Thread: The Theremin

What an unusual yet delightful modern instrument! A good Japanese violinist got ill and couldn't carry on her instrument so she took up the theremin instead! It's used in film scores a lot.

Has anyone else played a theremin? If so - what did you think?

I actually made one of those a while ago. The famous modern solo is in Messaien's Turangalila Symphony (about the only movement I can stomach), where it appears as an "ondes martentot", an instrument outwardly slightly different but on the same electronic principles.

I wouldn't recomment buying a recording unless you're happy with Messaien on his bad hair days. Just this movement stands out as quite lyrical!

Originally Posted by Edward Elgar

What an unusual yet delightful modern instrument! A good Japanese violinist got ill and couldn't carry on her instrument so she took up the theremin instead! It's used in film scores a lot.

Has anyone else played a theremin? If so - what did you think?

I want a Theramin SOO bad! "The Flaming Lips" use one during live shows., it's pretty gnarly.

the ones one've seen were cone shaped.

dj

VF, do some research before you buy one. There are several types. You can build one from a circuit diagram. A good 'un gives you control of volume as well as pitch. It's said that there is a great deal of skill in playing one well, but there's certainly fun to be had.
Led Zeppelin used one on stage. My friend Graham, the name of whose band doesn't bear repeating on a family site, uses one in free-form improvisations. I'd like one too, but have friends, family and musical colleagues to consider.

I prefer the Ondes Martenot. It's somehow of a more pleasant sound. I've seen an excellent clip of an old virtuoso martenotist on Youtube. It's an educational video, you can learn the basic principles of the instrument watching it.

There is an unusually fine documentary about the theremin, its inventor and main protagonists
- including the virtuoso Clara Rockmore - by Steven M. Martin ("Theremin. An Electronic Odyssey",
1995). Theremin, a Russian of origin, made a career with his instrument in the US in the 20s, but was kidnapped by the KGB and lived a forgotten existence in the USSR for decades. Shortly before his death,
he made a return trip to the US, meeting Rockmore and others.

However, I must agree with the opinions that the sound of the instrument itself (it is played by moving your hands with simple gestures above the instrument, without actually touching it) is hardly a very pleasant one, an impression also strengthened by the documentary´s selection of slow and sentimental music-making. Originally, though, Rockmore was able to play fast, like a violin virtuoso, and the theremin was also of interest to the avant-garde as well as science fiction filmmakers ("The Day the Earth Stood Still"), thriller soundtracks and early rock music (The Beach Boys)..

There is a you-tube clip of Theremin from the USSR 1954

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5qf9O6c20o

and another one that is earlier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbaG5...eature=related

as well as, for instance, a typically bizarre "The Swan" with the elderly Rockmore

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSzTP...eature=related

I got to play one, its a little abstract the relayion between your movements and the sounds produced.

It's been used by quite a few pop and rock acts including the Beach Boys and one of my favorites, Matthew Sweet.

I also saw a great piece on TV which talked about Theremin's work as a spy for the KGB. He invented one of the most ingenious listening devices ever.

The Beach Boys' song Good Vibrations famously uses the Theremin (at 25 seconds in).

Originally Posted by Delicious Manager

The Beach Boys' song Good Vibrations famously uses the Theremin (at 25 seconds in).

That's actually a Tannerin (or Electro-Theremin). Quite similar sound to the original theremin but with very different controls. The inventor actually performed the part in that Beach Boys song.

Like people have said, the sound of an unaffected theremin is a bit one dimensional, but the idea of having analogous control of pitch and volume just by moving your hands is ingenius. I'd like to get one and run it through some effects to see what I could coax out of it. The continuos glissando would become annoying but if you were to use a volume pedal to kill sound between tones it might sound more solid, a bit like a pedal steel guitar gone crazy.

Also, they look extremely hard to play well.

Originally Posted by Argus

That's actually a Tannerin (or Electro-Theremin). a bit like a pedal steel guitar gone crazy.

What, you mean there is a pedal steel that HASN'T gone crazy?

I've always wanted to get a pedal steel. Awesome instrument.

it actually sounds quite amazing here

A recent BBC article on Leon Theremin (1896 - 1993)...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17340257