Ondes Martenot with Tubes E-Book

Thierry Courrier

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 312

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

The Ondes Martenot is one of the precursors of electronic musical instruments, and is today considered, with the desire for a return to analogue, as a cult instrument. This book, which is the result of several years of research, sheds light on the intrinsic functioning of the Ondes Martenot. Based on the study of numerous prototypes, the authors trace the historical evolution of the different techniques used: additive, multiplicative and relaxation syntheses. Often, the analysis of the functioning of these instruments demonstrates atypical technological choices, underpinned by a logic that places artistic creation at the forefront. Several models and simulations are built, so as to understand the functioning of each of the different sub-assemblies (keyboard, ribbon, intensity key, timbre filter...). At the end of the book, the complete construction of an Onde (copy of model no. 208) is described in detail. This practical realization of a facsimile is an opportunity to explore the knowhow of the electronic luthier Maurice Martenot.

Leseprobe

Ondes Martenot with Tubes

Thierry CourrierLaurent Quartier

First published 2023 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:

ISTE Ltd  

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  

27-37 St George’s Road  

111 River Street  

London SW19 4EU  

Hoboken, NJ 07030  

UK  

USA  

www.iste.co.uk

www.wiley.com

© ISTE Ltd 2023The rights of Thierry Courrier and Laurent Quartier to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s), contributor(s) or editor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of ISTE Group.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022950708

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA CIP record for this book is available from the British LibraryISBN 978-1-78630-905-1

Foreword

The 20th century saw the birth of new forms of lutherie, which no longer relied on the mechanical properties of materials to produce sounds, but used electricity as a raw material for various components, active and passive, making it possible to modulate electric flow to achieve a rich palette of timbres and control the intensity and pitch of musical sounds.

However, while a large number of electronic instruments have emerged, only a few have succeeded in establishing themselves in the long term and, among these, the ondes musicales invented by Maurice Martenot has occupied a special place for almost a century!

Few electronic instruments can claim to have found a place in such varied musical fields. Thus, many composers and artists, from Olivier Messiaen to Jonny Greenwood, from André Jolivet to Jacques Brel, have been seduced by the expressive possibilities of the ondes.

No other electronic instrument makes it possible to shape the sound with such precision, such refinement in the nuances of intensity and timbre, and this is undoubtedly one of the reasons why the ondes Martenot continues to be played, taught and still inspire many composers today.

However, there are only a few works that present the instrument in detail, and none have given an account of its evolution and analyzed in detail each major type of the ondes, from the first instrument presented to the public in 1928 to the very first transistor model in 1974. Maurice Martenot, in fact, never ceased to develop his instrument, and it is no exaggeration to say that each model from his workshop has unique characteristics.

This book is the result of considerable work over several years. I am sure it will be of interest to ondists as well as for lovers of old musical electronics.

Hugues GENEVOISLutheries-Acoustics-Music teamJean le Rond d’Alembert Institute(Sorbonne University – CNRS – Ministry of Culture)

Photo Credits

For those without particular mention, the photographs belong to Mr. Courrier.

All photographs bearing the caption “Musée de la Musique, Paris” were taken on the premises of the Museum (Philharmonie de Paris) by Mr. Courrier, with the exception of the photographs corresponding to the Martenot Fund.

Ms. Loepper-Attia, in charge of the preventive and curative conservation of the collections at the Cité de la Musique, is the author. These are Figures 3.22, 3.23, 3.28, 3.31, 3.32, 4.5, 4.18, 5.1, 5.2, 5.5, 6.21, 6.23, as well as the radiograph (Figure 2.26).

The photographs showing Mr. Martenot playing on the first ondes models (Figures 1.1, 1.2, and 2.8) are documents belonging to the Martenot family, except Figure 1.2 (© Jacques Boyer/Roger-Viollet).

The photographs of the diffusers (Figures 2.16, 2.17, 2.18 and 2.19) come from the site: https://tsf.pagesperso-orange.fr/tsf/hp.html.

The photograph of the diffuser for model ‘37 (Figure 3.34) belongs to a private collection.

Introduction

This book is written for those who, out of simple curiosity, would like to know how a particular type of musical instrument works: the ondes musicales Martenot.

We summarize in what follows the main stages that mark the life of its inventor: Mr. Martenot, and for more details it is advisable to consult the work of Jean Laurendeau (1990).

Maurice Martenot was born in Paris on October 14, 1898. He was the third child of Juliette and François Martenot. A cellist by training, it was in the army that he discovered wireless radios and the existence of a particular device: the triode tube. Demobilized in 1918, he made his first attempts at musical expression using an electronic instrument of his own design using the triode tube.

On May 3, 1928, he presented a first prototype at the Paris Opera, which he named “ondes musicale”, and the success was immediate. The device, equipped with triode tubes, generates a sound whose frequency is determined by the position of a metal wire that moves parallel in front of an alignment of flat screwheads, and whose amplitude is regulated by the pressure exerted on a key. This key, called the intensity key, is made from a small glass bottle containing mercury into which a glass slide drawn in pencil can be plunged. The sound is immediately distinguished from the sounds specific to classical musical instruments. The device covers seven octaves.

Mr. Martenot devoted all of his life to the development of his invention. In parallel, he invented and developed diffusers that enabled a diversification of the sounds of his instrument like the Palme and the Metallic. The last ondes model was presented in 1974 and was equipped with transistors.

Mr. Martenot died in Clichy on October 8, 1980.

The peculiarities of this instrument, which we will analyze and explain, have greatly contributed to its success: the possibility of performing a glissando over seven octaves, the vibrato controlled by the keyboard, the new sounds obtained by using the Palme or the Metal Gong.

The different prototypes will be studied in chronological order, and we will present a possible new approach to classify these instruments. According to Antoine Cuvelier (Loriod 1987), the different ondes are classified into seven different groups. The criteria used concern the dates of presentation, the external appearance, the position of the musician, and the control methods: wire, ribbon and keyboard. We propose a classification into three groups defined by the musical ondes generation technique and which will be explained in detail in the following chapters: additive synthesis, multiplicative synthesis, relaxation.

The works presented in what follows were carried out over a fairly long period (8 years) and in different places: the laboratory of the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the LAM (Laboratory of Musical Acoustics, in Jussieu1), as well as restoration work carried out on instruments at the request of ondists.

Our approach is based on the analyses of the functioning of the ondes on which we could proceed: ondes no. 15, no. 159, no. 169, no. 195, no. 208, no. 222, no. 257, no. 270, no. 275, no. 2782.

The other study medium is of course the diagram for the oldest devices recorded in situ. For the latest models with electronic tubes, we have a diagram.

In order to fully understand the operation of the different sub-assemblies that make up the instrument, and also to highlight the different techniques of manufacture most likely that its inventor used, we have made mock-ups (ondes 1928, ondes 15-169, ondes 1947). Then we decided to undertake the manufacture of a copy of ondes no. 208. It seemed to us that this model was the most representative in terms of the design approaches and know-how of the inventor.

Finally, we have written, for the attention of our fellow ondists, an article about the manufacture of the intensity key and the ribbon, which will make it possible to maintain in working order some ondes with tubes for a long time to come.

Notes

1

The laboratory which has now become the “Lutherie – Acoustics – Music Team” of the Jean Le Rond D’Alembert Institute

.

2