Oskar Sala (1910-2002) was a German composer. Paul Hindemith, Sala’s composition professor at the Berlin Academy of Music, introduced his student in 1930 to the engineer Friedrich Trautwein. Together they developed the Trautonium, one of the first electronic instruments. Its development paralleled the thermin and was a precursor to the synthesizer, resulting in a device that lets you mimic not only traditional musical instruments, but can produce voices, animal sounds and synthesized sounds (subharmonics).

In this video, Oskar Sala gives a demonstration of the Trautonium in the Hague. The body of the instrument is similar to that of a pipe organ, having two ‘manuals’ that are played with the fingers, although the normal configuration of black and white keys is missing. Mr. Zaun, a German, gives an introduction, and Sala is accompanied by a pianist as he plays the Trautonium.

The Old Wolf has spoken.