The Early Development of the Synthesizer and its Impact on Contemporary Popular Music:  A Research Sketch

Žarko Cvejić

Žarko Cvejić Singidunum University in Belgrade, Faculty of Media and Communication

Keywords: synthesizer, progressive rock, synth pop, analogue, digital, gender, masculinity

Abstract

The synthesizer played a central role in Western popular music of the 1960s, 1970s, and well into the 1980s, especially in so-called progressive rock and synth pop. And yet, there is still no book-length study of its impact on and meanings in this repertory. This text is a discussion of the main issues that such a study would have to address, along with a brief historical survey of the emergence and early development of the synthesizer.

Author Biography

Žarko Cvejić, Singidunum University in Belgrade, Faculty of Media and Communication

Žarko Cvejić is a musicologist and associate professor at the Faculty of Media and Communication in Belgrade. He holds a BA and MSt degree from the University of Oxford, UK (2003 and 2004) and an MA and PhD degree from Cornell University, US (2007 and 2011).