Google celebrates pioneer of electronic music Oscar Sala's 112th birthday
If you are a music lover then you must have heard of Oscar Sala, the pioneer of electronic music. Google is celebrating the 112th birthday of the iconic music composer and German physicist today with a Google doodle. Being immersed in music since birth, Sala is popularly known for playing the mixture-trautonium, a predecessor to the synthesizer which could play several sounds simultaneously.
Take a beat to celebrate German electronic composer Oskar Sala's 112th birthday. He developed played the mixture-trautonium, which introduced a unique sound to television, radio film.
— Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles) July 17, 2022
Learn about his legacy instrument in today’s #GoogleDoodle → https://t.co/YC1kOPZFxe pic.twitter.com/r1wXsrDoLW
Born in Greiz, Germany in 1910, Sala was brought up in a musical environment as his mother was a singer and his father was an ophthalmologist and a talented musician. Sala began his journey as a musician at the age of 14 and created songs and compositions with the piano and organ. He used to perform at classical piano concerts as well.
In 1929, Sala shifted to Berlin to learn piano and composition with violist and composer Paul Hindemith at the Berlin conservatory. He tried several experiments at Dr. Friedrich Trautwein's school laboratory which helped him learn to play the trautonium. In 1948, he further developed the trautonium into the mixture-trautonium. Sala also introduced the field of subharmonics, a symmetric counterpart to overtones.
According to the Google Doodles page, with Sala's education as an electro-engineer and a composer, he created electronic music that made his style different and unique from others. He composed sound effects and music for several television, movie, and radio productions including Rosemary (1959) and The Birds (1962). His pioneer instrument produced noises like hammering, door and window slams, and bird cries.
Sala had received several accolades for his work and met countless world-famous artists. He gave several interviews throughout his career and was honored in movies and radio broadcasts. He donated his original mixture-trautonium in 1995 to the German Museum for Contemporary Technology. Sala also established the Quartett-Trautonium, Volkstrautonium and Concert Trautonium. "With his dedication and creative energy, he became a one-man orchestra," Google said.
