Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer

The Alles Machine has been called the first true digital additive synthesizer,[1] following on earlier Bell experiments that were partially or wholly implemented as software on large computers.

The Alles Machine consisted of three main parts; an LSI-11 microcomputer, the programmable sound generators, and a number of different input devices.

[3] The microcomputer was supplied with two 8-inch floppy disk drives (from Heathkit, which sold their own LSI-11 machine, the H11) and an AT&T color video terminal.

Alles used several tricks in the table in order to reduce the amount of math the system needed to run in the controller CPU.

Crumar of Italy and Music Technologies' of New York collaborated to form Digital Keyboards in an effort to re-package the Alles Machine.

The DX7's FM synthesis offered the same basic control over output sound as an additive synth, but could duplicate the effects of many ganged oscillators in as few as two.

Digital Keyboards' chief designer, Mercer "Stoney" Stockell, decamped and formed Mulogix with Jim Wright and Jerry Ptascynski.

Powell used a home-brew 8800 system to scan the keyboard and modulation controllers as well as provide access to a custom library of sounds he created.

The resulting AMY 1 chip used 64 oscillators and added noise generators to provide special effects needed in games.

However the AMY was never released, and a 3rd party effort to produce a low-cost synth based on the chip ended when Atari threatened a lawsuit.

Several tracks on the album Games by Larry Fast (Synergy) were taken from sessions recorded at Bell Labs on the digital synthesizer.

[15][16] During this time he produced "Sea of Bliss"[17] and "Rhythm of Life",[18] two full length pieces based on the Alles Machine.