The Synclavier is an early

digital synthesizer A digital synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses digital signal processing (DSP) techniques to make musical sounds. This in contrast to older analog synthesizers, which produce music using analog electronics, and samplers, which play back digita ...

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

digital sampling system, and

music workstation A music workstation is an electronic musical instrument providing the facilities of: *a sound module, *a music sequencer and *(usually) a musical keyboard. It enables a musician to compose electronic music using just one piece of equipment. ...

manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of

Norwich, Vermont Norwich is a town in Windsor County, in the U.S. state of Vermont. The population was 3,612 at the 2020 census. Home to some of the state of Vermont's wealthiest residents, the municipality is a commuter town for nearby Hanover, New Hampshire ...

. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the early 1990s. The instrument has been used by prominent musicians.

History

The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

with the collaboration of Jon Appleton, Professor of Digital Electronics, Sydney A. Alonso, and Cameron Jones, a software programmer and student at Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering.

Synclavier I

First released in 1977–78, it proved to be highly influential among both

electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...

composers and

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

s, including

Mike Thorne Mike Thorne (born 25 January 1948) is an English record producer, arranger, composer, engineer, and musician. He started playing the piano at the age of 10. After studying physics at Hertford College, Oxford, in the late 1960s he worked as a ta ...

, an early adopter from the commercial world, due to its versatility, its cutting-edge technology, and distinctive sounds. The early Synclavier I used

FM synthesis Frequency modulation synthesis (or FM synthesis) is a form of sound synthesis whereby the frequency of a waveform is changed by modulating its frequency with a modulator. The frequency of an oscillator is altered "in accordance with the amplitud ...

, re-licensed from

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

, and was sold mostly to universities. The initial models had only a computer and synthesis modules; later models added a musical keyboard and control panel.

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 music producer Denny Jaeger of

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. 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. 16-bit user sampling (originally in mono only) was added as an option in 1982. This model was succeeded by the ABLE Model C computer based PSMT in 1984 and then the Mac-based 3200, 6400 and 9600 models, all of which used the VPK keyboard.

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 Circuits Sequential is an American synthesizer company founded in 1974 as Sequential Circuits by Dave Smith. In 1978, Sequential released the Prophet-5, the first programmable polyphonic synthesizer; it became a market leader and industry standard, use ...

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 system 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.

Tapeless studio concept

Ultimately, the system was referred to as the Synclavier

Digital Recording In digital recording, an audio or video signal is converted into a stream of discrete numbers representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, or chroma and luminance values for video. This number stream is saved to a storage ...

"Tapeless Studio" system among many professionals. It was a pioneer system in revolutionizing 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 (a Synclavier could cost anywhere from $25,000 to $200,000), it found widespread use among producers and professional

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large en ...

s, competing at times in this market with high-end production systems such as the

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial licen ...

Technological achievements

When the company launched and evolved its technology, there were no

off-the-shelf Off-the-shelf may refer to: * Commercial off-the-shelf, a phrase in computing and industrial supply terminology * Government off-the-shelf * Ready-to-wear * Shelf corporation, a type of company * Off the Shelf Festival, a festival of writing and r ...

computing systems, integrated software, nor

sound card A sound card (also known as an audio card) is an internal expansion card that provides input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under the control of computer programs. The term ''sound card'' is also applied to external au ...

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 its memory cards were developed internally, as well as all of the software. 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 USA's first campus-wide computing networks, and in medical data acquisition research projects.

End of manufacture

New England Digital ceased operations in 1993. According to Jones, "The intellectual property was bought up by a bank—then it was owned by a Canadian company called Airworks—and I bought the intellectual property and the trademark back from a second bank which had foreclosed on it from Airworks."

Reincarnations

In 2019, Jones released an

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

version of the Synclavier dubbed Synclavier Go! using much of the original code base. Jones has also worked with Arturia to bring the Synclavier V software version of the instrument to their V Collection plugin suite.

