Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow US citizens. Relax after your feasts with a little Mozart this evening.
Video: "The Elvira Madigan Concerto" -- The main theme from the "andante" movement of Mozart's piano concerto #21 in C major (K. 467), this piece was used the Swedish film, ELVIRA MADIGAN (1967), hence its designation as "The Elvira Madigan Concerto". In this video, Peter Pringle plays the theme on the Moog Ethervox.
Theremimage: Our Theremin photo this week is a peek at the Ethervox (not the exact item played by Peter Pringle in this week's video, but similar). There is a very nice write-up on this device over at synthfind.com. Note: there are less than 50 of these MIDE-enabled devices in existence!
A weekly collection of links featuring the only instrument that makes electricity sing!
Video Exhibit A: Human Theremin! -- It's a Halloween costume. It's a DIY Theremin. It's both! NerdKits has complete instructions for making the ultimate in wearable instruments. And there's still time to order yours and be the cool kid at your neighbor's costume party. Check out the video! (Hat tip to Hack A Day).
Exhibit B: BOWW Tribal Poetry -- Electronic, rhythmic, and other instruments provide the score for a poetry slam in Berlin. Barbara Buchholz plays Theremin.
Video Exhibit C: Jean Michel Jarre -- Jean Michel Jarre plays a Theremin at the O2 Arena London on 10/10/10 as part of his 2010 World Tour.
Theremimage: Our Theremin photo this week is another look at the Human Theremin controls (or is this Spider-Man webbing controls?).
Endnote: Repeating this from last week (yes, I'm really that big on this show) -- If you're interested in catching a live Theremin performance, and you're going to be in the Bucks County, PA, area for the Halloween weekend, you should consider coming to Sellersville Theater 1894 for The Divine Hand's 3rd annual Halloween concert.
A weekly collection of links featuring the only instrument that makes electricity sing!
Video Exhibit A: The Day The Earth Stood Still -- Selections from Bernard Herrmann's score for the 1951 film "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Bob Nagy presents this live Theremin concert in front of a mainly polite audience at a fund-raising event in Arkansas. I cannot say that Arkansas is one of my top ten states for Theremin performances, but it looks like Mr. Nagy gave a great performance.
Exhibit B: Poe "Heartbeat" -- These guys stumbled across Poe's tell-tale heart when
they ran a Moog Etherwave Theremin through the OTO Biscuit sound effect processor. Please note that you need to have a good woofer system, or at least some decent headphones, to hear the low frequencies featured in this clip. This would make an excellent Halloween sound effect.
Video Exhibit C: The Cemetery -- A moody composition for Piano and String-Synthesizer (and, of course, Theremin). Photos from a visit to Highgate Cemetery in London lend to the otherworldly feel.
Theremimage: Our Theremin photo this week is a poster for Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey, Steven M. Martin's 1993 documentary about Leon Theremin. I love the classic 50s vibe in this image (deftly amplified with an appearance by Gort!).
Endnote: If you're interested in catching a live Theremin performance, and you're going to be in the Bucks County, PA, area for the Halloween weekend, you should consider coming to Sellersville Theater 1894 for The Divine Hand's 3rd annual Halloween concert.
[ther-uh-min] –noun; a musical instrument with electronic tone generation, the pitch and tone volume being controlled by the distance between the player's hands and two metal rods serving as antennas. Origin: 1925–30; named after Leo Theremin (b. 1896), Russian inventor.
Thurs·day
[thurz-dey, -dee] –noun; the fifth day of the week, following Wednesday.
Ther·e·min Thurs·day
[ther-uh-min thurz-dey] –noun; a day to celebrate the electronic instrument invented by Leo Theremin.
—Related forms: #ThereminThursday -- a hashtag used to denote twitter content related to Theremin Thursday
Video Exhibit A: Artist Plays Theremin With a Jellyfish -- Underwire has a story about Yuri Suzuki who has created an electronic instrument played by jellyfish. Yes, you read that correctly. According to Olivia Solon of Wired UK, Suzuki demonstrated a "see-through capsule filled with water containing a number of jellyfish. The movements of the jellyfish in the water influence the sound emitted by a theremin." Unfortunately, jellyfish are not exactly plentiful in the UK, so goldfish were used during the exhibition instead. Still, it's a pretty cool concept. Check out the video:
Exhibit B: Sir David O'Clock's OVERTURE FUTURISTA, Part Two: Distruzione della Quadratura -- Now, I don't know what that title means exactly, but the video intrigues me and the music, in my opinion, demonstrates first rate use of the theremin. Let me know what you think. Especially if you decide to check out Part One (I'll look at it later tonight).
Video Exhibit C: Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise" Performed by Dalit Warshaw -- You might think this is just a standard example of the theremin for classical performance, but you would be wrong. This clip comes from a series of videos in which Ms. Warshaw is playing Clara Rockmore's theremin. Yes, that Clara Rockmore, the great artist who truly made Leon Theremin's invention sing!
