Editing RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer

{{Short description|First programmable electronic music synthesizer}}{{More citations needed|date=March 2008}}
[[Image:RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer.jpg|right|thumb|RCA Mark II <!-- with Babbitt, Mauzey, Ussachevsky -->|300px]]
The '''RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer''' (nicknamed ''Victor'') was the first programmable electronic [[synthesizer]] and the flagship piece of equipment at the [[Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center]]. Designed by Herbert Belar and [[Harry Olson]] at [[RCA]], with contributions by [[Vladimir Ussachevsky]] and [[Peter Mauzey]], it was installed at [[Columbia University]] in 1957. Consisting of a room-sized array of interconnected [[sound synthesis]] components, the Mark II gave the user more flexibility and had twice the number of tone oscillators as its predecessor, the Mark I.<ref name=ieeeghn>
{{cite web
 | year      = 2012
 | title     = RCA Mark I and Mark II Synthesizers
 | url       = http://ethw.org/RCA_Mark_I_and_Mark_II_Synthesizers
 | publisher = [[Engineering and Technology History Wiki]]
 | quote     = ''The success of the Mark I led to the creation of the Mark II, which had twice as many tone oscillators and gave the composer more flexibility.''
}}{{verification needed|date=March 2015|reason=Reliable sources are not cited on this [http://ethw.org/ETHW:About ETHW] page}}</ref> The synthesizer was funded by a large grant from the [[Rockefeller Foundation]].

Earlier 20th century electronic instruments such as the [[Telharmonium]] or the [[theremin]] were manually operated. The RCA combined diverse electronic sound generation with a [[music sequencer]], which proved a huge attraction to [[composer]]s of the day, who were growing weary of creating electronic works by splicing together individual sounds recorded on sections of [[magnetic tape]]. The RCA Mark II featured a [[Binary numeral system|binary]] sequencer using a [[paper tape]] reader analogous to a [[player piano]], that would send instructions to the synthesizer, automating playback from the device.<ref name=olsonbelar1955>
{{harvnb|Olson|Belar|1955}}
</ref> The synthesizer would then output sound to a synchronized [[Disc cutting lathe|record lathe]] next to the machine.<ref group=media>
{{cite AV media
 | title     = 1950 early electronic synthesizer: 'This is music with a strictly electronic beat'
 | url       = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JManm091qWI <!-- medium    = video -->
 | work      = YouTube
 | publisher = Clips & Footage
}} "''Electronic Music Synthesizer, 'No instruments necessary'! "This is music with a strictly electronic beat". Man demonstrates synthesizer, bit of an anticlimax as it plays 'Camptown Races'.''"
</ref> The resulting recording would then be compared against the punch-tape score, and the process would be repeated until the desired results were obtained.

The sequencer features of the RCA were of particular attraction to [[modernism|modernist]] composers of the time, especially those interested in writing [[serialism|dodecaphonic]] music with a high degree of precision. The RCA is cited by composers of the day as contributing to the rise of musical [[complexity]], because it allowed composers the freedom to write music using [[rhythm]]s and [[tempo]]s that were impractical, if not impossible, to realize on [[acoustic instrument]]s. The allure of precision as a mark of [[aesthetic]] progress (continuing with contemporary [[computer]]-based sequencers) generated high expectations for the Mark II, and contributed to the increased awareness of electronic music as a viable new art form. An album featuring the instrument and its capabilities was issued by RCA (LM-1922) in 1955.<ref group=media>
{{cite AV media
 | people    = Various
 | year      = 1955
 | title     = The Sounds And Music Of The RCA Electronic Music Synthesizer
 | url       = {{Discogs release|1146605|pure_url=yes}} <!-- http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Sounds-And-Music-Of-The-RCA-Electronic-Music-Synthesizer/release/1146605 -->
 | medium    = Vinyl LP
 | location  = US
 | publisher = RCA Victor Red Seal
 | id        = LM-1922
}}</ref>

