The theremin was invented in 1919 by a Russian physicist named Lev Termen. It is not like any other instrument, since it is played without being touched. Two antennas protrude from the theremin - one controlling pitch, and the other controlling volume. The electronic oscillators are tuned by hand capacity affects. As a hand approaches the vertical antenna, the pitch gets higher. Approaching the horizontal antenna makes the volume softer. They were originally built in the 1930's by RCA, GE & Westinghouse and found immediate use in the film industry because of their weird ethereal sounds. Robert Moog was building these in the 60's before the synthesizer.
Tuesday 3 March 2009
The Theremin
The theremin was invented in 1919 by a Russian physicist named Lev Termen. It is not like any other instrument, since it is played without being touched. Two antennas protrude from the theremin - one controlling pitch, and the other controlling volume. The electronic oscillators are tuned by hand capacity affects. As a hand approaches the vertical antenna, the pitch gets higher. Approaching the horizontal antenna makes the volume softer. They were originally built in the 1930's by RCA, GE & Westinghouse and found immediate use in the film industry because of their weird ethereal sounds. Robert Moog was building these in the 60's before the synthesizer.
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How does this happen then? What's the point?
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