120 Years of Electronic Music

The "Electronium" and "Electronium Pi" (1950)

The Electronium

The Electronium was designed by René Seybold and manufactured by the German company Hohner GmbH in Trossingen, Germany, from 1950 onwards. The Electronium was a monophonic electronic instrument resembling an accordion. The Electronium had a 41 note keyboard with keys or buttons and 16 'registration tabs', the overall volume being controlled by the 'bellows' of the instrument.

Electronium Pi

Electronium Pi was a keyboard controlled electronic instrument with 20 stop-tabs for divide-down synthesis. The Electronium Pi had a three octave range, transposable up or down within six octaves, controlling a single vacuum tube oscillator.The Electronium Pi was used in music concerts as an add-on for piano players and was much used throughout the 1950's in germany for both light and serious music. The Electronium Pi was used by several german Avant-Garde composers, Karlheinz Stockhausen used various Electronium models on "Telemusik" and "solo"(1952-6) and later on "Kurzwellen" (1968), These pieces being performed by his own group with the pianist Harald Bojé playing a modified standard Electronium.

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