University of Virginia Library

Synthesized Music

By Charles Grymes

Eerie squeaks and squawks emanate
from Old Cabell Hall now in
addition to the strains of conventional
music. The cause is the ARP
electronic music synthesizer which
arrived Saturday as the core of
what may become a complete electronic
studio.

Mr. MacInnes of the music department
is the driving force behind
the acquisition of the $8,000
synthesizer. The instrument, nearly
identical to the Moog synthesizer,
consists of a keyboard and a modular
and matrix switching system. It
is about the size of an electric organ
and weighs 190 pounds. In appearance
it resembles a cross between a
Steinway piano and an Apollo capsule.

The synthesizer creates sounds —
through frequency oscillation. The
player sets up switching circuits
which blend the sounds into music.
Mr. MacInnes explained that his
compositions are the result of chiefly
trial and error. "So much equipment
is involved, if one isn't careful,
you can get something you
don't mean to get."

The ARP synthesizer is nearly as
flexible as an entire studio, though
far more compact. The music department,
which already offers a
course in electronic music, estimates
the instrument is one half to
one third of the electronic musical
equipment desired. It is trying to
raise funds for the purchase of tape
recorders, amplifiers, and speakers.

It is possible to hook ten speakers
into the synthesizer, but four is
the optimum number. The tapes are
needed to record what is created -
the synthesizer is too complicated
to play an entire work at a live
concert. The record "Switched on
Bach" required six months to
create and record, using a Moog
synthesizer.

Opportunities for students to
use the new instrument to create
electronic music are excellent,
though regulations have not been
finalized. Unlike computers, there
is no time charge. The music
department hopes to get maximum
use out of the first electronic
synthesizer in Virginia (North Carolina
universities have seven).

An open house is planned in
about a month, after Mr. MacInnes
becomes fully proficient with this
particular synthesizer. His past experience
is extensive, including
work in the early 1960's with the
first modern electronic music
synthesizer and the University's
own computer music department.