Dictionary of Music - Birding America

electronic instruments 123tronic sounds (strings, drums, white noise, handclaps, etc.) with traditional ethnic music such asMexican folk song, Mali songs, Brazilian bossanova, or the like.electronic instruments Musical instruments inwhich the sound is either produced by means ofelectronic devices or is changed (in volume, tone,etc.) by electronic devices. In order that the electronicallyproduced vibrations of such instruments canactually be heard, there must be an amplifier tostrengthen the rather weak signals and a loudspeakerto convert them from electric impulses into soundwaves. Most of the instruments in which the soundis produced electronically are keyboard instruments,but electronic winds and percussion are also available.See also SYNTHESIZER. The first to becomewell known, however, was the electronic organ(also called the electric organ or Hammond organafter the American inventor, Laurens Hammond[1895–1973], even though numerous companiesbesides the one bearing his name make such instruments).In the electronic organ a number of rotatingwheels or electronic oscillators each produce analternating electric current of a certain frequency toprovide the basic pitches of the instrument’s range(see SOUND for an explanation of pitch and frequency).These currents are modified by amplifiersand other circuits to produce a wide variety of tonecolors. The instrument itself looks much like a smallupright piano with two keyboards (called manuals),one above the other, and a set of pedals (pedalboard)for playing bass notes. The upper keyboard, calledswell or solo manual, is used largely for melody, andthe lower keyboard, called great manual, is used foraccompaniment (chords). However, solo and accompanimentpassages can be played on either manual;also, both hands can play on one manual at the sametime. The general sound somewhat resembles that ofa small pipe organ, with some additional effects(mostly orchestral flute, string, and reed sounds).Some models are provided with various specialeffects, such as percussion, guitar, or piano. Anothertype, invented in the 1930s, uses vibrating brushreeds as its sound source. Its manufacture was takenover by the Wurlitzer Company and it becameknown as a Wurlitzer organ.A special type of electronic organ is the chordorgan, which has only one manual and often lacksa pedalboard. The chord organ can, along with amelody, produce the most frequently used chords,chord buttons being provided for this purpose.Such organs are used largely for popular and folkmusic, as well as some church music (mostly simplehymns). Another variation is the so-calledcombo organ, a lightweight model designed foruse with popular “combo” groups, together withguitar and drums. In the late 1970s more sophisticatedand quite inexpensive portable electronic ordigital keyboards, with preprogrammed soundsstored in microchips, began to be widely marketed.(See DIGITAL PIANO.)Two other early keyboard instruments with electronicallyproduced sound are the ondes Martenotand novachord. The ondes Martenot (also calledondes musicales) is named after Maurice Martenot,who invented the instrument and first demonstratedit in 1928. It uses a single oscillator to produce thepitches of about seven octaves, and can produceMICROTONES. However, it can produce only onepitch at a time, and thus can be used only for playingmelodies (it cannot play chords). It is used mostoften in the orchestra, principally by such Frenchcomposers as Honegger, Messiaen, and AndréJolivet, who wrote a concerto for ondes Martenotand orchestra; also, Pierre Boulez wrote a quartet forfour ondes Martenot. Nevertheless, the instrumenthas not won a wide following. The novachord,which looks like a large square piano, has a separateoscillator for each of the twelve notes of the chromaticscale. It can produce both single notes andchords, and also has special controls for varyingtone color and pedals for controlling volume.One of the earliest innovators was ThaddeusCahill, an American inventor who in 1902 exhibitedhis Telharmonium (also called Dynamophone), aninstrument that weighed 200 tons and was designedto be broadcast over telephone wires. A workingversion was installed in New York City in 1906. Thesounds were generated by inductor alternators, andspecific pitches were obtained by rotating coggedwheels that contained the same number of poles asthe frequency required. The Telharmonium provideddifferent frequencies and the means to mix them so