General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

Serial Swich

Patents

N/A

General Description

metal casing front with synthetic controls/ metal switch and parts/ metal and synthetic electrical components

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

48.2 cm

Width

34.2 cm

Height

9.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Communications

Category

Music

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

NRC

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Ottawa

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Quebec

Period

circa 1969+

Canada

This serial switch was used at the McGill University Electronic Music Studio, which opened in 1964, the second such facility in Canada. It was used to control the Moog synthesizer at the McGill studio. It was also a component for the McGill studio's Serial Structure Sound Generator, one of four of SSSGs designed by pioneering Canadian electronic music composer and instrument designer Dr. Hugh Le Caine (1914-1977) of the National Research Council of Canada, and built at NRC's Elmus Lab. The serial switch was donated to CSTM by Alcides Lanza, Director Emeritus of the Electronic Music Studio.

Function

A device, also called a sequencer, that recorded and played back a sequence of control information in the form of voltage for an electronic musical instrument.

Technical

This Serial switch was designed by H. Le Caine at NRC for the McGill University Electronic Music Studio. The sequencer is a 4 to 13 stage ring counter. Each stage of the ring counter addresses individual timer switches and voltage setting potentiometers. The buttons, numbered from 4 to 13, choose the number of terms in the series. The output can be inverted; an original-retrograde switch allows a change in the direction of reading the terms of the series. The lamps under the buttons indicate the terms being read. A cathode bias resistor in the circuit makes it possible to use an automatic starting circuit and also helps to prevent two stages from remaining on at the same time. The SSSG applied serial logic to various parameters of electronic musical texture. It was extremely complex and powerful sequencer and was capable of a wider application than later commercial sequencers. The SSSG anticipated developments in the application of computers to sound generation and control. This serial switch is identical to the 3 sequencers on the McGill Le Caine Serial Structure Sound Generator 1986.0008. In early 1969, NRC sent the McGill Electronic Music Studio ‘A good supply of serial switches' along with the other components required to assemble a serial sound structure generator (Ref. 6). A different version of the serial switch was used on the Serial Structure Sound Generator 1991.0222 from the University of Toronto's electronic music studio. The red, yellow, blue and black abstract design was created by NRC artist Anne-Lore Thomson Daniels, with the coloured shapes related to the functions of the different controls of the instruments.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

black lettering on front reads 'serial switch [script]' and 'terms [script]' with red printed 'ELMUS LABS'/ handwritten label on front reading 'Duration Program'/ black label reads 'PULSE OUT'

Missing

unknown

Finish

glossy grey casing front/ black synthetic switch and buttons/ blue buttons/ plated switch/ multicoloured electronic components

Decoration

red, blue, yellow and black designs painted on front to represent control functions