Speaking of 20th Century spirits, Matrixsynth sends us a photoset of rare images from the demonstration album put out by RCA for their Mark II synthesizer. We’ve looked at the Mark II on this site before; it’s a little like the Model T of electronic synthesis:
RCA Mark II Demonstration Record
What I especially love is the images explaining how the physics of sound works. Matrix says, generously, it reminds him of me and my book Real World Digital Audio. You hear all the time about how music technology changes rapidly. Yet here on this album, dating from the beginning of electronic synthesis, is something that looks a lot like the chapter of my months-old book on modern computer tech. This image covers about three quarters of the soft synths currently on the market. Of course, the difference is now everyone is listening to and generating these sounds, instead of those guys in suits. Kind of comforting, really.
