(Fr. ruban; Ger. Bandmanual). A pitch control device, also known as a linear or ribbon Controller, used in some monophonic electronic instruments. Typically a horizontally mounted ribbon of non-conductive material insulates the performer from a resistance ribbon below it; beneath it a bar or wire carries an electrical current. When the fingerboard is depressed it brings the resistance ribbon into contact with the wire; different positions produce different frequencies in an oscillator. Sometimes a pressure-sensitive layer below the ribbon, such as a mercury-filled tube in the trautonium, permits further control over attack. In addition to glissandos, produced by sliding the finger along the ribbon, the performer can play discrete pitches by using a normal finger technique. When there is no parallel keyboard, some form of pitch-orientating device is employed, such as a dummy keyboard or markers for selected pitches. An equivalent of the ribbon is used in the Ondes martenot; a horizontal wire controls a variable capacitance by means of a ring into which the performer's index finger is inserted.
HUGH DAVIES