Electronic Musical Instrument 1870

Developed in the Soviet Union in 1932 by Yevgeny Alexandrovitch Sholpo, the Variophone used an optical synthesis method where sound waves are drawn onto transparent 35mm film. SOund generating sounds controlled by photo-electric cells. The films were driven by an electric motor whose speed could be varied, thereby changing the pitch of the sound. Sholpo had been experimenting with 'drawn sound' since the 1920's and created several sound works by photographing drawings to create soundtracks. At the same time in the USSR several other artists were experimenting with similar ideas such as Arseny Avraamov who produced film soundtracks created by photographing series of drawings - "Plan Velikikh Rabot" (Plan of great works) and "Kem Bit" (who to be) in 1930.

Yevgeny Alexandrovitch Sholpo

This technique was later developed by the Moscow Experimental Studio and by Daphne Oram in England.

Variophone of Yevgeny Sholpo 1936 Yevgeny Sholpo, together with The the g.A.Rim.chkim-Korsakovym (Leningrad), it Ye.A.Sholpo it designed the first model of its "variofona". The transmission, which transferred the rotation of electromotor to the mechanism, which stretches film to the acoustic graph, was added to the motion picture camera. disk2.JPG (10817 bytes) animated cartoon machine tool in this case does not adapt, survey is produced to the moving film. Variofon allows a change in the speed, i.e. the pitch of tone. The billet of sound is rationalized by the application of the disks with the cut out teeth (transverse outline) revolving on 360°. Ye.A.Sholpo it reached the possibility of obtaining by glissando, vibration of tone, nuances, change in the sound intensity, construction of mnogogolosnykh chords. disk1.JPG (17653 bytes) The tooth form of disk for some timbres with the complex composition of accordion, of course, let us with difficulty carry out via the cutting of teeth on the disk, and this is a drawback in the billets Ye.A.Sholpo, that lead to the limitation of timbre possibilities.