by R.A. Moog Inc. (ca. 1970)]]

Synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that uses filters and tone generators to create waveforms which are then processed to generate sound. Modern synthesizers can closely reproduce the sound of some instruments, but many keyboard players use them for their characteristic sound. They are sometimes referred to as "sound" or "music" synthesizers.

Synthesizers use a number of different technologies or programmed algorithms, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Among the most popular waveform synthesis techniques are subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis, wavetable synthesis, frequency modulation synthesis, phase distortion synthesis, physical modeling synthesis and sample-based synthesis. Other sound synthesis methods, like subharmonic synthesis or granular synthesis, are not found in music synthesizers.

Synthesizers are often controlled with a piano-style keyboard, leading such instruments to be referred to simply as "keyboards". Several other forms of controller have been devised to resemble violins, guitars (see guitar synthesizer) and wind-instruments. Synthesizers without controllers are often called "modules", and they can be controlled using MIDI or CV/Gate methods.

History

The first electric synthesizer was invented in 1876 by Elisha Gray, who is best known for his development of a telephone prototype. In 1920s, Arseny Avraamov developed various systems of graphic sonic art. The Hammond Novachord was an early but unsuccessful harbinger of synth technology in the 1930s-40s. Robert Moog introduced the first commercially available modern synthesizer in 1964. In the 1970s the development of miniaturized solid-state components allowed synthesizers to become self-contained, portable instruments. By the early 1980s companies were selling compact, modestly priced synthesizers to the public. This, along with the development of Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), made it easier to integrate and synchronize synthesizers and other electronic instruments for use in musical composition. In the 1990s synthesizers began to appear as computer software, known as software synthesizers.

The synthesizer had a considerable impact on 20th century music. Micky Dolenz of The Monkees bought one of the first Moog synthesizers. The band was the first to release an album featuring a Moog with Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. in 1967. It reached #1 on the charts. A few months later, the title track of the Doors' 1967 album Strange Days would also feature a Moog, played by Paul Beaver. Walter (later Wendy) Carlos's Switched-On Bach (1968), recorded using Moog synthesizers, also influenced numerous musicians of that era and is one of the most popular recordings of classical music ever made. The sound of the Moog also reached the mass market with The Beatles' Abbey Road and Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water in 1969, and hundreds of other popular recordings subsequently used synthesizers. Electronic music albums by Beaver and Krause, Tonto's Expanding Head Band, The United States of America and White Noise reached a sizeable cult audience and progressive rock musicians such as Richard Wright of Pink Floyd and Rick Wakeman of Yes were soon using the new portable synthesizers extensively. Other early users included Emerson, Lake & Palmer's Keith Emerson, Pete Townshend and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown's Vincent Crane.

synthesizer of the late 1970s-early 1980s.]]

During the 1970s Jean Michel Jarre, Larry Fast and Vangelis released successful electronic instrumental albums. The emergence of Synthpop, a sub-genre of New Wave, in the late 1970s can be largely credited to synthesizer technology. The ground-breaking work of all-electronic German bands such as Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream, via David Bowie during his Berlin period (1976–77), were crucial in the development of the genre. Nick Rhodes, keyboardist of Duran Duran, used Roland Jupiter-4 and Jupiter-8 synthesizers. OMD's "Enola Gay" (1980) used a distinctive electronic percussion and synthesized melody. Soft Cell used a synthesized melody on their 1981 hit "Tainted Love". Other chart hits include Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" (1981), English musician Gary Numan's 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars" used synthesizers heavily Other notable synthpop groups included Visage, Japan, Ultravox, commonly used in low-end MIDI instruments such as educational keyboards, and low-end sound cards.

Subtractive synthesis is based on filtering harmonically rich waveforms. Due to its simplicity, it is the basis of early synthesizers such as the Moog synthesizer. Subtractive synthesizers use a simple acoustic model that assumes an instrument can be approximated by a simple signal generator (producing sawtooth waves, square waves, etc.) followed by a filter. The combination of simple modulation routings (such as pulse width modulation and oscillator sync), along with the physically unrealistic lowpass filters, is responsible for the "classic synthesizer" sound commonly associated with "analog synthesis" and often mistakenly used when referring to software synthesizers using subtractive synthesis.

FM synthesis is a process that usually involves the use of at least two signal generators (commonly referred to as "oscillators") to create and modify a voice. Often, this is done through the analog or digital generation of a signal that modulates the tonal and amplitude characteristics of a base carrier signal. More sophisticated FM synths can use up to 4 or 6 oscillators per voice and also often use filters and variable amplifier types to alter the signal's characteristics into a sonic voice that either roughly imitates acoustic instruments or creates sounds that are unique.

Phase distortion synthesis is a method implemented on Casio CZ synthesizers.

Granular synthesis is a type of synthesis based on manipulating very small sample slices.

