Electronic Sackbut: The First Synthesizer
This article was originally written and submitted as part of a Canada 150 Project, the Innovation Storybook, to crowdsource stories of Canadian innovation with partners across Canada. The content has since been migrated to Ingenium’s Channel, a digital hub featuring curated content related to science, technology and innovation.
Sackbut Synthesizer - Ingenium 1975.0336
Atomic physics, radar, and radio technology … and music
Hugh Le Caine’s electronic Sackbut was the first synthesizer, a type of musical instrument that gave 1970s pop music its distinctively electronic sound. Le Caine, a trained musician, was a physicist at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and began work on the Sackbut in 1945. Borrowing from atomic physics, radar, and radio technology, Le Caine innovated techniques in voltage control to generate wave forms and enrich their complexity. The Sackbut allowed performers to play with volume, pitch, and timbre in novel ways.
Voltage-controlled Electronic Music
While Le Caine was not successful in commercializing his invention, he continued research in the NRC Electronic Music Laboratory, developing other innovative instruments such as the Polyphone. Hugh Le Caine’s Sackbut proved the concept of voltage-controlled electronic music, which international artists like Radiohead and Björk continue to explore.
Helping the world dance since 1945, the Sackbut was the world’s first synthesizer, converting electricity into new sounds. Synthesizers have been feature instruments on pop music hits since the 1970s.
What did it sound like? Click here to find out!
Hugh Le Caine
Sackbut Synthesizer - Ingenium 1975.0336
Hugh Le Caine playing the sackbut for the Duke of Edinburgh, 1954. National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario.
Hugh Le Caine (right) and visitors at the NRC Electronic Music Lab, ca. 1959. Ottawa, Ontario.
Hugh Le Caine playing the sackbut.
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