Misplaced Pages

#433566

83-448: The majority of organists, amateur and professional, are principally involved in church music , playing in churches and cathedrals. The pipe organ still plays a large part in the leading of traditional western Christian worship, with roles including the accompaniment of hymns , choral anthems and other parts of the worship. The degree to which the organ is involved varies depending on the church and denomination. It also may depend on

166-533: A Christian maiden ought not even to know what a lyre or flute is like, or to what use it is put. Evidence of musical roles during the 6th through 7th centuries is particularly sparse because of the cycle of invasions of Germanic tribes in the West and doctrinal and political conflict in the East as well as the consequent instability of Christian institutions in the former Roman empire. The introduction of church organ music

249-582: A Moog to compose a soundtrack for the televised footage of the Apollo 11 moonwalk , creating a link between electronic music and space in the American popular imagination. ARP synthesizers were used to create sound effects for the 1977 science fiction films Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars , including the "voice" of the robot R2-D2 . In the 70s and 80s, synthesizers were used in

332-576: A Spanish poet of the late 4th century was one of the most prolific hymn writers of the time. Early Celtic hymns, associated with Saint Patrick and Saint Columba , including the still extant, Saint Patrick's Breastplate , can be traced to the 6th and 7th centuries. Catholic hymnody in the Western church introduced four-part vocal harmony as the norm, adopting major and minor keys, and came to be led by organ and choir. The Protestant Reformation resulted in two conflicting attitudes to hymns. One approach,

415-461: A bestselling album of Bach compositions arranged for Moog synthesizer by Wendy Carlos , demonstrated that synthesizers could be more than "random noise machines", taking them to the mainstream. However, debates were held about the appropriateness of synthesizers in baroque music , and according to the Guardian they were quickly abandoned in "serious classical circles". Today, the synthesizer

498-454: A cappella , for the human voice alone, or they can be accompanied by instrumental obbligatos up to and including a full orchestra. Many masses, especially later ones, were never intended to be performed during the celebration of an actual mass. Generally, for a composition to be a full mass, it must contain the following invariable five sections, which together constitute the Ordinary of

581-671: A later Carolingian synthesis of Roman and Gallican chant . During the following centuries, the Chant tradition was still at the heart of Church music, where it changed and acquired various accretions. Even the polyphonic music that arose from the venerable old chants in the Organa by Léonin and Pérotin in Paris (1160–1240) ended in monophonic chant and in later traditions new composition styles were practiced in juxtaposition (or co-habitation) with monophonic chant. This practice continued into

664-508: A liturgical mass, there are variable other sections that may be sung, often in Gregorian chant . These sections, the "proper" of the mass, change with the day and season according to the church calendar, or according to the special circumstances of the mass. The proper of the mass is usually not set to music in a mass itself, except in the case of a Requiem Mass , but may be the subject of motets or other musical compositions. The sections of

747-562: A pop staple, used on songs by A-ha , Kenny Loggins , Kool & the Gang . Its "E PIANO 1" preset became particularly famous, especially for power ballads , and was used by artists including Whitney Houston , Chicago , Prince , Phil Collins , Luther Vandross , Billy Ocean , and Celine Dion . Korg M1 presets were widely used in 1990s house music, beginning with Madonna 's 1990 single " Vogue ". Synthesizers are common in film and television soundtracks. In 1969, Mort Garson used

830-653: A refrain (or chorus) and usually (though not always) a faster tempo than the hymns. As examples of the distinction, " Amazing Grace " is a hymn (no refrain), but " How Great Thou Art " is a gospel song. During the 19th century the gospel-song genre spread rapidly in Protestantism and, to a lesser but still definite extent, in Catholicism. The gospel-song genre is unknown in the worship per se by Eastern Orthodox churches, which rely exclusively on traditional chants, and disallow instrumental accompaniment. Along with

913-759: A sacred nature, such as a hymn . The only record of communal song in the Gospels is the last meeting of the disciples before the Crucifixion . Outside the Gospels, there is a reference to St. Paul encouraging the Ephesians and Colossians to use psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Later, there is a reference in Pliny the Younger who writes to the emperor Trajan (53–117) asking for advice about how to persecute

