I'm sorry, I'm posting to this thread a liitle late ...
First of all, I must say how interested I was to read all the different
messages on Messiaen. I especially appreciated Jos Janssen's different
recommendations.
Although I know the sound of les Ondes Martenot when I hear them, and a
little about the instrument itself, I suddenly realized that, beyond a
vague idea from the odd TV program, I wasn't really sure what the ensemble
looked like, and what the different componenets were exactly. I searched
and found:
some good photos on Jeanne Loriod's site:
http://www.alienor.fr/jeanne-loriod/onde.html
and on:
http://www.chez.com/cslevine/Ondes/ONDES.htm
Both sites give good technical descriptions of the instrument and of how
it is played.
Unfortunately(?), they are both in French. The second is translated into
English - a little strangely, maybe ;-) but all is perfectly clear:
http://www.chez.com/cslevine/Ondes/WAVES.html
All the above, just in case someone else is still wondering too ...
Regards,
Christine Labroche