The earliest known synthesizer (literally, a machine which makes sounds synthetically) was built in 1906 by an inventor named Thaddeus Cahill. Cahill’s music machine is said to have weighed 200 tons and required twenty railroad boxcars to transport. Needless to say, the gargantuan gadget proved impractical.
“
—
Helen Epstein
The New York Times Arts and Leisure section, Sunday, July 21, 1974.
“It works by using electronic signals to produce sound and the sound could be for instance normal instruments, like the cello, guitar, horn or flute or unusual sounds like snowstorms or birds or make believe sounds…”