SECTION 10

#1732783183434

996-463: A second ADSR envelope. An "envelope modulation" ("env mod") parameter on many synthesizers with filter envelopes determines how much the envelope affects the filter. If turned all the way down, the filter produces a flat sound with no envelope. When turned up the envelope becomes more noticeable, expanding the minimum and maximum range of the filter. The envelope applied on the filter helps the sound designer generating long notes or short notes by moving

1079-598: A separate repertoire and playing style, and in its heyday (during the first third of the twentieth century) there were considerable numbers of organists employed, many of whom played on Wurlitzer organs. A few carry on the tradition today. There are many organists employed in the production of popular and jazz music. In the United States most of them play the Hammond organ , and many are classically trained, often in piano rather than organ. In England and Japan, one of

1162-405: A sound depending on how each module is connected to other modules by patch cables . Moog developed a means of controlling pitch through voltage , the voltage-controlled oscillator . This, along with Moog components such as envelopes , noise generators , filters , and sequencers , became standard components in synthesizers. Around the same period, the American engineer Don Buchla created

1245-589: A starting price of $ 13,000, its use was limited to universities, studios and wealthy artists. The Roland D-50 (1987) blended Roland's linear arithmetic algorithm with samples, and was the first mass-produced synthesizer with built-in digital effects such as delay , reverb and chorus . In 1988, the Japanese manufacturer Korg released the M1 , a digital synthesizer workstation featuring sampled transients and loops . With more than 250,000 units sold, it remains

1328-588: A synthesized melody. Soft Cell used a synthesized melody on their 1981 hit " Tainted Love ". Nick Rhodes , keyboardist of Duran Duran , used synthesizers including the Roland Jupiter-4 and Jupiter-8 . Chart hits include Depeche Mode 's " Just Can't Get Enough " (1981), the Human League 's " Don't You Want Me " and works by Ultravox . In the 1980s, digital synthesizers were widely used in pop music. The Yamaha DX7, released in 1983, became

1411-510: A wave of new software instruments. Propellerhead's Reason , released in 2000, introduced an array of recognizable virtual studio equipment. The market for patchable and modular synthesizers rebounded in the late 1990s. In the 2000s, older analog synthesizers regained popularity, sometimes selling for much more than their original prices. In the 2010s, new, affordable analog synthesizers were introduced by companies including Moog, Korg, Arturia and Dave Smith Instruments . The renewed interest

1494-458: Is a preamp that boosts (amplifies) the electronic signal before passing it on to an external or built-in power amplifier, as well as a means to control its amplitude (volume) using an attenuator . The gain of the VCA is affected by a control voltage (CV), coming from an envelope generator, an LFO, the keyboard or some other source. Voltage-controlled filters (VCFs) "shape" the sound generated by

1577-480: Is also credited as having written the first English hymn which was not a direct paraphrase of Scripture. Later writers took even more freedom, some even including allegory and metaphor in their texts. Charles Wesley 's hymns spread Methodist theology , not only within Methodism, but in most Protestant churches. He developed a new focus: expressing one's personal feelings in the relationship with God as well as

1660-641: Is as important, and as ubiquitous, in modern music today as the human voice." As electricity became more widely available, the early 20th century saw the invention of electronic musical instruments including the Telharmonium , Trautonium , Ondes Martenot , and theremin . In the late 1930s, the Hammond Organ Company built the Novachord , a large instrument powered by 72 voltage-controlled amplifiers and 146 vacuum tubes . In 1948,

1743-411: Is credited to the appeal of imperfect "organic" sounds and simpler interfaces, and modern surface-mount technology making analog synthesizers cheaper and faster to manufacture. Early synthesizers were viewed as avant-garde , valued by the 1960s psychedelic and counter-cultural scenes for their ability to make new sounds, but with little perceived commercial potential. Switched-On Bach (1968) ,

