Harald Bode (October 19, 1909 – January 15, 1987) was a German engineer and pioneer in the development of electronic music instruments.
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He was born in Hamburg, F.R.G. and graduated from the University of Hamburg in 1934. Bode pursued further education at Heinrich Hertz Institute of Berlin.[1] Bode worked as a researcher in signal processing and on the development of electronic music instruments at the Heinrich Hertz Institute for Oscillation Research at the Technical University of Berlin. [2]
Warbo Formant Organ (1937) developed by Bode and C. Warnke was a four voice key-assignment keyboard with two formant filters and dynamic envelope controller, and eventually went into commercial production by a factory in Dachau.[model 1] It was one of the earliest polyphonic synthesizer products, along with Novachord (1939) by Hammond.
Melochord (1947-49) developed by Bode was extensively used by Werner Meyer-Eppler in early days of the electronic studio at Bonn University. [model 2] Then in 1953 Melochord was, along with Monochord by Freidrich Trautwein,[3] specifically commissioned to the Studio for Electronic Music of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR Studio in Cologne, West German Broadcasting Corporation)[4] to upgrade their synthesis modules, and used by the Elektronische Musik group throughout the 1950s.[model 2] (See #Melochord at the WDR Studio in Cologne for details)
From 1950, Bode designed electronic organs for the Apparatewerk Bayern (AWB) in Germany and the Estey Organ Company in the United States. In 1954, Bode immigrated to the United States as a chief engineer (later vice-president) of Estey Organ,[4] and resumed his research at several companies and as a contractor of German companies.
In 1959-60, Bode developed modular synthesizer and sound processor[5][6], and in 1961, he wrote a paper exploring the advantages of newly emerging transistor technology over older vacuum tube devices;[7] also he served as AES session chairman on music and electronic for the fall conventions in 1962 and 1964;[1] after then, his ideas were adopted by Robert Moog, Donald Buchla and others.
After retiring from the chief engineer of Bell Aerospace[4] in 1974, he composed TV-advertising spots and gave live concerts. Also in 1977, Harald was invited as a chief engineer of the Norlin/Moog Music[2] after Robert Moog left.
He died in New York, New York, United States in 1987. [1]
Theory, circuits and devices to the sound production and sound figuration. Development and building of monophonic and polyphonic electronic organs/synthesizers and the sound processors:
For the Apparatewerk Bayern (AWB) in Germany[4], Estey Organ Company in Brattleboro, Vermont, USA, and others:
As the products of Bode Sound Company:[2]
Note that above three products were also licensed to Moog Music as a part of the Moog Synthesizer. [model 1]
The Melochord at the WDR Studio in Cologne have been used by Werner Meyer-Eppler in his composition Klangmodelle (1951) and lectures at Darmstadt New Music Summer School,[4] Herbert Eimert and Robert Beyer in their joint compositions Klangstudie I (1951)[model 2] and Klangfiguren II[9] (c.1951), and György Ligeti in his composition Glissandi (1957).[model 2]
But in the case of Karlheinz Stockhausen, a student of Meyer-Eppler at the University of Bonn in 1954–56, his only use of the melochord was in a failed experiment with a ring modulator.[10] After this, he chose to disregard such instruments in favor of sine-wave generators, which he used in producing Studie I (1953) and Studie II (1954). This was also true for the two works by Karel Goeyvaerts produced there, and for Seismogramme (1954) by Henri Pousseur.[11][12][13]
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