But digital circuitry makes the sound of those theremins more stable and less harmonically complex. To control volume, the performer’s other hand acts as the grounded plate of another variable capacitor. When a hand approaches the antenna, the natural frequency of that circuit is lowered by the extra capacitance, which detunes the oscillator and lowers its resonant plate current. This series tuned circuit is then connected in parallel with the parallel tuned circuit of the variable pitch oscillator. With the antenna circuit disconnected, the oscillator is tuned to a frequency slightly higher than the stand-alone resonant frequency of the antenna circuit.
The theremin is distinguished among musical instruments in that it is played without physical contact. The thereminist stands in front of the instrument and moves their hands in the proximity of two metal antennas. While commonly called antennas, they are not used as radio antennae for receiving or broadcasting radio waves, but rather act as plates of capacitors. The distance from one antenna determines frequency (pitch), and the distance from the other controls amplitude (volume).
- Learn about the Shepard tone, a popular auditory illusion that tricks your brain into thinking a sound is always rising or falling in pitch.
- But most of the sheet music for the piece was lost after its second performance.
- Music researchers estimate that there are more than 1,500 musical instruments in the world.
- Relatively simply circuitry coupled with a certain cult novelty makes the theremin one of the most hackable instruments out there.
- Today, hackers and musical tinkerers of all kinds use these same principles to create all manner of Theremins and Theremin-like devices.
Nowadays, while not resoundingly famous, the theremin has been at the service of popular culture as a vehicle for the eerie or the quirky. The soundtrack for the TV show Loki, composed by Natalie Holt, features plenty of theremin to enhance the puzzling, uneasy weight of the story. The go-to instrument for an extra-terrestrial encounter, the theremin was used to score various science fiction films in the 1940s and 50s, most famously The Day the Earth Stood Still, scored by Bernard Hermann. It also appeared in the soundtrack to various horror and mystery movies, among them Miklós Rózsa’s 1945 score to the Alfred Hitchcock film Spellbound. What’s more, even if you don’t have access to a theremin, that doesn’t need to stop you from incorporating its unique sound into your music.
The Shepard tone: What it is and how it works
With only two antennae to manipulate, the theremin seems like it would be a breeze to play. In the hands of a master, the theremin can sing with the precision, vibrato and depth of a seasoned mezzo-soprano. When operated by a novice, on the other hand, it produces little more than earsplitting blats and squawks. In 1967, Paul Tanner invented electrotheremin, an instrument that mimics the sounds of the theremin, and is responsible for the high-pitched sound on “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys. Below, we’ll list three of the most important players in theremin history.
Theremin expert Arthur Harrison has built a Web site, Theremin.us, dedicated to spreading knowledge about theremins and theremin-building. He offers kits for sale as well as detailed instructional articles, including schematics, on constructing vacuum tube powered theremins. Even Harrison, however, warns against the dangers involved with building these devices, which use lethal AC voltages. “Make music with the wave of a hand! Sound like an opera star! So easy, anyone can do it!” Such were key selling points of the first commercially available theremin. Hailed as the world’s earliest electronic instrument, Radio Corporation of America’s (RCA’s) theremin looked more like a tiny writing desk than the future of electronica. Built around 1930, the RCA theremin consisted of a hollow wood cube with a sloped lid perched atop four spindly, tapered legs.
Were it not for its two prominent antennae, the RCA theremin would have seemed at home in almost any parlor. Most frequently, the right hand controls the pitch and the left controls the volume, although some performers reverse this arrangement. Some low-cost theremins use a conventional, knob-operated volume control and have only the pitch antenna. Various pop and rock stars have had their dalliances with the instrument, including Simon and Garfunkel, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and The Rolling Stones’s Brian Jones – and the instrument’s influence on electronic music was considerable. Contrary to popular myth, the theremin does not appear on the Beach Boys’ 1966 single Good Vibrations or anywhere on the soundtracks to Doctor Who or Star Wars. But it does have a big role in Clangers, the children’s TV series about a family of mouse-like creatures who live on a small moon-like planet.
What were the first pieces to feature a theremin?
- However, the distance between the individual notes can vary according to the individual instrument.
- Among the earliest electronic instruments, the theremin was a standout in how it could be played without any physical contact.
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Theremin’s first prototype for his device consisted of a wooden box that housed electronic circuits, a vertical antenna for pitch control, and a pedal for volume control. He soon replaced the pedal with a horizontal loop antenna, which resulted in the design that is commonly used today. The instrument’s pitch circuitry includes two radio frequency oscillators set below 500 kHz to minimize radio interference.
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A great player must possess a good ear, fine muscle control and ample coordination. The first time a new player approaches a theremin, his performance is more likely to sound drunken and atonal than distinguished or adept. Many hours of practice, however, help a player develop the hearing and muscle memory necessary for keeping a melody in tune.
Rockmore worked with Theremin to further the possibilities of the instrument, and their time together led to the inventor falling in love with her. Thereminists appear to play their instruments almost like invisible strings, employing techniques such as vibrato on held notes. Although skilled players might make it look easy, playing it requires great musical coordination and serious technical ability.
