Th e there mi n (/ˈθ ɛrə mɪ n/[1] the rr-ə-mi n; or i gin all y k nown as the æ the rp hone/ether ph one, there mi no p ho ne[2] o r ter men v o x/there mi n v ox), i s an early ele ct ro n ic mus i cal in str u me n t co n troll ed with o ut ph y sic al co nt act b y t h e there mi n i st (pe r form er). It is nam ed aft er the Westernized name of its Russian inventor, Léon Theremin, who patented the device in 1928. The instruments controlling section usually consists of two metal antennas that sense the relative position of the thereminists hands and control oscillators for frequency with one hand, and amplitude (volume) with the other. The electric signals from the theremin are amplified and sent to a loudspeaker. The theremin was used in movie soundtracks such as Miklós Rózsas for Spellbound and The Lost Weekend and Bernard Herrmanns for The Day the Earth Stood Still and as the theme tune for the ITV drama Midsomer Murders. This has led to its association with a very eerie sound. Theremins are also used in concert music (especially avant-garde and 20th- and 21st-century new music) and in popular music genres such as rock. Psychedelic rock bands in particular, such as Hawkwind, have often used the theremin in their work. On July 20, 2013, a group of 272 theremin players (Matryomin ensemble) in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan, achieved a Guinness world record as the largest theremin ensemble. (YouTube link) The name Matryomin is a portmanteau of the words matryoshka and theremin.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 00:28:42 +0000
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