Ondioline Demonstration with Glissando! Custom Tube Synth

[@NatureNymph46]

"It fell apart in the post, sounded terrible, then went on fire. It took years to fix it as the only instructions were in french which I can't read. Once fixed, the instructions were finally translated into English. Then it shocked me and threw me across the room"...... I'm freaking dying!! I was crying from laughing so hard. But seriously, his determination is awe-inspiring. Most people would've given up lol.

[@jeffthevideoguy23]

We have the ondioline, the clavioline and in the early 80s, the comeoneileen.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Hahaha yes, not to mention the GoodnightIrene in the 1940s

[@Daring2Win]

The channel deserves FAR more attention! This guy is one of very few who genuinely cracks me up. I've been through enough Leslie speakers to recognize, as soon as the glissando apparatus appeared, the ubiquitous spindle from smaller Leslie units. MORE content!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

There's about 20 pieces of Leslie speakers in parts spread out all over this place being recycled into other things. Alongside unused broken down bits of hospital equipment. We are very resourceful here at VKS. Fangs for your support!

[@kevingavigan7883]

Al Kooper (of the band "Blood, Sweat & Tears") played this instrument on "Meagan's Gypsy Eyes". This instrument was also featured on Tommy James & The Shondells "I Think We're Alone Now" (played by session musician Artie Butler) and Terry Stafford "Suspicion". A similar instrument called the Clavioline was used on The Beatles "Baby, You're a Rich Man", played by John Lennon.

[@DeadKoby]

I believe my favorite synth song "Barnyard in Orbit" was created on one of these.

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

Damn that bassoon sound is excellent! It actually does sound like a bassoon!

[@paulj0557tonehead]

The Hammond S6 chord organ, which is vastly underrated, has incredibly realistic woodwinds as well. Including the honks and barks with the [key]percussion tab depressed (btw the first Hammond chord organ, the S4, didn't have percussion). It also has what I call a blazing saxophone. Great for right hand soloing! The digital Hammond tone wheel organs (B3,M3, etc) are almost indistinguishable from the real thing, but I think it would very difficult to digitally replicate an S6 chord organ.

[@5610winston]

My elementary school band played the first movement of Borodin's second symphony, and we didn't have a bassoon, or a bagpipe chanter for another piece, so we had one of the young ladies playing an Ondioline. Shout out to the Northside Highlander Band alumni in the Atlanta Public School System, and the memory of Mrs. Evelyn Sisk.

[@alansmithde6]

That is a serious instrument by any standard. And a seriously entertaining video. Thankyou.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thank you!

[@trinitythex6625]

"and then it caught fire." love this channel :D I just found it too!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Welcome aboard!

[@bruceperry6315]

I had no idea that they had something like this be for the Moog Synsosizer, with vacuum tubes. What fun!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Oh yes - there’s loads before the moog happened!

[@musicart9257]

what a beautiful and clean sound that amazing thing makes.

[@musiqsoundsproductions]

Jean Jaques Perrey brought me here. What a cool instrument!!!! I remember that sliding vibrato from my YC-45D (which uses light bulbs on either side)

[@williedegee1]

I was always enchanted by this instruments sound on- Blood Sweat & Tears - Meagan's gypsy eyes..

[@vizzwizz]

what a machine. and the ol' ondio ain't bad either!

[@lorencarlin2087]

Watching more of this video: more expressive than anything of its time! This needs to be recreated with today's tech. Can you imagine what could be done? Mechanical solutions can still out do digital? Would love to see someone replicate. May have to take this in under consideration and see what I can come up with....

[@tjw_]

7:05 dang that's a coooool tone

[@sound.workshop]

6:15 "the main reason I got this was so I could play the bloody thing!"

[@1171karl]

What an amazing piece of kit! Even more amazing when you consider its age.

[@marksomeperson3023]

What an amazing bit of kit, lovingly brought back from the dead and given a new life. You're just the kind of fascinating guy to have a beer with and talk music and old skool tech. I seem to have subscribed, cheers!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Welcome Mark! Thank you 🙏 nothing nicer than a beer and an anorak session

[@lorencarlin2087]

That is friggin amazing! A rather simple after touch and volume control.

[@flyc0de389]

I'd love to see the caught on fire performance

[@bertvdlast]

This instrument was used for the movie Spartacus.

