Theremin Cello - The forgotten Theremin

Not all that is rare glitters like gold. Take wine, for example. While some rare wines are the stuff of legend, others are considered, simply put, fancy vinegar. When it comes to rare or unusual instruments, few are of value. Often instruments are rare for a reason! In brief, most fail to achieve that perfect blend of sound, versatility, and playability that music requires. The Theremin cello is, without doubt, amongst the rarest of instruments, but like many that have fallen before, there could be just cause. Still, the story of this unusual and unknown instrument is well worth telling.

Invented in the late 1920's by Leon Theremin, the Theremin Cello, aslo known as the Fingerboard Theremin, has basically been extinct for the last 70 years. There is no record of the number made, though it is clear some may have been destroyed by the Soviets when Theremin was sent into prison camps to work for the Soviet miltary machine. Only two originals are known to exist, and neither one of those have worked for decades.

The Theremin Cello was held in the same manner as a standard cello, but looked rather like the 1930s vision of a robot complete with brass dials and faceplates. Instead of strings, there was a plastic membrane that triggered a tone when pressed, higher notes to the top, lower pitches toward the bottom. In place of a bow, there was a lever controlling the volume. When you pushed the lever down the sound got louder, and when returned to its original position, the sound stopped. On the face of the cello were knobs to control tone and sensitivity. The intrument itself was simply a controller, with a heavy cord running to a box that contained the actual electronics that created the sound and acted as amplifier. Without the box, the Theremin Cello was silent. Without the Theremin Cello, the box was useless, as it would not work with any electric guitar, in spite of its visual similarity to a guitar amp.

For a few years a variation on the Theremin Cello was used by the great conductor Leopold Stokowski as a super low bass in the string section. The stories vary in their details as to why this experiment was discountinued, but it appears that the notes were so low as to make the other musicians in the orchestra sick. From what I know of musicians in classical orchestras, there seems to be a great number of things that make them sick, especially if it has anything to do with the conductor!

Although the Theremin Cello could play a simplified version of many cello pieces, there seems to have been only one piece written specifically for the instrument, Ecuitorial by Varese. It was written in the 1930's for two Theremin Cellos, bass singer, winds and percussion. The first performance was, by all accounts, a disaster due to insufficient rehearsal time given the demanding nature of the music. By the time Varese was ready to try again Leon Theremin had returned to Russia. Varese was devastated as he had hoped to work with Theremin on a refinement of his instrument. By all accounts, this was the last performance of a piece featuring the Cello Theremin.

All this changed when retired toymaker Floyd Engels became interested in the instruments of Leon Theremin. After years of research and effort Engels was able to take the incomplete remains of the two existant Theremin Cellos and use them as a guide in creating ten virtually identical replicas.

On an October evening in 2002 at the University of Buffalo's Amherst Campus, the Theremin Cello was heard again in public for the first time, playing the second performance ever of Varese's Ecuatorial as orginally written. Learn more.

I've owned one of the Engels Theremin Cellos for about one year now, the one you see featured in the two YouTube videos above. Floyd did a wonderful job and was a delight to work with, and though I am delighted to own the instrument I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Theremin and Varese had been able to continue their collabortation on the instrument. For my taste the fingerboard seems fully developed, but the volume lever seems a little clumsy and slow. I can't imagine a cellist, or any instrumentallist for that matter, feeling fully satisfied by its limitations. Perhaps with some adjustment the action on this "bow" will be quicker.

Recommended Videos, Recordings and Links

Theremin Cello is Back - An article with more details regarding the second Ecuatorial performance.

Musicpole

There is no doubt that the Musicpole is an odd instrument. It looks something like a decorated mailing tube... brilliant red with gold stickers here and there. Or perhaps it looks like some high tech bong wired with some unusual super-charger. Either way, it's a standout. As a collector of unusual instruments I've got to admit that I've had my eye on it for some time! Yet... something stops me.

So, what is the Musicpole?

"The MUSICPOLE™ MIDI controller is an amazing, brand new way for you to play music. Even if you’ve never played a musical instrument before, or are an experienced music veteran, the MUSICPOLE’s unique design makes it easy for you to start jamming immediately."

Impressive. I like quick results, though closets around the world are filled with instruments that promised as much.

"You don't strike the keys of the MUSICPOLE like you would a piano, you stroke the keys like a slide guitar player. By sliding your thumb you can create all the different scales. "

"The 12 musical keys are labelled around the top of the MUSICPOLE like the circle of fifths. The MUSICPOLE is a 3 octave keyboard. The keys have the same black and white scheme as piano. All keys are labeled with their proper note names. "

"Thanks to the MUSICPOLE’s ingenious pentatonic arrangement of its keys, improvising solos is effortless. You learned a song in the key of C, and your guitarist can only play it in E? No problem, simply turn the pole to the proper key and play the song just like you learned it."

That makes sense. To play simple tunes just stick with the contact points along one side and you have all the right notes in the scale. Wanna change scales? Rotate the tube!

