Synthesizer Discussion

I am old enough to remember when synthesizers were first invented and used in popular music.  While I don’t listen to much electronic or pop music today, I actually remember what might be the first piece of electronic music that became a big hit.  The tune Popcorn by the artist/group Hot Buttered was first released in 1969 became a hit in 1972.  It was the first commercially successful song made up nearly entirely of synthesized tones. (As I listen I do hear some drums on the track and there were no synthesized drums at that time.)  The newly invented Moog Synthesizer was used to perform and record Popcorn. The song was played on the radio all the time and was a big hit!  This may well be a predecessor to today’s electronic or EDM music.  At the time, some people thought it was revolutionary and some thought it was a fad that would quickly be forgotten.

Sine and Square Waves

A sound with a sine wave has a smooth transition from one pitch to the next.  One is reminded of a siren, with the pitch going smoothly up and down.  With the square wave, the pitch changes abruptly, like playing two keys on a piano in succession.  These are the types of sounds we hear when the frequency of the wave is slow. We hear the individual pitches.  As the frequency is increased, what we hear merges into one continuous sound.  When the frequency is greater, and we are perceiving a continuous sound, there are still differences between the sine and square waves.  Neither sound very musical.