An early
electronic musical instrument invented in
1928 by
German Acoustician Friedrich Trautwein. The Trautonium is played by pressing a finger against a wire along its length (to control
pitch), putting the wire into contact with a metal bar, thus
triggering a
note. Another bar was pressed to control
note articulation.
Timbres were chosen by using several switches.
One of the only known extant pieces of music ever written for the Trautonium is Concerto for Solo Trautonium and Orchestra (written 1930 by Paul Hindemith).
A student of Trautwein, Oskar Sala later went on to develop a similar instrument called the Mixturtrautonium. This was an improved version of the Trautonium that he used to compose music and sound effects for film. It was also used on Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.