SECTION 20

#1732783183434

1826-449: Is one of the most important instruments in the music industry, used in nearly every genre. It is considered by the authors of Analog Days as "the only innovation that can stand alongside the electric guitar as a great new instrument of the age of electricity ... Both led to new forms of music, and both had massive popular appeal." According to Fact in 2016, "The synthesizer is as important, and as ubiquitous, in modern music today as

1909-576: Is the ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) envelope: Low-frequency oscillators (LFOs) produce waveforms used to modulate parameters, such as the pitch of oscillators (producing vibrato ). Arpeggiators, included in many synthesizer models, take input chords and convert them into arpeggios . They usually include controls for speed, range and mode (the movement of the arpeggio). Synthesizers are often controlled with electronic or digital keyboards or MIDI controller keyboards, which may be built into

1992-741: Is the oldest institutions and professional body that regulates organ studies. From that sprang the American Guild of Organists (AGO), the Gesellschaft der Orgelfreunde  [ de ] (GdO) in Germany, and the Royal Canadian College of Organists (RCCO). The Incorporated Association of Organists is an international society that fulfills an educational interest in the organ and is the holding company for regional Organist Associations, which regulate organ activities at

2075-463: Is traditionally believed to date from the time of the papacy of Pope Vitalian in the 7th century. Gregorian chant is the main tradition of Western plainchant , a form of monophonic liturgical chant of Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services. This musical form originated in Monastic life, in which singing the 'Divine Service' nine times a day at

2158-574: The American Federation of Musicians (AFM). Robert Moog felt that the AFM had not realized that his instrument had to be studied like any other, and instead imagined that "all the sounds that musicians could make somehow existed in the Moog — all you had to do was push a button that said ' Jascha Heifetz ' and out would come the most fantastic violin player". The musician Walter Sear persuaded

2241-528: The Buchla Modular Electronic Music System . Instead of a conventional keyboard , Buchla's system used touchplates which transmitted control voltages depending on finger position and force. However, the Moog's keyboard made it more accessible and marketable to musicians, and keyboards became the standard means of controlling synthesizers. Moog and Buchla initially avoided the word synthesizer for their instruments, as it

2324-862: The Catholic Church , the Churches of the Anglican Communion , and also the Lutheran Church ) to music. Most masses are settings of the liturgy in Latin , the traditional language of the Catholic Church, but there are a significant number written in the languages of non-Catholic countries where vernacular worship has long been the norm. For example, there are many masses (often called "Communion Services") written in English for

2407-546: The Church of England . At a time when Christianity was competing for prominence with other religions, the music and chants were often beautiful and elaborate to attract new members to the Church. Music is an integral part of mass. It accompanies various rituals acts and contributes to the totality of worship service. Music in mass is an activity that participants share with others in the celebration of Jesus Christ. Masses can be

2490-702: The OB-X (1979). In 1978, the American company Sequential Circuits released the Prophet-5 , the first fully programmable polyphonic synthesizer. Whereas previous synthesizers required users to adjust cables and knobs to change sounds, with no guarantee of exactly recreating a sound, the Prophet-5 used microprocessors to store sounds in patch memory. This facilitated a move from synthesizers creating unpredictable sounds to producing "a standard package of familiar sounds". The synthesizer market grew dramatically in

2573-631: The Roland TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines, became a foundation of electronic dance music genres such as house and techno when producers acquired cheap second-hand units later in the decade. The authors of Analog Days connect the synthesizer's origins in 1960s psychedelia to the raves and British " second summer of love " of the 1980s and the club scenes of the 1990s and 2000s. Gary Numan's 1979 hits " Are 'Friends' Electric? " and " Cars " made heavy use of synthesizers. OMD 's " Enola Gay " (1980) used distinctive electronic percussion and

Organist - Misplaced Pages Continue

2656-583: The regulative principle of worship , favored by many Zwinglians , Calvinists among others, considered anything that was not directly authorized by the Bible to be a novel and Catholic introduction to worship, which was to be rejected. All hymns that were not direct quotations from the Bible fell into this category. Such hymns were banned, along with any form of instrumental musical accompaniment, and organs were ripped out of churches. Instead of hymns, Biblical psalms were chanted, most often without accompaniment. This

