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History of the Synclavier

How New England Digital Changed the Future of Music

Brandon Stoner · 10/24/24

During the 1970s and 80s synthesizer technology was really hitting its stride—and with so many companies looking to outdo the competition and bring new concepts to the electronic instrument market, New England Digital's Synclavier line stands out as one of the most creative. It wasn't just an instrument: as time went on, it became an entire recording studio platform, capable of recording, editing, synthesizing, resynthesizing, and much more.

Because of its forward-thinking approach to recording, editing, and sound design, it quickly became a popular choice in recording studios for music, film, television, and advertising. The hardware models had a release run from the late 1970s to the early '90s, and after some business turmoil, the original designers recently brought Synclavier into the modern digital age while staying true to the original designs and the reasons they were a hit with users in the first place.

This is the story of the Synclavier, an instrument and recording ecosystem that earned its respected reputation as a pioneer in digital audio instrumentation.

New England Digital

New England is known as a hotbed for technological innovation, and New Hampshire’s Dartmouth College is where the Synclavier story begins. The prototype for the instrument came out of a creative partnership between the school’s Professor of Digital Electronics, Jon Appleton, Sydney Alonso, and software programming student Cameron Jones.

By 1972, Jones was working as a student programmer at Dartmouth, engaged in research projects at the intersection of the school's electronic music and engineering programs. Originally focused on developing computer-based tools/methodologies for musical ear training, Jones and Alonso found the beginnings of a fruitful collaboration. Alonso developed technology for simple computer-controlled tone generation, for which Jones developed different methods of control. Quickly, the two realized the potential for future developments. Under Appleton's direction, they continued to develop music-oriented operating systems, software, and sound generation hardware. By 1974, they'd developed multiple systems—the most recent of which was an FM-based instrument (eventually, New England Digital would go on to license the right to use FM in their instruments from Yamaha).

Jones and Alonso originally founded New England Digital in 1976 in order to market the computer that they had developed: a compact 16-bit computer suitable for use in scientific research and various other applications. This same custom hardware and their own proprietary software, of course, helped to establish the framework for their own musical instrument-oriented research. In 1977, they introduced the world to the first version of the Synclavier.

Synclavier I was primarily sold to universities with forward-thinking electronic music programs—schools seeking to explore the world of computer-based music-making without needing to rely on large, expensive, time-shared mainframe computers. Early models only came with a computer and synthesis module, but as the product developed, a black and white mechanical keyboard and control panel were added for more detailed sound control.

Though it was mainly designed for research and academic applications it didn’t take long for users to realize the potential it offered and how groundbreaking the technology was: musicians like Denny Jaeger recognized the Synclavier's potential in the realm of commercial music, and independently, NED was raising money from ambitious investors who saw the promise in their proprietary computing technology. In c. 1979, serious work began on the most iconic version of the instrument: the Synclavier II.

Synclavier II

The second Synclavier model built on the legacy of the first with some key improvements, and became an immediate hit when it was released in the summer of 1980. Long before digital audio workstations were the norm, the Synclavier used hard disk recording, essentially becoming the first DAW decades before the term was coined!

Constantly adapting to community input, New England Digital evolved the capabilities over the first model. More processing power was added and the FM synthesis engine was improved. One of the biggest changes in terms of sound design capability was the inclusion of four simultaneous timbres (or "partials," in NED terminology) that could be triggered by only pressing a single key. This creates more harmonic excitement by increasing the amount of notes that could sound at once. The Synclavier II also introduced a clever approach to resynthesis: allowing users to analyze recorded audio and use an additive synthesis structure to reconstruct the analyzed sound without the need for literal playback of sampled audio.

Eventually, though, sampling became a more practical reality. Soon, the Digital Memory Recorder allowed users to record and play back audio. Polyphonic sampling was added, a hugely popular feature in the '80s and one of the reasons the Synclavier was a favorite in sound design. Beginning with models produced after 1982, 16-bit user sampling was included. One of the biggest improvements was the “Real Time Program” software. It creates sounds using New England Digital’s patented “Partial Timbre Method” that uses a combination of frequency modulation (FM), harmonic (Additive) synthesis techniques, and sampling to create highly customizable sounds.

To discuss the Synclavier's sound design potential alone, though, misses a huge part of the point—and a significant reason for its success. Synclavier wasn't just a musical instrument: it was an entire music studio based on digital recording. If you could buy a Synclavier system, you had the infrastructure for an extremely high-tech recording studio—one with an extremely expedient user interface and all the advantages that digital recording offered over more cumbersome and time-consuming tape-based recording techniques. As such, the Synclavier became the basis for many commercial music installations…in private studios, advertising studios, and much more.

The Synclavier II is one of the most beloved synths of all time, and found its way onto some of the biggest productions of all time. Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Frank Zappa’s Jazz from Hell and Civilization: Phaze III, and acclaimed films like Apocalypse Now, The Princess Bride, and War Games all made use of the Synclavier. Bands and artists like Genesis, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Paul Simon, John McLaughlin, The Cars, Pat Metheny, Mr. Mister, Neil Young, and countless others used the Synclavier in their work.