[@ion7701]

What an amazing opening 😂 0:00

[@kgbinfo]

What a beautiful looking and sounding instrument!

[@simonsimon325]

I love the idea of your being accused of trying to shoplift a shelf in B&Q.

[@GaitaPonto]

I am loving this channel.

[@DerisedEgami]

Bloody enjoyable video. LABS just released a patch, based on this synth.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thank you! :)

[@aftertheendtimes]

Amazing sound =)

[@patothen9109]

You are so clever you should have your own TV prog inspiring your innovative musicians.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thank you Pat!

[@HelicopterDown]

Crazy that one of the earliest electric keyboards had aftertouch and pressure!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Yes it really was a brilliant, innovative design :)

[@christina117]

Total amateur watching here and this was super entertaining and educational, thank you, funny man!

[@kenmiles4145]

Used for Terry Stafford's Suspicion.

[@SynthMagic]

It sounds amazing and the Bassoon is incredible. Where oh where do you find all of these beautiful machines :) Maybe you could draw notes C,D,E etc etc all along the board (along the wire) pully thing you set up and then you could visually move the pully to notes using the pully (just an idea). This channel deserves a million subs.

[@FelixPando]

Thanks I love your explicación.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

You are welcome!

[@aliumscallion2912]

Thanks for this.... fascinating

[@aliumscallion2912]

Just in case you're interested... A little gem from Charles Trenet featuring ondioline... kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIrYqaiiZsh0qas

[@Concreteowl]

It is a beautiful instrument.

[@Concreteowl]

Does Asbestos make your pee smell funny?

[@5SunkenHeights5]

Beautiful!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thank you Rob!

[@dafunkycanuck]

Very interesting channel you've got here. I'm subbed now and looking forward to looking at your back catalogue.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Welcome to our club!

[@coldcaption]

13:46 Imagine inventing dubstep in the 1940s

[@stealthysaucepan2016]

Imagine if Hitler could have played/heard dubstep

[@VintageKeysStudio]

I reckon it would have saved a lot of lives and hassle

[@tonycowin]

Marty McFly enters the chat...

[@patothen9109]

Lovely sound ,reminded me of Ravels ,Bolero.

[@alistairfletcher6187]

Ah, I spend 2 years restoring a Hammond X2, just as I finished someone uploaded the schematics. Had to leave it when I left the country 😂

[@handmadeindustrial]

I would like to see an offset pulley turning that pitch. You could have it adjustable from center until you get the glissando operating in a more linear fashion. I guess you’d call it a cam?

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Yes I have drawn several ideas of a similar nature on paper. I think about cams everyday, and how they would make life easier or at least more interesting, but never do anything about it. Perhaps I should.

[@terryprentice9657]

Amazing. Sounds like MIDIs grandma.

[@briankehew579]

That's the name of my new band.

[@igorperuchi2114]

Que instrumento fascinante! Muito obrigado pela demonstração!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thank you very much! :)

[@AdenThie]

Hey Steve. Still wanna see how you modify a beat frequency oscillator to incorporate glissando.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Cheers Aden yes it will be coming up hopefully soon

[@MonsieurC64]

Thanks for the demo of this rare instrument ! This was the work of a genius (well, maybe not as genius as Martenot). There seem to be something special about tube generated wave forms in general, very rich sounds. And by the way Georges with an S is the french version of George, but you don't pronounce the S. That's the beauty of french language, lots of unpronounced consonants, ha ha.

[@jorgemellooliveira9611]

Incrível

[@jorgemellooliveira9611]

Obrigado por responder gostei muito

[@GoosePlaysGuitar]

I didn't know Matt Berry played the keyboard!!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

I didn’t know Goose played the guitar!

[@jrondeau8430]

This instrument was used as accompaniment on the song by Terry Stafford recorded in 1962 and released in 1964 called "Suspicion". (But I'm sure you already know this being a master of this instrument)

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thank you! Yes it’s been used on all kinds of things over the years - some quite mainstream stuff as well

[@jimibra]

Also, the early Bob Marley & Wailers song, Mr. Brown.

