John Chowning

The Profile

American composer and researcher; pioneer of frequency modulation (FM) sound synthesis (discovered 1967); associated with Stanford University's computer music research (CCRMA); his FM algorithm was licensed to Yamaha.

Discovered FM synthesis in 1967. Licensed his FM synthesis algorithm to Yamaha, which led to commercial digital FM synthesizers (notably influencing the Yamaha DX7). Works include Turenas, Stria (uses golden-section-based pitch system), Sabelithe and Phoné; Turenas employs quadraphonic spatialization.

The review describes four pieces (Sabelithe, Turenas, Stria, Phoné) as milestones in the birth and development of computer music. It highlights Chowning's 1967 discovery of FM synthesis and its impact (including Yamaha's adoption). Detailed comments cover structure, spatialization and tuning systems used, especially the golden-section-based tuning in Stria.