Listen To The Ondioline: A Predecessor To The Modern Day Synthesizer

The ondioline is an electronic instrument invented in France by Georges Jenny in 1939, and it's considered to be a predecessor to modern day synthesizers as early models ran on analog circuits and vacuum tubes. Later, in the 1960s, transistors replaced the tubes. Ondiolines possess a three octave keyboard that uses a knob to expand it's range up to eight octaves. It can manufacture its own sounds or simulate other instruments. Jenny made most ondiolines himself and he refused to mass produce his invention, so it appears that no more were made after his passing in 1975.

Until now, I've knowingly only listened to the ondioline twice in my entire life. A recent repurchase of the classic, 1968 Super Session album by Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills stirred my curiosity, so I researched the instrument. Previously, I knew nothing about this mostly forgotten keyboard other than Kooper played it on that album's "His Holy Modal Majesty" and on "Meagan's Gypsy Eyes" from Child Is The Father To The Man, the outstanding, debut LP from Blood, Sweat & Tears. Kooper employed it as a lead instrument on both tracks.

The unique instrument's earliest usage was with modern classical composers in the 1940s, especially Arthur Honegger and Darius Milhaud.

Later, the ondioline was used in 1960s pop music. Listen to Terry Stafford's 1964 single, "Suspicion," originally released by Elvis Presley. On Stafford's hit it was used as a percussion instrument that listeners need to pay close attention to in order to fully appreciate it.

Tommy James and The Shondells hired a studio musician to play an ondioline on "Mirage" and "I Think We're Alone Now," two of his 1967 hits.

Wouter André De Backer - known to most of the world as Gotye through his 2012, #1 hit "Somebody That I Used To Know - is a musician and producer who wears many hats.

In 2016 De Backer started his own record label whose first release was Jean-Jacques Perrey et son Ondioline. It's a compilation of rare and previously unreleased tracks played and recorded by Perrey, one of the instrument's primary early proponents. He also started a band, Ondioline Orchestra, that is devoted to live performances of Perrey's compositions.

Much of the technical and historical information used in this article was gathered from several Wikipedia pages and the ondioline's "official" website that is run by De Backer. It's loaded with information - possibly much more than you'll ever want or need to know.

Listen below for a wide-ranging demonstration of what the ondioline can do.