Physical modeling synthesis is the synthesis of sound by using a set of equations and algorithms to simulate a real instrument, or some other physical source of sound. This involves taking up models of components of musical objects and creating systems which define action, filters, envelopes and other parameters over time. The definition of such instruments is virtually limitless, as one can combine any given models available with any amount of sources of modulation in terms of pitch, frequency and contour. For example, the model of a violin with characteristics of a pedal steel guitar and perhaps the action of piano hammer. When an initial set of parameters is run through the physical simulation, the simulated sound is generated. Although physical modeling was not a new concept in acoustics and synthesis, it wasn't until the development of the Karplus-Strong algorithm and the increase in DSP power in the late 1980s that commercial implementations became feasible. Physical modeling on computers gets better and faster with higher processing.

Sample-based synthesis One of the easiest synthesis systems is to record a real instrument as a digitized waveform, and then play back its recordings at different speeds to produce different tones. This is the technique used in "sampling". Most samplers designate a part of the sample for each component of the ADSR envelope, and then repeat that section while changing the volume for that segment of the envelope. This lets the sampler have a persuasively different envelope using the same note.

Components

Synthesizers generate sound through various analogue and digital techniques. Early synthesizers were analog hardware based but many modern synthesizers use a combination of DSP software and hardware or else are purely software-based (see softsynth). Digital synthesizers often emulate classic analog designs. Sound is controllable by the operator by means of circuits or virtual stages which may include:

Electronic oscillators - create raw sounds with a timbre that depends upon the waveform generated. Voltage-controlled oscillators and digital oscillators may be used. Additive synthesis models sounds directly from pure sine waves, somewhat in the manner of an organ, while Frequency modulation and Phase distortion synthesis use one oscillator to modulate another. Subtractive synthesis depends upon filtering a harmonically rich oscillator waveform. Sample-based and Granular synthesis use one or more digitally recorded sounds in place of an oscillator.

ADSR envelopes - provide envelope modulation to "shape" the volume or harmonic content of the produced note in the time domain. These are used in most forms of synthesis. ADSR control is provided by Envelope Generators.

Voltage-controlled filter (VCF) - "shape" the sound generated by the oscillators in the frequency domain, often under the control of an envelope or LFO. These are essential to subtractive synthesis.

LFO - an oscillator of adjustable frequency that can be used to modulate the sound rhythmically, for example to create tremolo or vibrato or to control a filter's operating frequency. LFOs are used in most forms of synthesis.

Other sound processing effects such as ring modulators may be encountered.

Voltage-controlled amplifier (VCA) - After the signal generated by one (or a mix of more Voltage-controlled oscillators), modified by filters and LFOs, and the signal's waveform is shaped (contoured) by an ADSR Envelope Generator, it then passes on to one or more voltage-controlled amplifiers (VCA) where. The VCA is a preamp that boosts (amplifies) the electronic signal before passing on to an external or built-in power amplifier, as well as a means to control its volume using an attenuator that affects a control voltage (coming from the keyboard or other trigger source), which affects the gain of the VCA.

ADSR envelope

When an acoustic musical instrument produces sound, the loudness and spectral content of the sound change over time in ways that vary from instrument to instrument. The "attack" and "decay" of a sound have a great effect on the instrument's sonic character. Sound synthesis techniques often employ an envelope generator that controls a sound's parameters at any point in its duration. Most often this is an "ADSR" (Attack Decay Sustain Release) envelope, which may be applied to overall amplitude control, filter frequency, etc. The envelope may be a discrete circuit or module, or implemented in software. The contour of an ADSR envelope is specified using four parameters:

Attack time is the time taken for initial run-up of level from nil to peak, beginning when the key is first pressed.

Decay time is the time taken for the subsequent run down from the attack level to the designated sustain level.

Sustain level is the level during the main sequence of the sound's duration, until the key is released.

Release time is the time taken for the level to decay from the sustain level to zero after the key is released.

An early implementation of ADSR can be found on the polyphonic 1938 Hammond Novachord (which predates the first Moog synthesizer by over 25 years). A seven-position rotary knob set ADS for all 72 notes; a footpedal controlled release. The ADSR was specified by Vladimir Ussachevsky (then head of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center) in 1965 while suggesting improvements for Bob Moog's pioneering work on synthesizers.

A common variation of the ADSR on some synthesizers, such as the Korg MS-20, was ADSHR (attack, decay, sustain, hold, release). By adding a "hold" parameter, the system allowed notes to be held at the sustain level for a fixed length of time before decaying. The General Instruments AY-3-8912 sound chip included a hold time parameter only; the sustain level was not programmable. Another common variation in the same vein is the AHDSR (attack, hold, decay, sustain, release) envelope, in which the "hold" parameter controls how long the envelope stays at full volume before entering the decay phase. Multiple attack, decay and release settings may be found on more sophisticated models.

