On the back of radio and the first microphones, the idea of then introducing electronics into the equation, whilst seemingly obvious, would have a dramatic effect on everything we did. Electric motors to control the speed of recording and playback devices and circuits to limit and amplify signals are the obvious examples of this integration. And this of course was not limited to the studio.

The rapidly evolving scales of economy with respect to mass production would put a radio and a turntable in every domestic environment that wanted one, often in the same box. And from that a market in recorded music distribution that we all know and 'love' today. Why do I call all of that revolutionary? Simply because not only did it happen quite quickly but it changed everything. It was sudden, it was complete as we know it and certainly pervasive, no question.

Let's go further. Magnetic tape was first invented in 1928 by Fritz Pfleumer, however it was derived from the work of Valdemar Poulsen in 1898 during the development of magnetic wire so it could be considered an evolution of sorts. It's refinement as a medium particularly during the 1930's was really focused on finer motor control for the transport mechanism, the development of better tape head designs and the treatment of electrical signals to improve a more linear response thereby improving the quality of the audio.

What is obviously revolutionary about magnetic mediums was the re-use that could be achieved and certainly in the hands of very creative and technically competent people the promise of editing. By today's standards this was a labourious task but would foreshadow a fundamental concept in every DAW today. In terms of 'ordinary' people wanting to produce music, magnetic tape would open a door like no other and thus the multi-track was born. This leads onto another question which relates to how a human being comes up with the idea of using something that already exists but uses it in a different way without necessarily inventing or integrating any new technology. TEAC for example marketed their existing quadraphonic technology as multi-track recorders in the form of their 2340 and 3340 models in 1972. Their price point for these machines was sub $1,000 and they were very popular as a result.

Tascam would release their first Portastudio in 1979 based on the insanely popular compact cassette. Was the Portastudio or the compact cassette revolutionary?

I'm not sure as there are the combined aspects of both that arguably make it so, again you decide. The discussion around tape would not be complete of course without a tipping of the hat to a class of instruments based around tape replay. The Mellotron is the crowning glory of these instruments having evolved from many earlier models.

What strikes me as being revolutionary about this is the simple fact that someone thought it was a great idea to 'play' a recording of a sound from a familiar keyboard and have that sound set to be interchangeable. While magnetic tape helped make that happen it was a light bulb moment if there ever was one. The closest analogy I can recall in recent times is when someone suggested that a piece of software designed to fix audio could also be used as an instrument.

 So now let's get to synths, but rather than give you the history, which frankly you should all know anyway, let's explore the some key introductions of technology and thinking and have you, the reader decide whether these key moments are evolutionary or revolutionary. This isn't a complete list by any means but in the interests of keeping it broad here we go:

1) The early pioneers in the development of electronic sound and music, such as EMS for example, not only developed many of the techniques that drive what we do today but also produced instruments to realise their vision.  Evolution or revolution?

2) While early analog modular synthesizers were derived from components in a laboratory and began to form what we recognise as a genuine electronic instrument, it was Bob Moog that took the essential components, particularly those that produce and shape sound in a the way we can readily understand, and packaged them into a single, very musical and portable instrument. Evolution or revolution?

3) Dave Smith would introduce microprocessors in the late 70's that allowed the storage of 'presets'.  Evolution or revolution?

4) Starting in the mid 70's we would see polyphonic synths starting to emerge.  Evolution or revolution?

5) Beyond preset management and storage that was implemented using digital technology we also saw digital being used for synthesizer components such as oscillators and filters. They sounded 'different' and led to cheaper and therefore more commercially accessible instruments. Digital on the back of much more capable microprocessors also allowed for more sonically interesting features. Evolution or revolution?

6) MIDI, nuff said.

7) OK, a contentious one this but worthy of mention given that Frequency Modulation (FM) was born in a lab in the late 60's based on a theory that all sound has at it's base interacting sine waves, a far cry from well understood subtractive approaches. Then acquired by Yamaha, which led to one of the most commercially successful synths of all time.  Evolution, revolution or something else?

8) While the concept of digitally encoded audio had been around for a while, the introduction of sampled audio as the basis of a keyboard seems pretty obvious, or does it? It's main constraint was the cost of memory to store the samples which in itself influenced synthesizer design and I include S+S and wave table designs here as well even though they overlap into the digital sphere. However once these memory constraints began to diminish the capability of sampling or sampled instruments dramatically increased.  Evolution or revolution?

9) Now let's get really subjective and talk about machines that by themselves, particularly when they were released, weren't overly significant or earth shattering but would create dramatic and hugely influential genres when placed into the hot and sweaty hands of musicians wanting to do interesting things.  Evolution or revolution?

10) The Workstation, you know what I mean.  Evolution or revolution?