2739-527: The 12th and 13th centuries, with later additions and redactions, but the texts and many of the melodies have antecedents going back several centuries earlier. Although a 9th-century legend credits Pope Gregory the Great with having personally invented Gregorian chant by receiving the chant melodies through divine intervention of the Holy Spirit, scholars now believe that the chant bearing his name arose from

2822-459: The 13th century, although carols were originally communal songs sung during celebrations like harvest tide as well as Christmas. It was only in the late 18th and 19th centuries that carols began to be sung in church, and to be specifically associated with Christmas. Traditionally, carols have often been based on medieval chord progressions, and it is this that gives them their characteristic sound. Some carols like "Personent hodie" and "Angels from

2905-895: The 1970s. A distinctive form is the modern, lively black gospel style. Synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth ) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals . Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis , additive synthesis and frequency modulation synthesis . These sounds may be altered by components such as filters , which cut or boost frequencies ; envelopes , which control articulation , or how notes begin and end; and low-frequency oscillators , which modulate parameters such as pitch, volume, or filter characteristics affecting timbre . Synthesizers are typically played with keyboards or controlled by sequencers , software or other instruments, and may be synchronized to other equipment via MIDI . Synthesizer-like instruments emerged in

2988-525: The 1980s. 1982 saw the introduction of MIDI , a standardized means of synchronizing electronic instruments; it remains an industry standard. An influential sampling synthesizer , the Fairlight CMI , was released in 1979, with the ability to record and play back samples at different pitches. Though its high price made it inaccessible to amateurs, it was adopted by high-profile pop musicians including Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel . The success of

3071-409: The 21st century, analog synthesizers returned to popularity with the advent of cheaper manufacturing. Synthesizers were initially viewed as avant-garde , valued by the 1960s psychedelic and countercultural scenes but with little perceived commercial potential. Switched-On Bach (1968) , a bestselling album of Bach compositions arranged for synthesizer by Wendy Carlos , took synthesizers to

3154-482: The AFM that the synthesizer demanded skill, and the category of "synthesizer player" was accepted into the union/ However, players were subject to "suspicion and hostility" for years. In 1982, following a tour by Barry Manilow using synthesizers instead of an orchestra, the British Musicians' Union attempted to ban synthesizers, attracting controversy. That decade, a few musicians skilled at programming

3237-707: The Canadian engineer Hugh Le Caine completed the electronic sackbut , a precursor to voltage-controlled synthesizers , with keyboard sensitivity allowing for vibrato , glissando , and attack control. In 1957, Harry Olson and Herbert Belar completed the RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer at the RCA laboratories in Princeton, New Jersey. The instrument read punched paper tape that controlled an analog synthesizer containing 750 vacuum tubes. It

3320-580: The Christians in Bithynia , and describing their practice of gathering before sunrise and repeating antiphonally "a hymn to Christ, as to God". Antiphonal psalmody is the singing or musical playing of psalms by alternating groups of performers. The peculiar mirror structure of the Hebrew psalms makes it likely that the antiphonal method originated in the services of the ancient Israelites. According to

3403-763: The Fairlight drove competition, improving sampling technology and lowering prices. Early competing samplers included the E-mu Emulator in 1981 and the Akai S-series in 1985. In 1983, Yamaha released the first commercially successful digital synthesizer , the Yamaha DX7 . Based on frequency modulation (FM) synthesis developed by the Stanford University engineer John Chowning , the DX7

Organist - Misplaced Pages Continue

3486-1092: The Mass . This setting of the Ordinary of the Mass spawned a tradition of Mass composition to which many famous composers of the standard concert repertory made contributions, including Bach , Haydn , Mozart and Beethoven . The Requiem Mass , or the Mass of the Dead, is a modified version of the ordinary mass. Musical settings of the Requiem mass have a long tradition in Western music. There are many notable works in this tradition, including those by Ockeghem , Pierre de la Rue , Brumel , Jean Richafort , Pedro de Escobar , Antoine de Févin , Morales , Palestrina , Tomás Luis de Victoria , Mozart , Gossec , Cherubini , Berlioz , Brahms , Bruckner , Dvořák , Frederick Delius , Maurice Duruflé , Fauré , Liszt , Verdi , Herbert Howells , Stravinsky , Britten , György Ligeti , Penderecki , Henze , and Andrew Lloyd Webber . In

