Theremin

Léon Theremin playing an early theremin

The theremin or thereminvox (originally pronounced but often anglicized as [1]) is one of the earliest fully electronic musical instruments. Invented in 1919 by Russian Léon Theremin, the theremin is unusual in that it requires no physical contact in order to produce music and was, in fact, the first musical instrument designed to be played without being touched. The instrument consists of an array of circuitry including two antennas around which the user moves his or her hands to play.

Overview

To control the theremin, the musician stands in front of the instrument and moves his or her hands in the proximity of two metal antennas, the distance from the antennas determining frequency (pitch) and amplitude (volume). Small and rapid movements of the hands can create a tremolo or vibrato effect. Typically the right hand controls the pitch and the left hand is used for the volume, although some play left-handed, either from handedness or by preference.

Based on the principle of heterodyning oscillators, the theremin generates an audio signal by combining two different but very high frequency radio signals. The capacitance of the human body close to the antennas causes pitch changes in the audio signal, in much the same way that a person moving about a room can affect television or radio reception. By changing the position of the hands relative to the vertical antenna, a performer can control the frequency of the output signal. Similarly, the amplitude of the signal can be affected by altering the hand's proximity to the looped antenna.

A careful combination of movements can lead to surprisingly complex and expressive performances. Typically, theremin passages mostly consist of glissandi, however it is possible for a skilled performer to produce staccato notes. Although theremin players do not need to have absolute pitch, the thereminist must rely on memory and careful listening to accurately play the instrument, which is difficult to master.

History

See also: the life of Léon Theremin

The theremin was originally the product of Russian government-sponsored research into proximity sensors. The instrument was invented by a young Russian physicist named Lev Sergeivich Termen (most commonly known in the West as Léon Theremin) in 1919, followed closely by the outbreak of the Russian civil war. After rave reviews at Moscow electronics conferences, Theremin demonstrated the device to Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin personally. Lenin was so impressed with the device that he began taking lessons in playing it, commissioned 600 of the instruments for distribution throughout the Soviet Union, and sent Theremin on a trip around the world to demonstrate the latest Soviet technology and the invention of electronic music. After a lengthy tour of Europe, during which time he demonstrated his invention to packed houses, Theremin found his way to America, where he patented his invention in 1928 (US1661058 [2]). Subsequently, Theremin granted commercial production rights to RCA.

Although the RCA Thereminvox, released immediately following the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was not a commercial success, it fascinated audiences in America and abroad. Clara Rockmore, widely considered the greatest thereminist ever, toured to wide acclaim, performing a classical repertoire in concert halls around the United States, often sharing the bill with Paul Robeson. In 1938, Theremin was kidnapped from his New York City apartment by Soviet agents, and forced to return to the USSR and made to work in a sharashka. Theremin would not return to the United States until 1991. [3]

After a flurry of interest in America following the end of the Second World War, the theremin soon fell into disuse with serious musicians mainly because newer electronic instruments that were easier to play became available. Still, among a small group of enthusiasts, interest in the theremin remained high.

As a high-school student, future synthesizer guru Robert Moog began his career building theremins in the 1950s. Moog published a number of articles about building theremins and also sold theremin kits that were intended to be assembled by the customer. Moog credits what he learned from the experience as leading directly to his groundbreaking synthesizer, the Minimoog. Today Moog Music is the leading manufacturer of performance-quality theremins.Watch Armen Ra, a contemporary theremin artist play the thereminin a concert in 2006 in New York City.

The theremin in use

Jimmy Page playing a theremin live

In popular music

Theremin sounds have been incorporated into many popular music songs from the 1960s through the present.

When Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys requested a theremin be included in the studio orchestra for the recording of 1966's "Good Vibrations", none was available, nor a musician to play one. Paul Tanner was brought in with his homemade device called an Electro-Theremin which featured mechanical controls that could mimic the theremin sound. For concert appearances, a slide-controlled oscillator was designed and built for Wilson by Robert Moog.

A theremin solo was featured in live versions of the song "Whole Lotta Love", a hit for Led Zeppelin. The band's guitarist Jimmy Page also featured the instrument during live performances of "No Quarter".

Russian musician Lydia Kavina (a distant relative of Theremin) is today regarded as the greatest living theremin virtuoso, having been a protégé of Léon. Pamelia Kurstin is a present-day New York-based thereminist whose eclectic styles and innovations continue to define the unique nature of the instrument.

After the release of the film, Theremin—An Electronic Odyssey in 1994 (one year after the death of Léon Theremin), the instrument has enjoyed a resurgence in interest and became more widely used by contemporary musicians. Even though theremin sounds can be approximated on many modern synthesizers, many musicians continue to appreciate the expressiveness, novelty and uniqueness of using an actual theremin.

