Serge Tcherepnin

Serge Tcherepnin (b. 2 February 1941, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France) is an American composer and instrument designer best known as the creator of the Serge Modular synthesizer. He's the grandson of Russian composer Nicolas Tcherepnin (1873—1945), son of pianist/composer Alexander Tcherepnin (1899—1977), brother of Ivan Tcherepnin (1943—1998), and the uncle of Stefan (b. 1977) and Sergei Tcherepnin (b. 1981). Tcherepnin grew up in France, tinkering with transistor radios from an early age and taking his first lessons in harmony from Nadia Boulanger. Between 1958 and 1963, Serge attended Harvard University, studying composition with Leon Kirchner and Billy Jim Layton; he naturalized as a US citizen in 1960. Tcherepnin received further training in Europe from Pierre Boulez, Herbert Eimert, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Luigi Nono. In 1966, he began working at the Cologne University of Music's Electronic Music Studio in Germany, debuting with several compositions for 2/4-track tape, "mixed media" electro-acoustic works, and a few pieces for traditional instruments, such as his dedication to Hungarian pianist Ilona Kabos. Between 1968 and 1970, Tcherepnin worked at New York University, invited by Morton Subotnick to a short-lived "Intermedia Program." He was an instructor and assistant engineer at Mort's studio, where he built instruments for composers and had the opportunity to study open-sourced schematics of Donald Buchla's 100 series synth. After Bob Corrigan, dean of NYU's School of the Arts, had left New York to establish the California Institute Of The Arts, Subotnick went along with a few associates. In 1970, Tcherepnin joined a brand-new faculty in Santa Clarita, California, teaching electronic music composition. Around 1972, Tcherepnin started a "People's Synthesizer Project" with his students Rich Gold and Randy Cohen (2), aiming to create an affordable modular system as versatile and powerful as prohibitively expensive Moogs, Buchlas, and ARPs. Serge organized a "guerrilla" assembly line at CalArts courtyard balcony, where prospective buyers would build their units after paying upfront for components. In 1975, Tcherepnin quit his teaching job and launched Serge Modular Music System (SMMS) company, offering 2nd-generation modules as DIY kits or pre-built units. Some of his notable innovations included using the same pathway for audio and CV signals, with stackable cables with 4-mm "banana" plugs; Serge also introduced a color-coding scheme for different connectors, with brightly-colored sockets on white panels becoming an instantly recognizable, iconic part of the Serge Modular design. The business grew steadily, with a third generation introduced circa 1976 — featuring high-end integrated circuits, new 1V/Oct oscillators, low-noise filters, plus a few "esoteric" modules, such as Wave Multiplier or TKB (Touch-activated Keyboard Sequencer). In 1979, Tcherepnin presented a complete pre-built System 79 synthesizer in standard configuration with 4th-gen modules. The visual layout was upgraded, with metalized plastic film embossed on the panels replacing paper stickers. By 1980, the SMMS workshop had expanded to a larger location in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district. Serge occasionally partnered with other engineers, working on the unique Sonica synth by Frank Eventoff, for instance. By the mid-1980s, the market economy became more challenging for independent analog synth manufacturers — particularly Serge Modular, which had a dedicated but limited userbase (due to the system's gimmicky nature and steep learning curve). Tcherepnin began to rely more on outside consulting and had to shut down SMMS circa 1986 before returning to France. Serge sold circuit designs and the remaining stock to his longtime associate and partner, Rex Probe, who continued building and supporting Serge Modulars at his new company, Sound Transform Systems (STS), launched in 1993 and based in Hartland, Wisconsin. In the following years, Tcherepnin licensed his intellectual property to a few other companies, including Ken Stone's CGS in 2004, which created the PCB version. Stone and Tcherepnin further collaborated in 2013 with Laurie Biddulph of Elby Designs, presenting Serge modules with 4-mm banana jacks in 3U "EuroRack" format. In 2015, a German company Random*Source released a series of 4U/EuroRack modules on modern SMT (surface-mount technology). Notable 'Serge Modular' performers 𝄞 Malcolm Cecil & Robert Margouleff — Serge Tcherepnin and Rex Probe worked extensively on the duo's legendary T.O.N.T.O. "mega"-synthesizer; all Serge modules were mounted under Moog-style black panels to preserve the instrument's visual consistency. 𝄞 Kevin Braheny — plays a highly-customized 15-panel "Mighty Serge" system, initially built by him for Craig Huxley in 1977–78. Kevin was praised by Tcherepnin as "one of the few true musicians that fully mastered the arcana of my synthesizer." 𝄞 Michael Stearns — released multiple albums featuring Serge synths, including several collaborations with Steve Roach. 𝄞 Darrel Johansen — owned a third-generation SMMS Serge Modular system in the unique "negative" color scheme, with silver ink on black; donated to CalArts in 1997. 𝄞 Ivan Tcherepnin — Serge's brother, distinguished American composer and long-term director of Harvard's Studio for Electroacoustic Composition, who composed an award-winning Santur Opera (1982 Prix Ars Electronica) on a custom-built Serge system. Ivan's son, Stefan Tcherepnin, inherited this synthesizer. 𝄞 William Jackson (4) — used one of the earliest synths built by Tcherepnin during the 1975 Greenpeace expedition to broadcast emulated distress signals to whales in the Pacific Ocean. 𝄞 John Adams — distinguished American minimalist composer and conductor 𝄞 Roger Powell — keyboardist for Todd Rundgren's Utopia 𝄞 Pete Kember, a.k.a. Sonic Boom — founder of Spacemen 3 and Experimental Audio Research 𝄞 Keith Fullerton Whitman — wrote and performed "Stereo Music For Serge Modular Prototype" on his 2005 album on Kranky 𝄞 David Chesworth — composed and recorded The Unattended Serge 1978, among other pieces for Serge 𝄞 Various artists on SMMS presents The Musician's Tape (1983) and 1968280 compilations 𝄞 Gary Chang — film composer 𝄞 Christopher MacDonald, a.k.a. Telomere 𝄞 Ben Edwards, best known as Benge 𝄞 Thomas Ankersmit 𝄞 John Brien, Jr.'s project Eleh 𝄞 Derek "Head boggle" Gedalecia