Glossary: Ribbon Controller

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Ribbon Controller: A type of synthesizer control device that responds to changes in voltage or resistance caused by moving a finger along its surface. Some ribbon controllers are also able to record pressure or velocity. The ribbon controller has a long and distinguished history in electronic musical instruments. In 1928 Maurice Martenot, a French radio operator, presented a new electronic instrument, the Ondes Martenot ("Martenot's Waves") that included both a seven-octave keyboard and a ribbon controller that allowed pitch inflections like a voice or stringed instrument. It allowed for a wide glissando when the player moved a finger ring attached to the metal ribbon that controlled frequency. Hundreds of symphonic works, operas, ballets, and film scores were composed for this instrument. A different instrument incorporating ribbon-style pitch control, the Trautonium, was introduced in 1930. The basic design of a ribbon controller is fairly simple. In most cases it is a linear potentiometer that generates different control voltages depending on where it is touched. Think of it as a rotary knob that has been "unrolled." It's made of an electrically conductive strip that senses the static discharge that occurs when you touch it. These changes in voltage can be applied to any number of voltage-controlled oscillators, filters or amplifiers in analog synthesizers. The voltage fluctuations can also be translated into binary data and used to control digital modulation. Some ribbon controllers include a velocity or pressure sensor, often made of conductive rubber, which generates a second control voltage that increases with pressure. Again, this voltage can be assigned to control many different parameters of a synth patch. Rock and Roll embraced Moog ribbon controllers in the 1960s. Keith Emerson was famous for attaching a Moog ribbon to a pyrotechnics control, using both simultaneously to set off both musical and literal fireworks. The famed "Theremin" sound in the Beach Boys' song "Good Vibrations," was in fact played by a ribbon-controlled instrument called the Electro-Theremin. The Beach Boys themselves later used a Moog ribbon controller with a Moog synthesizer in live performances.

R-Buss	R-DAT	Rack Rail
Rack Space	Radio Wave	Radius (Fingerboard)
RAID	RAM	RAM Disk
Random Access	Random Noise	Rank
RAR	Rarefaction	Rasgueado
Rate/Level Envelope Generator	Ratio	RCA
Re-Amp	RealAudio	Real Time
Recap (or Recapping)	Receiver Image	Reconstruction Filter
Record Enable	Recording Console	Rectifier
Recursive Formula (Filter)	Red Book	Reel
Reel-to-Reel	Reen	Refraction
Refurbished	Regal	Regal
Regeneration	Region	Register
Regulator (Voltage Regulator)	Relap	Release
Release Trigger	Release Velocity	Relic
Relief	Reluctance	Reluctance
Remix	Remote Control	REMS
Render	Repeater	Repeat Mark
Repro	Reproduction Right	Res-O-Glas
Resample	Reset All Controllers	Resistance
Resistor	Resolution	Resolve
Resonance	Resonant	Resonant Frequency
Resonator	Rest	Resultant Tone
Resynthesis	Retro	Retrofit
Return	Reverb	Reverse Breakdown Voltage
Reverse Engineering	Reversion Clause	ReWire
REX File	RFI	RFZ
RGB	Rhodes Electric Piano	Rhythm
RIAA	RIAA Equalization	Ribbon Cable
Ribbon Controller	Ribbon Mic	Rick-O-Sound
Ricochet	RIFF	Rift Sawn
Ring Modulator	Ring Out	RIP
RISC	Rise Time/Fall Time	Ritardando
RMID	RMS	RMS (Root Mean Square)
Robert Moog	Rocket Network	Rocking Bar Bridge
RoHS	Roll Mode	Rolloff
Rolloff Slope	ROM	Rompler
Root	Root Key (Sampling)	Rosette
Rosewood	Rotary Selector Switch	Rotary Speaker
Rototom	Round Wound	Rout
RPM	RS-232	RS-422
RSS	RT60	Real Time Analyzer (RTA)
RTAS	Rubato	Rumble