I was looking for some information about Thomas Bloch, who plays ondes Martenot on a recording of Messianen's Turangalila that I just picked up, and I came across this video on the 'Tube, which gives a great overview of how the ondes Martenot works and how it is played. As we all know, the French Connection is mostly modeled on the ondes Martenot; it doesn't work quite the same, but is similar enough, I guess. But the controller part aside, it doesn't really sound like the ondes Martenot, mainly because it doesn't sound like anything at all, being a controller and what-not. What I found interesting was the range of tones the real one can produce; that, coupled with the control method, results in an incredibly expressive instrument, something that isn't that easy to do with electronics. I find it odd that the early electronic instruments (this, the Theremin, the Trautonium, etc.) all concentrated more on the ability to express the note as it is played than the base sound. This has the net effect of giving an instrument with a somewhat more basic voice than your average monosynth a much broader tonal palette than, say, a MiniMoog, interestingly enough. There are controllers out today that allow a similar amount of expression; I think the Continuum is probably the best example of this sort of thing, if you program your sounds accordingly (and why wouldn't you? You just spent $5K on a controller.) And I don't think anyone would deny that the piano itself, the most basic (or most complicated, depending on your viewpoint) keyboard instrument is the single most expressive musical tool ever created by man. I guess I just find it profound that the first half-dozen electronic instruments ever created all tried to give you the same amount of control over the note that you would get on your average cello. That isn't much of a concern nowadays. (Note: it's worth it to watch to the end of the video, although it is somewhat tedious. There's a really funny bit at the end which makes it all worthwhile.)

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