The theremin works by harnessing the power of electromagnetic interference. The human body is a capacitor; our bodies conduct electricity, and can store electric charges (as you might know if you’ve ever tried to pet your fluffy cat after shuffling your feet along a carpet while wearing socks). Learn about the Shepard tone, a popular auditory illusion that tricks your brain into thinking a sound is always rising or falling in pitch. Although volume technique is less developed than pitch technique, some thereminists have worked to extend it, especially Pamelia Kurstin with her “walking bass” technique24 and Rupert Chappelle. In fact, the theremin is notorious as one of the hardest instruments to master. Start a conversation with us and an ever-growing community of other music creators via the Splice Discord.
What is a theremin?
Even setting up multiple theremins on one stage can cause problems—since electromagnetic fields aren’t visible, theremins can be finicky to troubleshoot. The second circuit (the volume circuit) controlled the level of the tone generated by the pitch circuit. Much like in the pitch circuit, it used an oscillator connected to an antenna. Disrupting the electromagnetic field around this antenna raises or lowered the volume of the music tone generated by the pitch circuit. The performer’s hand has significant body capacitance, and thus can be treated as the grounded plate of a variable capacitor in an L-C (inductance-capacitance) circuit, which is part of the oscillator and determines its frequency.
The theremin was originally developed in the USSR by researcher Leon Theremin, while he was hard at work developing a high-frequency oscillator capable of measuring electric force through gases. As he experimented, he discovered that he could change the pitch of an audio signal generated by this oscillator by changing the position of his body in relation to the electromagnetic field he was attempting to measure. The theremin (/ˈθɛrəmɪn/; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone2 or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named after its inventor, Leon Theremin, who patented the device in 1928. The theremin is an instrument that typically consists of a wooden box with two antennae; one controls pitch, and the other controls amplitude (loudness). Skilled performers can play melodies by hovering and moving their hands ever so slightly around the instrument.
Once he’s mastered those basics, he can progress to adding vibrato and dynamics to his playing. A real theremin master can make an instrument soar with the fortissimo of Pavarotti or fade to the most delicate of whispers. If you want to learn even more about the art of theremin playing, take a look at our article How to Play a Theremin. Defined as an electronic instrument, the theremin has a deceptively simple appearance. Most models consist of a box with two metal tubes; one standing straight above the box, and the other curved, attached to the opposite side of the box in a U-shape. This set-up produces oscillations at two sound-wave frequencies above the range of human hearing.
Hands Off: How to play a Theremin
The frequency of the other oscillator is almost identical, and is controlled by the performer’s distance from the pitch control antenna. Each of the theremin’s two antennae are connected to circuits that oscillate at radio frequency; one oscillator’s frequency is fixed, while the other’s is variable. When the thereminist uses their body to interfere with the electromagnetic field, the instrument measures the difference between the fixed and the variable oscillators, and translates this difference to a pitch (or amplitude). Analog and digital theremins differ significantly in their tonal character.
The signal is subsequently routed through a voltage-controlled amplifier before being sent to the audio output, which is typically an external speaker. If the pitch hand is moved between notes, without first lowering the volume hand, the result is a “swooping” sound akin to a swanee whistle or a glissando played on the violin. Small flutters of the pitch hand can be used to produce a vibrato effect. To produce distinct notes requires a pecking action with the volume hand to mute the volume while the pitch hand moves between positions. The very first was an orchestral piece called Symphonic Mystery by Andrei Paschenko, which was premiered in 1924.
The American composer Henry Cowell and the French-American composer Edgard Varèse have written for the theremin. The instrument was used in recordings by the American rock group the Beach Boys and in the soundtracks of several science fiction films. Classic analog theremins do not produce sounds precisely tuned to traditional musical notes; instead, they generate a continuous set of tones depending on the player’s ability to stabilize the position of their hands within the electromagnetic field. Some digital or hybrid theremins—those that combine analog sensor circuits with digital sound https://p1nup.in/ engines and processing—incorporate pitch quantization, which adjusts the sound to the nearest note in a chosen musical scale. That feature comes at the cost of the expressiveness that is possible on analog theremins. Together, the vertical antenna and the player’s hand make up the two conductive plates of a capacitor whose dielectric is the air between them.
At that frequency, the antenna and its linearisation coil present an inductive impedance; and when connected, behaves as an inductor in parallel with the oscillator. Thus, connecting the antenna and linearising coil raises the oscillation frequency. Close to the resonant frequency of the antenna circuit, the effective inductance is small, and the effect on the oscillator is greatest; farther from it, the effective inductance is larger, and fractional change on the oscillator is reduced. Playing the theremin requires precision and a trained ear, so previous musical experience helps a lot. A classically trained violinist, she quit playing when tendinitis affected her bow arm. As fate would have it, meeting Theremin resulted in her adopting this new instrument, and with time, becoming its most recognizable face thanks to her controlled performances.
