Evolution of Rock Synthesizers

The genre was called the new wave genre, whenmainly influenced their development in the next
the rock music took a new turn and after thatdecade.
experimental rock music came into being in 1980's.The 1980's were the growing period of the
This was the time, when various rock bands startedunderground music and thus the growth of the rock
using synthesizers purposefully in modern rock music.synthesizers, which resulted in increased use of the
And thus rock synthesizers became popular graduallysynths by more and more bands. Infact, many artists
since then. But there was a time when, synthesizersbegan to be known as synth rock artists. This is the
were doing well mainly with the pop music,same period that added new style and genres to the
popularized by new wave leaders like Devo, Therock music, such as Goth rock and new wave. Or it
Buggles, and Gary Numan.can be said that it was the period that gave birth to
To get hold of the rock synthesizers, it is essential tonew experimentations with help of the synth rocks
know the base and a bit background of it. It wasand thus experimental rock music came into being.
Robert Moog, who introduced the musician with aExperimental music means a new kind of sound
new world of unknown sounds with the invention ofemerging out of the mixture of existing rock music
voltage-controlled and keyboard-accessibleand the sounds from the new rock synthesizers. The
synthesizer. This further also gave them idea aboutoutcome of this experimentation is the album, The
sound production and control and thus curiositiesResidents (or Meet the Residents). But somehow, it
increased and it began to enter the mainstream offailed to please the audience at the beginning, as
pop music. However, the technological revolutionthey were not ready to accept anything except the
experienced by the popular music made thetraditional ones, like the space rock, ethereal sounds,
performers to take advantage of the potentials ofor the old electric piano.
the synthesizers.In the next decade, i.e. 1990's, the rock synth
The synthesizer once was basically used for thechanged its style of music. The style that evolved
same purpose as the electronic piano or an organwas basically the combination of 80's new wave,
was used, just to make spacey noises in the80's, 90's industrial music, glam rock, gothic rock and
background. Then came the synthesizers that wereheavy metal. However, after 2000's, the rock bands,
pushed to the front stage. This made the playersor rather say synth rock bands were on the top of
dress in casual suits and platform shoes. However, bydemand list of the people. Their experimental
the early 70's, many rock groups like, Yes, Emerson,melodies influenced by the new wave music were
Lake and Palmer, and Tangerine Dream etc., startedsuccessful in breaking the myth of the masses that
using the rock synthesizers explicitly due to its uniquerock synthesizers cannot rock them.
range of sounds. It was the rock-based form that