"Stand out from the crowd – The MUSICPOLE’s innovative and colorful design, ensures you’ll be noticed at your next gig."

And as I searched the net for information on the Musicpole I am surprised how hostile some guys were about this thing, implying that you might as well tie a pink ribbon in your hair.... this thing is the dork bomb. Now, I like different, and this is clearly different, so "dork" is a somewhat familiar term. But... why so hostile? What if it has been made black with gold lightning shaped contact points? Would it still be "dork"? Is red an assault to their senses, or is the shape a threat to their sense of manliness?

"The convenient size makes the MUSICPOLE a great addition to your MIDI rig at any gig. Playing the MUSICPOLE is easy on your fingers. It won’t make your fingers hurt or tire quickly like on most stringed instruments. Works great jamming with friends, soloing at the local coffeehouse, backing a band or shredding in the studio. Simply plug into a MIDI sound module and you’re ready to play anytime, anywhere, with anyone."

I'll buy that... or think seriously about buying that. And speaking of which, the price is $395, with some accessories adding another $100. Seems fair enough when compared to most other instruments, though it would probably sell better if it was $100 less. If it was $295 with all accessories I'd probably already own one!

"SONG FOR ERIN THE COW MIDWIFE"

OK. I'll accept that. He's no Johnny Hartman, but it shows that this thing can play.



"The MUSICPOLE's keys are triggered by special "thumbletz" you wear on your thumbs (thumbletz are made out of conductive fabric. They slide like silk over the keys of the MUSICPOLE). "



Hmm. I see where he's coming from here. Your hands are all over this thing, so you need to create an instrument that is triggered by the thumbletz, or you would have chaos, musically speaking. OK. But these do seem a bit dork.

But I never let that bother me. So.... why haven't I jumped on one yet? I mean, there so much that works for me:


1. It's odd. I like odd.

2. Nobody else seems to have one. That works for me as well.

3. I do believe it would be relatively easy to play. I don't really like working at instruments as I have enough work to do, fix that leaking faucet, say. So another check for yes.

4. I like the way it looks... pretty much.

5. You know, the price is reasonable. He's gotta get something out of this!

6. It's MIDI, and I like MIDI. I have some pretty cool synths that this thing could plug in to. I KNOW it could make some cool sounds.

So what's stopping me? Well, I can't buy everything I think is cool. But, there's one more thing for me that I just can't get past. There is nothing to control volume. Dynamics MAKE music. Yes, I could use a pedal, but that just doesn't do it for me. What if he built in an air pressure sensor to control volume on this little tube? It would work for me!

So tell me.... how's it stack up for you? What about the issue of controlling dynamics? Any options?

Axis 64 - Harmonic Table Keyboard

In spite of incredible advances in technology over the last 600 years, the keyboard remains virtually unchanged. An early harpsichord player could, given access to the latest in time travel, sit down at the most advanced keyboard synth today and show his stuff. With only rare exceptions the development of the keyboard has been frozen in time, at least in the layout of the keys themselves.

Enter the Axis-64 from C-Thru-Music.com. Here, the keyboard is laid out like a honeycomb, each key an interlocking hexagon.The Harmonic Table is arranged so that starting from any note, each axis (and any direction) gives notes of a specific musical interval. Starting from any note, the next note up-to-the-left is a minor third above the starting note. The next note directly above is a fifth above the starting note, and the next note up-to-the-right is a major third above the starting note. In this arrangement, a minor triad (three note chord) has the shape of a left-facing triangle, and a major triad has the shape of a right-facing triangle. The Harmonic Table pattern can be extended in all directions, and all intervals, chords and scales have the same shape in any key. To clarify, see the octave map.

In practice this unconventional layout means that our harpsichord traveler from the past, and any keyboard player of today, is presented with a keyboard they can no longer play! So, why would anyone bother to learn to play with this crazy layout? Imagine playing across four octaves with one hand, something easily handled with this compressed layout. Or how about playing three notes with one finger? With all ten fingers in play just imagine the possible sounds. And how about all those keys, all assignable to individual midi events or sounds? In addition, once you learn to play one major scale, for example, you have learned to play them all, as there is only one finger pattern needed for all major scales.

Don't think of it as a better piano. To my way of thinking it's a whole new instrument. It's a keyboard, but it isn't a piano anymore than a Chapman Stick is a Flamenco Guitar.

The keyboard evolves!



Recommended Recordings and Videos

Axis -64 overview video - The Axis explained.

C-Thru-Music videos and photos - More pictures as well as endorsement videos from some professional musicians. Some of them are helpful, others seem clear efforts by the musicians to get their hands on a free keyboard.

Chromolodeon 2 - Microtonal video - Ambient microtonal music played on the Axis 64.

10 Best Recordings - My recommendations

In this post I take a break from unusual and odd instruments, turning my attention toward ten of my favorite recordings for the past year. Some of these are new releases, but many are simply new discoveries.