The synthesizer had a four-note variable [[polyphony]] (in addition to twelve fixed-tone [[oscillator]]s and a [[white noise]] source). The synthesizer was difficult to configure, requiring extensive [[Patch cable|patch]]ing of [[analog circuit]]ry prior to running a score. Little attempt was made to teach composition on the synthesizer, and with few exceptions the only persons proficient in the machine's use were the designers at RCA and the engineering staff at Columbia who maintained it. [[Princeton University]] composer [[Milton Babbitt]],<ref>
{{cite magazine
 | last      = Gross | first = Jason
 | date      = April 2000
 | title     = Milton Babbitt talks about "Philomel" <!-- Babbitt on ''Philomel'' -->, ''OHM- The Early Gurus of Electronic Music''
 | url       = http://www.furious.com/perfect/ohm/babbitt.html
 | magazine= Perfect Sound Forever
 | issue     = April 2000
 | quote     = ''Still going strong at age 84, renowned composer Milton Babbitt was a founding member of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Center (see [[#{{sfnref|''Perfect Sound Forever''|2000}}|related article]]) where he created "Philomel," one of the first compositions of the synthesizer (available on New World Records).''
}}
*{{cite magazine |title=The Early Gurus of Electronic Music |magazine=Perfect Sound Forever |date=April 2000 |ref={{sfnref|''Perfect Sound Forever''|2000}}}}</ref><ref group=media>
{{cite AV media
 | people    = Various
 | year      = 2005
 | title     = OHM+: The Early Gurus Of Electronic Music
 | url       = {{Discogs release|1303433|pure_url=yes}}
 | medium    = DVD
 | location  = US
 | publisher = Ellipsis Arts
 | id        = DVD 3694
}}<br/>Babbitt describes the acquisition and use of the machine in an interview segment<!-- on the 2005 "Ohm+" DVD released by Ellipsis Arts -->.
</ref> though not by any means the only person to use the machine, is the composer most often associated with it, and was its biggest advocate.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

A number of important pieces in the electronic music [[canon (music)|repertoire]] were composed and realized on the RCA. Babbitt's ''Vision and Prayer'' and ''[[Philomel (Babbitt)|Philomel]]'' both feature the RCA, as does [[Charles Wuorinen]]'s 1970 [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]]-winning piece ''[[Time's Encomium]]''.<ref group=media>
{{cite AV media
 | people    = Charles Wuorinen
 | year      = 1969
 | title     = Time's Encomium (For Synthesized & Processed Synthesized Sound)
 | url       = {{Discogs master|master=315685|pure_url=yes}}
 | publisher = Nonsuch Records commission
 | id        = H-71225
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web
 | title     = Wuorinen's story of Time's Encomium
 | url       = http://artofthestates.org/cgi-bin/piece.pl?pid=17
 | work      = Art of the States
 | url-status = usurped
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120716183806/http://artofthestates.org/cgi-bin/piece.pl?pid=17
 | archive-date = 2012-07-16
}}</ref> Over time it fell into disrepair, and it remains only partly functional. The last composer to get any sound out of the synthesizer was [[R. Luke DuBois]], who used it for a fifty-one second piece on the [[Freight Elevator Quartet]]'s ''Jungle Album'' in 1997.

[[Image:RCA Mark II victor - closeup (2).jpg|thumb|Closeup of ''Victor'' that lives up at Columbia [[Computer Music Center]]]]
Although part of the history of electronic music, the RCA was seldom used. Made to [[United States Air Force]] construction specifications (and even sporting a USAF [[oscilloscope]]), its active electronics were constructed entirely with [[vacuum tube]]s, rendering the machine obsolete by its tenth birthday, having been surpassed by more reliable and affordable [[solid state (electronics)|solid state]] modular synthesizers such as the [[Buchla]] and [[Moog modular synthesizer]] systems. It was prohibitively expensive to replicate, and an RCA Mark III, though conceived by Belar and Olsen, was never constructed. Nor was RCA to remain in the synthesizer business, prompting Columbia to purchase enough spare parts to build two duplicate synthesizers.{{Citation needed|date=March 2015}}

Much of the historical interest of the RCA, besides its association with the Electronic Music Center, comes from a number of amusing and possibly apocryphal stories told regarding the synthesizer. One common story is that Ussachevsky and [[Otto Luening]] effectively [[confidence trick|con]]ned RCA into building the machine, claiming that a synthesizer built to their specifications would "replace the [[symphony]] orchestra," prompting RCA executives to gamble the cost of the synthesizer in the hopes of being able to eliminate their [[trade union|union]]ized radio orchestra.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

In 1959, the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center acquired the machine from RCA. At Columbia-Princeton, Milton Babbitt used it extensively. His tape and tape and instrument pieces were realized using the RCA Mark II, including his masterpiece ''Philomel'', for synthesized sound and soprano.<ref>
{{cite web
 | title     = RCA Mark II
 | url       = http://www.synthmuseum.com/rca/rca02.html
 | work      = Synthmuseum.com
}};
based on
{{cite book
 | last      = Forrest | first = Peter
 | title     = The A-Z of Analogue Synthesizers
 | series    = N-Z Pt. 2
 | location  = Devon, England
 | publisher = Susurreal Publishing
 | date = 1996
 | isbn      = 978-0-95243770-3
}}, copyright 1994 Peter Forrest;
with additional help from Eric Chasalow
</ref>