Models and options

Prototype

* Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer (1973)

Processor

* ABLE computer (1975): an early product of New England Digital, was a 16-bit

mini-computer A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a class of smaller general purpose computers that developed in the mid-1960s and sold at a much lower price than mainframe and mid-size computers from IBM and its direct competitors. In a 1970 survey, ' ...

on two cards, using a transport-triggered architecture. It used a variant of XPL called Scientific XPL for programming. Early applications of the ABLE were for

laboratory automation Laboratory automation is a multi-disciplinary strategy to research, develop, optimize and capitalize on technologies in the laboratory that enable new and improved processes. Laboratory automation professionals are academic, commercial and gover ...

, data collection, and device control. The commercial version of the Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer, the Synclavier, was built on this processor.

Digital synthesis cards

* The FM/

Additive synthesis Additive synthesis is a sound synthesis technique that creates timbre by adding sine waves together. The timbre of musical instruments can be considered in the light of Fourier theory to consist of multiple harmonic or inharmonic '' partials'' ...

waveforms are produced by the Synclavier Synthesizer cards (named SS1 through SS5). Each set of these five cards produced 8 mono FM voices (later variants supported stereo). The processor handles sending start-stop-setPitch-setParameter commands to the SS card set(s), as well as handling scanning of the keyboard and control panel. There is little public documentation available on these cards, as their design was the unique asset of the Synclavier. However, their structure was similar to other digital synthesizers of the mid-late 1970s realized in Medium Scale Integration (MSI) hardware, such as the Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer.

Black panel models

On 1970s–late 1980s: * Synclavier I (1977) ** Hand Operated Processor (HOP box): a troubleshooting tool for the Synclavier system, connected to ABLE computer via "D01 Front Panel Interface Card". File:NED HOP box & D01 FPI card.jpg, HOP box and D01 card (for interface) File:Adm3aimage.jpg, Terminal:

ADM-3A The ADM-3A was an influential early video display terminal, introduced in 1976. It was manufactured by Lear Siegler and had a 12-inch screen displaying 12 or 24 lines of 80 characters. It set a new industry low single unit price of $995. Its " ...

(1975) * Synclavier II (1980): 8-bit FM/

additive synthesis Additive synthesis is a sound synthesis technique that creates timbre by adding sine waves together. The timbre of musical instruments can be considered in the light of Fourier theory to consist of multiple harmonic or inharmonic '' partials'' ...

, 32-track memory recorder, and ORK keyboard. Earlier models were entirely controlled via ORK keyboard with buttons and wheel; a

VT100 The VT100 is a video terminal, introduced in August 1978 by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). It was one of the first terminals to support ANSI escape codes for cursor control and other tasks, and added a number of extended codes for special ...

terminal was subsequently introduced for editing performances. Later models had a 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 sampler, with 16-bit 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): an early commercial

hard disk recording A hard disk recorder (HDR) is a system that uses a high-capacity hard disk to record digital audio or digital video. Hard disk recording systems represent an alternative to reel-to-reel audio tape recording and video tape recorders, and provide n ...

system. ** Signal File Manager: a software program operated via VT640 graphic terminal, enabling ' Additive Resynthesis' and complex

audio analysis Audio analysis refers to the extraction of information and meaning from audio signals for analysis, classification, storage, retrieval, synthesis, etc. The observation mediums and interpretation methods vary, as audio analysis can refer to the human ...

. ** Digital Guitar Interface **

SMPTE timecode SMPTE timecode ( or ) is a set of cooperating standards to label individual frames of video or film with a timecode. The system is defined by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers in the SMPTE 12M specification. SMPTE revised t ...

tracking **

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, an ...

interface File:NED Synclavier II rear.jpg, Rear panel of Synclavier II File:Synclavier II ORK EG panel.jpg, ORK: Original Keyboard (c.1980) File:Terminal-dec-vt100.jpg, Terminal: DEC

