The ‘Ondium Péchadre’, Henri Camille Robert Péchadre. France, 1929.

The Ondium Péchadre played by it's inventor Msr Péchadre in 1930 (from 'Un appareil de musique radioélectrique; l'ondium Péchadre' by E.-WEISS.)
The Ondium Péchadre played by it’s inventor Msr Péchadre in 1930. Image: ‘Un appareil de musique radioélectrique; l’ondium Péchadre’ by E.-WEISS.

The Ondium Péchadre was created in France by  Henri Camille Robert Péchadre in 1929. The instrument was a monophonic heterodyning vacuum tube oscillator based instrument built into a light and portable heart shaped box, in performance the base of the instrument rested on the players knees and the instrument was supported against a table. The seven octave range of the instrument was controlled – in a way similar to Jorg Mager’s Sphäraphon of 1924 or  Krug & Bass’ Cellulophone of 1927– by moving a pointer around a circular calibrated dial while the left hand controlled the volume of the sound with a velocity sensitive push button device. This playing method allowed the instrument to create a continuous pitch similar to a violin or cello, or, by using the volume control, the sound-wave’s envelope could be altered to give a more staccato effect.

The Ondium played by
The Ondium played by the Pianist Gaston Wiener. Image: ‘L’Ouest Eclair’ ,1931
1 Un Nouvel Instrument Radio-Electrique: L’Ondium, L’Ouest-Éclair : journal quotidien d’informations, politique, littéraire, commercial,29/10/1931, 6
The indium described in 'Le Menestrel' in 1933
The Ondium as described in ‘Le Menestrel’ in 1931
2Gratia, L.E, (1931), LES INSTRUMENTS DE MUSIQUE DU XXe SIÈCLE. INSTRUMENT RADIO-ÉLECTRIQUE – L’ONDIUM PÉCHADRE, Le Ménestrel : journal de musique, 06/02/1931, 53-4

As with other similar instruments, The Ondium output sound to an amplifier and loudspeaker but, uniquely, was also able to transmit sounds directly via radio waves to a radio receiver or network.

“The Ondium we can report, is of the family of radio-electronic instruments similar to developments by Martenot and others. It differs however in by some points, in particular by this one; The Ondium is the only device of this kind that can be picked up  by radio.”
Gaston Wiener quoted in L’Ouest-Éclai’, 1935. 3 Un Nouvel Instrument Electrique:L’ondium, L’Ouest-Éclair : journal quotidien d’informations, politique, littéraire, commercial, Oct 29, 1931, 6.

Péchadre toured with the Ondium throughout France in the 1930s where, accompanied by an orchestra, he commissioned well known musicians (Gaston Wiener, pianist, Jacques Serres, cellist and Georges Hugo, pianist)  to perform popular classical works by Saint-Saëns, Mozart, Delibes and others as well as surprising the audience with the instruments versatility by imitating bird song.

E.H Weiss describes the instrument in Phonographs et Musique Mechanique (1931):

“This recent device is in the category of radio-electric interference instruments. The inventor’s goal was to establish a reduced format with very easy-to-handle organs that did not impose any fatigue on the musician. The complete installation includes the “ondium” itself, which contains the oscillating circuits, the amplifiers; the playing organs: pitch control needle, sound volume adjustment button, etc. ; the power supply which includes a 4 volt battery and an 80 volt battery, finally one or more speakers.

The ondium appears in the form of a flat case which has a dial on the top and which is traversed by a 25 centimeter long needle; the needle is adjusted on the axis of a variable capacitor and constitutes the organ for controlling the frequency of the oscillations, and consequently the pitch of the sound. A board cut along an arc of a circle with the same center as the dial, but with a smaller radius, forms a protective bridge above the needle, only the tip of which protrudes.

In these conditions, the musician holds the instrument inclined in front of him, places it on the one hand on his knees and on the other hand on the edge of a piece of furniture. The instrumentalist therefore has a music stand which then supports his elbow and forearm; the hand can direct the needle by means of a lever near the tip. The end of the elbow plays the role of a center of rotation for the forearm, and the right hand thus describes an arc of a circle merging with the dial of the device. High notes are produced towards the top of the dial, and lower notes towards the bottom.

Given the position of the operator, the precision obtained is very great, as is the virtuosity, because to control the volume of sounds we act on a rod ending in a flat button placed on the side of the device and controlling a rheostat . When you press the button, the rod sinks in; the stroke does not exceed 3 centimeters and a return spring whose resistance is progressive returns the rod to the outside when we no longer act on it. When you press lightly, the resistance decreases, and the sound begins to be heard. By pressing harder and harder, the sound power gradually increases. Handling this organ is easy, because instinctively we press lightly to have a weak sound and strongly to have a powerful sound.

There are still various other accessory controls which are available to the left hand: An adjustment screw acts on a booster capacitor, which allows the instrument to be tuned to the pitch before playing. A special circuit switch imitates plucked or percussed string instruments such as mandolin, harp, piano, Hawaiian guitar; contactors vary the tone or the attack, etc. As the principle of the device is based on the beat which results from the interference of the vibrations of two insulating circuits whose average frequency is 20,000 per second, there is a certain difficulty here, since it is a device that is touched by the hand and held on the knees, therefore susceptible to being influenced by the movement of the body of the operator, who acts by his capacity electric. This assembly, which is very sensitive to capacitance effects, is however the lightest device, capable of being enclosed in an instrument of reduced dimensions and also capable of covering a very wide range which can reach seven octaves .4 WEISS. E.H,(1930), Phonographes et musique mécanique / par Eugène-H. Weiss, Hachette (Paris), June 1930 edition,135-9

The Ondium with back cover removed showing control levers and tone generators. (from 'Un appareil de musique radioélectrique; l'ondium Péchadre' by E. WEISS.)
The Ondium with back cover removed showing control levers and tone generators. Image: ‘Un appareil de musique radioélectrique; l’ondium Péchadre’ by E.-WEISS.

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Minister
Telecoms Minister M. Mallarmé in front of boxed commercial versions of the Ondium at the ’21st Radio Salon’ Paris, 1934. Image: ‘Paris Soir’ September 1934.

References:

  • 1
    Un Nouvel Instrument Radio-Electrique: L’Ondium, L’Ouest-Éclair : journal quotidien d’informations, politique, littéraire, commercial,29/10/1931, 6
  • 2
    Gratia, L.E, (1931), LES INSTRUMENTS DE MUSIQUE DU XXe SIÈCLE. INSTRUMENT RADIO-ÉLECTRIQUE – L’ONDIUM PÉCHADRE, Le Ménestrel : journal de musique, 06/02/1931, 53-4
  • 3
    Un Nouvel Instrument Electrique:L’ondium, L’Ouest-Éclair : journal quotidien d’informations, politique, littéraire, commercial, Oct 29, 1931, 6.
  • 4
    WEISS. E.H,(1930), Phonographes et musique mécanique / par Eugène-H. Weiss, Hachette (Paris), June 1930 edition,135-9

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