What Set the Synclavier Apart

New England Digital pushed many technological advancements that pushed the Synclavier forward. Personal computers weren’t widely available when the Synclavier was first introduced, and software was still in its infancy.

Every aspect of the Synclavier’s design from the processing, sound cards, converters, and memory cards were proprietary—as well as the software the system ran on. The company’s hardware and software innovations were so unique they even appealed to industries outside of music like healthcare and education. Over time, it’s clear that New England Digital put a great amount of effort into improving their technology and supporting the customers that used it.

Naturally, the Synclavier II had a number of optional peripherals that extended its capabilities. Some were even the first of their kind for a mass-marketed synthesizer system.

The Keyboard

The Synclavier originally used a simple keyboard that functioned more or less as a series of chromatically-arranged on/off switches. Later models integrated a weighted, velocity-sensitive keyboard called the VPK to provide a more realistic feel to the instrument. The VPK was actually licensed from Sequential Circuits—who had used the same key mechanism on the Prophet T8. While the T8 today isn't necessarily celebrated for its sound in particular, it's tremendously sought-after for its expressive potential—and it seems that New England Digital recognized this.

This velocity-sensitive keyboard expanded the ways the Synclavier could be used and sounds could be manipulated. The keyboard was so well made they’re still popular on the used market for the combination of easy playing experience and feel it provided.

Along with the keyboard, the touch-friendly button panels and spring-balanced aluminum control knob provided a desirable and realistic feel and a faster workflow. This enabled immediate, hands-on access to most critical functions of the synthesis and recording facilities directly from the instrument's physical interface.

The control buttons were arranged for easy swiping to activate multiple at once. The sensitivity of the control knob was designed with a focus that inspired players to use their ears to craft sounds instead of the endless menus and knob turning of other synths available at the time. Users found The Knob so useful the company even made it into a standalone product in 2019.

Digital Sampling + the Tapeless Studio Concept

Digital sampling was a feature that almost every manufacturer was researching in the early 1980s. Many instruments operated on 8-bit technology, but the Synclavier II sampled sounds at 16 bits. It wrote to a magnetic hard drive disk instead of analog tape, which was still the de facto recording medium of the day. Even with fierce market competition, it was the only sampler with a sampling rate that went up to 100 kHz on the top end (yep, that's correct—100kHz!).

Since the Synclavier wrote to a hard disk drive users referred to it as a “tapeless studio.” This system helped to revolutionize Foley and sound effects for film and television audio, beginning at the Glen Glenn Sound post production facility in Los Angeles. Not only was editing simpler—the entire process of recording was streamlined. You no longer had to rewind tape between takes: you could keep in the flow as you recorded, making it faster and easier to make finished recordings.

Due to the high price point, the Synclavier system was out of reach for most, but it found appeal with producers and recording studios that were looking for alternatives to other synth/samplers of the time like the Fairlight CMI.

Bankruptcy

Toward the end of the '80s, less expensive alternatives like the Yamaha DX7 started gaining traction. Home computers become more easily available, and software for PC-based music-making began to proliferate. Synclaviers were built to order by hand with high quality components; it wasn’t cost-effective for New England Digital to compete with mass-produced synths and computers.

The new synthesizers at the time were more affordable, not as full-featured, and the sound fidelity wasn’t as good. But everyday users wanted affordability. Synclaviers were so popular in music and film production studios that all of the major ones already had one, so it’s understandable why new sales started to wind down.

New England Digital as such shut down in 1993, but happily, that wouldn’t be the end of their story. After New England Digital filed for bankruptcy, Cameron Jones bought out the intellectual property rights so he could continue to support the loyal Syncalvier fanbase, endearingly called “Synclavs”. He continued to release updates and new products like the Synclavier III. This next-generation model used Mac’s OSX operating system that allowed users to connect a newer (at the time) Mac computer as a terminal to control the synth through a PCI Express connection.

As the calendar turned to the 1990s and more sophisticated digital audio started to take over, the Synclavier lost some of its popularity. But it was still a go-to sonic tool that appealed to music makers, and its ubiquity in film sound design stayed steady. Even today sound designers use it for film scores and sound effects.

Synclavier Digital

Change and market fluctuation leads to innovation and Jones didn’t waste much time adapting his creations to the new digital audio world with Synclavier Digital. Synclavier saw the endless potential of digital audio and used it as a basis for their designs dating back to the Synclavier I. Never a company to fall behind on innovation, they stepped into the newest synth arena—plugins and apps.

Synclavier V is a plugin developed in collaboration with respected virtual instrument company Arturia and gives all users access to legendary Synclavier sounds without the price tag. Jones also worked on a self-contained iOS version, which became the Synclavier Go! And of course, eventually, Synclavier would re-enter the world of hardware instrument production with the Synclavier Regen.

iOS Mobile Apps

When the first Synclavier released in 1979, the designers had no idea that one day they would be able to reimagine the classic sounds as software that runs on a device that can fit in the palm of your hand. But that’s exactly what happened when they designed two mobile iOS apps in the Pocket! and Go!