3569-607: The Midnight Clear ", a New England carol written by Edmund H. Sears and Richard S. Willis. Thomas Aquinas , in the introduction to his commentary on the Psalms, defined the Christian hymn thus: " Hymnus est laus Dei cum cantico; canticum autem exultatio mentis de aeternis habita, prorumpens in vocem ." ("A hymn is the praise of God with song; a song is the exultation of the mind dwelling on eternal things, bursting forth in

3652-824: The Minimoog, Pro-One , and TB-303 , and drum machines such as the TR-808 . Other synthesizer clones include the MiniMOD (a series of Eurorack modules based on the Minimoog), the Intellijel Atlantis (based on the SH-101 ), and the x0x Heart (based on the TB-303). Creating clones of older hardware is legal where the patents have expired. In 1997, Mackie lost their lawsuit against Behringer as copyright law in

3735-637: The Realms of Glory" can be traced directly back to the Middle Ages , and are among the oldest musical compositions still regularly sung. Carols suffered a decline in popularity after the Reformation in the countries where Protestant churches gained prominence (although well-known Reformers like Martin Luther authored carols and encouraged their use in worship), but survived in rural communities until

3818-559: The United States in the mid-20th century with instruments such as the RCA Mark II , which was controlled with punch cards and used hundreds of vacuum tubes . The Moog synthesizer , developed by Robert Moog and first sold in 1964, is credited for pioneering concepts such as voltage-controlled oscillators , envelopes, noise generators , filters, and sequencers. In 1970, the smaller, cheaper Minimoog standardized synthesizers as self-contained instruments with built-in keyboards, unlike

3901-489: The Yamaha DX7 found employment creating sounds for other acts. Synthesizers generate audio through various forms of analog and digital synthesis. Oscillators produce waveforms (such as sawtooth , sine , or pulse waves ) with different timbres . Voltage-controlled amplifiers (VCAs) control the volume or gain of the audio signal. VCAs can be modulated by other components, such as LFOs and envelopes. A VCA

3984-478: The amateur electronics market, such as a design published in Practical Electronics in 1973. By the mid-1970s, ARP was the world's largest synthesizer manufacturer, though it closed in 1981. Early synthesizers were monophonic , meaning they could only play one note at a time. Some of the earliest commercial polyphonic synthesizers were created by the American engineer Tom Oberheim , such as

4067-472: The bestselling synthesizer in history. The advent of digital synthesizers led to a downturn in interest in analog synthesizers in the following decade. 1997 saw the release of ReBirth by Propellerhead Software and Reality by Seer Systems , the first software synthesizers that could be played in real time via MIDI. In 1999, an update to the music software Cubase allowed users to run software instruments (including synthesizers) as plug-ins , triggering

4150-415: The early Church spread from Jerusalem to Asia Minor, North Africa, and Europe, it absorbed other musical influences. For example, the monasteries and churches of Syria were important in the development of psalm singing and the use of strophic devotional song, or hymns. The use of instruments in early Christian music seems to have been frowned upon. In the late 4th or early 5th century, St. Jerome wrote that

4233-450: The emergence of synth-pop from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The work of German krautrock bands such as Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream , British acts such as John Foxx , Gary Numan and David Bowie , African-American acts such as George Clinton and Zapp , and Japanese electronic acts such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Kitaro were influential in the development of the genre. The Roland TB-303 (1981), in conjunction with

SECTION 50

#1732783183434

4316-744: The first string synthesizer , designed to emulate string sections . After retail stores started selling synthesizers in 1971, other synthesizer companies were established, including ARP in the US and EMS in the UK. ARP's products included the ARP 2600 , which folded into a carrying case and had built-in speakers, and the Odyssey , a rival to the Minimoog. The less expensive EMS synthesizers were used by European art rock and progressive rock acts including Brian Eno and Pink Floyd . Designs for synthesizers appeared in