Certain synthesizers also allow for a "delay" parameter, which would come before the "attack". Modern synthesizers like the Dave Smith Instruments Prophet '08 have DADSR (delay, attack, decay, sustain, release) envelopes. The delay setting determines how long there is silence after a note is hit, before the attack is heard. Some software synthesizers such as Image-Line's 3xOSC (included for free with their DAW FL Studio) have DAHDSR (delay, attack, hold, decay, sustain, release) envelopes.

Some electronic musical instruments allow the ADSR envelope to be inverted, which results in opposite behavior compared to the normal ADSR envelope. During the attack phase, the modulated sound parameter fades from the maximum amplitude to zero then, during the decay phase, rises to the value specified by the sustain parameter. After the key has been released the sound parameter rises from sustain amplitude back to maximum amplitude.

Filter

Electronic filters are particularly important in subtractive synthesis, being designed to pass some frequency regions through unattenuated while significantly attenuating ("subtracting") others. The low-pass filter is most frequently used, but band-pass filters band-reject filters and high-pass filters are also sometimes available.

The filter may be controlled with a second ADSR envelope. An "envelope modulation" ("env mod") parameter on many synthesizers with filter envelopes determines how much the envelope affects the filter. If turned all the way down, the filter will produce a flat sound with no envelope. When turned up the envelope becomes more noticeable, expanding the minimum and maximum range of the filter.

LFO

Low-frequency oscillation (LFO) is an electronic signal, usually below 20 Hz, that creates a rhythmic pulse or sweep, often used to create vibrato, tremolo and other effects. The abbreviation is also often used to refer to low-frequency oscillators themselves. In certain genres of electronic music, the LFO filter's cutoff is used to create a wider range of, often darker, sound.

Control interfaces

Modern synthesizers often look like small pianos, though with many additional knob and button controls. These are integrated controllers, where the sound synthesis electronics are integrated into the same package as the controller. However many early synthesizers were modular and keyboardless, while most modern synthesizers may be controlled via MIDI, allowing other means of playing such as;

Fingerboards and touchpads

Wind controllers

Guitar-style interfaces

Drum pads

Music sequencers

Non-contact interfaces akin to theremins

Fingerboard controller

A ribbon controller or other violin-like user interface may be used to control synthesizer parameters. The ribbon controller has no moving parts. Instead, a finger pressed down and moved along it creates an electrical contact at some point along a pair of thin, flexible longitudinal strips whose electric potential varies from one end to the other. Older fingerboards used a long wire pressed to a resistive plate. A ribbon controller is similar to a touchpad, but a ribbon controller only registers linear motion. Although it may be used to operate any parameter that is affected by control voltages, a ribbon controller is most commonly associated with pitch bending.

Fingerboard-controlled instruments include the Ondes Martenot, Hellertion, Heliophon, Trautonium, Electro-Theremin, Fingerboard-Theremin and The Persephone. A ribbon controller is used as an additional controller in the Yamaha CS-80 and CS-60, the Korg Prophecy and Korg Trinity series, the Kurzweil synthesizers, Moog synthesizers and others.

Rock musician Keith Emerson used it with the Moog modular synthesizer from 1970 onward. In the late 1980s, keyboards in the synth lab at Berklee College of Music were equipped with membrane thin ribbon style controllers that output MIDI. They functioned as MIDI managers, with their programming language printed on their surface, and as expression/performance tools. Designed by Jeff Tripp of Perfect Fretworks Co., they were known as Tripp Strips. Such ribbon controllers can serve as a main MIDI controller instead of a keyboard, as with the Continuum instrument.

Wind controllers

Wind controllers are convenient for woodwind or brass players or emulation, being designed along the lines of those instruments. These may be analog or MIDI controllers or may include built-in synthesizers. In addition to a key arrangement the controller has breath-operated pressure transducers, and may have gate extractors, velocity sensors and bite sensors. Saxophone style controllers have included the Lyricon, and products by Yamaha, Akai and Casio. The mouthpieces range from alto clarinet to alto saxophone sizes. Melodica or recorder style controllers have included the Variophon, Martinetta, Tubophon and Joseph Zawinul's custom Korg Pepe. A Harmonica style interfaces was the Millionizer.

Trumpet style controllers have included products by Steiner, Yamaha, Morrison and Akai. A breath controller may be used as an adjunct to a conventional synthesizer. The Steiner Master's Touch and products which interface to the Yamaha Breath Controller are examples. Several controllers also provide breath-like articulation capabilities.

Others

The Ondes Martenot control touche d’intensité, Theremin, footpedal and lightbeam controllers are examples. Envelope following systems, the most sophisticated being the vocoder, follow the power or amplitude of an audio signial, rather than using pressure transducers. Various companies make accordion controllers that use pressure transducers on bellows for articulation. More direct articulation using the vocal tract without breath is the Talk box.

