In this video, Olivier Briand demonstrates the sound of the rare Ondioline – an electronic keyboard, originally created in the 1940’s by Georges Jenny.
Here’s what Briand has to say about the video:
Petits tests autour de l’Ondioline de mon grand père fabriquée en Janvier 1956, elle reviens de révision et re-sonne enfin !
Modèle unique fabriqué en KIT.
Vous pourrez l’admirer et l’essayer lors du prochain “Synth-Fest” à Nantes en 2015 les 2/3/4/5 Avril au “Dix” place des garennes.
The Ondioline, right, has a unique feature – it ‘floats’ on springs, which make it possible to create a natural vibrato by ‘vibrating’ your finger from left to ride. This gives it an expressiveness that’s hard to duplicate with traditional keyboards.
The Ondioline is also capable of a wide range of sounds, ranging from orchestral simulations to pure electronic sounds.
Ondioline image via Julien
Great work, Olivier! Thanks for sharing this bit of history with us.
Seconded. I have some frozen Ondes Martenot samples that are still intriguing, even as snapshots. They’re almost too cheesy to play solo, but they add a nice touch of Awesome to a lot of synth tones, such as string ensembles. Added points for keeping the Ondioline working at all. Tom Waits said a Chamberlin was “A beautiful instrument that dies a little every time you play it.” Similar thing here, I’m sure. Its a real labor of love to keep a truly vintage piece up and running.
i cant help but watching this while looking where we are at now, and then forecast where we may be in 2065. this was beautiful, thank you for sharing this.
https://youtu.be/DIp4JXk5NWs
https://youtu.be/-nmYArmzVys