4399-577: The heads of a drum kit ; touchplates, which send signals depending on finger position and force; controllers designed for microtonal tunings ; touchscreen devices such as tablets and smartphones ; and fingerpads. Synthesizer clones are unlicensed recreations of previous synthesizers, often marketed as affordable versions of famous musical equipment. Clones are available as physical instruments and software. Companies that have sold software clones include Arturia and Native Instruments . Behringer manufactures equipment modelled on instruments including

4482-399: The historian Socrates of Constantinople , its introduction into Christian worship was due to Ignatius of Antioch (died 107), who in a vision had seen the angels singing in alternate choirs. During the first two or three centuries, Christian communities incorporated into their observances features of Greek music and the music of other cultures bordering on the eastern Mediterranean Sea. As

4565-627: The historical importance of churches as employers of musicians meant that many composers who now are very seldom remembered for their association with the organ were, nevertheless, engaged as professional organists: for example, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Edward Elgar . In English churches, chapels and cathedrals the Organist may also be known as Master of the Choristers , Choirmaster or Director of Music ; however, there are some ancient titles still in current usage: The theatre organ has

4648-434: The human voice." The Moog was adopted by 1960s rock acts including the Doors , the Grateful Dead , the Rolling Stones , the Beatles , and Keith Emerson . Emerson was the first major rock musician to perform with the Moog and it became a trademark of his performances, helping take his band Emerson, Lake & Palmer to global stardom. According to Analog Days , the likes of Emerson, with his Moog performances, "did for

4731-466: The keyboard what Jimi Hendrix did for the guitar". String synthesizers were used by 1970s progressive rock bands including Camel , Caravan , Electric Light Orchestra , Gentle Giant and Renaissance . The portable Minimoog (1970), much smaller than the modular synthesizers before it, made synthesizers more common in live performance. Early synthesizers could only play one note at a time , making them suitable for basslines, leads and solos. With

4814-489: The larger modular synthesizers before it. In 1978, Sequential Circuits released the Prophet-5 , which used microprocessors to allow users to store sounds for the first time. MIDI, a standardized means of synchronizing electronic instruments, was introduced in 1982 and remains an industry standard. The Yamaha DX7 , launched in 1983, was a major success and popularized digital synthesis . Software synthesizers now can be run as plug-ins or embedded on microchips . In

4897-426: The lifetime of François Couperin , whose Organ Masses were meant to be performed with alternating homophonic Chant. Although it had mostly fallen into disuse after the Baroque period, Chant experienced a revival in the 19th century in the Catholic Church and the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Anglican Communion . The mass is a form of music that sets out the parts of the Eucharistic liturgy (chiefly belonging to

4980-446: The local level. All these institutions are oriented toward the organist involved in classical music rather than popular music , but have recently shown an interest in expanding their interests. There is also the American Theatre Organ Society . Church music Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy , or music set to words expressing propositions of

5063-452: The mainstream. They were adopted by electronic acts and pop and rock groups in the 1960s and 1970s and were widely used in 1980s music. Sampling , introduced with the Fairlight synthesizer in 1979, has influenced genres such as electronic and hip hop music. Today, the synthesizer is used in nearly every genre of music and is considered one of the most important instruments in the music industry. According to Fact in 2016, "The synthesizer

SECTION 60

#1732783183434

5146-429: The more classical sacred music of composers ranging from Mozart to Monteverdi , the Catholic Church continued to produce many popular hymns such as Lead, Kindly Light , Silent Night , "O Sacrament Divine" and "Faith of our Fathers". Many churches today use contemporary worship music which includes a range of styles often influenced by popular music . This style began in the late 1960s and became very popular during

5229-398: The most popular series of instruments is the Yamaha Electone ; while Electones of recent decades are more properly characterized as digital synthesizers rather than as organs, the player interface, and the skills and coordination required to play, mean that it may be effectively regarded by some, as an organ in these respects. The Royal College of Organists (RCO) in the United Kingdom