[[Image:RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer, Computer Music Center at Columbia University, NIME2007.jpg|thumb|''Victor'' in 2007]]
The RCA remains housed at the Columbia [[Computer Music Center]] facility on 125th Street in [[New York City]], where it is bolted to the floor in the office of Professor [[Brad Garton]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2015}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
'''Media'''
{{Reflist|group=media}}

==Bibliography==
'''Overall'''
* {{cite book
   | last      = Olson | first = Harry Ferdinand
   | chapter   = <!-- Chapter Ten: -->Electronic Music
   | chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=q4zgPgWIW5YC&pg=PA408
   | title     = Music, Physics and Engineering
   | publisher = Courier Corporation
   | date = 1967
   | pages     = [https://books.google.com/books?id=q4zgPgWIW5YC&pg=PA408 408]&ndash;448
   | isbn      = 978-0-486-21769-7
  }}
*:''See "[https://books.google.com/books?id=q4zgPgWIW5YC&pg=PA435 D. Description of an Electronic Music Composing Machine Employing a Random Probability System]" for Olson-Belar composing machine (c.1950), and "[https://books.google.com/books?id=q4zgPgWIW5YC&pg=PA415 10.4.RCA ELECTRONIC MUSIC SYNTHESIZER]" for RCA Mark I (c.1955) & Mark II (c.1958).''
* {{cite book | last      = Holmes | first = Thom
   | chapter   = Early Synthesizers and Experimenters
   | chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aT5nAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA175
   | title     = Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music, and Culture
   | edition   = 4th
   | publisher = Routledge
   | date = 2012
   | isbn      = 978-1-136-46895-7
   | pages     = [https://archive.org/details/electronicexperi00holm/page/175 176]&ndash;[https://archive.org/details/electronicexperi00holm/page/190 190]
  }}
*:''See also excerption of pp. [http://static1.squarespace.com/static/50e79ec7e4b07dba60068e4d/t/515704dce4b05239ba84e64c/1364657372465/Holmes4.pdf#page=2 142]&ndash;[http://static1.squarespace.com/static/50e79ec7e4b07dba60068e4d/t/515704dce4b05239ba84e64c/1364657372465/Holmes4.pdf#page=17 157] from the [https://books.google.com/books?id=hCthQ-bec-QC 3rd ed. in 2008] ({{ISBN|978-0-415-95781-6}}).''
'''Olson-Belar composing machine (circa 1950)'''
* {{cite patent |ref={{sfnref|US application 2855816}}
   | country   = US
   | number    = 2855816
   | status    = application
   | title     = [https://patents.google.com/patent/US2855816 Music Synthesizer]
   | pubdate   = October 14, 1957
   | gdate     = 
   | fdate     = December 26, 1951
   | pridate   = 
   | inventor  = Harry F. Olson; Belar Herbert
   | invent1   = 
   | invent2   = 
   | assign1   = RCA Corp.
   | assign2   = 
   | class     = 
  }} (filed December 26, 1951)
* {{cite book | last      = Olson | first = Harry F.
   | author-link1= Harry F. Olson
   | title     = Musical Engineering
   | publisher = [[McGraw-Hill Education|McGraw-Hill]] | location = New York
   | date = 1952
  }}
*:'''''Note''': source of "[http://static1.squarespace.com/static/50e79ec7e4b07dba60068e4d/t/515704dce4b05239ba84e64c/1364657372465/Holmes4.pdf#page=5 Figure 6.1 Schematic for the ''Olson-Belar composing machine'' ...]" on {{harvnb|Holmes|2012|<!-- loc=RCA Electronic Music Synthesizer -->|p=[https://archive.org/details/electronicexperi00holm/page/179 179]}}.''
'''RCA Electronic Music Synthesizer, ''Mark I'' &thinsp;(circa 1955)'''
* {{cite journal | last1     = Olson | first1 = Harry F.
   | last2     = Belar | first2 = Herbert
   | title     = Electronic Music Synthesizer
   | url       = http://98.130.146.204/rca_lm_1922/rca_lm_1922_paper.html <!-- url  = http://www.jaimeoliver.pe/courses/ci/pdf/olson-1955.pdf -->
   | journal   = Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
   | volume    = 27 | issue = 3 | date = May 1955 | pages = 595&ndash;612
   | doi       = 10.1121/1.1907975
   | format    = reprint <!-- publisher = Radio Corporation of America RCA Laboratories Division -->
