 PAiA Programmable Drum Set (1975), one of the earliest programmable drum machines. | |
| Founded | 1967 |
|---|---|
| Founder | John Simonton |
| Headquarters | US |
| Products | Synthesizer |
| Website | paia |
PAiA Electronics, Inc. is an American synthesizer kit company that was started by John Simonton in 1967. It sells various musical electronics kits including analog synthesizers, theremins, mixers and various music production units designed by founder John Simonton, Craig Anderton, Marvin Jones, Steve Wood and others.
Simonton founded the company in Oklahoma City in 1967 and began offering various small electronics kits through mail order. The first kit was a circuit board for the "Cyclops Intrusion Detector" for an article in the May 1968 issue of Popular Electronics . [1] Starting in 1972 PAiA began producing analog synthesizer kits, in both modular and all-in-one form. PAiA began publishing Polyphony Magazine in June 1975. [2] It was later renamed to Electronic Musician and sold to Mix Publications in 1985. Founder Simonton continued to run the company in Oklahoma until his death in November 2005. [3] Product marketing, sales and development were transferred to Paia Corporation in Fall 2006. The company now operates facilities in Austin, Texas and Edmond, Oklahoma. [4]
In 1972, PAiA released the 2700 modular synthesizer series, which used push-buttons in lieu of a keyboard. A version with a keyboard, the 2720, was later released. The next modular series, the 4700s, featured an improved, quieter design. The P4700J series was computer controlled (using a MOS 6503 processor) that allowed polyphony for the first time on a PAiA modular synthesizer. As interest in modular synthesizers died down, PAiA stopped selling modular kits in the late 1980s and 1990s. In the early 2000s (decade), they launched the 9700 modular synthesizer line. [5]
In 1974, PAiA released the $48.95 [6] 3740 Gnome, a small, simple, with a resistive vinyl [7] strip, as a keyboard-less synthesizer, designed for creating non-harmonic sound effects, able to run on two nine volt batteries (+9 and +18 volts). [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] The next year they released the first programmable drum machine called the Programmable Drum Set. Later they released the Oz, another small synthesizer, this time with an 18-key keyboard. In the 1990s PAiA released the FatMan Analog MIDI Synth, a MIDI capable, monophonic, analog synthesizer. [17]
For a time, the image of the audio synthesizer was that of an enormous modular system, which could take up entire walls of studios and were only available to the few musicians that could afford them (such as Keith Emerson and Wendy Carlos). PAiA's modular synthesizers, with prices starting under $1,000, were groundbreaking in their affordability and ease of use.[ citation needed ] At a time when synthesizers from Moog Music and ARP could cost anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000, PAiA's most basic modular system, the 2700, started at $230, with prices for modules ranging from $50 to $800. [18]
Simonton and Anderton's designs also anticipated many trends in modern electronics and electronic music;[ citation needed ] they released the first programmable electronic drum machine, the PAiA Programmable Drum Set, in 1975, as well as one of the first computer-controlled synthesizers, the P4700J, which used digital technology and computer connectivity to achieve polyphony and other groundbreaking features.[ citation needed ]
The P4700J used a PAIA 8700 MOS 6503 processor based controller. Larry Fast used this same controller running John Simonton's "Pink Tunes" program on his Album "Computer Experiments, Volume One".
Craig Anderton, a member of the psych/progressive rock band Mandrake Memorial, wrote Electronic Projects for Musicians, [19] Home Recording for Musicians, Guitar Gadgets, The Digital Delay Handbook, MIDI for Musicians, and The Electronic Musician's Dictionary. He has written articles for AOL, Harmony Central, [20] Guitar Player , Byte, Rolling Stone , Musician, Popular Electronics, A/V Video, and Mix, Keyboard , Pro Sound News, Performing Songwriter, Sound on Sound and EQ . [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34]
An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronic circuitry. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is plugged into a power amplifier which drives a loudspeaker, creating the sound heard by the performer and listener.
An analog synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically.
The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popular with progressive rock and jazz musicians and found wide use in disco, pop, rock and electronic music.
