
The theremin is one of the earliest electronic musical instruments. It is the only instrument in the world that is played continuously, without any physical contact. It was developed in the 1920’s by Russian scientist and inventor Lev Sergeyevich Termen as a direct product of both his innovations in radio physics and his musical upbringing as a concert cellist. A theremin performer uses his/her arms and hands to influence the motion sensitive capacitave “fields” surrounding the instrument to continuously influence the pitch and loudness of its voice. The tone can range from sounding human-like to string-like or flute/wind-like depending on subtleties in the proficient performer’s musical gestures. Because of its unconventional playing interface, void of tactile reference, the theremin has developed a reputation of being extremely difficult to master. The craft of melodic theremin playing demands a refined combination of skills including musical proficiency and zen-like mastery of body stillness and muscle memory.
The theremin was originally conceived to be a melodic musical instrument played similarly to the likes of the violin or cello, but the combination of its steep learning curve and fluid playing interface made it much more appealing to less controlled applications like noise and sound effects. The default playing method, when absent of musical inclination involves a player moving freely with their arm while sustaining an agitated shake of the wrist. This basic approach yields a distinct effect evoking feelings of other-worldliness and fear. The default sound making approach ultimately became the idiomatic spooky sound character in Hollywood science fiction and horror movie soundtracks of the 1940’s and 1950’s. Most notably, this theremin sound was used in Bernard Herrmann’s score from “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951) and Miklós Rózsa’s score from “Spellbound” (1945).
Over the past twenty years, there has been a surge in awareness of the theremin and it is currently undergoing a renaissance, especially in the context of modern composition and live performance. Although it still seems novel, there has never before been more people interested in the theremin, composing music for theremin, or playing the theremin than there are in the world today. In 2020, the theremin performers, builders, collectors, and enthusiasts are celebrating the 100 year anniversary of Lev Termen’s magical impossible invention.
I am pleased to announce my first hardware product is now available! The Performer Case for the Haken ContinuuMini! – combination protective case and performance harness for the highly portable expressive synthesizer from Haken Audio.
Read more …Row Downtown LA, October 7 Performance at AdultSwim Festival for the first ever Rick and Morty Musical Ricksperience. Tickets are available at with a 20% discount. Enter Code on following page.
Read more …Greetings, music maker. Have you come for the magic? You do not need to look much further. It is just around the corner. A wizard awaits you. He will guide you on your quest to make new sounds.
Read more …Friends of MIDI, Realtime Pitch Tracking, Resynthesis, Theremin, Educators, Sound Designers, Performers, Very soon the software I have been working on for the past six years will finally be made commercially available. I will be making the announcement on all social media channels and Music Technology forums and Theremin related locations on the web. Stay Tuned!
Read more …Saturday, August 26, 2017 at 7:00PM Concert @ The NAMM Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California. Musical Voice of the Theremin, featuring Randy George, theremin; Matt Piper, guitar, bass, electronics; Kevin Yokota, drums, percussion – presented in conjunction with the Museum’s Summer of Innovation Special Exhibition.
Read more …Friends, I have some news to share, finally! I’ve created new theremin videos! It has definitely been a long wait. I wanted to thank you for your patience by sharing the whole lot at once. You can find the videos on the Video Gallery page!
Read more …As of October 19 2015, I have begun teaching theremin lessons over Skype. I’m also continuing to offer lessons in person where ever I am located, where I live in Los Angeles or any city I’ll be visiting. I’m making this post primarily as an update so that everyone visiting my website can be aware of…
Read more …April 26, 2015, I played theremin in the premiere of a chamber music film composition by composer Martin Ulikhanyan and filmmaker Alik Barsoumian. Zipper Hall at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.
Read more …Welcome to the software blog on my website. I thought I would make a special category for software related posts to make it easy to find updates for MIDI Merlin and other projects I have going on in the realm of development.
Read more …October 31 – November 2, 2014, I played theremin in the orchestra for the Danny Elfman’s Music from the films of Tim Burton Concert at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles and the Honda Center in Anaheim.
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