(1978) / VT640 * Synclavier PSMT (1984): a faster ABLE Model C processor based system, with a new 'Multi-Channel-Distribution' real-time digitally controlled analog signal routing technology, and 16-bit RAM-based stereo sampling subsystem. The monaural FM voice card was doubled up and enabling software panning for stereo output was introduced. ** Velocity/Pressure Keyboard (VPK, c.1984): a weighted velocity/after-pressure sensitive musical keyboard controller, was introduced. This had a black piano lacquer finished chassis, a larger display, additional buttons and a silver control wheel. File:NED Synclavier PSMT rack, MIM PHX (transformed).jpg, Synclavier PSMT rack File:NED Synclavier VPK 2 of 6.jpg, VPK panel (2 of 6) File:NED Synclavier VPK (Velocity Pressure Keyboard) 1.jpg, VPK: Velocity Pressure Keyboard (1984)

Ivory panel models

In late 1980s–1993; operated via

Macintosh II The Macintosh II is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from March 1987 to January 1990. Based on the Motorola 68020 32-bit CPU, it is the first Macintosh supporting color graphics. When introduced, a basic s ...

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 users

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

is credited with using the Synclavier on her albums ''

Mister Heartbreak ''Mister Heartbreak'' is the second studio album by avant-garde artist, singer and composer Laurie Anderson, released on February 14, 1984. Like its predecessor, it contains reworked elements of Anderson's ''United States'' ("Langue d'Amour", "Ko ...

'' (1984), ''

United States Live ''United States Live'' is the first live album and third overall album by avant-garde singer-songwriter Laurie Anderson. Released as a 5-record boxed set (later reissued on four CDs), the album was recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in ...

'' (1984) and the 1986 soundtrack album '' Home of the Brave''. *

Wally Badarou Waliou Jacques Daniel Isheola "Wally" Badarou (born 22 March 1955) is a French musician. Born in France with ancestry from Benin, West Africa, Badarou is known for his close association with the English group Level 42, and for his prolific work ...

: used the Synclavier II on

Level 42 Level 42 is an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s. Their highest-charting single in the UK was " Lessons in Love", which reached number three on the ...

and solo studio albums, as well as on the 1985 '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'' movie additional soundtrack. * Tony Banks of

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book o ...

used a Synclavier II (ORK version) on the albums ''

'' (1983) and '' Invisible Touch'' (1986) and their respective tours, along with solo albums and soundtracks of that period, notably on " Mama" and " Home by the Sea". * Christopher Boyes, supervising sound editor/sound designer for the 2009 film ''

Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...

'', used the Synclavier for blending or layering different sound effects and matching pitches. *

Joel Chadabe Joel Chadabe (December 12, 1938 – May 2, 2021) was an American composer, author, and internationally recognized pioneer in the development of interactive music systems.

: composer/founder of Electronic Music Foundation. In September 1977 he bought the first Synclavier without musical keyboard (ORK), and wrote custom software to control the Synclavier via various devices. *

Suzanne Ciani Suzanne Ciani (; born June 4, 1946) is an American musician, sound designer, composer, and record label executive who found early success in the 1970s with her electronic music and sound effects for films and television commercials. Her career ha ...

used a Synclavier to design sounds for the Bally ''

Xenon Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...

'' pinball game released in 1980. *

The Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

used it on "

Under the Milky Way "Under the Milky Way" is a single by Australian alternative rock band The Church, released on 15 February 1988, and appears on their fifth studio album ''Starfish''. The song was written by bass guitarist and lead vocalist Steve Kilbey and hi ...

" (1988). The way it is arranged gives a sound similar to

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, ...