   | quote     = {{Smaller|''The electronic music synthesizer is a machine that produces music from a coded record. The coded record, is produced by a musician, musical engineer, or composer with a fundamental understanding of the composition of sound. The electronic music synthesizer provides means for the production of a tone with any frequency, intensity, growth, duration, decay, portamento, timbre, vibrato, and variation. If these properties of a tone are specified, the tone can be completely described. ...<!-- The advantage of the electronic music synthesizer is that it can produce new and radical tone complexes for musical satisfaction and gratification. The new system does not displace the artist and musician of today. It does not take the place of talent combined with work. The electronic music synthesizer provides the musician, musical engineer, and composer with a new musical tool with no inherent physical limitations. -->''}}
  | bibcode = 1955ASAJ...27..595O | url-access= subscription
   }}
*:'''''Note''': a paper about ''RCA Electronic Music Synthesizer'', also known as ''Mark I'', which was unveiled in 1955 and housed at Princeton University (according to {{harvnb|Holmes|2012|<!-- loc=RCA Electronic Music Synthesizer -->|pp=<!-- [https://archive.org/details/electronicexperi00holm/page/177 177], -->[https://archive.org/details/electronicexperi00holm/page/179 179]}}).''
'''RCA Mark II Electronic Music Synthesizer (circa 1958)'''
* {{cite journal | last1     = Olson | first1 = Harry F.
   | last2     = Belar | first2 = Herbert
   | title     = Aid to music composition employing a random probability system
   | journal   = Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
   | volume    = 33 | issue = 9| date = 1961
   | pages     = 1163
   | doi       = 10.1121/1.1908937
  | bibcode = 1961ASAJ...33.1163O }}
'''Computer compositions'''
* {{cite book
   | last      = Hiller | first = LeJaren
   | chapter   = <!-- Chap. 4 -->Music composed with computers&mdash;a historical survey
   | editor    = Harry B. Lincoln
   | title     = The Computer and Music
   | url      = https://archive.org/details/computermusic00linc | url-access = registration | publisher = Cornell University Press | location = Ithaca, N.Y.
   | pages     = [https://archive.org/details/computermusic00linc/page/42 42]&ndash;96
   | date = 1970
  | isbn = 9780801405501
 }}
*:'''''Note''': a brief summary of work by Olson and Belar is given, and their "composing machine" is described as a prototype of RCA Electronic Music Synthesizers. (according to {{harvnb|Lincoln|1972|<!-- loc=2.1 Music Composed for Performance by Traditional Means -->|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vg_QRDVR7hgC&lpg=PA75 75]}}).''
* {{cite book | last      = Lincoln | first = Harry B.
   | chapter   = Uses of the Computer in Music Composition and Research
   | chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vg_QRDVR7hgC&pg=PA73
   | pages     = [https://books.google.com/books?id=vg_QRDVR7hgC&pg=PA73 73]&ndash;[https://books.google.com/books?id=vg_QRDVR7hgC&pg=PA114 114]
   | title     = Advances in Computers
   | volume    = 12
   | editor    = Morris Rubinoff
   | publisher = Academic Press
   | date = 1972
   | isbn      = 978-0-08-056644-3
  }}

== External links ==
* {{cite web
   | title     = The RCA Synthesiser
   | work      = 120 Years of Electronic Music
   | url       = http://120years.net/wordpress/the-rca-synthesiser-i-iiharry-olsen-hebert-belarusa1952/
  | date = 2013-09-21
 }} 
* {{cite AV media
   | people    = Milton Babbitt
   | date      = 1968–1971
   | title     = Occasional Variations
   | url       = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpbrXlnZMRg
   | medium    = music
   | work      = YouTube 
  }}, Realized on the RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer, 1968&ndash;1971
* {{cite AV media
   | people    = [[Garnet Hertz]]
   | date      = 2016
   | title     = RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer: the first programmable electronic synthesizer
   | url       = https://vimeo.com/164800030
   | medium    = music
   | work      = Vimeo 
  }}, Video of the RCA Mark II Synthesizer at Columbia University 
* {{discogs master|286962}}

{{Electronic music}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rca Mark Ii Sound Synthesizer}}
[[Category:Polyphonic synthesizers]]
[[Category:Analog synthesizers]]
[[Category:Modular synthesizers]]