The Herbert Belar collection of RCA documents, 1950-1967.

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The Herbert Belar collection of RCA documents, 1950-1967.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/708247396

The Herbert Belar Collection consists of official RCA files pertaining to his work on the synthesizer and phonetic typewriter. Belar's research notes and calculations make up the bulk of the collection and require the user to be well-grounded in both electrical engineering and music. There are, however, sufficient summary reports and correspondence that explain the projects in ordinary language. The files include charts, photographs of the apparatus, sheet music for the pieces used as test subjects, and a 45 RPM record of music produced on the synthesizer. Among the correspondence is a 1955 letter from Robert Moog, then an undergraduate at Queens College but already deeply involved in electronic music, requesting Belar's advice in getting access to technical information for his own efforts.

3.5 linear ft.

Hagley Museum & Library

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SNAC Resource ID: 8042749

Hagley Museum & Library

Related Entities

There are 4 Entities related to this resource.

Moog, Bob (Robert), 1934-2005

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62p5rnv (person)

Robert Arthur Moog (/moʊɡ/ MOHG; May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005) was an American engineer and pioneer of electronic music. He was the founder of Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesizer, debuted in 1964. This was followed in 1970 by a more portable model, the Minimoog, described as the most famous and influential synthesizer in history....

Belar, Herbert, 1901-1997

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6737t86 (person)

Herbert Belar was born on March 5, 1901. He was a research fellow at the Radio Corporation of America's David Sarnoff Laboratory in Princeton, N.J., where, with his superior Harry F. Olson, he developed the first music synthesizers. Belar retired to Florida, where he died on December 7, 1997. With RCA's huge investment in recorded and broadcast music, the company's engineers were quick to grasp the importance of Claude E. Shannon's groundbreaking 1948 paper, "A Mathemati...

Radio Corporation of America. David Sarnoff Research Center, Princeton, N.J.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66f0sz7 (corporateBody)

Olson, Harry F. (Harry Ferdinand), 1901-1982

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6k65krz (person)

Acoustical engineer for RCA. From the description of Papers of Harry F. Olson, 1938-1966. (University of Iowa Libraries). WorldCat record id: 233118577 Dr. Harry Ferdinand Olson was the longtime head of acoustics and electromechanical research at the Radio Corporation of America. He was a leading expert in microphone and loudspeaker design and other aspects of acoustic research. Olson was born at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, on December 28, 1901, and receiv...