Patrick Wolf is known for using a theremin prominently in his music. Pop singer Alison Goldfrapp uses theremins in many of her songs, and is famous for her unique, sexually provocative way of playing them during live performances. Theremins have also been used in live concerts by artists such as Mark Lanegan Band, DeVotchKa, Fishbone, Jean-Michel Jarre, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Charlie Clouser (Nine Inch Nails), Natalie Naveira (Lendi Vexer), Bill Bailey, Gabby La La, Keller Williams, Wolf Parade, Mötley Crüe, Phish, and Russian duo Messer Chups.

Project Pimento, based in San Francisco, is a well-known theremin band on the west coast of the United States. The music ensemble consisting of theremin, vocals, guitar, bass, and drums is the world's only theremin-fronted lounge music band. Robby Virus, the band's founder and theremin player, was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Hellboy.

In movies and movie soundtracks

The Russian Dmitri Shostakovich was the first composer to include parts for the theremin in orchestral pieces, including a use in his score for the 1931 film Odna.

While not enjoying the wide use in classical music performance for which it was originally designed, the instrument found great success as the 'eerie' background sound in countless motion pictures, notably, Spellbound, The Red House, The Lost Weekend, The Spiral Staircase, The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Thing (From Another World), The Ten Commandments (the 1956 DeMille film), Ed Wood, Mars Attacks!, Forbidden Planet, and in Bartleby. The DVDs for Ed Wood and Bartleby both contain short features on the theremin.

Despite such efforts of serious virtuoso performers as Clara Rockmore, the instrument fell into novelty status, largely because of the extreme difficulty in playing it, as well as a lack of instruments and instructors. The theremin is used unusually, for a full melodic part, in the soundtrack of Hellboy.

A theremin appears and is played in the Argentine movie La Niña Santa.

In television shows

Star Trek: The Original Series (1966â€"1969) used the theremin in its theme music by Alexander Courage.
*In the popular Adult Swim show Harvey Birdman, the character Mentok the Mind Taker mimics a theremin with his mouth, usually after saying his name or a plan he has.
*In the 15 minute Cartoon Network show Cow and Chicken, I.R. Baboon plays a Theremin in a music competition against I.M. Weasel, who plays the harp.
*The theremin is the solo instrument that produces the melody in the title music for the UK show Midsomer Murders.
*In the Simpsons episode "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner", Artie Ziff plays the theremin in the attic, prompting Homer to call out "That's it—it's one thing for a ghost to scare my kids, but it's quite another for him to play my theremin!"
Futurama uses a theremin synthesizer in some of its score, composed by Christopher Tyng. This is particularly significant because it is the only synthesizer used in the show's music, and both Tyng and the shows's creator Matt Groening have expressed a deep fascination with and desire to learn the instrument.
* In an episode of Quintuplets Pearce borrows a theremin from his 80 year old neighbour to play in his high school 'Battle of the Bands'. He plays a long and passionate piece but eventually breaks the instrument. When he asks his neighbour how he did, his neighbour responds " You broke my theremin, ya friggin' hippie!"
* For the opening sequence and levitation scenes, the theremin was an important instrument in the TV show My Favorite Martian
* The theme to Dark Shadows was played on a theremin.

Hannibal

The character Hannibal Lecter from Thomas Harris' popular series of books has a long standing infatuation with the Theremin. In Hannibal it says:

"At Sotheby's in New York, he purchased two excellent musical instruments, rare finds both of them. The first... ... His other purchase was an early electronic instrument, a theremin, built in the 1930s by Professor Theremin himself. The theremin had long fascinated Dr. Lecter. He had built one as a child. It is played with gestures of the empty hands in an electronic field. By gesture you evoke its voice.

Now he was all settled in and he could entertain himself. . . ."

Similar instruments

*The Ondes-Martenot uses also the principle of heterodyning oscillators, but it is touched while playing.
*The Electro-Theremin (or Tannerin) does not use heterodyning oscillators and has to be touched while playing, but it allows continuous variation of the frequency range and sounds similar to the theremin.
* The Persephone, an analogue fingerboard syntheziser with CV and MIDI, inspired from Les Ondes Martenots or the Trautonium. The Persephone allows continuous variation of the frequency range from 1 to 10 octaves. The ribbon is pressure and position sensitive.
* Syntheremin is an extension of the theremin.
* The Croix Sonore (Sonorous Cross), is based on the theremin. It was developed by Russian composer Nicolas Obouchov in France, after he saw Lev Theremen demonstrate the theremin in 1924.

Bibliography

* {{cite book