The Steel Guitar Forum Store 

Post new topic Trautonium
Reply to topic
Author Topic:  Trautonium
b0b


From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
Post  Posted 19 Jun 2022 7:14 pm    
Reply with quote

I had never heard of this instrument before, until today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trautonium

Here's a performance on the original instrument:

https://youtu.be/uIGBaYcIuEI

And here's a video of a more modern one being played:

https://youtu.be/KqnLZXOySyY
_________________
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video


Last edited by b0b on 20 Jun 2022 8:05 am; edited 1 time in total
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website

Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 19 Jun 2022 11:28 pm    
Reply with quote

More fun than a Theramin!

The two links sound much alike....
_________________
Those that say don't know; those that know don't say.--Buddy Emmons
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Ian Rae


From:
Redditch, England
Post  Posted 20 Jun 2022 12:19 am    
Reply with quote

They're the same - please update
This is interesting
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 20 Jun 2022 6:29 am    
Reply with quote

A synthesizer that predates the keyboard-oriented concept. It certainly is a lot of technological complexity for making music, but it is a unique sound. The hand on the top bar seems to be playing mostly chords and the one on the bottom bar handles single note lines, and it sounds like a pedal steel playing accompaniment for a lap steel. There is some technique that makes sense and some that doesn’t. Do you think those things that look like levers are pitch reference markers? That seems a little over the top if that’s all they do.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

b0b


From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
Post  Posted 20 Jun 2022 8:05 am    
Reply with quote

Ian Rae wrote:
They're the same - please update
This is interesting

Sorry. Fixed the first YouTube link. It's a piece by Paul Hindemith played on an early trautonium. I shows a lot of closeups of the technique used to play it.
_________________
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website

Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 20 Jun 2022 11:45 pm    
Reply with quote

The new video reveals that every preconception I had about what this thing is and how you play it was wrong. It’s even stranger. I guess it is sort of a keyboard, though.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Joachim Kettner


From:
Germany
Post  Posted 20 Jun 2022 11:45 pm    
Reply with quote

On further reading the article I saw that the trautonium was featured in the soundtrack for Hitchcock's The Birds. I think at the scene at 24:00 the instrument is used:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-7d029UR0k&t=1470s
_________________
Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Ian Rae


From:
Redditch, England
Post  Posted 21 Jun 2022 12:12 am    
Reply with quote

It isn't a keyboard. The whole point of it is that it doesn't have keys. Instead it has continuous contact plates to give infinitely variable pitch, like a steel guitar or an ondes Martenot (q.v.)
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

b0b


From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
Post  Posted 21 Jun 2022 7:44 am    
Reply with quote

Ian Rae wrote:
It isn't a keyboard. The whole point of it is that it doesn't have keys. Instead it has continuous contact plates to give infinitely variable pitch, like a steel guitar or an ondes Martenot (q.v.)

Correct. The black "keys" are actually just tabs to land on pre-defined pitches. You can use your fingers without the tabs to get any pitch in between.

A trio of them sounds great in classical chamber music. It's like a string or woodwind trio where each musician can change instruments at will.

https://youtu.be/k0UA0-heeFo
_________________
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website

Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 23 Jun 2022 7:31 am    
Reply with quote

Imagine what people would call it if you showed up for a gig with one.
Wow, cool slide keyboard, man...
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Joachim Kettner


From:
Germany
Post  Posted 24 Jun 2022 2:27 am    
Reply with quote

... and is hard to play?
_________________
Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

b0b


From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
Post  Posted 24 Jun 2022 7:48 am    
Reply with quote

Joachim Kettner wrote:
... and is hard to play?
Doesn't look any harder than a steel guitar.
_________________
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website


All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  

Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction,
steel guitars & accessories

www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

Please review our Forum Rules and Policies

Steel Guitar Forum LLC
PO Box 237
Mount Horeb, WI 53572 USA


Click Here to Send a Donation

Email admin@steelguitarforum.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for
Band-in-a-Box

by Jim Baron
HTTP