5312-573: The organist is usually also responsible for directing and rehearsing the choir(s) . In the twentieth-century, many pipe organs were replaced by pipe-less electronic and digital organs , often as a low-cost alternative to rebuilding older pipe organs. In the English cathedral tradition the organist is now generally called "Director of Music", although their function is mainly in the training and direction of music rather than actual playing; there will generally be one or more assistant or sub-organists who play for most services and some recitals. Sometimes

5395-410: The organist will be assisted by an organ scholar . The post of organist at most of the great cathedrals includes recital work and choral training. Another function of an organist is often as teacher to future players. Few organists hold historically special positions such as Raùl Prieto Ramitez who is the Civic Organist of San Diego, the last true Civic Organist position still active in the US. Since

5478-521: The oscillators in the frequency domain, often under the control of an envelope or LFO. These are essential to subtractive synthesis. Filters are particularly important in subtractive synthesis , being designed to pass some frequency regions (or "bands") through unattenuated while significantly attenuating ("subtracting") others. The low-pass filter is most frequently used, but band-pass filters , band-reject filters and high-pass filters are also sometimes available. The filter may be controlled with

5561-423: The parameters up and down such as decay, sustain and finally release. For instance by using a short decay with no sustain, the sound generated is commonly known as a stab . Sound designers may prefer shaping the sound with a filter instead of volume. Envelopes control how sounds change over time. They may control parameters such as amplitude (volume), filters (frequencies), or pitch. The most common envelope

5644-403: The proper hours was upheld according to the Rule of Saint Benedict . Singing psalms made up a large part of the life in a monastic community, while a smaller group and soloists sang the chants. In its long history, Gregorian Chant has been subjected to many gradual changes and some reforms. It was organized, codified, and notated mainly in the Frankish lands of western and central Europe during

5727-464: The proper of the mass include the introit , gradual , Alleluia or Tract (depending on the time of year), offertory and communion. A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with church worship, often having a popular character. Today the carol is represented almost exclusively by the Christmas carol , the Advent carol, and to a lesser extent by the Easter carol. The tradition of Christmas carols goes back as far as

5810-440: The revival of interest in carols in the 19th century. The first appearance in print of " God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen ", " The First Noel ", " I Saw Three Ships " and " Hark the Herald Angels Sing " was in Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1833) by William Sandys . Composers like Arthur Sullivan helped to repopularize the carol, and it is this period that gave rise to such favorites as " Good King Wenceslas " and " It Came Upon

5893-450: The rise of polyphonic synthesizers in the 70s and 80s, "the keyboard in rock once more started to revert to the background, to be used for fills and atmosphere rather than for soloing". Some acts felt that using synthesizers was "cheating"; Queen wrote in their album liner notes that they did not use them. The Minimoog took a place in mainstream African-American music , most notably in the work of Stevie Wonder , and in jazz , such as

5976-550: The scores for thrillers and horror films including A Clockwork Orange (1971), Apocalypse Now (1979), The Fog (1980) and Manhunter (1986). Brad Fiedel used a Prophet synthesizer to record the soundtrack for The Terminator (1984), and the filmmaker John Carpenter used them extensively for his soundtracks. Synthesizers were used to create themes for television shows including Knight Rider (1982) , Twin Peaks (1990) and Stranger Things (2016). The rise of

6059-716: The simple worship seen in older hymns. The Methodist Revival of the 18th century created an explosion of hymn writing in Welsh, which continued into the first half of the 19th century. African-Americans developed a rich hymnody out of the spirituals sung during times of slavery. During the Second Great Awakening in the United States, this led to the emergence of a new popular style. Fanny Crosby , Ira D. Sankey , and others produced testimonial music for evangelistic crusades. These are often designated "gospel songs" as distinct from hymns, since they generally include

6142-403: The standard of the organist. In more provincial settings, organists may be more accurately described as pianists obliged to play the organ for worship services; nevertheless, some churches are fortunate to have trained organists capable of more elaborate "voluntaries" (the solo music before, during and after the service) and improvisation . As most churches can afford to employ only one musician,

