This video captures a presentation by Dan Goldstein (Mixcraft, Voltage Modular) on the history of synthesizers.

The presentation is not intended to be comprehensive, but rather Goldstein’s take on some of the key milestones in synth history.

Video Summary:

“On November 2nd, 2019, I was invited to the College of Southern Nevada to give a talk on the history of electronic synthesizers, at CSN’s 2nd Annual Audio Industry Event.

There are lots of important inventors and instruments that I couldn’t fit into my talk, but I tried to hit the major highlights of the strange and winding path that synthesizers have taken, from the earliest days of analog modular synthesizers, to the complex days of sophisticated digital instruments, and then, oddly, the winding road back to analog modular synthesizers, which are more popular today than they’ve ever been before.”