A Theremin Introduction
I'm pretty sure that it was Jared Ranum who taught me that the strange futuristic-sounding instrument in the Beach Boy's song "Good Vibrations" was a theremin. "Invented by Leon Theremin in 1920. It was very difficult to play and the appeal of the theremin faded quickly. It is described as an oscillator which generates a single tone controlled by the movement of the operator's hand to an antennae that protrudes from it."(1) Below you will find a lady named Pamela Kurstin playing the fire out of one, and explaining how it works. If this kind of thing is not the reason you read this blog, then I have no idea why you would.
posted by Ike Graul at 10:26 AM
17 Comments:
Very interesting! It's amazing to me that someone would think of a way to control the sound of what seems to be a radio frequency and make it into music. Sounds like something you would do. :)
I guess I need to lay off the caffeine. Most likely I'll just stick to singing.
Does this mean you're considering acquiring one? (fingers crossed)
Thats both very cool and strange. She is really cute/funny as she tries to explain it. Still not sure I completly understand it, but I could do it! hehe
Way cool! It would be fun to listen to in person.
I'm sure I will acquire a theremin someday, but I've already invested money in an electric guitar this year, and the only way to earn the return on it is to invest some focused time on skill acquisition. I dare not distract myself, life in general does that just fine.
I'm left without words.
Johnathan Thomas left without words?
That was a beautiful rendition of "Autumn Leaves." I want to go to TED someday.
Talk about something designed to play by ear. Wow! I could get used to something like that. It seems like the ultimate solo instrument. It does look like it would take some getting used to. Thanks Ike.
Very cool. I have not seen anything like that before. Not as cool as the synthesizer but still cool! ;)
An instrument I have yet to play...Or even know of. Where do you even find something of this sort?! It's now on my list of skills to acquire in this life. Thanks for introducing me.
You can buy a kit from Guitar Center and build your own. I think I will do that someday.
That is the craziest thing I've ever seen! Chances of me figuring out that instrument before the guitar are very high... I am very overwhelmed by that darn instrument but I want it so badly.
What would be sweet is if in the middle of her song she slapped her hand on some peanut butter to change the permittivity of her skin. It would kind of be like the wowie bar on a guitar.
If anyone ever wants to get into a cool lengthy discussion of exactly how this works, we can start with Maxwell's Equations. I know them well because I took Emag-I twice ;)
So I'm a little late getting around to actually watching/listening to this crazy sci-fi instrument... but I LOVE it! Yep, I think I would like to one day own one.
awesome.
Thanks, Ike!
Uhhmmmm...I don't know what to say other than that is easily a top 10 coolest/strangest thing I've seen in the last 5 years. It looks like it can't be real. But it is right? I mean, we've confirmed this?
Theremin's been around for years - seen as The Creator for electronic music, he got Moog into playing with an idea for electric pianos. Check out the documentary "Theremin" to hear the amazing story of this guy's life, too. He was kidnapped by the KGB at the height of his popularity, hadn't seen his wife until they made this documentary (about 10 years ago) and so on. Several bands have started using them again, too (I've seen Fishbone and Man or Astroman with 'em on stage) so it's pretty fun to watch in action.
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