MIDI control

Synthesizers became easier to integrate and synchronize with other electronic instruments and controllers with the introduction of Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) in 1983. First proposed in 1981 by engineer Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits, the MIDI standard was developed by a consortium now known as the MIDI Manufacturers Association. MIDI is an opto-isolated serial interface and communication protocol. For the first time, a given MIDI preset would consistently produce an instrumental sound on any GM-conforming device. The Standard MIDI File (SMF) format ( .mid) combined MIDI events with delta times - a form of time-stamping - and became a popular standard for exchange of music scores between computers. In the case of SMF playback using integrated synthesizers (as in computers and cell phones), the hardware component of the MIDI interface design is often unneeded.

Open Sound Control (OSC) is a proposed replacement for MIDI, and is designed for online networking. In contrast with MIDI, OSC allows thousands of synthesizers or computers to share music performance data over the Internet in realtime.

Arpeggiator

An arpeggiator is a feature available on some synthesisers that automatically steps through a sequence of notes based on an input chord, thus creating an arpeggio. The notes can often be transmitted to a MIDI sequencer for recording and further editing. An arpeggiator may have controls to manipulate the order and speed in which the notes play; upwards, downwards, or in a random order. More advanced arpeggiators allow the user to step through a complex sequence of notes or play several arpeggios at once. Some allow a pattern to be sustained even if the keys are released: in this way an arpeggiated pattern may be built up over time by pressing several keys one after the other. Arpeggiators are also commonly found in sequencing software. Some sequencers expand this into a full phrase sequencer, which allows the user to trigger complex, multi-track blocks of sequenced data from a keyboard or input device, typically synchronised with the tempo of the master clock.

Arpeggiators grew from hardware sequencers of the late 1960s and 1970s, such as the 16-step ARP Sequencer, and the sequencers of modular synthesisers and were commonly fitted to keyboard instruments through the late 1970s and early 1980s. Notable examples are the Roland Jupiter 8, Oberheim OB-Xa, Roland SH-101, Sequential Circuits Six-Trak and Korg Polysix. A famous example can be heard on Duran Duran's song "Rio", in which the arpeggiator on a Roland Jupiter-4 is heard playing a C minor chord in random mode. They fell out of favour during the 1980s and early 1990s and were absent from the most popular synthesisers of the period but a resurgence of interest in analog synthesisers during the 1990s, and the use of rapid-fire arpeggios in several popular dance hits, brought with it a resurgence.

Imitative synthesis

Sound synthesis can be used to mimic acoustic sound sources. Generally, a sound that does not change over time will include a fundamental partial or harmonic, and any number of partials. Synthesis may attempt to mimic the amplitude and pitch of the partials in an acoustic sound source.

When natural sounds are analyzed in the frequency domain (as on a spectrum analyzer), the spectra of their sounds will exhibit amplitude spikes at each of the fundamental tone's harmonics corresponding to resonant properties of the instruments (spectral peaks that are also referred to as formants). Some harmonics may have higher amplitudes than others. The specific set of harmonic-vs-amplitude pairs is known as a sound's harmonic content. A synthesized sound requires accurate reproduction of the original sound in both the frequency domain and the time domain. A sound does not necessarily have the same harmonic content throughout the duration of the sound. Typically, high-frequency harmonics will die out more quickly than the lower harmonics.

In most conventional synthesizers, for purposes of re-synthesis, recordings of real instruments are composed of several components representing the acoustic responses of different parts of the instrument, the sounds produced by the instrument during different parts of a performance, or the behavior of the instrument under different playing conditions (pitch, intensity of playing, fingering, etc.)

Patch

A synthesizer patch (some manufacturers chose the term program) is a sound setting. Modular synthesizers used cables ("patch cords") to connect the different sound modules together. Since these machines had no memory to save settings, musicians wrote down the locations of the patch cables and knob positions on a "patch sheet" (which usually showed a diagram of the synthesizer). Ever since, an overall sound setting for any type of synthesizer has been known as a patch.

By 1978, patch memory (allowing storage and loading of 'patches' or 'programs') began to appear in synths like the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5. After MIDI was introduced in 1983, more and more synthesizers could import or export patches via MIDI SYSEX commands. When a synthesizer patch is uploaded to a personal computer which has patch editing software installed, the user can alter the parameters of the patch and download it back to the synthesizer. Because there can be no standard patch language it is rare that a patch generated on one synthesizer can be used on a different model. However sometimes manufacturers will design a family of synthesizers to be compatible.

Synth pad

A synth pad is a sustained chord or tone generated by a synthesizer, often employed for background harmony and atmosphere in much the same fashion that a string section is often used in acoustic music. Typically, a synth pad plays many whole or half notes, sometimes holding the same note while a lead voice sings or plays an entire musical phrase. Often, the sounds used for synth pads have a vaguely organ, string, or vocal timbre. Much popular music in the 1980s employed synth pads, this being the time of polyphonic synthesizers, as did the then-new styles of smooth jazz and New Age music. One of many well-known songs from the era to incorporate a synth pad is "West End Girls" by the Pet Shop Boys, who were noted users of the technique.

