Trautonium

Overview

The trautonium is one of the earliest electronic instruments to reach a serious place in concert and film music. Developed in Berlin in 1930 by Friedrich Trautwein, it produces sound using a neon-tube oscillator controlled by a single resistance wire stretched along a metal bar. The player presses the wire against the bar to vary pitch in continuously sliding fashion, much like a violin string with no frets. Through the work of the composer-performer Oskar Sala, who developed the elaborate mixtur-trautonium and used it extensively in film and concert music, the instrument has become an iconic sound of mid-twentieth-century electronic music.

Origin & History

Friedrich Trautwein, an engineer and amateur musician, designed the original trautonium in 1930 at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. His goal was an electronic instrument that could be played with the expressive nuance of an acoustic instrument rather than only by switching keys. Paul Hindemith was an early enthusiast and wrote concert music for the new instrument.

Oskar Sala, who had studied with both Trautwein and Hindemith, dedicated his life to refining and playing the trautonium. By the late 1940s Sala had developed the mixtur-trautonium, a much more sophisticated instrument that could produce two simultaneous voices and a wide range of complex timbres. Sala used this instrument to compose hundreds of film scores and most famously to create all the bird sounds for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds.

How It’s Played

The trautonium’s central control is a manual: a length of resistance wire stretched above a metal bar, with a long ribbon-like surface for the player’s fingers. The player presses the wire down against the bar at any point along its length to set the pitch, and slides the finger to glide between pitches. A pressure-sensitive footplate or knee plate controls volume, allowing the player to shape every note’s attack and decay continuously.

The mixtur-trautonium adds a second manual for two-voice playing, plus a bank of subharmonic generators that can be combined to produce rich, complex timbres unavailable on conventional electronic instruments of the period. Skilled players such as Sala built virtuoso techniques on the instrument that could imitate orchestral instruments, animal sounds, and entirely new electronic textures.

Cultural Significance

In German electronic music history the trautonium occupies a foundational place. The early collaboration between Trautwein and Hindemith helped establish the principle that electronic instruments could be musically expressive rather than merely novel. Oskar Sala’s six-decade career on the instrument, including his work for film, radio, and concert music, made the trautonium a vehicle for serious electronic art music long before the synthesizer became widespread.

Although the trautonium never spread widely beyond Sala and a small group of devotees, its influence on later electronic instrument design and on the aesthetics of electronic film music has been substantial.

Related Instruments

• Ondes Martenot – the contemporary French electronic instrument
• Theremin – the slightly earlier Russian electronic instrument
• Synthesizer – the broader family of modern electronic instruments
• Sampler – the digital playback-based modern relative
• Hammond Organ – another early electromechanical instrument

Where to Hear It

The bird sound design for Hitchcock’s The Birds, created entirely by Oskar Sala on the mixtur-trautonium, is the most famous showcase. Sala’s many concert and film score recordings, including My Fascinating Instrument and his work for educational and documentary films, provide deeper exploration. Hindemith’s Konzertstück für Trautonium und Streichorchester shows the instrument in concert context.

• Wikipedia: Trautonium
• Wikimedia Commons: Trautonium

Learning Resources

The trautonium is extremely rare today. Original Sala instruments are preserved in museums in Germany, and a small number of electronic music specialists have built playable replicas. Workshops and lectures on the instrument are occasionally offered through electronic music research centers in Germany.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who invented the trautonium?
Friedrich Trautwein, in Berlin in 1930.

Who is most associated with the trautonium?
Oskar Sala, who developed the more sophisticated mixtur-trautonium and used it extensively in film and concert music for over six decades.

How does it produce sound?
Through a neon-tube oscillator whose pitch is controlled by pressing a resistance wire against a metal bar. The mixtur-trautonium adds subharmonic generators for complex timbres.

Is the trautonium still played today?
Rarely. A small number of specialists maintain and perform on original or replica instruments, mainly in Germany.