Re: [microsound] what d'ya know Ondes Martinot...

[th_ost <hidari@xxxxxxx>]

thanx for all that info. will get me busy searching down more info/cds.

th_ost
°°°
th_ost: tomoroh hidari_oliver stummer
acronymic symbiosis of alter & ego

http://www.tomoroh.com/
http://www.stiege44.com/
hidari@xxxxxxx
ay, sigue:56825202

>> we gonna fight for your right to apathy... <<
°°°°°
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: ndkent 
  To: microsound 
  Sent: Friday, January 28, 2005 01:08
  Subject: [microsound] what d'ya know Ondes Martinot...


  >
  > ----- Original Message -----
  > From: "th_ost" <hidari@xxxxxxx>
  > To: "microsound" <microsound@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  > Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 7:34 AM
  > Subject: Re: [microsound] Ondes Martinot...
  >
  > i am very interested in the ondes martenot, but found it hard to find
  > recordings of it, especially unacommpanied ones.
  > the only one i have is a recording of olivier messiaen's turangalila
  > symphony conducted by seiji ozawa.

  that 3 CD "OHM" set (released by the Elipsis Arts label in 2000) of 
  (mostly) historic electronic music has a Messaien piece - for 4 ondes
  here goes the album it's from (which I don't have)

  http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000006EI8
  (if the link doesn't work it's a 1990 CD recorded by and self titled  
  "Ensemble d'Ondes de Montréal")

  I think the key album (though surely not easily obtained) is a double 
  1980 LP by Jeanne Loriod
  "Les Ondes Martenot - 50e Anniversaire de leur invention " on the  
  Musique Francais d'Aujourd'huis label cat# 21.007 ADÈS

  That's got the full Messiaen "Fête des belles eaux" with the 6 Ondes 
  ensemble, Millhaud & Jolivet pieces for Ondes and piano and then a 
  newly commissioned piece (by Tessier) to play on a 6 ondes ensemble.


  > does anybody know of other recordings?
  > also, does anybody know how hard it would be to build one, given there 
  > are
  > schematics of it to be found (i am absolutely NOT an electronics dyi 
  > person,
  > just curious:(( )

  It's vacuum tube technology though the inventor did update the 
  technology and build some using more modern solid state components 
  before he died. Though it's not really correct to simplify it quite so 
  far, if you think about it,  the sound is basically sine waves (though 
  often treated even mechanically resonated within the system) so I'd 
  think at least as much of it's distinction is it's user interface.

  I played a real one once for a couple minutes. You had the ring on wire 
  that most people probably know about, but what's less known is the 
  keyboard keys are baby sized and the whole mechanism rocks left and 
  right for vibrato effects. So it's a little like a 2 part retinking of 
  the theremin. You can do pitch sweeps. There's an accuracy to the 
  sweeps that takes much longer to master on a real Theremin. But you 
  still have manual vibrato... something well known to string players and 
  vocalists but rarely taken advantage of in electronic music performance 
  (where more or less fixed speed electronic LFOs rule when unexpressive 
  samples aren't used).

  By the way. Radiohead might very well have bought a real one with their 
  considerable money since then but kind of like like Portishead and 
  their "Theremin", what they were using when their first got associated 
  with the Ondes, and seen in videos of them live was actually a 
  newlymade Analogue Systems French Connection CV keyboard controller 
  meant for their line of analogue synth modules. (likely a prototype to 
  be exact) . Anyway maybe someone will clue me in as to where if 
  anywhere he's or they're  playing a real Ondes rather than an Ondes his 
  Analogue Systems inspired by synth controller.
  http://www.analoguesystems.co.uk/controllers.htm
  (scroll to the bottom keyboard)


  Less expected movies with substantial Ondes playing in the scores are 
  Maurice Jarre's "Passage to India" and Elmer Bernstein's "The Field". 
  Takemitsu's "Rising Sun" (the Connery/Snipes film) along with several 
  of his Japanese scores ("Legacy for the Future" was re-issued by DG 
  Japan a few years back).

  More expected are  "Ed Wood"  and "Ghost Busters" (also by Elmer 
  Bernstein)

  nicholas d. kent
  www,technopop.info

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