the Theremin (cool then...cool now)

I was sitting here listening to Capt Beefheart & the Magic Band's "Safe as Milk", and the song Electicity came on & I was totally tuned into the theremin in the song, which I have heard many times before in exotica music & Si-Fi soundtracks and I thought to myself..."where can I latch onto one of these simple but unique "instruments" today. I used to play in a band several years ago that featured theremin in some of our songs (it was a black, skinny shoebox about 16" long, made of plywood, with an 24" antenna on the left side and a metal plate on the right. It was perched on old cymbal stand adapted to support it.) Our theremin was built for us by our sound guy, who like most sound techs was an electronic whizz(probably works for General Dynamics now).This instrument was invented by a Russian shortly after the dawn of electricity and still sounds cool today!

There a was a documentary video out a few years ago called - Theremin, An Electronic Oddessey. A fairly informative work about Leon Theremin and the invention that bears his name. You can probably rent it at Blockbuster or your favorite video store. I've seen theremins in kits and fully assembled on eBay. I can't ever hear one without getting a mental picture from "The Day The Earth Stood Still".

A friend of mine used to have a band called "Khoom-bye-Ah" and they used fifty headed Theremins (Theremin with 50 odd antenas, tape head violins and this seriously industrial hurdy-gurdy made out of a beer keg and fence wire strings. Apocalypse lounge is the best way to describe them, i atribute most of my hearing loss to them.

I got to play a theremin in Chicago a few years ago with my friend's noise/rock band. The girl that owned it said you order a kit and make it yourself. But you need to be knowledgable. I understand it's a pretty dangerous thing. Thus the heavy wood (insulating) box.

atomictonytiki,
That band sounds great! Do they have any vinyl out? I love those old (and new) industrial noize bands like Throbbing Gristle,the Residents, Suicide, the Normal, Flying Lizards, etc. Although their not for everybody. I've chased off many a party guest by putting on Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" or Fripp & Eno's "Swastika Girls". If you can't handle psychological warfare then you should stay away from my parties.

If you can't find the video, there is a brief article on the theramin in this months National Geographic.

Speaking of Throbbing Gristle, you gotta love their tribute to Martin Denny on their "Greatest Hits" album:

Warning: the contents of the album shown above are NOT exotica!

You can buy a Theremin from Robert Moog (creator of the Moog synth) & his company Big Briar, Inc. (www.bigbriar.com or http://www.moogmusic.com), the Theremin comes either assembled or in kit form. You can also buy a good one from PAiA (www.paia.com) that comes as a kit, although I think you can have it assembled for you.

Shipwreckjoey,

If you're into Capt Beefheart, I would imagine you're also into one of my personal all-time favorites - Frank Zappa?

Do they have any vinyl out?
I don't think they ever got it together to make ant records but I've emailed them to see if they have anything on MP3 or tape.
But their type of "assualt louge" is best heard live. We used to get the big band version of "Khoom-bye-Ah", which was called "Cheese-wire", to play our club. Ah their is nothing better (outside of tiki that is) than hearing extreme weird noises played through a twenty K rig, the way your internal organs vibrate to the music or when they get the sound right and your bowels go slack. Top fun.

Bong,
The first time I ever saw the Mothers of Invention was like 1966-67 on the Louis Lomax show on KTLA. Zappa & Co. were introduced and proceeded to 'FREAK OUT'(which was there description of their musical style & the title of the 1st record).I was a total Mother's fan from then on and a loyal follower of all the other bands on the Straight/Bizaar label (Alice Cooper, Capt Beefheart, G.T.O's....and last, but not least...WILDMAN FISCHER!). I still have vinyl and CD copies of Freak Out, Absolutely Free, Lumpy Gravey, Weasles Ripped My Flesh, Uncle Meat & Hot Rats. I know Frank isn't with us any more, but his recorded words are just as meaningful today as they were thirty seven years ago - "aint no way to delay that trouble com'n every day".
Hell, I almost forgot, Frank Zappa also introduced the kids of the 60's to one of the greatest and most overlooked masters of Beat/Hipster poetry/oratory/perfomance art of all time...Lord Buckley (Straight Records).

Hee hee! I once did a tribute to the Residents, covering the Shaggs' "My Pal Foot Foot" in Residents style...can't seem to find the damn disk now, or I would have stuck it on my server and posted a link.

