"THE COLD SONG" played on the Haken Continuum

This song was written in 1691 by the English composer, Henry Purcell, for his opera KING ARTHUR and in recent years it has become one of the most widely appreciated melodies of its period, and has been sung by both classical and popular singers.

The HAKEN CONTINUUM is one of the most exciting and versatile inventions of the “new” generation of musical instruments. The Continuum you see in this video, however, has been enhanced with two things: a keyboard extension and a special speaker modelled on the “palme” that was devised in the 1930’s by French inventor and musical instrument maker, Maurice Martenot (father of the ondes martenot).

Maurice Martenot experimented extensively with various types of resonator/speakers to use with his ondes. He wanted to lend an acoustic element to the sound which he could not reproduce electronically with what was available in the 1930’s. His “palme” was essentially a 12-string lyre in the form of a large palm leaf, with a speaker inside it. I was curious to know what a “palme” might sound like with some of the Continuum presets, so I built one.

The strings of Martenot’s speakers were tuned to the chromatic scale and were intended to vibrate sympathetically with the ondes. Measuring 36 inches from stem to stern, my Continuum “palme” (which you see in this video) is much larger than those that were built by Martenot. It is also strung with steel strings, not gut, and has its own built-in electromagnetic pickup (like an electric guitar), so it does not require a microphone.

The Continuum keyboard extension is another idea of my own, and it allows a number of things to be done on the instrument which are otherwise impossible or extremely difficult. The keyboard is entirely mechanical, with no electronic components, and consists of a row of tiny “fingers” that push into the neoprene fingerpad of the Continuum, allowing instant pinpoint accuracy without the need for quantization or “rounding”. Key pressure controls volume, just as it does when you play the neoprene with your fingers, and the keyboard and fingerpad can be played simultaneously. You can slide, and skip and jump and go wherever you want just as if you were dancing.

The sound you hear from the Continuum was conceived by Ed Eagan, the designer of the “Eagan matrix” which is the sound engine behind the hundreds of presets built into the instrument. It is called “icicles” and it seemed particularly appropriate for this piece.

The harpsichord accompaniment comes from a ROLAND FantomXR (triggered by my trusty old KORG Triton Extreme). It was my original intention to play both the harpsichord and the Continuum at the same time, but unfortunately I don’t have enough arms & hands to do what I wanted to do.

Видео "THE COLD SONG" played on the Haken Continuum канала Peter Pringle