Ondioline

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The Ondioline was a vacuum tube-powered keyboard instrument, invented in 1941 ^[1] by the Frenchman Georges Jenny, and 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 on many other recordings, including the soundtracks of the films Spartacus and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Contrary to popular belief, an Ondioline was not used on the Beatles' "Baby, You're a Rich Man." That instrument was a Clavioline. The Ondioline was indeed used, though, in "Meagan's Gypsy Eyes" on Blood, Sweat & Tears' debut album, Child Is Father to the Man, where Ondioline play is attributed to Al Kooper. Kooper also used the Ondioline on the fantastic "His Holy Modal Majesty" on the Super Session album. It is said he was trying to approximate the sound of John Coltrane's soprano saxophone solos on it and in fact had transcribed the solos so he could learn them.

According to former Ondioline demonstration salesman Jean-Jacques Perrey, fewer than 700 of the instruments were sold, mostly in Europe, but a handful made it to the States. It is estimated that fewer than two 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 1960s.