Ondioline

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The Ondioline was a vacuum tube-powered keyboard instrument, invented in 1941 ^[1] by Georges Jenny, which was a forerunner of today's synthesizers.

The Ondioline was capable of creating a wide variety of sounds. Its keyboard had a unique feature: it was suspended on special springs which made it possible to introduce a natural vibrato if the player moved the keyboard from side to side with their playing hand. The result was an almost human-like vibrato that lent a wide range of expression to the Ondioline. The keyboard was also pressure-sensitive, and the instrument had a knee volume lever.

One of the much-repeated myths is that the Ondioline was used on Del Shannon's 1961 hit, "Runaway". In fact, the famous solo was recorded on a "Musitron", a one-of-a-kind Clavioline customized and played by Max Crook.^[2] However, the Ondioline was used many other recordings, including the soundtracks to "Spartacus", and "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie."

According to former Ondioline demonstration salesman Jean-Jacques Perrey, less than 700 of the instruments were sold, mostly in Europe, but a handful made it to the States. It is estimated that less than 2 dozen Ondiolines currently exist.

Jean-Jacques Perrey first acquired an Ondioline in the mid-1950s ^[3], and used it on all his older albums from the late 1960's.