Constant Martin (10 May 1910 – 16 June 1995) was a French engineer and inventor who perfected and successfully commercialised radio sets and most famously the Clavioline, a precursor to the synthesizer. He is the grandfather of director Michel Gondry and Oliver "Twist" Gondry.
After having obtained diplomas in 1930 as an electrical engineer and radio technician, Martin began his career working for Victor Martin (no relation), a manufacturer of radios, where he developed an original receiver. In 1932 in Versailles, he began to experiment with the creation of electronic music. During 1932 to 1937 he developed an instrument related to the organ which used harmonium reeds. The instrument was demonstrated in the Church of St Odile in Paris in July 1939.
In 1943, he completed the construction of an electronic organ with independent oscillators and harmonic analyzers, which he presented at the Louvre Oratory in Saint-Louis des Invalides and at the Palace of Chaillot. He also made the electronic bells that rang out at the city hall to sound the liberation of the city of Versailles. The Clavioline was launched in 1947 with great commercial success. It was manufactured by Selmer in France and the United Kingdom, by Gibson in the USA, and by Jorgensen in Germany. It rapidly became the world's leading monophonic instrument with more than 30,000 sold in the UK alone.
In the 1950s, using the most recent electronic discoveries to improve his organs and bells, Martin demonstrated new electronic bells at the Church of Saint-Philippe-du-Roule in Paris. In 1961, using transistors, he was able to add harmonic effects to his instruments to produce sounds that almost faithfully reproduced the sound of a pipe organ. From the early 1960s his electronic sounds could be heard introducing the time on Radio Europe No. 1, and the announcements at Orly Airport. His Clavioline would be used by famous artists of the day such as The Beatles, Del Shannon, and The Tornados.
Martin was unable to compete when polyphonic synthesizers from Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands were introduced. Nevertheless, for over thirty years, Martin had pioneered and revolutionised the manufacture of electronic instruments and demonstrated the possibility of producing a variety of sounds that could be used in many genres of music.
Bibliographyedit
Martin, Constant (1950). Musique électronique de l'instrument de musique le plus simple aux orgues électroniques, amélioration d'instruments classiques, cloches électroniques, constructions pratiques. Paris: Technique et vulgarisation. p. 202. LCCN 50031038.
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constant, martin, wisconsin, state, assembly, member, politician, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, ne. For the Wisconsin State Assembly member see Constant Martin politician This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Constant Martin news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message Constant Martin 10 May 1910 16 June 1995 was a French engineer and inventor who perfected and successfully commercialised radio sets and most famously the Clavioline a precursor to the synthesizer He is the grandfather of director Michel Gondry and Oliver Twist Gondry After having obtained diplomas in 1930 as an electrical engineer and radio technician Martin began his career working for Victor Martin no relation a manufacturer of radios where he developed an original receiver In 1932 in Versailles he began to experiment with the creation of electronic music During 1932 to 1937 he developed an instrument related to the organ which used harmonium reeds The instrument was demonstrated in the Church of St Odile in Paris in July 1939 In 1943 he completed the construction of an electronic organ with independent oscillators and harmonic analyzers which he presented at the Louvre Oratory in Saint Louis des Invalides and at the Palace of Chaillot He also made the electronic bells that rang out at the city hall to sound the liberation of the city of Versailles The Clavioline was launched in 1947 with great commercial success It was manufactured by Selmer in France and the United Kingdom by Gibson in the USA and by Jorgensen in Germany It rapidly became the world s leading monophonic instrument with more than 30 000 sold in the UK alone In the 1950s using the most recent electronic discoveries to improve his organs and bells Martin demonstrated new electronic bells at the Church of Saint Philippe du Roule in Paris In 1961 using transistors he was able to add harmonic effects to his instruments to produce sounds that almost faithfully reproduced the sound of a pipe organ From the early 1960s his electronic sounds could be heard introducing the time on Radio Europe No 1 and the announcements at Orly Airport His Clavioline would be used by famous artists of the day such as The Beatles Del Shannon and The Tornados Martin was unable to compete when polyphonic synthesizers from Italy Austria and the Netherlands were introduced Nevertheless for over thirty years Martin had pioneered and revolutionised the manufacture of electronic instruments and demonstrated the possibility of producing a variety of sounds that could be used in many genres of music Bibliography editMartin Constant 1950 Musique electronique de l instrument de musique le plus simple aux orgues electroniques amelioration d instruments classiques cloches electroniques constructions pratiques Paris Technique et vulgarisation p 202 LCCN 50031038 nbsp nbsp This French engineer or inventor biographical article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Constant Martin amp oldid 1189739389, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
