The Variophon was invented by Jobst Peter Fricke, Wolfgang Voigt and Jürgen Schmitz around 1975 at the Acoustical Department of the Musicological Institute of the University of Cologne.
With the advent of MIDI and computer-based digital samplers, the new music technology of the 1980s ushered in a variety of "alternative" MIDI controllers, making it possible for non-keyboardists to play MIDI synthesizers and samplers for the first time.