My bro and I are OG synth doodz, lived for electronic music in the 70s. I used to check Milton Babbit albums out of the library when I was 13, we had a couple of mono Korgs, bought every LP with a synth on it we could find...geeky, no?

hee,
emspace.

emspace,

I first got into electronic music in the '70's listening to the likes of Klaus Schultz, Tangerine Dream and Gong. Bought my first Residents record back then as well...an EP called "Duck Stab" (came w/ a cool t-shirt too). My fave tune off that record is "Elvis and His Boss".

Geeks forever! What could be better than a towering stack of Moog modules! For some guys it's hot-rods, for some it's guns, and for some of us...

This was sent to me from a listserv, and I immediately thought of all the TC geeks! :D

Scholars of 20th century music history will enjoy MOOG
memorabilia online at http://www.moogarchives.com/ . The
index in the left column links to the Moog History.

If you're into Capt Beefheart, I would imagine you're also into one of my personal all-time favorites - Frank Zappa?
......Did you know that Mike Watt said the Minutemen's two biggest influences were Captain Beefheart and Van Halen? :)

Bob Moog sent me a copy of the book by Albert Glinsky on Leon Theremin. Check it out. In addition to creating the only instrument you play without touching, Theremin was a spy for the Soviet Union in Depression-era New York City.

Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage
by Albert Glinksy
University of Illinois Press

Plotting my own demise,
Thor

p.s. What say y'all about Israel Kamakawiwo'ole?

Hey Thor,

you KNOW Bob Moog? Holy crap! I mean, I know he's a human being just like us, and I don't normally go ga-ga over celebrities or anything, but...holy crap!

As to Braddah IZ...man, beautiful. His ballads, especially in Hawaiian, are just gorgeous. What a set of pipes. And this guy was a hero! I mean, He KNEW he was going to die young, so did everything in his power to make sure his family would be taken care of by making this wonderful music.

wishing there was a Smiley with both a smile AND a tear,
emspace.

Kahuna,
Loved the minutemen! Coolest band to come outa San Pedro. Fave record "Double Nickle on a Dime". Can't beat it. I just wish Boone was still around today, the band would be rockin' full tilt. Mike Watt is great though, he keeps the spirit alive.
Mahalo for the opportunity to share the aloha with these talented musicians.

Hi all...

Just wanted to post this link for those still looking:

http://www.thereminworld.com/

A6

A6Louie,
Thanks for the hook up. Great place fulla da kine info I'm looking for. I was in Chicago for the 1st time two years ago April. I had the best vacation ever, can't wait to do it again. We stayed downtown at this old hotel about a block from the Hancock bldg. We went to the top to have happy hour cocktails about 5:00 and by the time the sun went down it looked like Hollywood times ten. Da best
Mahalo,
Shipwreckjoey

Shipwreckjoey...

Yeah, Chicago's a cool town. Obviously a different type of town than NY or LA, but there's just as much going on.

Tiki_Bong dissed midwesterners in general because Kohl's wants to build on the Kona Lanes lot (as if we midwesterners as a whole have anything to do with that) but some of us aren't that bad :)

A6

For anyone in the San Diego area,
there is a big exhibit on theremins at the UC San Diego library, in the basement (1st floor). And there will be concerts sometime on the 26th. Check it out. All free!

So the UC San Diego theremin exhibit has already started and continues through April 6th. Check it out for some untouched instrument shits n giggles.
It's on the first floor of the library, near the music listening center.

The UCSD library, btw, made a cameo appearance in "The Return of the Killer Tomatoes" as the mother ship.

Where, btw, Dick Dale played and spoke a few months ago. Now I like him less.

btw,
Orth

[ Edited by: Thor on 2003-03-18 21:01 ]

Checked out the theremin exhibit at UCSD's Geisel Library (named after the local La Jolla author known to millions of children & adults around the world as Dr. Suess). They had 4 instruments on display for a hands on demo. About 20 minutes into the lecture everyone was hearded into a classroom down the hall to watch a 1 hour documentary film which I'd already caught on the History channel or PBS before. Gave me a chance to catch a quick cat nap before heading back for more live action. All in all a very interesting evening. Interesting side note, read in the S.D. paper last week about plans to erect a Cat in the Hat statue in front of the library as a tribute to Theodore Giesel.

