The Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer, by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

The Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer

by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$10 USD or more

1.	Jon Appleton - Georganna's Farewell 06:20	buy track
2.	Lars-Gunnar Bodin - Bilder (Images) 10:22	buy track
3.	Russell Pinkston - Emergence 07:57	buy track
4.	William Brunson - Tapestry I 07:33	buy track

about

Jon Appleton, Sydney Alonso, and Cameron Jones set out to create a new digital synthesizer at Dartmouth College’s Thayer School of Engineering in 1972. They considered the computer-controlled synthesizer superior to analog because of its “ability to create, by digital means alone, time-variant timbres which make all natural sounds interesting to our ears.” This 1976 recording presents the results of their effort—four different compositions, one each by Jon Appleton, Lars-Gunnar Bodin, Russell Pinkston, and William Brunson, all made to emphasize the ability of the digital synthesizer to vary timbre. The liner notes contain a brief history of the Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer and descriptions of the four pieces on the recording.