Synth lead

A synth lead is generally used for playing the main melody of a song, but it is also often used for creating rhythmic or bass effects. Although most commonly heard in electronic dance music, synth leads have been used extensively in hip-hop and rock songs since the 1980s. Most modern music relies heavily on the synth lead to provide a musical hook to sustain the listener's interest throughout an entire song. Heavy use of synth lead is used by artists such as Lil Jon in Snap Yo Fingas and Usher in "Yeah!" as representative of the Crunk music genre.

Bass synthesizer

synth]]

The bass synthesizer (or "bass synth") is used to create sounds in the bass range, from simulations of the electric bass or double bass to distorted, buzz-saw-like artificial bass sounds, by generating and combining signals of different frequencies. Bass synth patches may incorporate a range of sounds and tones, including wavetable-style, analog, and FM-style bass sounds, delay effects, distortion effects, envelope filters. A modern digital synthesizer uses a frequency synthesizer microprocessor component to generate signals of different frequencies. While most bass synths are controlled by electronic keyboards or pedalboards, some performers use an electric bass with MIDI pickups to trigger a bass synthesizer.

In the 1970s miniaturized solid-state components allowed self-contained, portable instruments such as the Moog Taurus, a 13-note pedal keyboard which was played by the feet. The Moog Taurus was used in live performances by a range of pop, rock, and blues-rock bands. An early use of bass synthesizer was in 1972, on a solo album by John Entwistle (the bassist for The Who), entitled Whistle Rymes. Stevie Wonder introduced synth bass to a wider audience in the early 1970s, notably on Superstition (1972) and Boogie On Reggae Woman (1974). In 1977 Parliament's funk single Flashlight used the bass synthesizer. Lou Reed, widely considered a pioneer of electric guitar textures, played bass synthesizer on "Families", from his 1979 album The Bells.

When the programmable music sequencer became widely available in the 1980s (e.g., the synclavier), bass synths were used to create highly syncopated rhythms and complex, rapid basslines. Bass synth patches incorporate a range of sounds and tones, including wavetable-style, analog, and FM-style bass sounds, delay effects, distortion effects, envelope filters.

In the 2000s, several companies such as Boss and Akai produced bass synthesizer effect pedals for electric bass players, which simulate the sound of an analog or digital bass synth. With these devices, a bass guitar is used to generate synth bass sounds. The BOSS SYB-3 was one of the early bass synthesizer pedals. The SYB-3 reproduces sounds of analog synthesizers with Digital Signal Processing saw, square, and pulse synth waves and user-adjustable filter cutoff. The Akai bass synth pedal contains a four-oscillator synthesiser with user selectable parameters (attack, decay, envelope depth, dynamics, cutoff, resonance). Bass synthesizer software allows performers to use MIDI to integrate the bass sounds with other synthesizers or drum machines. Bass synthesizers often provide samples from vintage 1970s and 1980s bass synths. Some bass synths are built into an organ style pedalboard or button board.

See also

Analytic signal

Beauty in the Beast

Computer music

Electronic keyboard

Electronic oscillator

Envelope detector

Guitar synthesizer

Keytar

List of classic synthesizers

List of synthesizer manufacturers

Low-frequency oscillation

Modular synthesizer

Musical instrument

Musitron

Noise gate

Sampler (musical instrument)

Software synthesizer

Vocaloid

References

Further reading

Gorges, Peter (2005). Programming Synthesizers, Wizoobooks, Germany, Bremen, ISBN 978-3-934903-48-7.

Schmitz, Reinhard (2005). Analog Synthesis, Wizoobooks, Germany, Bremen, ISBN 978-3-934903-01-2.

Shapiro, Peter (2000). Modulations: A History of Electronic Music: Throbbing Words on Sound, ISBN 1-891024-06-X.

External links

Sound Synthesis Theory wikibook

Vintagesynth — Vintage Synth Explorer

Synth Museum — Vintage Synth Resource

SoundProgramming.Net - Synthesizer Manual Repository

120 years of Electronic Music — Machines used from 1870–1990

Principles of Sound Synthesis at Salford University

Category:1953 introductions Category:Electronic music instruments * Category:Contrabass instruments Category:Hip hop Category:Bass (sound) Category:Keyboard instruments

Name	Vince Clarke
Landscape	no
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Vincent John Martin
Born	July 03, 1960South Woodford, EnglandUnited Kingdom
Instrument	Vocalist, Synthesizer, guitar, violin, piano
Genre	Synthpop, dance music
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, remixer, DJ, producer
Years active	1979–present
Label	Mute RecordsReset Records
Associated acts	Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly, Erasure, Robert Marlow
Url	www.vinceclarkemusic.com
Notable instruments	Roland Synthesizers, Moog Synthesizers, Oberheim Synthesizers, Casio CZ-101

Vince Clarke (born Vincent John Martin, 3 July 1960, South Woodford, London) is an English pop musician and songwriter often referred to as the Benjamin Franklin of synth music. Clarke has been involved with a number of successful groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly and Erasure.

