The First Electronic Sound of the Gulag – The Invention of the ANS Synthesizer

It is commonly accepted that the birthplace of electronic musical instruments is the West, where the 1960s saw the freedom of experimentation that gave rise to Moog and ARP. However, few people know that one of the most unique and complex electronic synthesizers appeared in the Soviet Union much earlier, and its history is closely linked to military technology and labor camps.

We are speaking of the ANS Synthesizer, named in honor of the composer Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin.

The Rare Fact: Photo Cells Instead of Keys

The creator of the ANS was the engineer Yevgeny Alexandrovich Murzin (1914–1999). Murzin was a military specialist involved in the development of anti-aircraft fire control systems. It was this work that led him to the idea of using optical technology for sound generation.

Instead of traditional keys and oscillators, as in Western synthesizers, the ANS worked on the principle of optical sound recording. The composer drew sound waves with black paint onto five glass discs covered in mastic; light passing through these patterns and hitting photo cells was converted into electrical signals—in other words, into sound.

This was not just an instrument; it was a graphic method of recording and synthesizing music, unparalleled in the world.

The Acoustic Channel of the Gulag

The most dramatic and little-known fact is that Yevgeny Murzin began working on his idea in the early 1940s but soon found himself within the Gulag system.

How did he survive and manage to continue his work? Murzin was transferred to a "sharashka" (a closed design bureau staffed by imprisoned engineers), where he worked on military projects. It was there, parallel to his main assignments, that he continued to develop the theory of his optical synthesizer, utilizing the knowledge and resources obtained from the defense industry.

Only after his release in the 1950s was he able to complete a working prototype of the ANS and begin its production.

The Legacy of the ANS

The ANS Synthesizer did not become a mass-market instrument; it was complex to master. However, it took a unique place in the history of Soviet culture:

• It was used to create the innovative soundtracks for Soviet film classics, such as Andrei Tarkovsky’s "Solaris" (composer Eduard Artemyev).

• It allowed Soviet avant-garde composers, such as Alfred Schnittke and Sofia Gubaidulina, to experiment with sound, disregarding traditional musical limitations.

The history of the ANS is a vivid example of how technical thought, born out of military development and repression, managed to fuel the cultural avant-garde and become a "hidden engine" of art.