History
Follow the synthesizer from early lab experiments to the bedroom studios of today.
Read the timeline
Sound starts here
Synthia is your guide to the instruments that shaped modern music, from room-sized machines to the synth on your laptop.
Start learning Browse gearWhat is a synthesizer?
A synthesizer is an instrument that creates sound electronically instead of with strings, reeds or drums. It starts with a raw tone, then shapes it with filters, envelopes and effects until it becomes a bass line, a pad, a lead or something no acoustic instrument could make.
Some synths are hardware with knobs and keys, others live entirely inside a computer. The ideas behind them are the same, which means once you learn one, you can find your way around almost any of them.
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Gear
Compare the main types of synths and find the one that fits the way you want to make music.
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Learn
Oscillators, filters and envelopes explained in plain language, with a first patch to try.
Start the basics1964
Moog shows his first modular system
1983
MIDI lets synths talk to each other
6
Synth types compared in our gear guide
5
Steps to your very first patch
Machines that changed music
The portable analog
Small, playable and built for the stage, it brought synth bass and leads to touring bands.
The polyphonic workhorse
Several voices at once and saved sounds made full chords and quick changes possible.
The digital revolution
Bright, glassy tones and a low price made digital synths the sound of the eighties.
Have a question about synths?
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