Virtual Jukebox

https://youtu.be/ghWdgcYIcSk

Today I have mostly been listening to Clara Rockmore.   <3

Is she playing a Theramin? To begin with I thought violin, then viola, but it's definitely something more ethereal! I have never even heard of a Theramin before but it sounds incredibly interesting: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin

Is she playing a Theramin? To begin with I thought violin, then viola, but it's definitely something more ethereal! I have never even heard of a Theramin before but it sounds incredibly interesting: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin

Oh how brilliant! There's a homeless guy near where I live who plays the didgeridoo - also a great sound but not very portable. I'd love to have a go at the Jew's Harp but sadly I don't think my teeth are up to it! 

I have some little Buddhist cymbals and a singing bowl I really like the sound of too. 

The most unusual instrument that I play is the jaws harp, though not so much these days as I worry about my teeth! Once you get into the different percussive sounds you can make by stopping the tine with your finger and sucking and blowing, it's a surprising versatile little instrument, and it's always nice to be able to play something that fits in a pocket.

Couldn't find owt on YouTube half as good as the guy who taught me, but if you'd met me years ago outside having a breather from a gig, I'd have been very prone to doing this...

Playing the saw was very satisfying and definitely worth the bother it got me into! 

I also used to like playing glasses with varying amounts of water in them by rubbing the rims. 

I have never seen Delicatessen (can't cope with gruesome stuff!) but I love the trailer: m.youtube.com/watch

There can't be many musical instruments that come with a "crotch danger!" warning! I've wanted to have a go at that ever since I saw the film Delicatessen, where the lead character plays one.

I got into a lot of trouble doing this with my dad's best saw! 

m.youtube.com/watch

Yes, it's a wonderful sound, isn't it?!

Dr. Robert "Bob" Moog, who did so much to bring synthesisers into music, started out building theremins, and in fact, was not a fan at all of giving synthesisers a traditional music keyboard, as he thought it would limit how they would be played too much - his engineers went over his head because they realised that the familiarity would sell more synths. Moog still sell theremins, though sadly, the price is a little rich for me, otherwise I'd love to have one.

Watching a good player can be absolutely spell-binding; here's the theremin's inventor playing one...

Yttrium said:

I think it's a theremin being played on Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys.

It's a related instrument that the inventor called the Electro-theremin. It uses a physical pitch control moved via, I kid you not, a piece of string! It was inspired by the slide of the trombone that the inventor played. In the early days of electronic music, there were many very bizarre instruments invented, many of them with unusual ways of controlling them intended to get musicians away from the idea of using discrete note pitches.

No wonder the Theramin sounds so ethereal it really is beautifully strange. 

Thank you so much for your best wishes for tomorrow! () 

The theramin is ALL about the person playing it, no touching, just subtle hand gestures, a truly connected instrument which when used correctly and fully understood can convey the inner feelings of the user. 

Oh and good luck tomorrow sunflower, wishing you all the best. ()

It is such an intriguing instrument - I really hope you get a chance to play one! 

Yes. Clara Rockmore plays the theremin like it was a proper classical instrument. Mostly they get used in horror film soundtracks (which I often enjoy too). I think it's a theremin being played on Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys. I've always wanted to have a go at  being a thereminist myself.  :)