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Concept
Ondes Martenot
Summary
The ondes Martenot (ˈoʊnd_mɑːrtəˈnoʊ ; ɔ̃d maʁtəno, "Martenot waves") or ondes musicales ("musical waves") is an analog synthesizer . It is played with a keyboard or by moving a ring along a wire, creating "wavering" sounds similar to a theremin. A player of the ondes Martenot is called an ondist.
The ondes Martenot was invented in 1928 by the French inventor Maurice Martenot. Martenot was inspired by the accidental overlaps of tones between military radio oscillators, and wanted to create an instrument with the expressiveness of the cello.
The ondes Martenot is used in more than 100 orchestral compositions. The French composer Olivier Messiaen used it in pieces such as his 1949 symphony Turangalîla-Symphonie, and his sister-in-law Jeanne Loriod was a celebrated player of the instrument. It appears in numerous film and television soundtracks, particularly science fiction and horror films. It has also been used by contemporary acts such as Daft Punk, Damon Albarn and the Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood.
The ondes Martenot (French for "Martenot waves") is one of the earliest synthesizer, patented in the same year as another early electronic instrument, the theremin. It was invented in 1928 by the French cellist Maurice Martenot. Martenot had been a radio operator during World War I, and developed the ondes Martenot in an attempt to replicate the accidental overlaps of tones between military radio oscillators. He hoped to bring musical expressivity of the cello to his new instrument. According to The Guardian, the ondes Martenot visually resembles a cross between an organ and a theremin.
Martenot first demonstrated the ondes Martenot on April 20, 1928, performing Dimitrios Levidis's Poème symphonique at the Paris Opera. He embarked on a number of performance tours to promote it, beginning in Europe before going to New York. In 1930, he performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, after which he embarked on a world tour.
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