Early years

Born in South Woodford (then in Essex) and raised in Basildon, Essex, Vince Martin initially studied the violin and then the piano.

Depeche Mode

In the late-1970s, Clarke and schoolmate Andrew Fletcher formed the short-lived band No Romance in China. In 1979, he teamed up with Fletcher to form French Look, an early incarnation of Depeche Mode. The band was renamed Composition of Sound, following the addition of Martin Gore. Clarke provided vocals until 1980, when singer Dave Gahan joined the band, which was now renamed Depeche Mode. At that time, Clarke adopted his stage-name. The band initially adopted a slick synthesised electropop sound, which produced the album Speak and Spell and the Clarke-penned singles "Dreaming of Me", "New Life" and "Just Can't Get Enough" in 1981.

Clarke left Depeche Mode shortly thereafter. There were many rumoured reasons pertaining to his departure. Clarke himself has stated that he did not enjoy the direction in which the band was going. He commented on Depeche Mode's later material as being a little dark for his taste, but good nonetheless. He also commented: "Martin was a strong writer. He always had been. And I think when I left, it gave him the chance just to sort of emerge as the songwriter. I mean, he could always write songs. It's not like he just started because I left". Clarke also stated that he didn't enjoy the public aspects of success, such as touring and interviews, and found himself frequently at odds with his bandmates, particularly on the tour bus. He also stated: "I think everybody in the band, especially myself, imagined that the reason we were doing so well was because of themselves… We were pretty young and very lucky, and things had happened very quickly for us and I don't think we were really mature to handle the situation". Depeche Mode went on to achieve international stardom.

Yazoo

Clarke then teamed up with singer Alison Moyet (at the time known by the nickname of 'Alf') to form the extremely popular synthpop band Yazoo (known as Yaz in the U.S.), which produced two albums and a string of hits including "Only You", "Don't Go", "Situation", "The Other Side of Love", "Nobody's Diary" and "Walk Away from Love".

Yazoo split in 1983, and Moyet went on to have a successful solo career. Yazoo reformed in 2008 for a series of live dates to celebrate 25 years since the duo's split.

The Assembly

In 1983 Clarke teamed up with Eric Radcliffe and it was their idea to collaborate as one-off associations with different artists on each new single, under the name The Assembly, notably with singer Feargal Sharkey they scored the Top 5 hit "Never Never". In the meanwhile he founded the label Reset Records with Eric Radcliffe. During 1983 and further on in 1984, he produced four singles "The Face of Dorian Gray" "I Just Want to Dance", "Claudette" and "Calling All Destroyers" for his friend Robert Marlow, which were released on this label. They also produced an album, which was shelved but was released much later in 1999 under the name The Peter Pan Effect. In 1985, another collaboration took place with Paul Quinn of Bourgie Bourgie, the result was the single "One Day" by Vince Clarke & Paul Quinn. However, the project never took off, and Clarke moved on to other projects.

Erasure

In early 1985, Clarke put an ad in Melody Maker for a singer, and one applicant was Andy Bell, who was a fan of his earlier projects. He teamed with Bell to form the group Erasure, and the duo became one of the major selling acts in British music with international hits like "Oh L'amour", "Sometimes", "Chains of Love", "A Little Respect", "Chorus", "Love to Hate You", "Take a Chance on Me" and "Always".

The band has released sixteen albums to date and have enjoyed a long string of hit singles spanning their twenty-four years together, most recently topped-off by the 2005 top five hit "Breathe" taken from their Nightbird album. In 2006 Erasure produced a country-western style acoustic album consisting of mostly non-single cuts from their previous albums. This album, Union Street was preceded by the single "Boy" originally included on their 1997 Cowboy album.

On 26 January 2007, in a video message on the official Erasure website, the band announced the release of their sixteenth (thirteenth studio) album, entitled Light at the End of the World. Released in the UK on 21 May 2007, with a US release the following day, it was preceded by the single "I Could Fall in Love with You", released on 2 April 2007. The second single, "Sunday Girl" was subsequently released.

The album was produced by Gareth Jones and was a more 'dance oriented' effort than some of their more recent work with Clarke making reference to the new material sounding potentially a bit more like Andy Bell's 2005 solo effort Electric Blue.

