Where did electronic music start

A. The pioneer of modern electronic music is Professor Leon Theremin, a Soviet inventor who created the electronic instrument, which bears his name, as a by-product of his research into radio waves.

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The 'instrument', which dates back to 1920, creates a field of radio waves from its complex box of coils, tubes, and two antennae. The operator can alter the pitch and volume of the high-pitched sound, which is created, by moving hands up and down in the vicinity of the two antennae, the position of the hands alters the pitch, and vicinity of the hands alters the volume. The instantly recognisable Theremin sound is a staple in any early science fiction film, usually when flying saucers or aliens appear. Beach Boy Brian Wilson was enraptured with the sound, and used it to great effect on the band's Good Vibrations single.

Q. What was the next evolutionary stage

A. The really seismic leap forward in music technology came courtesy of Robert Moog (pronounced to rhyme with 'vogue') who began his career building and selling Theremins before turning his attention to creating an instrument which would produce electronic music. In the mid-sixties, Moog created the first of the synthesisers which would bear his name, eventually arriving at the progressive musician's favourite, the Expanded Series Three.

Q. This wouldn't be the kind of dinky set-up you can walk away with in a carrier bag from your local electronic store then

A. Moog players everywhere probably dreamt of the technology that would reduce the Series Three in size and temperament. Size first - the synthesiser was monophonic, it produced only one note at a time, so chords were out of the question, unless two were rigged and played simultaneously. The entire Expanded Series Three was a monster standing over 10ft tall, and about 6ft wide, a bewildering spaghetti of wires and circuits that was difficult enough to play at the best of times, but was prone to dipping out of tune if any humidity interfered with its delicate circuitry. Those problems notwithstanding, the electronic composer Walter Carlos, in conjunction with Moog, recorded the Switched On Bach album in 1968, playing all the most popular Bach melodies entirely on synthesisers. Purists were horrified, but the album was a massive seller, ensuring the popularity of the synthesiser sound, which Carlos employed again in the soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange. The Beatles used early synthesiser sounds on songs like Maxwell's Silver Hammer, and Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees was an early advocate of the technology, using the sound on a number of their pop tracks.

Q.
Is this where all the seventies rock bands got into the sound

A. It is - bands like Yes, Genesis and Emerson Lake And Palmer made extensive use of the Moog technology. Pink Floyd's landmark album Dark Side Of The Moon used ensemble sets of Moogs, the first time such an idea had been translated into record. Keith Emerson persevered with the technical logistics of taking an ES3 on the road, he even stuck a rudimentary pair of dragon wings on the sides of it, and it would glide onto the stage in answer to his silent gesture of raised arms. In reality, the instrument was on wheels, and pushed by a member of the road crew, but the eerie effect worked for ecstatic audiences who waited for Emerson to work his dazzling dexterity on his vast banks of keyboards.

Q. What is a Mellotron

A. The Mellotron was the earliest example of a music sampler - the device that modern musicians take for granted now, with modern computer technology allowing the sampling of any sound whatsoever, started with far more rudimentary beginnings. Looking like a bulky mini-organ, the Mellotron carried a strip of tape under each key on a short keyboard. When the key was pressed, the tape played whatever sound had been recorded onto it, at the pitch of the note pressed. It was primitive, but moderately effective - listen to The Moody Blues' Nights In White Satin to hear the 'violin' sounds produced from a prototype Mellotron. Although computer sampling has long since superseded the instrument, it is still used occasionally as a curiosity, even by modern musicians.

Q. Is there a missing link between the Mellotron and modern computer sounds

A. There is - it's the Fairlight. The Fairlight Computer Music Instrument (even the name sounds slightly quaint and old-fashioned) appeared in studios on the late 1970s. For the first time, digital sampling was available, and the machine offered two six-octave keyboards, and VDU technology for editing and mixing of samples. Again the technology was cumbersome, but the sounds created were considered state-of-the-art at the time. As the 1980s progressed, the sampling technology moved from the six-figure studio machines into simple set-ups sold in High Street stores, which musicians could use to create music in their own homes.

Q. What's the future

A. Computer technology in music production has more or less leveled off - there is unlikely to be the novelty and originality that greeted the Moog or the Fairlight. As with all technology, yesterday's breakthrough is today's standard, and most musicians can buy equipment for a few hundred pounds that will easily duplicate the output of a multi-million pound studio of 20 years ago. Whatever the technology available, music will always require the creativity of musicians to make the music in the first place - fortunately, no amount of technology will ever replace the urge of a musician to create a song.

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By Andy Hughes