. *

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and " ...

used the Synclavier on various

Elektric Band Chick Corea Elektric Band was a jazz fusion band, led by keyboardist and pianist Chick Corea and founded in 1986 in New York City. The band was nominated twice at the Grammy Awards. The sixth band album, a tribute one named ''Chick Corea Elektric ...

albums from 1986 to 1991 as well as various Elektric Band tours. *

Crimson Glory Crimson Glory was an American heavy metal band that formed in 1983 in Sarasota, Florida. They started in 1979 under the monikers 'Pierced Arrow', then 'Beowulf', before settling on Crimson Glory. The classic line-up consisted of vocalist Midnig ...

used acoustic drums blended with Synclavier-sampled drums on their 1988 album ''

Transcendence Transcendence, transcendent, or transcendental may refer to: Mathematics * Transcendental number, a number that is not the root of any polynomial with rational coefficients * Algebraic element or transcendental element, an element of a field exten ...

''. * Paul Davis: singer/songwriter, producer at Monarch Sound in Atlanta. *

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depech ...

had access to producer Daniel Miller's Synclavier, which was responsible for the character of the sound of the albums ''

Construction Time Again ''Construction Time Again'' is the third studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 22 August 1983 by Mute Records. It was the band's first album to feature Alan Wilder as a member, who wrote the songs "Two Minute ...

'' (1983), ''

Some Great Reward ''Some Great Reward'' is the fourth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 24 September 1984 by Mute Records. The album peaked at number five in the United Kingdom and number 51 in the United States, and was sup ...

'' (1984) and ''

Black Celebration ''Black Celebration'' is the fifth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 17 March 1986 by Mute Records. The album further cemented the darkening sound created by Alan Wilder, which the band later used for thei ...

'' (1986). * Vince DiCola: used the Synclavier extensively in creating studio albums; also for soundtracks ''

Rocky IV ''Rocky IV'' is a 1985 American sports drama film written, directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Rocky III'' (1982) and is the fourth installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, ...

'' (1985) and '' The Transformers: The Movie'' (1986). *

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger Taylor the following year the band wen ...

used a Synclavier on the 1984 single " The Reflex". *

Patrick Gleeson Patrick Gleeson (born November 9, 1934) is an American musician, synthesizer pioneer, composer, and producer. Career Gleeson moved to San Francisco in the 1960s to teach in the English Department at San Francisco State. Gleeson began experimentin ...

: film score composer. Used the Synclavier to score ''

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph C ...

'' (1979) and '' The Plague Dogs'' (1982). * Lourett Russell Grant used a Synclavier on the 1979 disco hit "Hot to Trot". *

Paul Hardcastle Paul Louis Hardcastle (born 10 December 1957) is a British composer, musician, producer, songwriter, radio presenter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his song " 19", which went to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1985. Early l ...

: composer and musician. * Robert Henke: composer, musician and software engineer. Often recording under the moniker Monolake, Henke renovated a Synclavier II and used sampled FM from it on various releases. * Michael Hoenig: film scoring work on the Synclavier, including the 1986 action-fantasy film, ''

The Wraith ''The Wraith'' is a 1986 independently made American action-fantasy film, produced by John Kemeny, written and directed by Mike Marvin, and starring Charlie Sheen, Sherilyn Fenn, Nick Cassavetes, and Randy Quaid. *

Trevor Horn Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...

: used the Synclavier to produce records by

Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (drums, percussion), Mark O'Toole (bass guit ...

, Yes, and

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

' 1985 album '' Slave to the Rhythm'', among others. *

Marlon Jackson Marlon David Jackson (born March 12, 1957) is an American entertainer, singer and dancer best known as a member of the Jackson 5. He is the sixth child of the Jackson family. Marlon now runs Study Peace Foundation to promote peace and unity wo ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

: particularly on his 1982 album ''

Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

'', programming by

Steve Porcaro Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, and film composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother (after the deaths of Jeff in 1992 and ...

, Brian Banks, and Anthony Marinelli. The gong sound at the beginning of "

Beat It "Beat It" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller'' (1982). It was written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. Jones encouraged Jackson to include a rock song on the album. Jackson l ...

" comes courtesy of the Synclavier. The Synclavier was extensively used on Jackson's 1987 album '' Bad'' and on its accompanying tour, programmed and played by Christopher Currell. The Synclavier was also used by Andrew Scheps to slice and edit Jackson's beatboxing on his 1995 album '' HIStory.'' *

Eddie Jobson Edwin "Eddie" Jobson (born 28 April 1955) is an English musician 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 Za ...

