Electronic Musical Instrument 1870

The Emiriton was an example of a series of finger-board electronic instruments developed in the Soviet Union in the 1930's, inspired perhaps by Leon Termen's avoidance of a standard keyboard with his Theremin. Other instruments included V.A.Gurov's (a former colleague of Leon Termen) "Neo-Violena"(1927) the "Sonar"(1930) and the Volodin's "Ekvodin" (1931).

Andrey Vladimirovich Rimsky-Korsakov, co-designer of the Emiriton

Designed by A. Ivanov and A.Rimsky-Korsakov, The Emiriton was a originally a fingerboard instrument allowing the use of glissando effects, with later models incorporating a standard keyboard. The Emiriton produced sound from neon-tube oscillators. Leon Termen, an ex Cellist, developed a fingerboard "Theremin-Cello" in the USA in the early 1930s

Biographical Information: Andrey Vladimirovich Rimsky-Korsakov

Andrey Vladimirovich Rimsky-Korsakov, grandson of the famous Russian composer, was born on August 29, 1910, in St. Petersburg to a family of ancient noble lineage. His father had two master university degrees, and his mother graduated from the Smol'nyi Institute. French was accepted as the main language amongst family members.

Andrey Vladimirovich received an excellent education: he simultaneously studied at a German general education school and at a music school. After graduating, he began studies at the Leningrad Conservatory and the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute.

This combination of musical education and technical knowledge allowed Andrey Vladimirovich to work successfully at the Research Institute of Musical Industry organized by Academician N.N.Andreyev.

There, since 1932, he collaborated with A.A.Ivanov to construct one of the first Russian electric musical instruments: the Emiriton. While heading the laboratory of string musical instruments, Rimsky-Korsakov investigated sound formation in pianos, pizzicato musical instruments, and bow instruments.

In early 1941, Rimsky-Korsakov changed his place of work and came to the Leningrad Physicotechnical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, where he began his investigations in hydroacoustics. In 1942, he joined the Navy and, during the war, he was involved in designing and testing acoustic mines. After he was demobilized, Rimsky-Korsakov returned to his studies in musical acoustics.

The 1946 marked the beginning of Rimsky-Korsakov's tutorial activities---first, as an associate professor at the Department of Broadcasting and Acoustics at the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute of Communication, and then, as the head of this department and the dean of the Faculty of Radio Engineering. In 1955, Rimsky-Korsakov moved to Moscow and became the head of the department that he organized himself at the Acoustics Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. There, he conducted extensive studies in noise and vibrations of complex mechanical structures, as well as in aeroacoustics and hydroacoustics. The studies of noise formation in a gas flow streaming around obstacles allowed Rimsky-Korsakov and his colleagues to reveal a number of new mechanisms of sound formation by vortices and by rotating fans and blade wheels.

In 1960, Rimsky-Korsakov established the Department of Electroacoustics and Ultrasonics at the Moscow Mining Institute. At this department, he delivered lectures on electroacoustics, acoustical measurements, and noise and vibration control and supervised the studies of the possibility of intensifying technological processes by applying low-frequency acoustic vibrations. Since 1965, Rimsky-Korsakov taught at the Moscow Institute of Radio Engineering, Electronics, and Automation: he gave lectures on electroacoustics, organized a student's training laboratory, published a monograph on electroacoustics and a companion book of problems.

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