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Best Instrument you haven't heard of.
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by
on 2008-08-28 22:35:49 (edited 2008-08-28 22:37:02)
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Before the electric guitar, before the synthesizer, before the electronic keyboard, the first elecrical musical instrument is probably one you've never heard of, but have heard plenty... it's on all the time on old sci-fi, Doctor Who, and even video games. This instrument is the theremin, invented by... you guessed it, a guy called theremin. Here's a nice piccy of him with an old fashioned theremin  Lemme guess, the pic looks old.. it's cuz the theremin was invented in 1919, YES, that's nearly 90 YEARS! for a newer pic...  If your interested on listening to and watching someone play the theremin, I'll provide a link at the bottom as I'm not sure if embedding is okay here. Now, for an explanation, for those who fear large words, or avoid geek talk at all costs, skip ahead. The theremin uses dual oscillators, one being at a fixed frequency, the other a variable one, your hands act as grounds that the oscillators respond to. Their position to the antannae result in an audio signal sent to a speaker, (be it an amp or onboard speaker). For those who skipped ahead, or maybe was confused, or possibly you just like seeing my writing (doubt it), this is a simpler explanation. Your hands determine the notes that the theremin will play, the closer you are to one of the antannae, the higher the pitch (the tall one btw), and the closer your other hand is to the second antannae, the lower the volume. Kinda like if your messing with your TV or radio antannae to pick up a station, you could even not touch the thing, and improve the reception. So, in absolute simplest terms possible, you make music by a wave of the hand, pretty cool. For more information on the principles behind the theremin, there's always wikipedia: Theremin Wiki For a little bit of showing off the theremin, just an intro really: Theremin intro on youtube and for a collaboration of electronic instruments the theremin being especially prevalent: Gnarls Barkley Crazy Theremin Jam For many more cool vids, there's always the youtube search, there are plenty of theremin vids showing off cool bits of music you probably recognize. BTW... I am soooooo gonna build one =D, and even though I have pretty much a deaf ear, I'll try to learn a bit.  |