: the 1985 album ''

Theme of Secrets ''Theme of Secrets'' was a 'New Age' album written and produced by Eddie Jobson, released in 1985. Contrarily to his previous album ''The Green Album'' (1983), this record was not marketed as a band effort, instead being presented as an Eddie Jo ...

'' was completely made with a Synclavier. *

Shane Keister Shane Keister is an American musician. He is known for his work as a studio musician, writer, arranger and producer. He plays synthesizer, piano, Hammond B3, Synclavier, Fairlight CMI, Fender Rhodes, and others. History Keister was born in ...

: used in the 1987 American comedy film '' Ernest Goes to Camp''. *

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

: Used on the scores for the films '' The Princess Bride'' (1987) and ''

Last Exit to Brooklyn ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' is a 1964 novel by American author Hubert Selby Jr. The novel takes a harsh, uncompromising look at lower class Brooklyn in the 1950s written in a brusque, everyman style of prose. Critics and fellow writers praise ...

'' (1989), in which all sounds except guitar (and in the latter case, violins) were produced by the Synclavier. The Synclavier is also heard on the

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and pe ...

albums '' Love over Gold'' (1982, played by

Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Tr ...

), '' Brothers in Arms'' (1985, played by Guy Fletcher), and '' On Every Street'' (1991). *

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize t ...

acquired one in the early to mid 1980s and initially used it to re work the material later released as Electric Cafe / Techno Pop, and also on live performances in the 1990s. * Dave Lawson *

Mannheim Steamroller Mannheim Steamroller is an American neoclassical new-age music ensemble founded and directed by percussionist/composer Chip Davis in 1974. The group is known primarily for its '' Fresh Aire'' series of albums, which blend classical music with ...

: used on most of their albums to present. * John McLaughlin used it on the albums '' Mahavishnu'' (1984) and '' Adventures in Radioland'' (1987). * Men Without Hats used on the 1984 album '' Folk of the 80s (Part III)''. *

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progr ...

: American jazz guitarist. * Walter "Junie" Morrison: used a Synclavier on his 1984 album, ''Evacuate Your Seats''. * Mr. Mister: used Synclavier on albums '' I Wear the Face'' (1984), '' Welcome to the Real World'' (1985), and '' Go On...'' (1987). *

Puscifer Puscifer () is an American rock group formed in Los Angeles by Maynard James Keenan, known as the lead singer of the bands Tool and A Perfect Circle. Initially, Keenan was the only permanent member, and as such he considered the project to be h ...

: the group used Synclavier on their 2020 album ''

Existential Reckoning ''Existential Reckoning'' is the fourth studio album by rock supergroup Puscifer. The album was released on October 30, 2020, by Alchemy Recordings and BMG Rights Management. Critical reception ''Existential Reckoning'' received generally posit ...

''. * Danny Quatrochi used Synclavier on Sting's album '' The Dream of the Blue Turtles'' (1985). * Kashif Saleem, American post-disco and contemporary R&B record producer, multi-instrumentalist, also a creative consultant with the New England Digital Corporation: Bass synthesizer music pioneer and an early Synclavier II avid user who used Synclavier in production, for instance, of his Grammy-nominated instrumental piece "The Mood" (1983). His innovating vocalist-related sampling methods (created using Synclavier) are still in use. *

Howard Shore Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer and conductor noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit'' film trilogies. ...

, film score composer: pictured with a Synclavier on the cover of ''Berklee Today'', Fall 1997. *

Alan Silvestri Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has been associated with director Robert Zemeckis since 1984, composing music for all of his feature films including the ''Bac ...

: in producing the scores for the 1980s films '' The Clan of the Cave Bear'' (1986) and ''

Flight of the Navigator ''Flight of the Navigator'' is a 1986 American science fiction adventure film directed by Randal Kleiser and written by Mark H. Baker, Michael Burton, and Matt MacManus. It stars Joey Cramer as David Freeman, a 12-year-old boy who is abducted by ...

