The Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer

Jon Appleton, Lars-Gunnar Bodin, Russel Pinkston, William Brunson

Jon Appleton, Sydney Alonso, and Cameron Jones set out to create a new digital synthesizer at Dartmouth College’s Thayer School of Engineering in 1972. They considered the computer-controlled synthesizer superior to analog because of its “ability to create, by digital means alone, time-variant timbres which make all natural sounds interesting to our ears.” This 1976 recording presents the results of their effort—four different compositions, one each by Jon Appleton, Lars-Gunnar Bodin, Russell Pinkston, and William Brunson, all made to emphasize the ability of the digital synthesizer to vary timbre. The liner notes contain a brief history of the Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer and descriptions of the four pieces on the recording.