Synthesizers are one of the most important musical instruments today. Although they look like small electronic pianos, the uses of synthesizers are much more than one can imagine.
Technically, it is an electronic keyboard that can generate or copy, any kind of sound. For instance, it can mimic the sound of a traditional instrument like a violin or piano, or create brand new sounds like the crunch of footsteps on the surface of Mars!
The very meaning of ‘synthesize’ is to make something new, often by putting together things from existing pieces. This is exactly what the synthesizer instrument does. It has got a number of oscillators or sound tone generators, each of which can produce waves of different shapes. They combine the waves to make complex sounds. Depending on this combination, the sounds vary, and mimic existing instruments.
Based on how they function, synthesizers are classified into analogue and digital.
The changes caused by synthesizers in the field of music are unparalleled. Since the 1970s, they have been used in popular music, and today, there is no pop record made without featuring an electronic keyboard of this kind.