Josef Anton Riedl was director of the studio. Munich - Deutsches Museum - 07-9584

Technology

The Siemens Synthesizer was controlled by a set of four punch paper rolls controlling the timbre, envelope, pitch and volume. Equipment found in the studio included a bank of 20 oscillators, a white noise generator, a Hohnerola (a hybrid electronically amplified reed instrument marketed by

Hohner Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). It is a subsidiary of Matth. Hohner AG. The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg ...

) and an impulse generator. The synthesizer had a tonal range of seven octaves. The Siemens Synthesizer offered a method for controlling its tone-generating facilities, modification and modulation of the sounds in real time, and the manipulation of recorded material into finished works.

Uses

Between 1960 and 1966, the studio opened its doors to many outside composers, including: *

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* Josef Anton Riedl *

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* Niccolo Castiglioni *

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Gallery

File:Munich - Deutsches Museum - 07-9580.jpg, The mixer with a noise generator on the left and the frequency converter on the right. Behind it, a wall of 20 sine wave generators. File:Munich - Deutsches Museum - 07-9589.jpg, A synchronous-motor moves the paper strips across the reader. File:Siemens Tonstudio, Deutsches Museum.jpg, The studio equipments of the Siemens Studio für Elektronische Musik, referred as "''Simens synthesizer''".

Bibliography

* Stefan Schenk: ''Das Siemens-Studio für elektronische Musik''. In: ''Münchner Veröffentlichungen zur Musikgeschichte'', Band 72. Hans Schneider Verlag 2014, zugleich Dissertation an der Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München 2011, {{ISBN, 978-3-86296-064-4.
Online
* Wolf Loeckle: '' «Was gibt’s Neues?» Josel Anton Riedl, das Elektronische Siemens-Studio, die Natur''. In: ''Neue Zeitschrift für Musik'', Ausgabe 2014/2, S. 24–27. * Helmut Klein: ''Klangsynthese und Klanganalyse im elektronischen Studio''. In: ''Frequenz – Journal for RF'', Band 16/1962 Nr. 3, S. 109–114 * Siemens Kulturprogramm (Hrsg.): ''Siemens-Studio für elektronische Musik''. München 1994 * Siemens Kulturprogramm: ''Siemens-Studio für elektronische Musik''. audiocom multimedia, 1998 (CD mit Kompositionen aus dem Studio)

References

Siemens Electronic musical instruments