'' (1986). * Paul Simon: on Simon's 1983 album ''

Hearts and Bones ''Hearts and Bones'' is the sixth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was released in 1983 by Warner Bros. Records. Background The album was originally intended to be called ''Think Too Much'', but Mo Ostin, preside ...

'', Tom Coppola is credited for Synclavier for "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'', Simon is credited under "Synclavier" for "I Know What I Know" and "Gumboots". *

Mark Snow Mark Snow (born Martin Fulterman; August 26, 1946) is an American composer for film and television. Among his most famous compositions is the theme music for science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. The theme reached no. 2 on the UK Si ...

: film and television score composer; Synclavier used on ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'' (1993–2002). *

James Stroud James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in pop, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant Records (a subsidi ...

: producer who used a Synclavier II on many hit albums he produced. *

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, singer, composer and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamma Mia ...

: his personal studio room is still centred around a Synclavier system — he has four systems. He’s been using it since Chess in 1985. *

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineu ...

: used a Synclavier on several of their studio albums including Exit in 1981. *

: producer, one of the first musicians to buy a Synclavier; used it on records by

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. Q (maga ...

Soft Cell Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. The duo consists of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The band are primarily known for their 1981 hit version of " Tainted Love" and their pla ...

(" Tainted Love", 1981),

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. H ...

, and

Bronski Beat Bronski Beat were a British synthpop trio which achieved success in the mid-1980s, particularly with the 1984 chart hit " Smalltown Boy", from their debut album '' The Age of Consent''. "Smalltown Boy" was their only US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 ...

, among others. *

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Towns ...

: started using the Synclavier on the recording of ''

All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes ''All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes'' is the third solo studio album by English rock musician Pete Townshend, released on 14 June 1982 by Atco Records. Chris Thomas produced the album (who had also produced Townshend's previous album, '' ...

'' (1982). * Triumph: Rik Emmett used a Synclavier 9600 around the period of '' Thunder Seven'' (1984) to '' Surveillance'' (1987). *

Whodini Whodini is an American hip hop group that was formed in 1982. The Brooklyn, New York-based trio consisted of vocalist and main lyricist Jalil Hutchins; co-vocalist John Fletcher, a.k.a. Ecstasy (who wore a Zorro-style hat as his trademark; Ju ...

: Synclavier II was used on albums '' Escape'' (1984) and ''

Back in Black ''Back in Black'' is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was released on 25 July 1980 by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It is the band's first album to feature lead singer Brian Johnson, following the death ...

'' (1986). *

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, sou ...

: used a Synclavier to sample the voices of Clair Huxtable and children in an episode of ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...

.'' *

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fu ...

, who used an early Synclavier II on his 1981 album '' Re·ac·tor'', and more extensively on his uncharacteristically electronic ''

Trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom * ''Trans'' (fil ...

'' (1982). *

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of A ...

: in 1982 one of the first Synclavier owners; 1984's '' Thing-Fish'' (underscoring), '' Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger'' (1984, underscoring) and '' Francesco Zappa'' (1984, solely Synclavier); 1985's ''

Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention ''Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention'' is a 1985 album by Frank Zappa. The album was originally released in two slightly different versions in the US and Europe. The album's title is a reference to the lobby group, the PMRC, who were c ...

'' (sampled sounds); 1986's Grammy-winning album '' Jazz from Hell'' ("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. Zappa also used the instrument to create the music posthumously released in 2011 on ''

Feeding the Monkies at Ma Maison Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food, typically to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive — carnivores eat other animals, herb ...

''.

Notes

References

External links

"What Makes The Synclavier So Special And Different?"
Steve Hills, Synclavier European Services
"Synclavier Digital's About Page"
{{Authority control Music workstations Samplers (musical instrument) Digital synthesizers Polyphonic synthesizers Music sequencers