Hey, what's that sound: Ondes martenot
This cross between an organ and a theremin has inspired everyone from Pierre Boulez to Radiohead Buzz up! Digg it David McNamee guardian.co.uk, Monday 12 October 2009 17.11 BST
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La touche de nuance du Martenot[/caption]
Maurice Martenot playing his musical invention in 1949. Photograph: Corbis
What is it? One of the earliest electronic instruments, the origins of which lie in the first world war. The ondes martenot evolved through different designs over the decades, although the most familiar model resembles a cross between an organ and a theremin.
Who uses it? Twentieth-century composers like Edgar Varèse, Pierre Boulez and, in particular, Olivier Messiaen, were all fans. Around the time of Kid A, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood became something of a champion for the instrument. Amelie composer Yann Tierson also makes extensive use of it, and ondes martenot virtuoso Thomas Bloch has lent his skills to records by Tom Waits and Marianne Faithfull, as well as Damon Albarn's Monkey: Journey to the West opera.
How does it work? The main interface of the ondes martenot was originally a metal ring, worn on the player's right index finger that, when slid up and down a wire, would create theremin-like sweeps in tone (through oscillations in vacuum tubes). Later, inventor Maurice Martenot added a four-octave keyboard (with moveable keys that create vibrato when wiggled), all housed in a handsome wooden frame that featured a drawer containing a touch-sensitive glass "lozenge" controlling the the sound (completely silent when untouched, loud when held down).
Where does it come from? Cellist Maurice Martenot was a radio operator in the first world war. Like Leon Theremin, he was fascinated by the accidental overlaps of tones from military radio oscillators - which he found musical - and wondered if he could develop an instrument that could replicate them, but with the same tonal expression of his beloved cello. The ondes martenot was patented the same year as the theremin too: 1928.
Why is it classic? It was invented in the 1920s and it still looks and sounds like nothing else. The ondes martenot can be as soothing and moving as a string quartet, but nerve-jangling when gleefully abused.
What's the best ever ondes martenot song? Anything written by Messiaen for the ondes martenot - try Oraison, Fete Des Belles Eaux and Feuillet Inédit. Also, Radiohead using a six-strong group of ondes martenots for live versions of Arpeggi and How to Disappear Completely was fascinating.
Five facts and things
Want to know what else is weird about the ondes martenot? Its amplification system. Maurice's final genius addition was three loudspeakers, one of which had the speaker cone replaced by a gong, and another which had a resonance chamber laced with 12 tuned strings. These modified speakers would add a metallic timbre from the gong along with resonant, chiming tones from the strings.
Also in the ondes martenot's curious little drawer thing are a bunch of switches controlling timbre. These select sine, triangle, square and pulse waves, or pink noise.
The ethereal, almost human, tones of the ondes martenot proved popular with film scores and TV sci-fi, possibly because the ondes martenot is easier to control tonally than the more famous theremin. Lawrence of Arabia, Heavy Metal, Ghostbusters, A Passage to India, Amelie, and Bodysong all had ondes martenot-touting soundtracks, as well as pretty much every Gerry Anderson show ever.
Partly the appeal of these instruments must be that they are über rare and mythical-seeming, both ancient and futuristic. The last ondes martenot was manufactured in 1988, although a new model is apparently being manufactured. However, since 2001 there have been two replica instruments: The Ondea and the French Connection - created at the request and to the specifics of Jonny Greenwood, who was reluctant to take his precious ondes martenot on the road.
"The best way to describe it," Greenwood says of the ondes martenot, "is a very accurate theremin that you have far more control of. The most famous use of martenot is the Star Trek theme, and it sounds like a woman singing." WRONG! The Star Trek theme that sounds like a woman singing is actually a woman singing, but it's a popular misconception. Just to reinforce it, here is martenot legend John Laurendeau explaining the instrument and playing the Star Trek theme.