Erasure went on to tour with Cyndi Lauper, Deborah Harry, Margaret Cho and other artists, for the 2007 True Colors Tour of the United States, a tour which benefited gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender freedoms and rights. Erasure then went out on their own, headlining the "Light at the End of the World" tour in North America and Europe.

The band released a new EP, Storm Chaser, in September 2007. The EP contains nine tracks, one of them the winner of an online fan remix contest, for the track "When A Lover Leaves You", from the Light at the End of the World album.

Clarke has stated in recent interviews that a new Erasure album is already in the works, one of a darker soundtrack nature.

Additional work

In July 1984, Clarke teamed Stephen Luscombe of Blancmange, Pandit Dinesh and Asha Bhosle. The group, West India Company, released a four track, self-titled EP.

Clarke worked with synthpop producer Martyn Ware (of Heaven 17 and The Human League) in 1999 as "The Clarke & Ware Experiment" and released the album Pretentious. The duo collaborated again in 2001 for the album Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle, which was created with "3D music technology" specifically designed for listening in headphones. 2001 also saw the release of the Clarke-produced album Erasure's Vince Clarke which featured The Peter Pan Effect, an album that he and Eric Radcliffe produced for his long time friend, Robert Marlow. Clarke wrote "Let's Get Together" for the pop girl group Girl Authority for their second album, Road Trip. The song was originally meant to be for Depeche Mode, but was never recorded by them. Clarke also co-wrote "What Do I Want From You?" with Freeform Five, for their album Strangest Things (2005).

Also in 2001, Clarke founded Illustrious Co. Ltd. with Martyn Ware, to create new forms of spatialised sound composition using their unique 3D AudioScape system , collaborating with fine artists, educational establishments, the performing arts, live events, corporate clients and educational settings round the world.

Clarke was an essential component of a 2000 project called Family Fantastic. They produced the album Nice!. In 2007 Family Fantastic released a second album, entitled Wonderful.

On 21 May 2009, Clarke was awarded by an "Outstanding Song Collection" prize, during the Ivor Novello Awards ceremony of the same day, in recognition of 30 years in the music industry.

Discography

;with Depeche Mode

Speak & Spell (1981, album)

*"Dreaming of Me" (1981, single)

*"New Life" (1981, single)

*"Just Can't Get Enough" (1981, single)

The Singles 81>85 (1985, compilation)

;with Yazoo

Upstairs at Eric's (1982, album)

*"Only You" (1982, single)

*"Don't Go" (1982, single)

*"The Other Side Of Love" (1982, single)

You and Me Both (1983, album)

*"Nobody's Diary" (1983, single)

;with The Assembly

"Never Never" (1983, single)

;In duet with Paul Quinn

"One Day" (1985, single)

;With Erasure

See Erasure discography

;Solo

Lucky Bastard (1993, Sample CD)

;In duet with Martyn Ware

Pretentious (1999, as The Clarke and Ware Experiment)

Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle (2001, simply as Vincent Clarke & Martyn Ware)

;with Family Fantastic

Nice! (2000)

Wonderful (2008)

;In RadioActivators

"Knock on Your Door" (2001, single)

;Remixes He has remixed the following songs for artists other than Erasure:

