Kitties [heart] mini theremins. [more inside]
posted by piratebowling on May 22, 2008 - 29 comments

When Maurice Martenot met Lev Sergeivich Termen in the early 1920's and heard his revolutionary new musical instrument the Theremin, he was inspired to create his own electroacoustic instrument , which he christened Ondes Martenot. Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the first performance of this remarkable hybrid keyboard which, aside from its lovely and ethereal sound, is also aesthetically pleasing visually, with its handsome collection of multiple speakers. See and hear the instrument being played and explained in this video interview and demonstration by Jean Laurendeau, which closes with a lovely rendition of the theme from Star Trek. And, here's the instrument in use, live, alongside who else? Radiohead. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Dec 25, 2007 - 20 comments

Spooky halloween sounds via wfmu. "Talk about a budget label classic! I was first introduced to this LP by Jack Diamond. Side 1 is pretty standard horror sounds, but Side 2 is where the magic is found! I love these remarks by a friend which pretty much sums it up: "Side 2 of this album is unlike other Halloween sound effect records floating around in that it is all theremin! And get a load of those track titles?! It sounds as if someone let a 5 year old kid noodle around for a while. It's super scary!"
posted by vronsky on Oct 31, 2007 - 9 comments

You've never heard a box of Stoned Wheat Thins, a big tub of Necco, a little wooden frog, a Tupperware bucket, an empty jar and a theremin sound this good. It's Crazy. No, really, it's Crazy. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 11, 2007 - 19 comments

Classical hits on the Theremin: Thomas Grillo performs Rachmaninoff's Vocalise, and the inimitable Clara Rockmore plays Cassado's Requiebros and Saint-Saëns The Swan.
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Jul 1, 2007 - 14 comments

Two words: Hip Hop and Theremin. Turns out the weird, spooky sci-fi noise machine plays all sorts of good music: Video Killed the Radio Star, The Legend of Zelda and sometimes, in the right hands, it speaks of a man's love of White Castle.
posted by generic230 on Jun 21, 2007 - 27 comments

Of course you know the rhythm box/drum machine has had a profound impact on modern music-making, but how much do you know about its history? Was the Rhythmicon the very first rhythm machine? Korg's DoncaMatic (great name, eh?) was one of the first commercial models. Up until 1979 they were all pre-programmed, but Roland ushered in the modern era with the user-programmable CR-78, and followed it up soon after with the legendary TR808. Go here for a fairly comprehensive overview of vintage drum machines (organized alphabetically, with photos and descriptions/background info). And here you can interact with a wide assortment of virtual [Flash] rhythm boxes of the 70's and 80's. (Knee-jerk Flash haters, go ahead and hate it, but this is one of the best uses of Flash I can imagine.)
posted by flapjax at midnite on Dec 27, 2006 - 26 comments

What do you call two thereminists in a room together? A convention. Well, about 50 thereminists gathered for the Ether Music 2005 Convention last week in Asheville, NC. But what’s a theremin, you ask? You can meet a theremin, marvel at it’s award-winning beauty (scroll down), hear one live, enjoy some theremin humor, buy a vintage theremin, or if that’s too pricey, build one or even enter to win your very own. (previously discussed here, here and here)
posted by grateful on Aug 12, 2005 - 22 comments

By a weird coincidence, after reading this interview in New Scientist with three of the engineers who made electronic music possible, I walked by a poster for a documentary film about Bob Moog. One of my earliest memories of electronic music in the 1970s was an elementary school music teacher who was really into Wendy Carlos' and Isao Tomita's early arrangements of classical works for synthesizer. Of course, electronic music history goes back to the 1920s with the theremin developed as a classical instrument. It has its own web portal filled with lots of good stuff. And now for something slightly different, Conlon Nancarrow wrote piano compositions that could not be performed by human hands, demanding the use of a player piano.
posted by KirkJobSluder on Apr 4, 2005 - 20 comments

Leon Sergeivitch Termen, born in Russia and later a US resident, is best known as the inventor of The Theremin, the first real electronic instrument. The Theremin is played by standing and wavings one's hands. It was used to give a futuristic sound to classic sci-fi films and still looks plenty sci-fi when played[quicktime clip] and the music it produces is strange and beautiful[real player].
Old Leon himself ended up getting kidnapped by Soviet agents and sent to a Siberian prison camp. After his release, he continued to work for the KGB, creating one of the first "bugs" -- then used to eavesdrop on the American Embassy. He was mostly unaware of the fate of his eponymous instrument. Meanwhile, his former lover, Clara Rockmore, went on to try and change the thermin from novelty to serious instrument, she even had her own unique playing style (heard in the real player clip above). Want to play? build your own, or download your own, and join the whole odd subculture.
posted by malphigian on Aug 11, 2002 - 25 comments

Download your very own desktop Theremin today. (via goodexperience.com)
posted by quirked on Jun 14, 2001 - 15 comments