The 'Siemens Synthesiser' or  Siemens Studio For Electronic Music (1959-1969) The editing room of the Siemens Electronic Music Studio c1962

The Siemens Synthesiser or 'Siemens Studio For Electronic Music' was a German development similar to the RCA Synthesiser originally to compose live electronic music for Siemens's own promotional documentary films. The studio was a modular composition and synthesis system that generated musical sequences and synthesised and recorded the results. The Siemens Synthesiser was developed by Helmut Klein and W.Schaaf at Siemens Halske in Munich, Germany up to 1959 for the Studio Für Elektronische Musik in Munich. The Siemens system linked and controlled the studio using a similar system to the RCA Synthesiser, a set of four punch paper vary-speed rolls controlling the timbre, envelope, pitch and volume of a bank of (to a maximum in the later model) 20 oscillators, a white noise generator, a Hohnerola (a hybrid electronically amplified reed instrument marketed by Hohner-similar to the 'Multimonika') and an impulse generator. The synthesiser had a tonal range of seven octaves.

The Siemens punch-tape control mechanism

Additional input devices were also developed for the Siemens Synthesiser, a drawn sound technique (photoelectrically generated sounds) allowed the scanning of photographic slides using Siemens's specially designed 'Bildabtaster' technology. The German painter Günter Maas used this device to translate several of his paintings into musical compositions. Later models also had a Siemens Vocoder built in as a sound controller uniquely for its time, allowing the musician to give the sound vocal envelope characteristics.

A Siemens Vocoder opened to show circuits

The development of the Siemens synthesiser continued after the Munich studio had relocated to Ulm and came to an end when the studio was dissolved in 1969. The Siemens system was used by many European experimental composers throughout the 50's and 60's including Mauricio Kagel, Bengt Hambreus, Milko Kelemen and the director of the Munich Studio Für Elektronische Musik, Josef Anton Riedl.  Technical details of the studio equipment (with diagrams and images)  Detailed History of the "Siemens Studio For Electronic Music"

Further Information:  H.Klein:"Uber ein Apparatur zur Steuerung und Verformung von Klängen",Nachrichtentechnische Fachberichte,cv(1959),31 Répertoire international des musiques expérimentales (Paris,1962),36.  The Siemens Museum Website  Images and details provided by Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Siemens Forum, München.