 |
| Industry | software |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 |
| Founder | Stanley Jungleib |
| Headquarters | United States  |
Key people | Dave Smith |
| Website | www |
Seer Systems developed the world's first commercial software synthesizer in the early 1990s. Working in conjunction with Intel, then Creative Labs, and finally as an independent software developer and retailer, Seer helped lay the groundwork for a major shift in synthesis technology: using personal computers, rather than dedicated synthesizer keyboards, to create music.
Seer's founder, Stanley Jungleib, joined the staff of Sequential Circuits (creators of the groundbreaking Prophet-5 synthesizer) in 1979. Working as Publications Manager, he drafted the technical manuals for all Sequential products. [1] Jungleib was a charter member of the International MIDI Association (which later became the MIDI Manufacturer's Association [2] ) and helped to establish the MIDI protocol. In 1992, Jungleib was invited to teach a seminar on MIDI at Intel Architecture Labs. This led to the launching of an Intel project to create a software synthesizer for the 80486 processor. Jungleib assembled a development team, and at the end of 1992 founded Seer Systems [3] to work on the project. The resulting synthesizer, code-named Satie, was demonstrated by Andrew Grove in his keynote speech at Comdex in 1994. Intel discontinued the project in 1995, possibly due to friction with Microsoft over Native Signal Processing. [4]
Seer began afresh with a Pentium-based architecture. That same year, the founder of Sequential Circuits, Dave Smith, joined as President. [5] [6]
Seer struck a distribution deal with Creative Labs in 1996, which contributed to strong financial results for the AWE64. [7] Over 10 million software synthesizers, the "Creative WaveSynth", were shipped as a result. It was the first publicly available synthesizer to use Sondius WaveGuide technology developed at Stanford's CCRMA. [8]
In 1997, Seer released Reality, the world's first professional software synthesizer for the PC. [9] Reality won the 1998 Editors' Choice Award from Electronic Musician Magazine. Industry veteran Craig Anderton [10] called it a "groundbreaking product." [11] 1999 saw the introduction of SurReal 1.0, an affordable player for Reality and SoundFont instrument sounds, [12] the release of Reality 1.5, which added web features, more polyphony and better sound card support, [13] and the issuance of U.S. Patent 5,886,274 ("System and Method for Generating, Distributing, Storing and Performing Musical Work Files"/Inventor, Jungleib/Assignee, Seer). [14]
But by 2000, legal struggles with hostile investors, limited distribution and piracy caused Seer to cease active development, suspend sales through retail outlets, and briefly shift to an online sales model. [15] An unrelated company, Seer Music Systems, founded by Canadian engineer Ian Grant, acquired the distribution rights and continues to offer legacy demos and support. [16]
Since 2003, Seer's primary focus has been upon protecting its intellectual property (the '274 patent). Over several years, and following related litigation, the technology was licensed to Beatnik [17] (2004), Microsoft (2006) and Yamaha (2007).
Announced in January 1997, Reality [11] ran on Pentium PCs under Windows 95/98. Version 1.0 offered multiple types of synthesis, including PCM wavetable, subtractive, modal synthesis [18] [19] and FM, as well as physical modeling via the Sondius WaveGuide technology licensed from Stanford University. [8] Reality was the first synthesizer able to simultaneously play multiple synthesis types on multiple MIDI channels in real-time.
Reality 1.5 was released in 1999, adding more polyphony, support for a broader range of sound cards and the ability to load and play SoundFont 2.0 samples. It also incorporated SeerMusic, enabling fast Internet playback of music files using a combination of MIDI and Reality synthesis data.
In its 2017, February issue Electronic Musician gave Seer Systems Reality a 2017 Editors' Choice Legacy Award, terming the 1997 introduction "a game-changing product—an unprecedented achievement—that has shaped the way we make music."
In February 1999, Seer announced SurReal, [12] a playback-oriented version of the Reality synthesizer engine. It was designed to be more user-friendly, and had fewer controls, but could load and play complex Reality soundbanks as well as SoundFonts. SurReal also supported SeerMusic for internet delivery.
SeerMusic [20] was introduced in January 1998. By combining MIDI performance data, synthesis parameters and sample data, music playback files could be significantly smaller than standard compressed digital audio data.
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.
MIDI is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and related audio devices for playing, editing, and recording music.
A sound card is an internal expansion card that provides input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under the control of computer programs. The term sound card is also applied to external audio interfaces used for professional audio applications.
Physical modelling synthesis refers to sound synthesis methods in which the waveform of the sound to be generated is computed using a mathematical model, a set of equations and algorithms to simulate a physical source of sound, usually a musical instrument.
A music sequencer is a device or application software that can record, edit, or play back music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically CV/Gate, MIDI, or Open Sound Control (OSC), and possibly audio and automation data for digital audio workstations (DAWs) and plug-ins.
Wavetable synthesis is a sound synthesis technique used to create quasi-periodic waveforms often used in the production of musical tones or notes.
