Ring Modulation - Use in Music

Use in Music

One of the earliest musical instruments utilizing a ring modulator may be the Melochord (1947) built by Harald Bode. It was a two-tone melody keyboard instrument with foot controllers and later added a second keyboard for timbre control, featuring a white-noise generator, envelope controller, formant filters and ring modulators for harmonics. The early Melochord was extensively used by Werner Meyer-Eppler in the early days of the electronic music studio at Bonn University.

Werner Meyer-Eppler mentioned the musical application of ring modulator in his book "Elektrische Klangerzeugung", published in 1949 (also described in Elena Ungeheuer's book). In 1951, he joined to the successive proposal on establishment of WDR Studio for Electronic Music in Cologne, and at the beginning of the studio, already ring modulator was equipped along with the sound sources and audio gadget including sine wave oscillators, noise generator, etc. Then in 1953, the above-mentioned Melochord by Harald Bode, along with the Electronic Monochord by Friedrich Trautwein, was specifically commissioned by the WDR Studio to upgrade their synthesis modules, and used by the Elektronische Musik group especially in the first half of 1950s. Also Meyer-Eppler demonstrated his experiments in June 1953 in Delft.

Meyer-Eppler's student, Stockhausen also used ring modulation in 1956 for some sounds in Gesang der Jünglinge and his realization score for Telemusik (1966) also calls for it. Indeed, whole compositions are based around it, such as Mixtur (1964), one of the first compositions for orchestra and live electronics, Mikrophonie II (1965, where the sounds of choral voices are modulated with a Hammond organ), Mantra (1970, where the sounds from two pianos are routed through ring modulators), and Licht-Bilder (2002) from Sonntag aus Licht, which ring-modulates flute and trumpet.

A ring-modulator was also the major component used in Louis and Bebe Barron's music for the 1956 film Forbidden Planet.

One of the first products dedicated for music was the Bode Ring Modulator developed in 1961 by Harald Bode. Also in 1964 he developed the Bode Frequency Shifter, which produced a clearer sound by eliminating a side band. These devices were designed to be controlled by voltage, for today's modern modular synthesizer architecture also advocated by him, and these modules were licensed to R.A. Moog for their Moog modular synthesizers started in 1963-1964. In 1963, Don Buchla included an optional ring modulator in his first modular synthesizer, the Model 100. Also Tom Oberheim built a ring modulator unit for his musician friend in the late 1960s, and it became an origin of Oberheim Electronics Music Modulator and Maestro Ring Modulator, one of the earliest ring modulator effect products for guitarists. The EMS VCS3, Synthi A and Yamaha CS-80 synthesizers also featured built-in ring modulators.

One of the best-known applications of the ring modulator may be its use by Brian Hodgson of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to produce the distinctive voice of the Daleks and the Cybermen in the television series Doctor Who, starting in 1963.