Why does Sup Forums hate the Theremin?

Why does Sup Forums hate the Theremin?

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no.

t. own an etherwave pro

>"""""hate""""" the theremin
Do you have any idea how many times I've listened to Good Vibrations?

>Sup Forums is one person

Threads saying "why does Sup Forums hate x" should be permabanned and OP's who post it should die from bleeding out from their asshole

not a theremin. Electro-Theremin. the pleb version that you actually touch.

Good Vibrations doesn't feature a Theremin.
They used a Tannerin which is pleb-mode Theremin.

You have to admit that it is a gimmicky instrument, and the way it is played really makes for very sloppy and limited performances.

It's tone is not really unique, so why not use a better input mechanism?

And then theres the fanbase.

Ofc if it is used well in some musical piece, then wathever, I won't bash that musician for choosing the instrument, and managing to use it well.

I see we agree that it is pleb.


you know what would be neat? A birotron-theremin. A theremin that runs off of mellotron-esque tapes.

It's actually not technically a theremin. The instrument Brian used was an electro-theremin, which imitates the sound of the theremin

>A theremin that runs off of mellotron-esque tapes.

i dare someone to make this even nerdier

>Theremin
>Good Vibrations
The instrument you're thinking of is the electron-Theremin

I wonder what the market would be for a Mellomen? Theritron?

because I want to make one now

it's an electronic theremin, actually

How about a piano?

But Safe as Milk is my favorite Beefheart album

>sloppy
There are a few excellent players out there.
Thomas Grillo
Peter Pringle
Pamela Kurstin

youtube.com/watch?v=9d899b_Dwb4

Thomas Grillo had that one awesome rendition of Schubert's Ave Maria but the video is deleted now.

>electronic theremin
The Theremin is electronic. You're probably referring to "electro-Theremin" which is an unfortunate misnomer. The Tannerin doesn't have much in common with a Theremin other than vaguely resembling its sounds.
I don't think the Tannerin is even using a heterodyning circuit.

I wrote a paper a while ago about the early days of the theremin. here are some interesting tidbits;

-Termin showed off his invention in numerous concerts across the globe, with events in Germany, Munich, Dresden, Berlin, London, and Paris

-Celebrities attended the concerts, like conductor Bruno Walter, Nobel-prize winning writer Gerhart Hauptmann, and composer Maurice Ravel

-One German newspaper described the theremin concert in glowing terms: “Lev Termen overclassed Trotzky himself during three months of his tournaments here : he made ‘world revolution’ in music!”

-The Izvestia newspaper in Russia had similar things to say: “Termen's invention significance is practically equal to the significance of the automobile for transporting.” Another Russian article described the attitude in the concerts: “In a word, it is a real miracle! Termen's lectures provoked storm of applauses…”

-At one of the first (the first?) theremin concerts in Germany, Dr. Frank Rudolph wrote of the experience: “I firmly believe that in later times, when the present invention is perfected and elaborated, we shall refer to the performance purely and simply as ‘music’".

I love how the Theremin repels the "cool" crowds.
I learned the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe for the same reason.

-Charlie Chaplin, J.P. Morgan, and Rockefeller all visited Lev Termin’s laboratory in New York City. Concerts were held at places like Carnegie Hall. Even conductor Leopold Stokowski supported Termin’s idea of a electric orchestra, writing in June 1928 that: “Thus will begin a new era in music, just as modern materials and methods of construction have produced a new era in architecture, of which the sky scraper is one phase”.

-The New York Times ran a front-page article about one concert in the ballroom of the Hotel Plaza, describing that "Famous musicians, who listened with the greatest attention and seriousness to the performance were unanimous in praising it as a great scientific achievement”

-The theremin’s ability to captivate was not limited to musicians; one Cleveland newspaper wrote of a seventeen-year-old who sold his 10,000 rare postage stamps to buy a theremin, after hearing Schillinger’s Suite played on the instrument.

-Lenin (one of the first to be shown the instrument) was quite competent at playing the theremin, and wanted it's technology to be used for border guarding purposes

Interesting factoids.
Lev Termen must have been quite the brilliant electrical engineer, when you look at how people struggle to build playable Theremins TODAY with so much more literature and resources at their hands.

I just wish someone would make a replacement for the Etherwave Pro. Prices have become unaffordable. They go over $5000 now.

He was INCREDIBLY brilliant. Like crazy genius. So much info is only in Russian, though.

he invented the first color tv. People will argue "nuh-uh" but it's true.

he invented the first electronic drum set.

he invented a myriad of ingenious spy equipment.

he pioneered virtual reality. you know electronic tactical feedback gloves? Yep, he invented it first, among other such "synthesis of the senses" devices
oh, some more tidbits:

Here is a letter from Lenin to Trotsky dated 4 April 1922:

"Discuss the possibility of reducing the
Kremlin cadet guard squads by using
an electrical alarm system (an engineer
Theremin, has demonstrated his experiments
in the Kremlin: the peculiarity of the
system is that an alarm signal is produced
when anyone so much as approaches the alarm
wire)"


Also, there is a neat Russian palindrome: Termen ne mreT: “Theremin does not die.”

why is he looking at me

There is so much crazy stuff surrounding Termin. I'd put him as the worlds most interesting man.

More tidbits:

-When he lived in NY in the 30s, he would have lunch with FUCKING EISENHOWER AND RICHARD GROVES (you know, the dude that RAN THE MANHATTAN PROJECT)

-Leopold Stokovsky participated in the performance of a 12-theremin version of R.Wagner's "Loengrin"

-Percy Grainger(!) asked theremin to invent a device which automatically played back music from special sheet music

-Du Pont, Morgan, and Ford were all friends of Theremin

-He would play duets with Einstein; Albert would be on the violin

-He tried to add "gravitational" effects to concerts by lifting and sinking "walls" of the auditorium (by means of light effects, not literaly).

>-He tried to add "gravitational" effects to concerts by lifting and sinking "walls" of the auditorium (by means of light effects, not literaly).
This is brilliant. I want to compose an opera that includes this, damn.

Taking in account the information you provided, I think Theremin probably influenced all modern electronics via the colaboration with the heads of the industry. I think he would accept nowdays that electronic instruments can be played with more efficiency, and consider these as an evolution of his legacy.

The bagpipe is literally one of my favorite instruments. I think it has such a cool sound. Love the banjo too, which most people also seem to hate.

Because Jimmy Page made it mainstream in rock and I hate popular things

Jimmy Page is such a fucking hack.
The "Theremin" he "played" didn't have a volume loop and he just made random sounds, couldn't even hold a tone.

Jimmy Page = clueless rawk Normie meets Theremin. Result disastrous.

Mercury Rev used it pretty well in Deserters Songs

I agree. He developed the theremin out of accident, when he was doing gas/radio research at the Petrograd Physico-Technical Institute in the 1910s. I can imagine if he developed a more traditional synthesizer of sorts he would still go on to do amazing things. I mean, he still developed all sorts of electrical instruments in the end—terpsitone, drum machine, all sorts of wacky things

He was big into the whole music experience. His early concerts were a combination of lecture and music—he would explain the science, and then perform.

It wasn't a regular performance though. Imagine 1930s laserium!

He would synchronize stroboscopic lights up with the music to create ornamental patterns.

Alongside traditional composers, (Kreisler, Rakhmaninov, FUCKING TOSCANINI who wanted to play it by the way) he worked with Thomas Wilfred (of Clavilux/color organ fame) toward founding the art institute of light institute and Maurice Martenot (of ondes Martenot fame)
All the while, he was officially spying on the US for the Soviets. He loved the US, though. He thought it was the most wonderful thing...

shameless bump