A music workstation is an electronic musical instrument providing the facilities of:
Digital waveguide synthesis is the synthesis of audio using a digital waveguide. Digital waveguides are efficient computational models for physical media through which acoustic waves propagate. For this reason, digital waveguides constitute a major part of most modern physical modeling synthesizers.
The Roland MT-32 Multi-Timbre Sound Module is a MIDI synthesizer module first released in 1987 by Roland Corporation. It was originally marketed to amateur musicians as a budget external synthesizer with an original list price of $695. However, it became more famous along with its compatible modules as an early de facto standard in computer music. Since it was made prior to the release of the General MIDI standard, it uses its own proprietary format for MIDI file playback.
The Yamaha AN1x is a DSP-based analog modeling synthesizer, produced by Yamaha Corporation from 1997 to 1998, and was marketed as an "analog physical modelling control synthesizer".
Sequential is an American synthesizer company founded in 1974 as Sequential Circuits by Dave Smith. In 1978, Sequential released the Prophet-5, the first programmable polyphonic synthesizer, which was widely used in the music industry. In the 1980s, Sequential was important in the development of MIDI, a technical standard for synchronizing electronic instruments.
David Joseph Smith was an American engineer and founder of the synthesizer company Sequential. Smith created the first polyphonic synthesizer with fully programmable memory, the Prophet-5, which had a major impact on the music industry. He also led the development of MIDI, a standard interface protocol for synchronizing electronic instruments and audio equipment.
The Continuum Fingerboard or Haken Continuum is a music performance controller and synthesizer developed by Lippold Haken, a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois, and sold by Haken Audio, located in Champaign, Illinois.
The Korg Wavestation is a vector synthesis synthesizer first produced in the early 1990s and later re-released as a software synthesizer in 2004. Its primary innovation was Wave Sequencing, a method of multi-timbral sound generation in which different PCM waveform data are played successively, resulting in continuously evolving sounds. The Wavestation's "Advanced Vector Synthesis" sound architecture resembled early vector synths such as the Sequential Circuits Prophet VS.
The Sound Blaster 16 is a series of sound cards by Creative Technology. They are add-on boards for PCs with an ISA or PCI slot.
The Hartmann Neuron was an electronic musical instrument designed and built by industry designer Axel Hartmann of the German company Hartmann Music in the years 2001–2005. The Neuron synthesizer used an Artificial Neural Network to create a digital computer model from sampled sounds, implementing a new synthesis technology which was developed by Stephan Bernsee at Prosoniq. This computer model could then be used to resynthesize a new sound, giving the player control over "musical" aspects such as instrument body size, material and other acoustic properties. This parametric approach is very different from the more mathematical approaches of other synthesizers. The Hartmann Neuron VS, a Mac/Windows compatible VST software version of the instrument, was released in 2005.
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.
E-mu Systems was a software synthesizer, audio interface, MIDI interface, and MIDI keyboard manufacturer. Founded in 1971 as a synthesizer maker, E-mu was a pioneer in samplers, sample-based drum machines and low-cost digital sampling music workstations.
The PPG Wave is a series of synthesizers built by the German company Palm Products GmbH from 1981 to 1987.
Stanley Jungleib is an American musician, philosopher, author, inventor, and entrepreneur. He is best known for wide-reaching influence in digital music and synthesizer design. Most notably his commitment to software techniques liberated digital audio from the desktop computer, enabling broad applications ranging from game platforms and laptops to cell phones and other miniature devices. Currently he is expanding the field of psychoenergetic computing and writes on philosophy, music, technology, communications, and politics.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)The name Sondius may seem familiar, and if I mention the AWE64 Gold soundcard and WaveSynth/waveguide synthesis, you'll probably remember the connection. Sondius provided the software technology for Creative Labs to add some basic physical modelling sounds to their latest soundcard, for more realism and expressive playing. I'm sure everyone who bought a Gold card tried these out, and they were certainly significantly better than the equivalent wavetable sounds, but not exactly jaw-dropping, and a bit of a fiddle to use. ...", "Reality is a software-based synthesizer (fully 16-part multitimbral and 64-note polyphonic), incorporating Sondius technology, and developed by Seer Systems. This Californian company has Dave Smith as its president (the person behind MIDI), as well as an impressive list of credits. Unlike the first waveguide synthesizer, Reality uses an open-ended system which currently allows waveguide (physical modelling), subtractive (analogue), FM, modal (using a bank of resonating filters), and PCM (sample) techniques, to create a much greater variety of sounds. ...
Welcome to The NoteMuseum, home of the infamous Reality Software Synthesiser and a place for you to find some very special sounds for your notes. ... / Both Reality and SurReal are available for purchase in the SeerMusic section.
When a solid object is struck, scraped, or engages in other external interactions, the forces at the contact point causes deformations to propagate through the body, causing its outer surfaces to vibrate and emit sound waves. ... A good physically motivated synthesis model for objects like this is modal synthesis ... where a vibrating object is modeled by a bank of damped harmonic oscillators which are excited by an external stimulus.