I always loved the theremin sound.
The Flaming Lips use the theremin on Soft Bulletin & I love the Lips.

Dropped by my local Tower Records the other day to pick up a few things. Was looking thru the discount video bin and found one copy of the theremin documentary I'd just seen at UCSD last week for the irresistably low price of $4.95! What a score.

Sorry to be late on this thread...
Shipwreck - I too, love Theremins, in fact, my band uses one from our first album.Our first one was a PAiA Theremax kit which was cheap, sounded ok, but had consistency problems. The one we use today is a Moog Big Briar Etherwave. It's much more dependable, but sometimes doesn't sound as good as the PAiA.
A few weeks ago my buddy (the Theremin "player" in the band) and I went to see a performance by the band Messer chups - a Russian band featuring world renowned Theremin virtuoso Lydia Kavina. It was great and we got to talk to her for half an hour after the show. She is a very sweet and talented lady.
She reccomended the new Russian made T-Vox theremin she was playing. It did sound good and I think it costs about 500 euro (in Europe) which is more expensive than the Moog. Mind you, she does work with the company, so she might not be 100% objective.

later
Ran

On 2003-02-17 13:26, thejab wrote:
Speaking of Throbbing Gristle, you gotta love their tribute to Martin Denny on their "Greatest Hits" album.

One of their other albums is dedicated to Denny.

Throbbing Gristle covering Martin Denny?

The only thing scarier than that, is realizing how many people out there actually enjoy BOTH Gristle and Denny! Hmm. I don’t think I can imagine two more opposing styles of music. Let’s investigate this interesting phenomenon.

The Theory:
I’m believed that some brains are just tuned to respond to certain types of sounds. (Getting back to the Theremin) That zero attack, portamento / glissando sliding from one note to the next is the signature sound of the Theremin, and of the Hawaiian steel guitar sound, which, by the way, is also similar how the whammy bar is usually applied in slow/relaxed surf music.

Similarly, the vibes are an Exotica staple instrument – and they’re all over mid to early Zappa music (thanks to the amazing Ruth Underwood).

The Evidence:
Try this out – if you have software that can slow down a song without altering the pitch – it’s amazing. The Star Trek theme slowed down sounds like Hawaiian music, and the crazy vibe runs right at the end of Zappa’s Inca Roads sound like they could have come right out of a Martin Denny track.

Which brings us full circle: would Quiet Village speeded up and run through a Death Metal Distortion sound like Throbbing Gristle?

Aloha.

Can-Tiki-E
It sounds like you've given this quite a bit of thought. I don't know if this story/concert review will add any fuel to your theory, but I can't help but pass it on. I ran into an Englishman at a 999 concert in 1979/80 who had just relocated here and we started talking music and he brought up Throbbing Gristle. He caught one of their shows in England that took place in a very stuffy and overcrowded basement. He told me the band pushed all the amplifiers up to front of the stage, trained these very bright spotlights on the audience and played their entire set behind the amps at an excruciatingly loud volume while completely out of sight of the audience. He said, although he still is a fan of Trobbing Gristle, it was the most disturbing musical / concert experience he'd ever endured. I said "Why didn't you leave?" He said "because It was so weird, I had to stay & see what was going to happen next". I guess there has always been those of us that are curious and adventurous enough to cross that line between say...The Archies and Karl Stockhausen. It takes all kinds to make a world.

[ Edited by: Shipwreckjoey on 2003-05-12 03:29 ]

That must have been quite the experience. Luckily there are some artists who are still experimenting with situations like that. There’s a guy from Spain named Francisco Lopez who does minimal electro-acoustic stuff – his performances require that the audience sits in a circle around his set-up, facing outward, with blindfolds on. I know it sounds kind of silly, but it’s an intense experience and words don’t do it justice.

cheers

Project Pimento at Tiki Oasis III - they got a theremin & know how to use it! Great set guys...I was almost levitating.

And for all of you electronica geeks - check out the Raymond Scott website at http://www.raymondscott.com/ - he's the unoficial father of electronic instruments... I highly recommend the Manhattan Research set - very spacey, weird commercial jingles made out of part 50s bouncy, part beeps and boops (and theremins too!). :)