06 January, 2011

ondes Martenot

Thanks for all people who help me with this blog. And thanks mr.Flasher for telling me about this instrument.

Some information from Wikipedia:

The ondes Martenot, also known as the ondium Martenot, Martenot and ondes musicales, is an early electronic musical instrument invented in 1928 by Maurice Martenot. The original design was similar in sound to the theremin. The sonic capabilities of the instrument were later expanded by the addition of timbral controls and switchable loudspeakers.

The instrument's eerie wavering notes are produced by varying the frequency of oscillation in vacuum tubes. The production of the instrument stopped in 1988, but several conservatories in France still teach it. Since 2008, Jean-Loup Dierstein, with the support of Maurice Martenot's son, has been building ondes Martenot instruments based on the model used when production stopped in 1988.

The ondes Martenot is unique among electronic musical instruments in its methods of control. Maurice Martenot was a cellist, and it was his vision to bring the degree of musical expressivity associated with the cello to his new instrument. The ondes, in its later forms, can be controlled either by depressing keys on the six-octave keyboard, or by sliding a metal ring worn on the right-hand index finger in front of the keyboard. The position of the ring corresponds in pitch to the horizontal location along the keyboard. The latter playing method allows for unbroken, sweeping glissandi to be produced in much the same manner as a Theremin. The keyboard itself has a lateral range of movement of several millimeters, permitting vibrati of nearly a semitone below or above the pitch of the depressed key to be produced.

By depressing keys or moving the ring, no sound is initially produced. A control operated by the left hand and situated in a small drawer of controls on the left side of the instrument controls the musical dynamics, from silence to fortissimo. This control is glass and lozenge-shaped, and can be depressed several centimetres. The depth to which this key is depressed determines the dynamic level: the deeper, the louder. The manner in which it is pressed determines the attack of the note: quick taps produce staccato articulations, whilst more controlled and deliberate depressions are used to play legato.

The small drawer of controls also contains flip-switches to control the instrument's timbre. These function in much the same way as a pipe organ's stops can be added or removed. Like organ stops, each switch has its own sound color which can be added to the chorus of other timbres.

How it looks:




Example of playing:


No comments:

Post a Comment