The "Electronic Sackbut"(1945) and The "Sonde" (1948)

Hugh Le Caine the Canadian composer,physicist and inventor was the producer of innovative instruments and technologies including many custom built electronic instruments and pioneering work with multi-track tape recorders, he was also at the forefront of the development of electronic music studios and an early advocate of "user-friendly" approaches to new technologies. 

Hugh Le Caine in his garden

Unlike better-known contemporaries such as Robert Moog, LeCaine never saw his major inventions developed directly into complete commercial products, most were one off devices which although were never commercial successes had great influence on the world of electronic music. Among his many creations were the "Electronic Sackbut" and the "Sonde".  The "Electronic Sackbut" Developed by Hugh LeCaine at the University of Toronto in 1945. The instrument was a touch sensitive keyboard voltage-controlled synthesizer with pitch,waveform, and formant controllers.  The "Sonde" A one off, custom built for the University of Toronto, Ottowa. The Sonde had 30 fixed frequency oscillators arranged in a 10X20 matrix used to create 200 sine waves whose frequencies were spaced at 5hz intervals: from 5-1khz. Each frequency was routed to a key of a touch sensitive polyphonic keyboard.

Further Information:

"The Sackbut Blues : Hugh Le Caine, pioneer in electronic music" Young, Gayle, 
( National Museum of Science and Technology, Canada ) 1989 . ISBN/ISSN :0660120062