6225-770: The strengths and weaknesses of the organ are difficult to understand without a good deal of playing experience, most music composed for organ has been written by organists. Since the majority of pre-twentieth-century organs were installed in churches, classical organ literature was almost exclusively written for liturgical use. Many composers, therefore, are equally known for their performance talents, some historical examples being Johann Sebastian Bach , Dieterich Buxtehude , Felix Mendelssohn , Franz Liszt , César Franck , Camille Saint-Saëns , Charles-Marie Widor , Louis Vierne , Marcel Dupré and Maurice Duruflé , as well as improvisers such as Charles Tournemire , Pierre Cochereau , Pierre Pincemaille or Thierry Escaich . In Europe,

6308-399: The synthesizer led to major changes in music industry jobs, comparable to the earlier arrival of sound in film , which put live musicians accompanying silent films out of work. With its ability to imitate instruments such as strings and horns, the synthesizer threatened the jobs of session musicians . For a period, the Moog was banned from use in commercial work, a restriction negotiated by

6391-509: The synthesizer unit or attached via connections such as CV/gate , USB , or MIDI . Keyboards may offer expression such as velocity sensitivity and aftertouch, allowing for more control over the sound. Other controllers include ribbon controllers , which track the movement of the finger across a touch-sensitive surface; wind controllers , played similarly to woodwind instruments ; motion-sensitive controllers similar to video game motion controllers ; electronic drum pads , played similarly to

6474-581: The voice.") The earliest Christian hymns are mentioned round about the year 64 by Saint Paul in his letters. The Greek hymn, Hail Gladdening Light was mentioned by Saint Basil around 370. Latin hymns appear at around the same time, influenced by Saint Ambrose of Milan . Early Christian hymns are known as canticles and are often based on Biblical passages other than the psalms; they are still used in Catholic, Lutheran , Anglican and Methodist liturgy, examples are Te Deum and Benedicite . Prudentius ,

6557-575: The work of Sun Ra . In the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the Minimoog was widely used in the emerging disco genre by artists including Abba and Giorgio Moroder . Sampling, introduced with the Fairlight synthesizer in 1979, has influenced all genres of music and had a major influence on the development of electronic and hip hop music. In the 1970s, electronic music composers such as Jean Michel Jarre and Isao Tomita released successful synthesizer-led instrumental albums. This influenced

6640-667: Was acquired by the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center and used almost exclusively by Milton Babbitt , a composer at Princeton University . The authors of Analog Days define "the early years of the synthesizer" as between 1964 and the mid-1970s, beginning with the debut of the Moog synthesizer . Designed by the American engineer Robert Moog , the instrument was a modular synthesizer system composed of numerous separate electronic modules, each capable of generating, shaping, or controlling

6723-596: Was associated with the RCA synthesizer; however, by the 1970s, it had become the standard term. In 1970, Moog launched a cheaper, smaller synthesizer, the Minimoog . It was the first synthesizer sold in music stores, and was more practical for live performance. It standardized the concept of synthesizers as self-contained instruments with built-in keyboards. In the early 1970s, the British composer Ken Freeman introduced

6806-559: Was characterized by its "harsh", "glassy" and "chilly" sounds, compared to the "warm" and "fuzzy" sounds of analog synthesis. The DX7 was the first synthesizer to sell more than 100,000 units and remains one of the bestselling in history. It was widely used in 1980s pop music. Digital synthesizers typically contained preset sounds emulating acoustic instruments, with algorithms controlled with menus and buttons. The Synclavier , made with FM technology licensed from Yamaha, offered features such as 16-bit sampling and digital recording. With

6889-583: Was known as exclusive psalmody . Examples of this may still be found in various places, including the Churches of Christ and the "free churches" of western Scotland. The other Reformation approach, favored by Martin Luther , produced a burst of hymn writing and congregational singing. Luther and his followers often used their hymns, or chorales, to teach tenets of the faith to worshipers. The earlier English writers tended to paraphrase biblical text, particularly Psalms ; Isaac Watts followed this tradition, but

#433566