1988 Happy Mondays - "WFL (Wrote for Luck)"

1990 Betty Boo - "24 Hours" (Oratronic Mix)

1991 Fortran 5 - "Heart on the Line" (V.C. Mix)

1991 Habit - "Power"

1992 Nitzer Ebb - "Ascend" (Anonymous Mix)

1992 The Wolfgang Press - "Angel"

1992 Betty Boo - "I'm on My Way" (The Batman and Robin Mix)

1993 The Time Frequency - "Real Love'93"

1994 Sparks - "When Do I Get to Sing "My Way""

1994 Alison Moyet - "Whispering Your Name" (A Remix)

1995 Egebamyasi - "Remont" (Vince Version)

1997 White Town - "Wanted" single

2001 Marlow - "My Teenage Dream" (Stealth Mix)

2001 Marlow - "No Heart" (Vince Clarke 2001 Dance Mix)

2002 Simple Minds - "Homosapien"

2005 Andy Bell - "Crazy" (Vince Clarke Remix)

2005 Rammstein - "Mann Gegen Mann" (Popular Music Mix)

2006 Rosenstolz - "Nichts Von Alledem (Tut Mir Leid)" (Mix Up Mix)

2006 Noirhaus - "It's Over"

2009 The Saturdays - "Issues" (Vince Clarke Remix)

2009 Marlow - "Home" (Vince Clarke's Starstruck Mix)

2009 Polly Scattergood - "Other Too Endless"

2009 Franz Ferdinand - "No You Girls" (Vince Clarke Remix)

2009 The Presets - "If I Know You" (Vince Clarke Remix)

2009 Space Cowboy - "Falling Down" (Vince Clarke Remix)

2009 A Place to Bury Strangers - "In Your Heart" (Vince Clarke Remix)

2009 Ash - "True Love 1980" (Vince Clarke Remix)

2010 Andy Bell - "Call On Me" (Vince Clarke Remix)

2010 Andy Bell - "Non-Stop" (Vince Clarke Remix)

2010 Goldfrapp - "Believer" (Vince Clarke Remix)

Production and recording methods

When Clarke started out in the music industry in 1979, most synthesizers were analogue (digital synthesizers were rare, and would remain that way until the launch of the Yamaha DX7 in 1983 ). In order to connect analogue synthesizers, analogue drum machines and analogue sequencers together, multiple CV/Gate cables were required between each device. This system was not standardised, so interoperability between instruments from different manufacturers was not always straightforward. In addition, some manufacturers used their own proprietary interfaces. When an industry-wide standard called MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) was introduced in 1983, Clarke, like most other electronic musicians, gradually migrated to the new technology. However, he continued to prefer his older analogue instruments:

"... CV and Gate is tighter. I can hear and feel that it's tighter than MIDI - we can even prove it using 'scopes. Because everything is clocked simply, it arrives bang on the beat. The whole production starts to 'tick over'. Just look at Kraftwerk's stuff. I think that 'feel' has been lost with MIDI sequencers. No matter what you do with MIDI, the music will never sound as good as it did in the good old Futurist days. That's why our tracks sound the way they do."

For the Chorus album in 1991, he gathered together his collection of analogue synthesizers from various recording studio locations in London and set up a small studio in Amsterdam. This led Clarke to assemble an intricate patch system to more easily enable the control of his analogue instruments:

"... the secret is having a good patch system - not as in patching to the mixing desk, but in patching CV and Gate. Because we don't use MIDI at all, you have to run three or four cables between each synth module - CV, Gate, Filter, Amplitude or whatever - and you've got to have a really unique system to do that."

In 2004 Clarke moved to Maine, USA. While waiting for his studio equipment to be shipped from the UK, he began using an Apple Mac laptop with Logic Pro, Max/MSP, and various software synthesizers (many of which were analogue emulations). Since then, he has continued to use Logic Pro, along with both software and analogue synthesizers:

"Nowadays, you can take the best bits from digital and analogue. On certain projects – say, if I'm doing library music – where you need to have instant recall all the time, then it's obviously much more convenient to use the computer. When it comes to writing a new song, though, I still like to have the old analogue gear there, too. But, a lot of soft synths have a character of their own, too; the Moog Modular V is just crazy! "I think that analogue has an inherent sound to it – it's like the old argument over vinyl versus CD. It seems that you hear more frequencies coming from an analogue synth than you do from a software synth, but the great thing about the latter is that you can do far more complex modulation, both within the synth itself and on the keyboard. To emulate any of those really complex modulations on an analogue... well, you'd need a mile of cable."

As of 2009, Clarke has installed his analogue synthesizers along side his Logic Pro-based workstation in a custom-built commercial studio called "The Cabin" in Maine.

Current/recent studio equipment: Roland System 700, Roland 100M, Roland Jupiter-8, Roland Jupiter-4, Roland MKS-80, Roland SH-1, Roland VP-330, Roland JP-8000, Roland Juno-60, Roland Juno-106, Roland Super JX, Roland D-550, ARP 2500 Modular, ARP 2600, PPG Wave 2.2, Waldorf Microwave, Waldorf Pulse, Moog Modular, Minimoog, Moog Source, E-Mu Modular System, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Sequential Circuits Pro-One, Oxford Synthesiser Company OSCar, Synton Syrinx, Korg MS-20, Korg MS-10, Korg 700, Korg M1, Korg DVP, Serge Modular, Polyfusion Modular, Oberheim Xpander, Oberheim SEM System, RSF Kobol, Electronic Music Studios VCS 3, Sennheiser Vocoder VSM201, Apple Power Mac G5, Apple MacBook Pro.

Current/recent software: Apple Logic Pro, Cycling '74 Max/MSP, Arturia ARP 2600 V, Arturia Minimoog V, Arturia Moog Modular V, GForce impOSCar, GForce Oddity, LinPlug Octopus, Muon Tau Pro, Native Instruments Absynth, Native Instruments Reaktor, Native Instruments FM7, Native Instruments FM8, Vienna Symphonic String & Choir Libraries.

Personal life

Clarke has been married to Tracy Hurley since 2004. They have a son named Oscar and live together in the United States, in Maine. Vince Clarke is left-handed.

References

External links

Erasureinfo.com - The Official Erasure website.

Illustrious website

Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:Depeche Mode members Category:English electronic musicians Category:British expatriates in the United States Category:English immigrants to the United States Category:English songwriters Category:English record producers Category:Erasure members Category:Remixers Category:Yazoo members Category:People from Basildon Category:People from Woodford, London Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Mute Records artists Category:New Wave musicians