Modular synthesizers are synthesizers composed of separate modules for different functions. The modules can be connected together by the user to create a patch. The outputs from the modules may include audio signals, analog control voltages, or digital signals for logic or timing conditions. Typical modules are voltage-controlled oscillators, voltage-controlled filters, voltage-controlled amplifiers and envelope generators.
Oberheim is an American synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim.
ARP Instruments, Inc. was a Lexington, Massachusetts manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, founded by Alan Robert Pearlman in 1969. It created a popular and commercially successful range of synthesizers throughout the 1970s before declaring bankruptcy in 1981. The company earned a reputation for producing excellent sounding, innovative instruments and was granted several patents for the technology it developed.
The Roland Jupiter-6 (JP-6) is a discontinued synthesizer, manufactured and introduced by the Roland Corporation in January 1983.
Ableton Live, also known as Live or sometimes colloquially as "Ableton", is a digital audio workstation for macOS and Windows developed by the German company Ableton.
Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments (BEMI) was a manufacturer of synthesizers and unique MIDI controllers. The origins of the company could be found in Buchla & Associates, created in 1963 by synthesizer pioneer Don Buchla of Berkeley, California. In 2012 the original company led by Don Buchla was acquired by a group of Australian investors trading as Audio Supermarket Pty. Ltd. The company was renamed Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments as part of the acquisition. In 2018 the assets of BEMI were acquired by a new entity, Buchla U.S.A., and the company continues under new ownership.
Doepfer Musikelektronik GmbH is a German manufacturer of audio hardware, mostly synthesizer modules, based in Gräfelfing, Upper Bavaria and founded by Dieter Döpfer. The product range covers analog modular systems, MIDI controllers, MIDI hardware sequencers, MIDI-to-CV/Gate/Sync Interfaces, MIDI master keyboards and special MIDI equipment.
Moog Music Inc. is an American synthesizer company based in Asheville, North Carolina. It was founded in 1953 as R. A. Moog Co. by Robert Moog and his father and was renamed Moog Music in 1972. Its early instruments included the Moog synthesizer, followed by the Minimoog in 1970, both of which were highly influential electronic instruments.
The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer and established the analog synthesizer concept.
Arturia is a French electronics company founded in 1999 and based in Grenoble, France. The company designs and manufactures audio interfaces and electronic musical instruments, including software synthesizers, drum machines, analog synthesizers, digital synthesizers, MIDI controllers, sequencers, and mobile apps.
John Stayton Simonton Jr. was a circuit designer, author of electronics articles, and founder of PAiA Electronics, a manufacturer of analog synthesizer kits. He lived in Arcadia, Oklahoma.
The Memorymoog is a polyphonic electronic music synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 1982 to 1985, the last polyphonic synthesizer to be released by Moog Music before the company declared bankruptcy in 1987. While comparable to other polyphonic synthesizers of the time period, such as the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and Oberheim OB-Xa, the Memorymoog distinguished itself with an additional, 3rd audio oscillator per voice and greater preset storage capacity.
Clavia Digital Musical Instruments is a Swedish manufacturer of virtual analog synthesizers, virtual electromechanical pianos and stage pianos, founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 1983 by Hans Nordelius and Mikael Carlsson. Since 1995, Clavia's keyboards have been branded Nord.
Polyphony is a property of musical instruments that means that they can play multiple independent melody lines simultaneously. Instruments featuring polyphony are said to be polyphonic. Instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophonic or paraphonic.
Thomas Elroy Oberheim, known as Tom Oberheim, is an American audio engineer and electronics engineer best known for designing effects processors, analog synthesizers, sequencers, and drum machines. He has been the founder of four audio electronics companies, most notably Oberheim Electronics. He was also a key figure in the development and adoption of the MIDI standard. He is also a trained physicist.
A synthesizer 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.
The ARP Chroma is a polyphonic, multitimbral, microprocessor controlled, subtractive synthesis analog synthesizer developed in 1979-1980 by ARP Instruments, Inc. just before the company's bankruptcy and collapse in 1981.
Many years ago, in the early days of the WWW, Craig wrote a number of very interesting articles on his AOL Forum (these would be the days that many folks thought AOL was the web), and he kindly gave me permission to publish these on my site.
