The variofon was created with the participation of G. M. Rimsky-Korsakov and A. Avraamov. The first version of the device made it possible to “synthesize artificial sound tracks using the automated “paper sound” technique. The instrument uses rotating discs with cut-out teeth to shape the sound wave (transversal circuit), periodically interrupting a beam of light that forms the outline of the sound track. Shooting is done directly onto moving film using a special transmission that transmits the rotation of the electric motor driving the circuit to the mechanism that advances the film. The ratio of rotation and pulling speeds determines the period of the recorded oscillation. A tempered scale of 12 steps in an octave is obtained through a special gearbox, glissando and microchromatics are achieved using a conical variator” (A. Smirnov, “In Search of the Lost Sound”, M., 2020, pp. 209–210).
Links to Third-Party Publications:
Smirnov A. In search of the lost sound. Experimental sound culture of Russia and the USSR in the first half of the twentieth century. M.: Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, 2020.
