[lars-b2018]

Really good article. My first synth, that I had to save up for as a teen, was a DX7. However, wasn't FM synthesis part of the New England Digital's Synclavier system, which was available in the late 70s? Certainly the DX7 was really the first mass-market commercial offering, but I believe the Synclavier was first to market with frequency modulation. I wonder what the arrangement was with John Chowning, if anything, on this.

https://120years.net/wordpress/the-synclavier-ii-new-england...

[TonyTrapp]

I think this explains the timeline quite well: https://priceonomics.com/the-father-of-the-digital-synthesiz...

> Somewhere in this lull, a tiny Vermont-based synthesizer company aptly named the New England Digital Corporation beat Yamaha to the punch by producing the world’s first digital synthesizer, the “Synclavier.” Though only 20 units were sold at $41,685 each, and they were all reserved for top-notch musicians, Stanford took no chances, and swiftly sued the company for infringing on its FM synthesis patent. From that point forward, the university received a sum of $43 every time a Synclavier was sold.

Yamaha had been working on FM synthesis for a few years already at that point.

[achairapart]

The DX7 was the first affordable, fully digital programmable keyboard to hit the market.

Also, technology for digital synthesis was already there, the big game was to avoid patent infringement from other companies.

For example, Casio invented the "Vowel–consonant synthesis" used in their 80s Casiotone keyboards mostly to prevent conflicts with an existing patent from Allen Organs[0]. And later, they came out with the "Phase Distortion Synthesis" as an *alternative* FM synthesis[1].

[0]: See the bottom of this page: http://weltenschule.de/TableHooters/Casio_CT-410V.html

[1]: https://electricdruid.net/phase-distortion-synthesis/

[grumpyprole]

There's a solo album by Eddie Jobson (circa 1985) "Theme of Secrets", which is an excellent showcase for the Synclavier (IIRC the entire album is done with it).

[jacquesm]

That's a pretty good record, I still have it. The opening song sounds like a marble falling on a huge sheet of glass. Quite the sound effect for the time.