The development of the keyboard synthesizer was one of the most important technological developments in the history of new music. It’s hard to imagine what rock would be like today without the high-tech keyboards, sequencers and samplers musicians have at their disposal. But back in the day, not everyone thought they were a good idea.
In May 1982 (just when old-school post-punk keyboard groups were starting to take off), the Musicians’ Union in London called for the synthesizer to be banned.
“Music is being threatened as an artform,” they said. Members were worried that the synthesizer threatened the livelihood of trumpet players, violinists, and other musicians who played traditional acoustic and reed instruments. Obviously, their campaign didn’t work–and the sky did end up falling for many of them.
These days, most of the string and reed sounds you hear on records were created by some kind of keyboard device.
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