The sound of an East German musical instrument
Subharchord – subharmonisk lydgenerator, utviklet for å skape elektroniske lyder for filmer radio og fjernsyn. Produsert i Øst-Tyskland 1967–1969 (antatt). Les mer på digitaltmuseum.no.
In 1968, three NRK employees crossed the border into East Berlin. Shortly afterwards, an electronic musical instrument called the Subharchord was secretly sent to Oslo.
Originally by Frode Weium in 2013, updated 18.10.2021
The story of this strange instrument interweaves big politics and electronic music. The electronic sound generator Subharchord was developed in East Berlin in the 1960s, at the "Labor für musikalisch-akustische Grenzprobleme". A total of seven instruments were produced. The conditions for the work were not the easiest. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev condemned electronic music as a cacophony incompatible with socialism.
The subharchord was a studio instrument that could create artificial electronic sounds. Technically, the instrument was very special. It differed from ordinary synthesizers in that it was based on so-called subharmonic frequency division. Of the seven instruments produced, all remained in Eastern Europe except for the one that was sold to NRK. Today, this is one of three preserved instruments.
I NRK
Lederen for NRKs musikkavdeling, Gunnar Sønstevold, brukte instrumentet i NRKs studio for elektronisk musikk. Instrumentet kunne gi lyder og klanger til ulike fjernsynsproduksjoner. Det er imidlertid uklart hvor mye instrumentet faktisk ble brukt. Antakeligvis ikke så mye. Etter en stund ble instrumentet flyttet fra studioet i NRK og hjem til Gunnar Sønstevold.
Er det fortsatt lyd i instrumentet?
Siden begynnelsen av 1990-tallet har NRKs østtyske Subharchord vært utstilt på Ringve Museum i Trondheim. I en periode befant instrumentet seg på The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology i Oslo, der det ble satt i spillbar stand.
- We were excited about the result, conservator Frode Weium said at the time. He led the project and has electronic musical instruments as a special field. While the instrument was being restored, he wanted it to change as little as possible from the original.
Two of the East German engineers and technicians from the 1960s, Gerhard Steinke and Georg Geike, contributed with advice and information. Together with Geike, Ringve Museum carried out a condition assessment of the instrument. The Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin sent copies of the original Subharchord drawings to Oslo. The work itself was carried out by Bjørn Roar Svensson. He previously worked at NRK and together with Sønstevold in the 1970s and 80s and knows the instrument well. It was far from the first time aSvensson opened up the instrument when he was looking for reasons why the sound was not coming out as it should.
Concert, film and exhibition
Dette var et omfattende samarbeidsprosjekt, forteller Weium. Etter at instrumentet ble satt i spillbar stand, ble det demonstrert av den norske musikeren Biosphere (Geir Jenssen). Konserten ble holdt på Norsk The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology torsdag 6. juni 2013 i forbindelse med Only Connect Festival of Sound. Der presenterte også regissøren Ina Pillat, opprinnelig fra Østtyskland, utdrag fra sin kommende dokumentarfilm om denne Subharchorden.
Instrumentet står nå ved Ringve museum, men kan snart bli å se igjen i utstillingen Musikkmaskiner ved The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology.
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