Source of inspiration 244 (click on this title!): Theremin, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5qf9O6c20o&feature=related

The Theremin is one of the earliest electric instruments. It was created by Lev Sergeïevitch Termen (who looks and speaks like a cousin of Count Dracula, cf. the link!).

It is made up of two antennas anchored into a box. Two tubes inside the box combine to create a beat which forms an audible signal between 20 and 20000 Hz. One hand controls the volume, the other the pitch. The musician waves his hands in the air as if he were conducting. It is funny and strange to watch, especially as Theremin players seem to take their instrument very seriously… The sound really is from another dimension.

The Theremin was created during the Russian Revolution. Lenin really liked it and he even found time to take Theremin classes! He ordered six hundred to be distributed throughout the USSR. It was a symbol of the intellectual and artistic revolution of the 20s. It was also a success in Europe and the United-States.

The Theremin has mostly been used in contemporary music. It has also been used by, among others: the Bee Gees, Muse, Radiohead, and the Rolling Stones.

It was used for the soundtrack of many spooky 50s movies. See the links below for two films which pay tribute to that period of cinema history, Ed Wood and Mars Attacks (in which the Theremin is the unexpected weapon that makes the ghastly little green men’s heads explode!):

http://www.indavideo.hu/video/THE_END_-_1996_-_MARS_ATTACKS

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4c6gw_ed-wood-generique-keoxprod_shortfilms

The Theremin is a futuristic box from the past… There are other bizarre instruments of the same kind, notably the Ondes Martenot:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6001801766788372118#

Here's an obvious creative idea: make your own Theremin!

Click on this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl78K8kU-SY&feature=related

Article by Florent Bourgain