Synclavier’s first step into synth app territory was the (now-discontinued) Pocket! It was built on a partial take on the additive harmonic synthesis DSP engine from the Synclavier II and had a lot of the original timbres, multi-layer effects, and an efficient touch interface. It wasn’t without its limitations, but it was popular for creators that work on mobile devices. They improved on the idea to create their next app, the Go!

Go! packs in more than 1,000 sounds with multi-layer effects and even comes with the AUv3 hardware unit that integrates with DAWs that run on iPads. It uses MIDI polyphonic expression, there are controls over 24 harmonics, onboard effects, and MIDI, Audiobus, and Ableton DAW connectivity. For only $20, it’s never been easier or more affordable to access the classic Synclavier sound and workflow.

One of the biggest downsides to the Go! and Pocket! is there is no Android version. But Synclavier did always prefer to design their products for the Apple ecosystem.

Synclavier V

The Synclavier V from Arturia is a full-feature plugin recreation of the second model with added features and benefits that digital synths provide—developed in large part by Cameron Jones himself. A modulation matrix and outboard effects were added, as well as a preset library so users can load the plugin and start moving fast. Users can load it into their DAW sessions or use it as a standalone.

Both companies co-opted to engineer the DSP from the Synclavier II to work in plugin format. It comes in a variety of plugin formats that work with all DAWs. If you’re looking to bring the unique sounds of one of the most beloved synths of all time to your digital recording setup it’s hard to find a company that does it better than Arturia.

Synclavier Regen

It’s estimated that New England Digital sold more than 1,000 Synclavier II units over the product’s lifetime. But they took up a lot of space, sucked a lot of power, and had a hefty price tag. All of this together made it virtually impossible for everyday musicians to own one, though they were a staple in high end recording studios and production houses.

Sales numbers didn’t compete with other popular synths like the Yamaha DX7 or Roland Juno. But considering the level of craftsmanship and quality that went into manufacturing Synclaviers this was an impressive feat—especially considering the level of professionals that used them. Of those 1,000, about 20% are still in operation. Considering it’s a piece of gear over 40 years old, that speaks to how well made they are. But with older technology comes specific maintenance concerns like sourcing parts and praying the next power surge doesn’t do more than just blow a fuse on the unit.

Jones was constantly asked when a new Synclavier was coming. During the COVID lockdown of 2020 he decided to answer the call. After the quick turnaround on their project to port that Synclavier synthesizer engine to Linux Jones and his partner Craig Phillips knew it was time to design a new hardware version—and thus, the Regen was born.

Bringing the idea into the 21st century, it was decided that a desktop format was the way to go. It was assumed that Regen users would be familiar with synths and would have their own MIDI keyboard to attach to it. This saved time on design and manufacturing.

Over two years in development, the Regen brings the digital signal processing of the Synclavier II in an ergonomic desktop unit. It incorporates modern features like a full color screen, smooth touch controls, and high fidelity sounds through FM, additive, and subtractive synthesis. Different waveform generators can be mixed to create hybrid sounds from the different types of synthesis. Twelve partials and dynamic effects can be used to shape sounds with crossfades for velocity, pressure, modulation, and keyboard inputs. All of this comes with more than 550 timbre presets and over 2,000 royalty-free samples.

They settled on 50 buttons and 12 selector buttons. Function buttons bring up control parameters to save space without sacrificing sound options. By accessing controls this way it also reduces the dreaded “menu diving” that most synth users didn’t like about other models. Even though there are a wealth of sounds onboard, the design is intended to provide users with an easy and fast way to dial in sounds so they can start making music instead of twisting knobs.

What came out was a convenient desktop hardware synth that takes what made the Synclavier great in the first place and adds modern features that complement the way music production has changed. The Regen is one of the most unique modern synth units that combines the best of hardware and software with the storied Synclavier sound.

Conclusion

In the crowded synthesizer market of the early 1980s the Synclavier quickly set itself apart. From the very beginning its design was innovative, and pushed forward technology that would become industry standards like digital sampling and hard disk recording.

Despite the high price tag it remains one of the most legendary electronic instruments of all time because of how easy it was to use and the wide range of sounds it produces. It’s still highly desired today, and fortunately you don’t need thousands of dollars and a little luck on the vintage market to add one to your studio.

Always thinking forward, Cameron Jones is quoted as saying, “Over forty years ago, Sydney Alonso and I invented a musical instrument that revolutionized the music industry. I’m very pleased this legacy is able to continue; the sound engine I’ve spent my career honing can be used by future generations through the Synclavier V, Go!, and Regen. I can’t wait to find out what the new breed of creative people do with our invention.”

Brandon Stoner is a lifelong musician and audio engineer who owns more guitars than anyone needs. As a lover of all things writing and music technology, he crafts every piece with his dog Max on his lap.

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