Tubon
| Joh Mustad AB IE-50 "Tubon" | |
|---|---|
| General | |
| Surname | IE-50 "Tubon" |
| Manufacturer | Joh Mustad AB |
| Sound synthesis | analog, subtractive |
| Period | 1966 |
| Dimensions | 83 × 13 cm |
| properties | |
| Polyphonic | No |
| Multitimbral | No |
| Oscillators | 1 |
| filter | no |
| Keys | 32 keys |
| Effects | no |
The IE-50 , de facto known as Tubon , is an analog, single-part electronic organ made by the Swedish Joh Mustad AB from Gothenburg . It was released in 1966 and was almost exclusively used by Swedish and Finnish bands of that period.
General
The Tubon was developed by Bengt Olof Ingemar Brodin and owes its name to the cylindrical housing in which the manual, technology and battery are housed. This makes it similar to Keytar instruments, which, however, only became popular in the 1980s.
It has 32 keys that are smaller than normal keyboard keys to keep the instrument compact. In addition, these are not made of wood, but plastic.
The instrument has only one oscillator that emits square waves and is accordingly monophonic. Therefore, there is no multitimbrality.
The musician usually operates the manual with his right hand and the registers and volume with his left hand. For this purpose, there is a recess on the top of the organ, on which the loudspeaker is also attached, in which the four registers are attached as push buttons and the rotary control for the volume.
You can choose between four registers: double bass , saxophone , electric bass and woodwind instrument . However, these are only sound emulations of inferior quality and cannot be compared with the original instruments. Here the role actually intended for the instrument as a replacement for the electric bass becomes clear. The goal is not to emulate the z. T. acoustic instruments, but in the production of an appropriate bass sound.
The sound is output either via the loudspeaker attached to the end of the instrument or via a 6.35 mm jack plug . The instrument is not capable of stereophony .
The Tubon is operated by a 9V block battery , which is used in the lower part of the organ. This allows the musician absolute freedom of movement on stage as long as the built-in loudspeaker is used.
The instrument produces a gurgling, e.g. Sometimes roaring sound and is strongly reminiscent of experimental synthesizers of the 1960s and elements of Musique concrete .
Others
The instrument also made it to Great Britain and Germany, where it was played by Paul McCartney and Ralf Hütter , among others . The former had originally intended the Tubon for the introduction to Strawberry Fields Forever and composed it on the organ, but later decided to use the Chamberlin .
Ralf Hütter used the instrument regularly between 1970 and 1971 - including on the first album - and also performed with it at the first concert of the newly founded band Kraftwerk in 1970 . At that time the band was still producing Krautrock - they only turned to electronic music from 1974.
The instrument was also sold in England as the Livingston Tubon in the early 1970s .