The ondes Martenot (French ondes Martenot) is one of the very first electronic musical instruments, invented by the French musician Maurice Martenot in 1928. Its sound is generated by electronic valve oscillators, and pitch is controlled in two ways: by an ordinary keyboard or by sliding a ring along a metal ribbon, which allows smooth glissandos.
The instrument's timbre is gentle, singing, ethereal, somewhat like the human voice or the theremin, but with wider expressive possibilities and subtle control of volume. Composers of the 20th century loved the ondes Martenot: most famously, Olivier Messiaen used it widely in his grand “Turangalîla-Symphonie.” The instrument also sounds in film music, lending it a mystical, otherworldly colour. It is an important milestone in the history of electronic music, one that was decades ahead of its time.
