Harald Bode

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Hohner Multimonica II from 1951, developed by Harald Bode (first model as early as 1940)

Harald Bode (born October 19, 1909 in Hamburg , † January 15, 1987 in New York City ) was a German engineer and pioneer in the development of electronic musical instruments .

Life

After graduating from the University of Hamburg in 1934, he soon began his pioneering work on the development of electronic musical instruments . He worked at the Heinrich Hertz Institute for Vibration Research at the Technical University in Berlin as a researcher in signal processing. In 1954 he emigrated to the USA, where he continued his developments at several companies and privately. There were still professional contacts to Germany. In cooperation with the studio for electronic music of the WDR he modified his melochord .

In 1961 Bode wrote an article in which he examined the advantages of the newly emerged transistor technology over the traditional electron tubes. His ideas were taken up by Robert Moog , Donald Buchla, and others. In the early 1970s, Bode became chief engineer at Moog's synthesizer company.

He was also artistically active with his devices. After his retirement (1974) he composed, for example, in the USA. B. for TV commercials and gave live concerts.

Work

Theory, circuits and devices for sound generation and sound shaping. Development and construction of monophonic and polyphonic electronic organs and sound formers: The Warbo Formant Organ (1937), the Melodium (1938), the two-manual Multimonica ( Hohner ), the Melochord (1947–1949).

The Polychord (1950), the Bode organ as the basis for Polychord III (1951), the harpsichord (1951), the Tuttivox (1953) (licensed by Jörgensen-Elektronic in.) Were created for Apparatewerk Bayern and Estey Organ Co, USA Düsseldorf), the concert clavioline (1953), a new model of the Wurlitzer electric piano (1954), voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) (1960) and the vocoder as part of the Moog synthesizer (1971).

In addition to ring modulators for use with Moog's modular synthesizers , Bode also developed the Frequency Shifter, which was not only used as a module (1630) for the Moog synthesizer, but also as a separate 19 "rack insert. An early version of this device, the so-called" Sound converter ”, was used by Wendy Carlos (“ […] a 'sound converter', designed by […] Harald Bode, built for us by Bob Moog ”) and Oskar Sala .

literature

  • Peter Donhauser: Electric sound machines. The pioneering days in Germany and Austria, Boehlau, Vienna 2007, pp. 143 ff. And 240f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Melochord . ( Memento of the original from November 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. The Keyboardmuseum Online. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.keyboardmuseum.org
  2. ↑ Melochord. ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. obsolete.com - 120 years of Electronic Music @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.obsolete.com
personal data
SURNAME Bode, Harald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German engineer and pioneer in the development of electronic musical instruments
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH January 15, 1987
Place of death New York City