The Serge synthesizer, also known as the Serge Modular or Serge Modular Music System, is a type of electronic music machine made of separate parts. It was created by Serge Tcherepnin, Rich Gold, and Randy Cohen at CalArts in 1972. The first 20 systems, called "Tcherepnins" at the time, were built in 1973 in Tcherepnin’s home. Tcherepnin was a teacher at CalArts and wanted to make a version of the expensive Buchla modular synthesizers that were more affordable and powerful. After making early models, he developed do-it-yourself kits for students to build their own synthesizers. These kits were made unofficially on a balcony at CalArts. This led Tcherepnin to leave CalArts in 1974 to produce synthesizers for sale.
After leaving CalArts, Serge started a small factory on Western Avenue in Hollywood. In 1980, he moved to a three-story Victorian house on Haight Street. Although his synthesizers were less expensive than those from Moog or Buchla, Tcherepnin focused on making high-quality equipment for musicians.
Serge synthesizers are sometimes compared to Buchla synthesizers, but they work differently. Serge modules were designed to allow users to connect parts in creative ways, making them more flexible. Buchla modules were built to do one specific task well, using different signal levels and connectors to separate sound and control functions. The Serge system’s design was more influenced by the Yale “Pulsa” system than by Buchla.
Serge synthesizers have been used by composers such as Michael Stearns and Kevin Braheny, who owned a 15-panel system called "The Mighty Serge." These synthesizers are known for being flexible, having good sound quality, and being compact. Other musicians who have used them include Malcolm Cecil, Gary Chang, Richie Hawtin, Roger Powell, John Adams, Ingram Marshall, Ivan Tcherepnin, and many experimental and electronic musicians like Jim O’Rourke, Thomas Ankersmit, Sarah Davachi, R. Luke DuBois, Keith Fullerton Whitman, and Paolo Tofani of the Italian group Area. Cologne-based flutist Camilla Hoitenga, Estonian pianist Taavi Kerikmäe, and Argentinian technician Francisco Colasanto used a rare 1970s Serge synthesizer once owned by Karlheinz Stockhausen in their project Poles, which honored his work.
Today, both commercially made and do-it-yourself kits of Serge synthesizers are available through several manufacturers under license.
Overview
Originally, users could choose the module setup for Serge systems. 4U panels with module widths from 1" to 3" (sometimes larger for sequencers) were used. Several modules could be placed on a 17-inch-wide panel (totaling 16 inches of modules), creating a custom panel. These were first decorated with paper graphics on metal panels (called "paper face"), then metal film graphics in the early 1980s, and finally graphics printed directly onto the metal in the STS era.
Early systems used standard paper sheets for each module, but artists could also choose custom graphics or no graphics. The top and bottom edges of the paper folded over the back of the panels, where wiring information was printed. A clear plastic film covered the entire panel. Serge first used geometric designs to show signal types, inputs, outputs, and triggers. Colored 4 mm sockets were used for connections—blue for control voltages, black for bipolar signals, and red for pulse/gate signals. Later, other colors like yellow for triggers were added. By keeping output impedances low, Serge avoided the need for shielded cables. 3.5 mm sockets were used for some audio connections to outside equipment.
Serge modules did not separate audio and control voltage jacks. All signals were connected using banana patch cords, which allowed quick and secure connections. Most banana plugs could stack, reducing the need for mults. The banana cables provided by Serge and STS were 4 mm Pomona-made, heavy-insulated silicone cables. A simple ground connection between units allowed cross connections or modulation between systems.
One of the first Serge modular synthesizers was used by William (Will) Jackson during the first Greenpeace anti-whaling expedition in 1975 to create whale sounds and broadcast them to whales in the Pacific. A photo of this event appears in the Vancouver Sun newspaper archives from May 1975.
Sales declined in the early 1980s, and in the early 1990s, the business was transferred to Rex Probe, who renamed it Sound Transform Systems (STS). STS stopped offering kits and user-selectable module arrangements, focusing instead on 17-inch pre-configured "Shop" panels and later smaller 8-inch "M-Class" panels. These smaller panels allowed more variety than Shop Panels but less than custom setups. They included a black 1-inch center panel for power distribution.
The first generation of modules included:
– Negative and Positive Slews, which could act as envelope followers, low-pass filters, waveform modulators, subharmonic generators, and audio oscillators.
– The Programmer, a manually controlled sequencer that could be connected to a pulse sequencer in some early systems. These systems were mostly DIY (do-it-yourself).
Serge started SMMS in 1974 to expand and upgrade the system. Systems could include first- and second-generation modules and were available as factory-built or DIY kits. Second-generation modules included upgrades to mixers, dual processors, Send & Return, and oscillators. Some circuit boards could serve multiple roles, such as the Smooth & Stepped board used in the Random Voltage Generator, Dual VC Slope Generator, and Rate-Controlled S&H. Other custom modules may have been made, but details are unclear.
Serge also designed modules for Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff’s TONTO system (used in Stevie Wonder albums) and for Frank Eventoff’s Sonica and Rainmaker instruments.
Around 1976, Serge replaced first-generation modules with new designs featuring accurate 1V/Oct oscillators, high dynamic range VCAs, low-noise filters, and equal power multi-channel panners. A simpler panel style was introduced, using rectangles around outputs instead of geometric designs.
The Serge system includes standard modules like voltage-controlled oscillators, filters, and envelope generators, as well as specialized audio processors like the Wave Multiplier, a versatile slew/envelope module, and a touch-sensitive keyboard controller with a 16-stage sequencer (TKB). New modules included:
– Upgraded mixers and CV processors.
– Quad VCAs and Equal Power Panners used in multi-channel mixers.
– 2-pole state variable filters with 12 dB/octave response (some sources incorrectly claimed 18 or 24 dB/octave).
Newer third-generation modules replaced many older ones and remain central to Serge systems today.
By 1979, fourth-generation modules were introduced, alongside the 1976 designs, and replaced some earlier modules. The current panel graphics style also appeared around this time. New modules included:
– Upgraded electronics for mixers, VCAs, and panners.
– Metallized plastic film replaced "paper face" graphics.
– A standard module configuration called "System 79" was offered.
The N Voice controller, a polyphonic interface using a modified Casio keyboard, appeared in 1982, just before MIDI.
The 1980s were difficult for modular synthesizer makers, and no new Serge modules were produced after 1983. In the early 1990s, STS took over and added simple designs like:
– VC Timegen Osc/Clock/Dual VC Clock.
– Improved parts and quality control due to better component availability in the 1980s.
STS gradually replaced custom panels with standardized "Shop Panels," offering one- and two-panel systems. Examples included:
– Animal: A 2 VCO complete voice panel.
– Animate: A voice/processing panel.
– Blue Voice: A 3 VCO audio panel.
– Blue Control: Envelope and CV processing.
– Red Fun Station: A 2 VCO audio panel.
– Red Control Panel: Envelope/CV/Quantizer panel.
– Sequencer Panel: Dual sequencer with clock and logic.
– Soup Kitchen 1: A processing panel with a frequency shifter.
– Soup Kitchen 2: A processing panel with 1 V