Theremimage: From now on, our weekly theremin photo will be called the Theremimage. This week, I leave you with another look at Yuri Suzuki's musical fish:
Time for another round of Theremin Thursday links. This week, I have found six different videos featuring the Theremin -- or thereminesque sounds -- for your enjoyment:
Bazooka Theremin -- It's just what it sounds like: a bazooka rigged to play as a theremin! (Drastic measures, anyone?). The video is all too brief, but if you are a fan of recycling, then it's a must-see.
A "Cold War" Theremin -- Not a classic Theremin, but an analogy synth device stuffed inside a Swedish military flashlight from the 1960s.
A live psychedelic trance set by Multiman. Gear includes an opto Theremin, speak & spell circuit bending, atari 2600, etc. How often does a Theremin make a rave appearance?
"I am Locutus" -- Interesting mashup of audio and video with Theremin, Drums, and footage from ... Star Trek! If there is a subliminal message here, it's probably, "Resistance is futile!"
"Carnivore IV" by Carbon Dioxide Orchestra. Get ready for some serious noise (and a host of interesting pen and ink drawings). See if you can hear Toto's "Rosanna" playing in the background of the recording. Credits -- Bill Valdez: Dry Ice on Copper Sheet; Leroy Jaramillo: Violin, Vocals; Dave Dixon, Samples and Loops; Victoria Lundy, Theremin.
Speak & Spell Music -- I already posted this footage on Monday, but I figure Pete Edwards talk about his love of "circuit bending" fits well with the Theremin theme. Enjoy!
Our picture this week is an Opto Theremin crafted by Stephen Daveloose. I love the Giant Ant Attack graphic on this thing! You can see this bad boy in action on Daveloose's demo page (scroll down to "Theremin D").
Yes, it's already Friday. But I still have to archive the Theremin Thursday links I tweeted earlier on Thursday. This week, we have four offerings for the discerning Theremin fan:
Xbox and Theremin? -- @Lux_Seeker, by way of @MarkMosher, tweeted the URL to an interesting story posing Kinect as possibly the "perfect video Theremin interface." Apparently it was unveiled at E3 this week.
The Therenana --The Therenana banana Theremin is described as “hobby electronics gone wrong.” That's probably not too far from the truth, but I still think this fruit is a pretty cool gadget!
"Geometry" by Rupert Chappelle -- Mr. Chappelle returns to my weekly Theremin compilation with one of several recordings titled "Geometry." As per usual, he plays Harrison Instruments Model 302.
"Recalcitrance" -- Australian born Singapore recording artist Shueh-li Ong performs a song from her first CD at the the Esplanade. In this piece, Ong plays Theremin alongside the Artsylum Quartet. According to the YouTube description, this "could arguably be the 1st theremin and string quartet performance in Singapore and at" this venue.
To close this post, here is a photo of a sweet Theremin crafted by @sarcasymptote:
"Nuclear Monkey Wrench" by Rupert Chappelle -- Chappelle is featured in so many videos, I selected this one solely for the tune's name. (Monkeys FTW). Just like in last week's vid, Chappelle plays the Harrison Instruments Model 302 Theremin.
"Besamo Mucho" by Dorit Chrysler -- The beautiful and talented Ms. Chrysler plays theremin and sings on this track. Recorded live at The Stone in NYC. (I think I'm in love).
Heavy Metal Theremin? -- Guy runs his new Theremin through a bunch of his FX. He makes the damn thing ROAR (and that is pretty metal, right?).
"Saturday Matinee" by ZenTherStick -- Retro styling of this tune is reminiscent of the 50s and 60s film (cult) classics that featured the spooky Theremin!
"Doctor Who Theme" by ArcAttack -- My personal favorite this week. In this clip, a DJ plays Doctor Who's theme song on GIANT TESLA COILS. It is electrifying!
Droid Does ... Theremin? -- In this clip, a guy uses a coin to interact with the magnetic field generated by an HTC Droid. Portable theremin, anyone?
Would you like to own a Theremin? Theremin World has a coupon code for 15% off Moog Etherwave theremins and kits at InstrumentPro.com -- visit http://www.Thereminworld.com/shop_theremins.asp
Now, let's see a still from that awesome Doctor Who/Tesla bit:
For several weeks now, I've taken to posting Theremin links every Thursday -- hence, "Theremin Thursday" (or, #ThereminThursday) -- via Twitter. I've now decided to share them here on Confessions as well. At the very least, it will serve as something of an archive. At best, it might expand the audience for the Theremin.
"Apres un Reve"performed by Prhymx: This is a Guitar (Ikuo Mitani) and Theremin (Yoko Onishi) duet. The Theremin is a Wavefront Classic by Wavefront Technologies
"The Swan" performed by Frank J. Hampton <-- It's a little shaky, but good
