Lesson plan
Wavemakers
Wavemakers (original French title Le chant des ondes) is a 2012 Quebec documentary film about the Ondes Martenot, directed by Caroline Martel. Martel discovered the Ondes Martenot while making her 2004 film, Le fantôme de l'opératrice, which featured a soundtrack by accomplished "Ondiste" Suzanne Binet-Audet. Martel has stated that in post-screening question periods, people often asked about the mysterious music on the soundtrack. The film documents the musical instrument's invention by Maurice Martenot, who conceived his instrument after being inspired by the humming and static sounds made by the telegraph machines he operated during the First World War. He built fewer than 300 of the instruments that bear his name during his lifetime, of which there are only about 70 left. Wavemakers includes a performance by musician Jonny Greenwood, filmed during a Radiohead soundcheck. Greenwood, who was self-taught on the instrument, stated after his performance Binet-Audet pointed out a technical error in his playing style. The film also features interviews with Jean-Loup Dierstein, an electronic-instrument repairman-turned-Ondes Martenot maker, who was commissioned by Greenwood to build him a new instrument, Binet-Audet, as well as Montreal-based Ondiste Jean Laurendeau.
Article summary
Wavemakers (original French title Le chant des ondes) is a 2012 Quebec documentary film about the Ondes Martenot, directed by Caroline Martel. Martel discovered the Ondes Martenot while making her 2004 film, Le fantôme de l'opératrice, which featured a soundtrack by accomplished "Ondiste" Suzanne Binet-Audet. Martel has stated that in post-screening question periods, people often asked about the mysterious music on the soundtrack. The film documents the musical instrument's invention by Maurice Martenot, who conceived his instrument after being inspired by the humming and static sounds made by the telegraph machines he operated during the First World War. He built fewer than 300 of the instruments that bear his name during his lifetime, of which there are only about 70 left. Wavemakers includes a performance by musician Jonny Greenwood, filmed during a Radiohead soundcheck. Greenwood, who was self-taught on the instrument, stated after his performance Binet-Audet pointed out a technical error in his playing style. The film also features interviews with Jean-Loup Dierstein, an electronic-instrument repairman-turned-Ondes Martenot maker, who was commissioned by Greenwood to build him a new instrument, Binet-Audet, as well as Montreal-based Ondiste Jean Laurendeau.
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.