---
id: ans
title: "ANS Synthesizer"
year: 1958
category: "Synthesizers"
lang: en
canonical: https://nodemusic.cc/node/ans
source: node.music
---

# ANS Synthesizer (1958)

Synthesizers · https://nodemusic.cc/node/ans

## Summary

Synthesis as visual art. Evgeny Murzin built a machine where the score is the sound itself. No keys — just glass, black mastic, and a stylus. An instrument that allowed composers to literally draw what was impossible to play by hand.

## Full text

While the West patched wires, Evgeny Murzin created a unique optical system named ANS. Its heart was five glass discs with 144 tracks. The score was a glass plate covered in black mastic: the musician scratched lines through it, allowing light to reach photocells. This allowed music to be literally drawn — wavy lines created glissandos, while broad strokes created noise textures.

The instrument's fate was dramatic: after the inventor's death, the world's only ANS was nearly scrapped. Composer Eduard Artemyev and engineers saved it by hiding it in a university basement.

## People

- Evgeny Murzin (1914–1970) — Soviet military engineer who developed interception systems for fighter jets by day and "music of the spheres" by night.

## Connections

### Influenced by

- [Symphony of Sirens](https://nodemusic.cc/node/avraamov_sirens.md) - TECHNIQUE

### Influenced

- [UPIC](https://nodemusic.cc/node/xenakis.md) - TECHNIQUE