[@madjidhamdini1977]

Lol i love your accent when you speak french ( you nedd to ear my belgian accent when i speak english hahaha )

[@kevincozens6837]

Perrey & Kingsley used these when they made their electronic music in the 70's. Amazing to realize they were tube based yet so versatile. Thanks for letting us see the inside of the instrument. I was expecting to see a lot more circuitry for an instrument that can sound like so many conventional instruments. Have you see the video (kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmbWcquqbd-BkKs) of Perrey demonstrating the instrument on a 60's TV show? BTW, Mr. Carlson from Mr. Carlson's Lab says one should never plug in and turn on old tube equipment until it has been inspected. The (mostly paper and foil) capacitors used in old tube equipment are often bad and need to be replaced with modern equivalent parts to avoid serious damage to the tubes or other parts of the wiring of the devices. You also have to be careful as old equipment doesn't use keyed power cords so the chassis could be hot if plugged in the wrong way.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thanks yes I have used Perrey’s videos and recordings as a basis on restoring this one. Very true, the chassis on this was potentially hot depending on what way round you plugged it in - it had a ‘death’ capacitor that had failed. Check out Uncle Doug’s channel on tube amp repair and electronic theory - really cool

[@kimmajkosaveukraineroadto1127]

I want that ondioline so bad! 😂😂😂😂😂

[@lookoutleo]

Brilliant instrument and you've restored it completely , theirs no hum , you've replaced everything. I see you were using a potentiometer when using it on that sliding scale. How does the keyboard work , is it a string of resistors to a common bus bar?

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Hi yes it is - a very simple design. The same as on a Jennings Univox or a Clavioline, except that the contacts are far less fiddly and they all share the same note-on/off gate via one master contact and a long metal bar.

[@lookoutleo]

@@VintageKeysStudio how do you keep the notes in tune with each other ?

[@johnsonmonsen]

It seems to make electronic music back then was a dangerous thing. Potential risk to get electrocuted, asbestos inside the housing ... so it's clear why "Ondioline" sounds similar to "Guillotine" ;-)! I'm amazed about the features. In fact there was a aftertouch function due to the sliding mechanism and the percussion strip reminds me on modern ribbon synthesizers. The term "key feature" gets a new (old) dimension. The Ondioline even has knobs for real time pitch modulation. That booklet with different settings for special timbres was a nice (well-intended) feature, too. And funny to see how the resonance makes the keys shaken. You will not get this kind of unique features in any new device, I guess. I'm completely surprised. And last but not least the Ondioline sounds fantastic in it's way. Thank you very much for this detailed and entertaining look at the history of electronic music instruments. All the best :-)!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thank you so much, Curtis!

[@madjidhamdini1977]

The special "wrong" or "strange" sounds from the ondioline is from the vacum tube when it warm or not and this is why this machine is awesome ^^

[@pugnation]

Thank you, what an interesting and slightly homicidal instrument 👍🏻

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Glad you enjoyed it! 😀

[@mikehunt9884]

man that is a big transformer.. i bet its heavy as hell too

[@mehrdadsedaqat8599]

fantastic ..is there any way we could buy ones?!

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Not sure ondiolines will ever be made again - the slider control is a possibility…

[@davidlynch4338]

I need your help, I want to design a glissando device for the back of a guitar neck, much like the one you show at 16:50. I want it to match up with the frets on the guitar though. So I can play a synth with my left thumb in some sort of glissando ring or touch strip/ribbon on the back of the neck and have my thumb position relative to the notes on the fretboard. Is this something you can help me with?

[@davidlynch4338]

So the bunching up of the notes would be a good thing in this situation.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Let me have a ponder - it’s a brilliant idea - send me a private message and we can chat

[@davidlynch4338]

@@VintageKeysStudio Thanks Steve! I sent a message, maybe have a look in your junk folder, I attached a few pictures of a recent build of mine. Cheers!

[@pfield39]

If only they had multitrack tape machines in the 1940s it would have been decades ahead of its time.

[@peterking2794]

How would a log or lin pot compare on the glissandi control?

[@VintageKeysStudio]

I tried it but it didn’t make a lot of difference

[@U014B]

On the glissando control, are you using a linear taper pot or an audio/logarithmic taper? Using the latter might help with the notes-bunching-up problem.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Cheers Noel - I can’t remember what I used to be honest - i seem to recall both lin and log pots gave a very similar result, but it was put together as a test board really, and they were both very old pots I had lying around, so I will investigate and let you know!

