Write an article based on this "Make electronic music with a synthesizer. Manipulate the synthesizer with the instrument controller."
While "synthesizer" is used synonymously with "electronic musical instrument," the synthesizer is the part of the electronic instrument that produces the actual music: the beats, the rhythms, and the tones. Early synthesizers, such as the Moog Minimoog, were capable of producing only one tone at a time (monophonic). These synthesizers could not produce the secondary tones that other musical instruments could, although some synthesizers could produce two pitches at once if two keys were pressed. From the mid-1970s on, synthesizers that can produce multiple tones at once (polyphonic) have been available, allowing you to produce chords as well as individual notes. Most early synthesizers were separate from the means used to control the sounds they made. Many electronic musical instruments, particularly those for casual home use, now feature the synthesizer physically integrated with its control unit. The earliest synthesizers were controlled by flipping switches, turning knobs, or in the case of the Theremin (what the Etherophone was renamed), by where the operator's hands were positioned over the instrument. Modern controllers come in more musician-friendly varieties and control the synthesizer through the Musical Instrumental Digital Interface (MIDI) standard. Some of the controllers are described below: Keyboard. This is the most common synthesizer controller. Keyboards range in size from the full 88-key (7-octave) keyboard found on digital pianos to as few as 25 keys (2 octaves) on a toy-sized keyboard. Keyboards for home use typically have 49, 61, or 76 keys (4, 5, or 6 octaves). Some keyboards feature weighted keys to simulate the responsiveness of a piano, while others feature spring-loaded keys, and still others combine springs with lighter weights than fully weighted keys.. Many feature touch sensitivity, where the hardness of the keys (how hard they are struck) determines how loud the sound generated is. Mouthpiece/wind controller. This controller is found on a wind synthesizer, an electronic instrument designed similar to a soprano saxophone, clarinet, recorder, or trumpet. You blow into it to regulate the sound, which can be modified by using your thumb or jaw in certain ways. MIDI guitar. This is software that lets you use your acoustic or electric guitar, with a pickup, to control a synthesizer. MIDI guitars work by attempting to convert string vibrations into digital data. There is often a delay between the input and output because of the amount of sampling necessary to create the digitized sound. SynthAxe: No longer made, the SynthAxe worked by dividing the fretboard into 6 diagonal zones and used the strings as sensors. How much bending the strings were subjected to determined the tone generated. Keytar: This controller is shaped like the body and neck of a guitar, but has a 3-octave keyboard on the guitar body and other sound-manipulating controls on the neck. Inspired by an 18th-century instrument called the orphica, it offers players the control of a keyboard and the mobility of a guitar. Electronic drum pads: Introduced in 1971, electronic drum pads are usually available in kits similar to that of acoustic drums, including cymbals. Early versions played pre-recorded samples, while later versions create the sounds mathematically. Used with headphones, it is possible to play an electronic drum kit so that only the player hears the sound it makes. Radio drum. Originally intended for use as a three-dimensional "mouse," the radio drum senses the position of its two sticks in three dimensions, varying the sound produced according to where on the "drum" surface it is touching. BodySynth. This was a wearable controller that used muscle tension and body movement to control sound and lighting. It was intended for use by dancers and performance artists, but in many cases was too difficult to control. Simpler forms of the BodySynth have used gloves or shoes to serve as control units.