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| Novachord | |
|---|---|
 Hammond Novachord | |
| Manufacturer | Hammond |
| Dates | 1939–1942 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Polyphony | 72 voices |
| Oscillator | 12-semitone oscillators + 5-octave dividers |
| LFO | 6-channel electromechanical vibrato |
| Synthesis type | Subtractive analogue |
| Filter | Three bandpass filters, one lowpass filter, one highpass filter (in parallel with fixed frequency) |
| Attenuator | Envelope with seven preset shapes |
| Hardware | Vacuum tubes |
| Input/output | |
| Keyboard | 72 notes |
TheNovachord is the world's first commercialpolyphonicsynthesizer.[1][2][3] Incorporating many circuit and control elements found in modern synthesizers, and usingsubtractive synthesis to generate tones, it was designed by John M. Hanert, Laurens Hammond and C. N. Williams, and was manufactured by theHammond company.[4] Only 1,069 Novachords were built over a period from 1939 to 1942. It was one of very few electronic products released by Hammond that was not intended to emulate the sound of an organ.
While production of the Novachord began in November 1938, it was first heard at the1939 New York World's Fair.[5] The Novachord Orchestra ofFerde Grofé performed daily at the Ford stand with four Novachords and aHammond Organ. The first instrument was delivered to PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt on January 30, 1940 as a birthday present.
The Novachord was not well-suited to the technique of organists or pianists and required frequent adjustments to controls on the front panel to create new sounds. Like many later analog synthesizers, it was much better-suited to producing "otherworldly" timbres. The instrument found its niche some years after production, shaping the sound of many science fiction film and television scores.
Production stopped because of a shortage of parts in 1942 and poor sales kept it from being built after the war.[6] It is estimated that fewer than 200 Novachords are still in existence and considerably fewer are still in operation. The vast majority of surviving examples are in North America, although one is known to be in the United Kingdom. As of November 2017, there is one in Australia.[citation needed]
Containing 163vacuum tubes and over 1,000 customcapacitors,[7] the Novachord weighed nearly 500 pounds and was roughly the size of twospinet pianos. The divide-down oscillator architecture, based on vacuum-tubemonostable circuits, permitted all 72 notes to be playedpolyphonically by deriving several octaves of notes from twelve L–C tuned top-octave oscillators. Only onetetrode per lower note was needed. A basically similar design was adopted in bothcombo organs and polyphonic synthesizers released more than 30 years later such as thePolymoog.
The Novachord featured an early implementation ofenvelope generators, with seven attack/decay/sustain envelope shapes selectable by a rotary switch and release time controlled by the sustain pedal. It also utilized three parallelband-pass filters, one lowpass filter, and one highpass filter with fixed cutoff frequencies per voice and an electro-mechanical 6-channelvibrato unit operating on pairs of adjacent oscillators. Each channel's vibrato frequency (~7 Hz) differed slightly. The oscillator inductors used cores mounted on flat springs.[8]
The resulting sonic palette ranged from dense, sustained string- and vocal-like timbres to the sharp attack transients of a harpsichord or piano.
Despite its historical importance, the Novachord did not enjoy commercial success. That was partly due to instability problems, as well as the onset ofWorld War II limiting the availability of parts and decreasing demand. The poor reliability was mainly the result of the tighttolerances of the operating parameters of hundreds of custom components. Hammond soon offered a special upgrade to improve stability, which was no more than a low-power heater bolted inside the enclosure to reduce the effects of humidity. The instrument was not known for vacuum tube failure perhaps because the heater voltage was reduced from the typical 6.3 volts to 5 volts.[citation needed]
Like its contemporaries, theTheremin, theOndes Martenot and theTrautonium, the Novachord can be heard occasionally in horror and science fiction film scores including many genre films fromUniversal Studios andJames Bernard's ethereal music forHammer'sThe Gorgon (1964).Jerry Goldsmith used the Novachord in several of his film scores and is known to have held the instrument in high regard. It was also used for theentr'acte music inGone With the Wind (1939).[9] ComposerHeitor Villa-Lobos included a part for the Novachord in hisSymphony Nº. 7 (1945).[10] In December 1939,Kurt Weill wrote incidental music forElmer Rice's comedyTwo on an Island for Novachord solo.[11]Hanns Eisler used the Novachord in hisKammersinfonie op. 69 (1940).Dimitri Tiomkin used the Novachord to create the unusual percussion quality for "The Ballad of High Noon", the Oscar-winning opening song in the 1952 filmHigh Noon.[12] Other films with soundtracks featuring the Novachord includeThis Island Earth,Cat People, andAlfred Hitchcock'sRebecca; it also appeared in the soundtracks of television series such asThe Twilight Zone,One Step Beyond,The Outer Limits, andHawaii Five-O.[13][14]
The Novachord can be heard on many recordings of the era. Many songs sung byVera Lynn, including the original 1939 version of "We'll Meet Again", were accompanied by Arthur Young on the Novachord. One of the most notable recordings to feature the Novachord isBrother Bones' 1949 recording of "Sweet Georgia Brown" onTempo Records. The Novachord is used for the bass line on that track, but can be more prominently heard on the B side of the record playing the melody on "Margie".[15] American jazz musicianSlim Gaillard and his Quartette also recorded with the instrument on their 1947 instrumental release "Novachord Boogie" (Parlophone R 3035)[16]
