Keyboard Instruments Flashcards
Who invented the Telharmonium and when?
Thaddeus Cahill at about 1895
How did the Telharmonium work?
It used rotating electromagnetic generators (tonewheels) to produce electric impulses that were transmitted through wires to a series of loudspeakers (telephone receivers)
What instruments did the Telharmonium emulate?
Flutes, bassoons, clarinets and also the cello.
Why was the Telharmonium abandoned?
The instrument’s size, weight, power consumption and huge price ($200,000 - equivalent to $5.8 million today). Also, it could not produce sounds of any magnitude since amplifier and loudspeakers had not yet been invented.
Was the Telharmonium monophonic or polyphonic?
Polyphonic
Who invented the Theremin?
Léon Theremin, a Russian inventor and professor of acoustics
How did the Theremin work?
- The Theremin has one plate of the capacitor (antenna) and the other plate is the hand.
- Closer together means more charge & the current oscillates at a lower frequency
- Further apart means less charge & the current oscillates at a higher frequency
- This current has the ability to vibrate the speaker and create sound waves
- The current would have a frequency around 250kHz, so the current cannot be sent straight to the speaker
- The Theremin does something called ‘Heterodyning’: when you mix two currents together in order to change their frequencies
- The theremin mixes an oscillating current with another pre-set current (produced inside the theremin)
- The current is then amplified and sent to a speaker
- The volume control converts frequencies into volume instead of pitch
How does a capacitor work?
This is a device that can store electric charge.
- It’s made up of two plates that can conduct electricity, with something in between them (called the dielectric)
- When there’s a current, the electrons want to flow between the plates but are blocked by the dielectric.
- So instead, the electrons get stuck on one side of the capacitor, negative charge on one side and positive on the other, keeps building up.
- These electrons eventually change directions and head down the wire to the other side of the capacitor.
- This pattern continues with the electrons going back and forth, which creates an alternating current that oscillates at a certain rate or frequency.
How is the Theremin played?
- Heterodyning switches the order of frequencies: higher becomes lower & lower becomes higher.
- The speaker produces higher notes when your hand is closer to the theremin
- And lower notes when your hand is further away from the theremin
Is the Theremin polyphonic or monophonic?
Monophonic
Who invented the Ondes Martenot and when?
Maurice Martenot, invented in the 1920s
How is it similar to the Theremin?
The two Instruments have the same core principle - two radio waves oscillating at different frequencies, are played concurrently to produce an audible harmonic - and both were unveiled in the late 1920s. They were played in a similar way: the theremin with a hand wafted before an antenna the Andres Martenot with a ring drawn along the ribbon.
What are some of the Ondes Martenot’s characteristics?
The addition of a keyboard - with keys that can be wiggled to add vibrato - enabled far greater precision. A cluster of buttons - like organ stops - allows the performer to switch between different timbres, from white noise to a crystal clear sine wave. By the 1950s, Martenot had destined three baroque loudspeakers or ‘siffuseurs’ (one is shaped like a lyre; another is a resonant gong, which produces a metallic timbre).
Is the Ondes Martenot monophonic or polyphonic?
Monophonic
What are some songs in which the Hammond is used?
- Gimme Some Loving by Spencer Davis Group
- The House of the Rising Sun by The Animals
- Your Time is Gonna Come by Led Zeppelin
