The Hammond Novachord - Introduction

Introduction of The Hammond Novachord at the New York World's Fair 1939 - 1940.

THE NEW WORLD ENSEMBLE.
The story of the New World Ensemble revolves around three pioneers; Henry Ford, the sponsor; Laurens Hammond, the inventor; and Ferde Grofe, the director.

On April 30 1939, upon the opening of the World's Fair in New York the world heard its first electric orchestra.
It was the premiere of the New World Ensemble then newly formed especially for the Ford Exposition.
The same group, playing a Hammond Organ and four Novachords, led by Ferde Grofe, again appeared this year in daily concerts in the Garden Court at the Ford Exposition.

When plans were being laid for the Ford Exposition at the New York Fair, Mr. Hammond told Mr. Ford of his latest invention, an entirely new medium for musical expression - an instrument that could produce the tonal effects of many orchestral instruments.
The new Novachord was auditioned by Ford executives and the idea for the New World Ensemble was born.
Mr. Ford saw that a combination of Novachords and a Hammond Organ could play whole symphonies.

The next problem was to find a conductor - a man with the ability to uncover all the resources of the new instrument and to score music for it, a man to train and direct players to produce music up to the high Ford standards.
Ferde Grofe admirably filled these qualifications and was enthusiastic over the
possibilities of the unusual ensemble.
He, too. owned one of the first Hammond Organs and immediately grasped the musical resources of the new Novachord.


THE HAMMOND NOVACHORD

Although it was introduced only a few months before, the Novachord has excited more comment interest and enthusiasm then has ever greeted any new musical instrument.
This is partly due to the fact that it allows the player to completely change the character of its tones, and partly to the many different, beautiful tones it produces.
On the Novachord you can schwitch instantly from a percussive tone simulair to that of the piano to a sustained tone simulair to that of the organ, with many graduations in between.
And anyone who has heard the New World Ensemble has heard it producing such familiar effects as the violin, harpichord, flute, cornet, cello, Hawaiian steel guitar and others.
The Novachord has a conventional keyboard and is easy to play.
The Novachord uses no strings, no hammers, no reeds, is entirely electrical in operation, it creates its tones by means of standard vacuum tubes.
Its enormous number of beautiful effects has led many to predict that the Novachord wil become the populair home musical instrument.
It gives the musician a profusion of beautiful effects for creating entirely new musical interpretations.

Hammond.fRIENd - 2008

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Novachord
• Hammond

[HammondfRIENd]

we have one here (The Netherlands) in restauration. Two others are in a museum in The Hague. Both doesn't work at the moment.

I have a lot of sound samples and quit a lot of recordings with the Novachord. One of the most interesting musical instruments, in my opinion.

[HideawayStudio]

I am possibly the only owner of an existing Novachord in the UK. It's quite something to see footage of such a famous historical event and just amazing to see these rare beasts being played. The instrument cost $1800 in 1939 - nearly as much as three cars!

[HideawayStudio]

The instrument used in the intro is Phil Cirocco's Novachord - this example was completely rebuilt a few years ago.

My example is the one featured on the SonicState website in the "Top 20 Weirdest Instruments" video series.

[dieselheart001]

I'm looking for a Novachord to restore. It will be (as far as I know) the only one in existence in the state I live in.

[dieselheart001]

It would be interesting to know what became of the four Novachords from this event.

[The2010SnowDay]

Has anybody ever tried to make a replica of one of the Novachord with smaller tubes and more reliable components?

[The2010SnowDay]

@taijiguy The Telharmonium was also the inspiration for tone wheel organs such as the Robb Wave Organ, and of Course the Hammond.

[SkateYourOwnStyle]

before i have visited some pages about restoring novachords i thought the novachord was just a story, but now i want one...

[SkateYourOwnStyle]

or as much as a house...

[ZmajSnoshaj]

The UK Novachord and Phil's Novachord are two entirely different beasts my friend.

[taijiguy]

The Telharmonium was the first synthesizer, more than 40 years before the Novachord.

[NJPurling]

This instrument was the world's first synth, and it still sounds futuristic. The intro is a very recent recording of the UK Novachord.

With 163 valves there's no wonder it uses 400 watts of electricity. I too wonder what a new build post-war with the 9pin minature tubes would have done.

The restoration of one of these instruments was a massive project. Well worth it for it's historical significance.