Synthesizers have revolutionized the way musicians perform on stage. In the old days, they could only recreate sounds through outdated recording techniques. Today, they can generate thousands of notes and frequencies on stage by the touch of a button.

A synthesizer produces sound by doing just what it says it does: it “synthesizes.” It works by electronically combining different frequencies to produce thousands of different sounds.

Entertainers who wish to insert the noise of a car horn in their act dont have to use a recording of a car horn. In its place, the noise can be made by merely turning on a switch. The synthesizer even makes several sounds at the same time, such as, for instance, a honking horn or a bird calling.

Elisha Gray invented the first known synthesizer sometime in the latter part of the 1800s. He is mostly renowned for some of his other work: the telegraph and one of the first forms of the telephone. Gray led the way in electronics and was a future thinker in many ways. Although his premiere device was thought to be a little elementary by todays values, it cleared the path for models we have today.

Robert Moog is credited as the inventor who made improvements to the synthesizer. A genius of a scientist, he got his Ph.D. in engineering physics in the middle of the 1900s. During his entire career he worked with and developed electronic sound systems, instruments and other items. Many people think of Moog as the father of todays synthesizer.

Moog’s synthesizer was at the head of the line in using a piano keyboard to control it. Prototypes that came before had used switches, dials and buttons. For that reason, they are compared to the pianos and electronic keyboards produced now. But they can be controlled by other methods. One example of that is a Guitar synthesizer.

With the invention of technology, early synthesizers were replaced by modern synthesizer. In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s the voltage-controlled analogue synthesizer was standard. They were huge and occupied enough space. Now the digital synthesizer is being used which is a highly sophisticated instrument that can be transported easily and thus not occupy enough space.

The keyboard synthesizer continues to be widely used by musicians, particularly ones who tour regularly. Both touring and studio musicians frequently use software synthesizers called softsynth to create digital sounds to enhance their music. A less common device that a musician might use is a saxophone-style synthesizer.

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