{{Short description|American synthesizer company}} {{Refimprove|date=December 2013}} [[Image:EML ElectroComp modular synth & sequencer.jpg|thumb|EML ElectroComp modular synthesizer with sequencer. Custom built by [[George Mattson (synthesizer inventor)|George Mattson]]. {{unordered list|EML 400 analog sequencer ×4|EML 401 & EML-200 expander|George Mattson's modules<!-- , controllers --> & [[MIDI]] I/F|EML-300 <!-- numeric sequencer --> manual controller<ref name="jondent2015">{{cite web |title=EML 300 - 301 Manual Controller |url=https://djjondent.blogspot.com/2015/08/eml-300-301-manual-controller.html?m=1 |author=JonDent |date=2015-08-04 |website=(djjondent.blogspot.com)}}</ref>×2|37key keyboard ×2 & MIDI keyboard}}]]
'''Electronic Music Laboratories''', commonly abbreviated to '''EML''', was a [[synthesizer]] company founded in 1968 in [[Vernon, Connecticut]], United States. It manufactured and designed a variety of synthesizers sharing the same basic design principles.
The company was founded by [[Gerber Scientific]] employees Dale Blake, Norman Millard, Dennis Daugherty, and Jeff Murray, who were due to be laid off from the company. Following the schematics of a fellow audio engineer, Fred Locke, the four made synthesizers that directly competed with those of [[Moog Music|Moog]] and [[ARP Instruments, Inc.|ARP]]. Although their synthesizers were not as sophisticated as those of their competitors, they were marketed as being much more reliable, in part due to their use of [[Operational amplifier|op-amps]] instead of discrete transistors.
The company's original EML-200 was designed in part for Connecticut's "Pilot Electronic Project" as an educational tool for secondary school students.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.philipnauman.com/EML-200.html |title= EML-200}}</ref> The program was created by then-State Music Consultant Lloyd Schmidt.<ref>{{cite journal |jstor = 3392384|title = Electronic Composition in the Senior High School|journal = Music Educators Journal|volume = 55|issue = 3|pages = 87–90|last1 = Modugno|first1 = Anne|year = 1968|doi = 10.2307/3392384}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED108572.pdf |title= Document Resume}}</ref>
Although the company stopped manufacturing synthesizers in 1976 following the departure of two of their employees to found Star Instruments (makers of the [[Synare]] line of drum synthesizers), EML continued to operate until 1984, designing and manufacturing products for others and repairing their synthesizers.
== Products == [[Image:ElectroComp EML-200, etc, Equipment for Electronic Music Class (clip).jpg|thumb|ElectroComp EML-200 <br/>on electronic music classroom]] *1969: The '''ElectroComp 200''' - monophonic, modular 2-VCO "expansion" module. *1970: The '''ElectroComp 100''' - duophonic. a portable, "suitcase" synthesizer which was produced one year before the better known [[Semi-modular synthesizer|semi-modular]] [[ARP 2600]]. The ElectroComp 100 was followed by the similar '''ElectroComp 101'''. *1972: The '''ElectroComp 101''' - duophonic * The '''ElectroComp 300''' - a "controller" unit initially intended as an option for the EML 200. It consists of a voltage source (with knobs & numeric keys), oscillator, envelope generator, and manual routing switches.<ref>{{cite web | title = EML Electro Comp 200, Electro Comp 300 Modular Synthesizer | url = http://www.sequencer.de/syns/eml/ElectroComp200_ElectroComp300.html | work = sequencer.de }} </ref> * The '''ElectroComp 301''' - a “controller” unit similar to the 300. The manual routing switches of the 300 were replaced by a joystick, and the synthesizer section gained a [[Low-frequency oscillation|low-frequency oscillator]] and a [[sample and hold]]. * The '''ElectroComp 400''' [[Music sequencer|Sequencer]] & '''401''' Synthesizer - a sophisticated portable sequencer and a simple synthesizer. A typical 400 system consisted of a 400 16 step programming panel, a 416 programming panel and a 401 synth module. Innovative features included a voltage [[Quantization (signal processing)|quantizer]] and voltage-controlled envelope generators. * The '''ElectroComp 500''' - Followed a trend among musicians and manufacturers towards more portable, "performance" synthesizers. Was essentially a 401 with a keyboard. Competed directly with the [[Minimoog]] and the [[ARP Odyssey]]. * The '''PolyBox''' - a small module designed to add polyphony to monophonic analog synthesizers, featuring a 13-key keyboard. Only around 150 were made. * The '''SynKey''' - EML's last major product, used organ-style divide-down oscillators and interval select buttons to give a basic paraphonic/chord function. Unique in its storage of patches on plastic [[Punched card|punched cards]]. Released in both programmable (2001) and non-programmable (1500) versions.
EML also produced a few custom-built units which used their standard modules in new configurations. ynthesizer modules were also available, giving musicians the ability to build their own modular synthesizers at a lower cost than a Moog, EMS, or ARP. Note that another company, I.W.Turner, produced a series of “Electronic Music Lab” modules which are often mistaken for EML products.
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
[[Category:Synthesizer manufacturing companies of the United States]]