John M. Chowning was born on August 22, 1934 in Salem, New Jersey. He studied music composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris before earning his Doctor of Musical Arts at Stanford University in 1966 under Leland Smith. It was during his time at Stanford that he developed the digital implementation of frequency modulation synthesis in 1967, a method in which one audio wave modulates the frequency of another to create complex timbres.
This portrait depicts John Chowning, who developed FM synthesis at Stanford in 1967 and later founded CCRMA, as described in the article.
After creating the FM algorithm, Chowning spent six years refining it for musical use. In 1974 Stanford University licensed the discovery to Yamaha, with whom he worked to develop a family of synthesizers and organs. The first commercial instrument to use FM was the Synclavier I from New England Digital in 1977, followed by the Synclavier II in 1980. Yamaha’s first FM synthesizer was the GS1 in 1981, but it was the comparatively affordable DX7, released in 1983, that became ubiquitous on popular recordings, appearing on tracks such as Prince’s “When Doves Cry,” A‑ha’s “Take On Me,” George Michael’s “Careless Whisper,” and Sade’s “Smooth Operator,” and was also embraced by ambient pioneer Brian Eno.
Beyond FM synthesis, Chowning contributed to sound spatialization; between 1962 and 1972 he developed an influential algorithm for placing sound in three‑dimensional space. This work culminated in his 1972 composition Turenas, where he used quadraphonic sound to create the illusion of a continuous 360‑degree acoustic environment. He founded the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford in 1975, served as its first director, and later collaborated with IRCAM in Paris on pieces like Stria (1977) and Phoné (1980–1981). His achievements have been recognized with a Computer History Museum Fellow Award and a Technical Grammy Award, both conferred in 2026.
This image shows the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford, which John Chowning founded in 1975 and directed, supporting his contributions to computer music and synthesis.