Notes and Notions
  • Home
  • Blog

Electric Sounds -- Telharmonium to Moog Music

7/22/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
One of the very first electronic musical instruments was the Telharmonium,  invented in 1898 through 1901 by Thaddeus Cahill.  "Tel" is for telephone lines, that carried the electronic signals for this enormous instrument.  The first version weighed 7 tons, and  later models were close to 200 tons!  The idea was to use large generators to produce music electronically, and transmit it to local restaurants, hotels, and  even private homes, by subscription.   This was a precursor to the electric organ, and had the ability to create sounds similar to common orchestral instruments: flute, bassoon, clarinet, and cello.  However, it was expensive to run (and to subscribe to), and although it experienced success in the early 1900's in New York City, soon other inventions -- electric organs and radio -- would overtake it's popularity.

One of these was the Ondes Martenot, created in France by Maurice Martenot, and first presented in 1928.  This instrument could make an ethereal sliding sound, as well as sounds for individual notes.  It was played in orchestras, and is still in use today--in classical music as well as by pop musicians such as Radiohead.  Here is a video that demonstrates the Ondes Martenot, played by Thomas Bloch:

In 1964,  Robert Moog (Moog rhymes with "vogue") along with collaborator Herbert Deutch invented modules for synthesizing music electronically -- a performer could design and create his own sounds by connecting modules with electric wires and by turning knobs.  This invention is known as the "Moog Synthesizer."  When classical music by Bach was played using this system, by music engineer Wendy Carlos (who also helped tweak and improve the system), her record album Switched-On Bach took the music world by storm, reaching the top 10 of the Billboard 200 pop charts, and staying in the top 40 for 17 weeks during 1969.  It received three grammy awards in 1969-- for Best Classical Album, Best Classical Performance (for an instrumental soloist), and Best Engineered Classical Recording.   

Here is "Allegro," from Brandenburg Concerto number three, by J.S. Bach-- played with the Moog Synthesizer (and accompanied by wonderful coloful graphics!); this video was created and put on YouTube by "Puhzz;" the audio is not the original  Switched-On Bach recording by Wendy, but one he made in 2013 as a tribute to her earlier work.
The following year (1970), the "Mini Moog" was available for sale.  This was one compact instrument, not a series of modules patched together-- much easier for musicians to work with, and this new synthesizer also added some aspects to the music making, such as "variable glide" for gliding one note into another.

Soon, other companies became major competitors in producing sythesizers, but Robert Moog Music was where this type of electronic instrument began.
0 Comments
    Author - Diane Hurst
    I am a music lover and songwriter.  Some of my own music can be heard at www.dianehurstmusic.com

    Please subscribe to my 
    email list 
    for info about 
    new songs,
    new discoveries, 
    new adventures :)

      
         SUBSCRIBE HERE
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Bluegrass
    Christian Music
    Classical Music
    Electronic Music
    Folk Music
    Humor
    Instrumental Music
    Jazz
    Music For Children
    Pop Music
    Renaissance Music
    Soul Music
    World Music

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    December 2022
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    April 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011

Photos from douglasalisson, Gareth Lovering 1,000,004 views thank you, Waiting For The Word, Hobbes vs Boyle, Wolfgang Wildner, Mr.Sai, bengt-re, Menlo Innovations, ky_olsen, craiglea123, cb6379, cogdogblog, außerirdische sind gesund, gabriel "gab" pinto, liz_com1981, Waifer X, Jenn Durfey, kevin dooley, Edmund Garman, keepingtime_ca, Strocchi, cmatulewicz, 1950sUnlimited, mwilkie, spakattacks, byzantiumbooks