[@howardmaryon]

What are the 3 tiny holes for on the front of the keyboard? Have you ever poked anything in there to find out?

[@VintageKeysStudio]

They are for tuning the octaves to each other - there’s screw head pots inside

[@grimmwerks]

Forgotten Futures is Goyte’s

[@fisermarketing2922]

Y pensar que ésto fué creado en la década de los 40

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Sí

[@terryterry5653]

the thumbnail made me think he had a cool robot arm to play music with

[@VintageKeysStudio]

I wish I had!

[@highdesertbiker]

I cannot find any of these for sale on the internet. Any suggestions?

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Just keep looking - they do pop up now and then - mainly broken ones

[@bt410382]

where can i purchase the book? i googled but i could't find any info.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Hi there. We're looking into it and will let you know.

[@adrianlee7358]

What a fantastic instrument for the 1940’s obviously Kraftwerk weren’t the first to delve into electronic music

[@VintageKeysStudio]

forgottenfutures.bandcamp.com/merch

[@rossr6616]

Did you get the Theremin attachment? ;)

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Not quite - it will get done eventually!

[@personaltraining_ntouroupis]

Hello i have a exactly same one ...not working ....how much can i sell it .??

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Hi there. Feel free to send us some more details and pictures to [e-mail] and I'll see if we can help.

[@mdgraller]

4:05 Caesars Palace - Jerk It Out

[@davcar23]

What music was expected to be performed on this instrument? I know for example Laurence Hammond expected his instrument to be used to played classical and liturgical music but not popular like jazz or rock.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

It was designed to be able to play in an orchestra, or solo next to a piano, either as a new timbre / sound, or to emulate real instruments. Probably the closest emulations of all the early synths.

[@coadmiller5010]

I saw the name as a title of a Stereolab song, but I didn't know what it was. But it turned out I was familiar with it, it's sound, for over fifty years, but just didn't know what it was called... If you've heard the first Blood Sweat and Tears album with Al Looper, or the Live Adventures of Bloomfield and Looper, or Super Sessions with Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, then You've heard this.... On the Super Sessions and Live Adventures albums it's on the songs His Holy Modal Magesty, and Her Holy Modal Highness, two similar modal pieces played by musicians who usually played in a blues-rock style. Stereolab didn't actually have or use one, the title was just in keeping with thier propensity for naming songs after fairly obscure keyboard instruments, like harmonium, mellotron, Motorola Scalatron, a( prototype, (which got a fair amount of publicity) which for some obvious reasons they called"Motoroller" Scalatron... I think this would be a real rewarding kick to overdub with itself on multitrack, ( even adding some more instruments for good measure...

[@coadmiller5010]

Looper, not Looper (though I want to get a Looper pedal!...

[@coadmiller5010]

Why the frack does it keep saying Looper instead of Cooper? This time I know to keep a close eye on what goes up!...

[@happymoogman]

The problem with your scaling of the notes (the higher notes all bunched together), is that you're using an audio taper potentiometer. Switch over to a non-linear potentiometer. I use a multi-turn pot (actually 10-turns), and then I use a dedicated circuit to "scale" to tune the pot to the traditional 12-tone keyboard scale. Adding finger depressions to your board will help immensely, to play your "string" controller. Dana Countryman kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnOYoYp7bb-pbrc

[@andybrice2711]

8:57 _"It's got a rather good bassoon-ey sort of a sound."_ Impossible. Everyone knows the bassoon is the only sound which can never be recreated by a synthesizer.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

‘…cos these b****** steal your synthesizers’

[@andybrice2711]

@@VintageKeysStudio I've just realized why this thing kept shocking you. You clearly haven't disabled the security features.

[@howardmaryon]

The French copy no-one else, and no-one copies the French.

[@rossr6616]

A bit fearful for you Steve as you stick your hands up beneath her skirt to “flip a little switch” 😂 and with the other hand around her rear... Shocking!

[@renedescartes6221]

une horreur absolue mais c'est bon pour les O R L cela leur donnera du boulot pour réparer les oreilles cassées !

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Vous êtes trop gentil

[@addran1210]

⁠​⁠@@VintageKeysStudioyou are too kind this kind of comment is just mean and pointless