IT’S THE SAME BUT DIFFERENT CHRONICLES.

The Synthesizer Will Destroy Music and put Musicians out of a Job.

Moral panics around technology in the Arts are nothing new.

My cheap 303 clone. By the author.

Technological change rarely happens in isolation and is often a reflection of changes in the cultural landscape.

While the development of the synthesizer is in part due to the transistor, the likes of John Cage, Harry Partch and Iannis Xenakis were already seeking out new sonic territory.

Cage’s 4'11" asserted a complete absence of technology, while Partch’s handmade instruments eschewed any electrical input.

Telling, it was the marketing pitch of the synth manufacturers that was most interested in fuelling the moral panic.

With the touch of a button you can switch from piano to violin to trumpet to bass, and then back again.

The implicit message? Pianists, violinists, trumpeters and bass players would soon be redundant.

Unsurprising, it didn’t happen.

While the opportunities for trumpeters may have shrunk, overall, the available palette for music and musicians had been expanded.