Lush Life - John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman - Video - It took three years for Billy Strayhorn to compose this jazz standard, a piece that has become his signature composition. When he started to write this he was only 16, an unfathomable fact given the maturity and complexity of the lyric. This performance, featuring Johnny Hartman, is the performance by which all others are measured. His voice and phrasing were never better.

Strauss: Four Last Songs/12 Orchestral Songs - Video
Richard Strauss didn't actually write a piece called "Four Last Songs", the title given by the publisher was really just a statement of fact...These were his four last songs. Even the order was given by the publisher, though it is hard to imagine them placed in any other way. This is a piece, written by an old man at the end of his life, pondering the wonder of life and love as well as the ultimate question of the beyond. To me the ideal recording is yet to be made, but this classic release with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is a gem. It was recorded at the perfect moment in her life, her voice still quite capable, yet she has gives the kind of performance that only comes through the wisdom of age.

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet - Helen Callus , Philip Bush - Prokofiev wrote this in the mid 1930's for the Kirov Ballet, but due to pressure on composers from the Soviet Government, it wasn't performed as a complete ballet for several years. Prokofiev and others have used this complete ballet as the basis for several suites and reductions for smaller instrumentation. This Callus performance, scored for viola and piano, is a wonderful example of how Prokofiev's music shines when stripped to its essentials. Even though I wish the engineering on the recording were a bit better, the performance is top notch and well worth a listen.

Janácek: String Quartets - Schoenberg Quartet - For the first time listener it is hard to know what to think of Janacek, especially in his string quartets. These are works written by a man with emotions in full view, sometimes raw and tattered, other times in dreamy bliss. Janacek's love for a married woman 38 years his junior, forms the backdrop of virtually all of his music, but never more than in the Quartet #2, where parts of the music feel as borderline inappropriate as the letters he wrote her. There is an atonality here, but always balanced with themes of unbelievable beauty. I have many recordings of these quartets, but this recording is my favorite performance of these challenging works this year.

Chopin: Preludes Op. 28 - Jean-Francois Latour - Chopin is essential listening. No matter what else you have in your library you simply must have Chopin, and there's no better place to start than with the Preludes Op. 28. (If you don't have any Chopin in your collection now, you'll thank me once you get it!) His music has a simple beauty, always fresh and filled with a love of life, if not necessarily a life of love. I've listened to these pieces countless times, but this fresh new recording stopped me in my tracks.

Guitar Virtuosos Play Bach - Andres Segovia and John Williams - This release features two giants of classical guitar playing some of the most beautiful works for guitar that you could ever imagine, which may seem a little odd since they weren't even written for guitar originally! During the time of Bach there were no guitars as we know them today, though every culture of the day had some sort of variation on an instrument that is clearly a closely related ancestor. Since the guitar as we know it wasn't really established until the 1800's, the great classical guitarists often turn to transcriptions, such as these based on the music of Bach. I highly recommend this discs as an introduction to the classical guitar or as a disc to set the mood for an evening dinner or time by the fire.

Blues de Musicien - Pine Leaf Boys - Now for something completely different, which is something of an understatement considering my choices so far. There is something so raw and melodically adventurous in Cajun music, that my Swedish roots can hardly grasp what the Cajun culture must be like. I was raised on pickled herring. This is a burning hot gumbo! This is toe-tapping music, but it's so much more than that. Around that beat there's some amazing stuff going on here. If you love authentic Cajun, you'll love The Pine Leaf Boys!

Durufle and Faure Requiems - A re-release with David Willcocks, the Choir of King's College and the New Philharmonia Orchestra. Faure once claimed he wrote his Requiem "for fun", something you can't say about most other requiems, and the difference is clear. This is the Requiem of a composer who does not fear his god, a Requiem filled with beauty and hope. This recording of the Faure dates back to the late 60's, but there is no doubt it will be re-released for years to come, as it is simply the best recording out there.

The Best Of Andrea Bocelli Vivere - You know what I love about Andrea Bocelli? His charisma, magic and charm have brought the beauty of opera to a whole new crowd. This guy has sold more opera albums than virtually all of this years singers at The Met combined. You say you don't like opera? Give this disc a try and then we'll talk!

Stephen Hough's Spanish Album -

Theremin - You can play, but just don't touch!

It's the soundtrack for the end of the world as we know it, the musical accompaniment to a world where mankind is the main-course in an alien buffet. It's the ethereal sound of robotic benefactors from another world bringing us unimaginable technologies and the end of disease and famine. It's the wavering, piercing, soaring sounds of the Theremin.

Without doubt the Theremin is the great grand-dad of all that we know in electronic music today, from the earliest analog synthesizers of Bob Moog to Midi marvels such as the Continuum Fingerboard. All can trace their roots to the Theremin’s inventor, Russian physicist Leon Theremin (1896-1993).

Developed as early as 1918, it was truly considered unbelievable in it's day, as was seen as yet another sign that with the unfathomable capabilities of electricity and the human mind, science knew no bounds.

Even though the Theremin is celebrating it's 90th birthday this year, it can still boggle the minds of even the most jaded amongst us. Even beyond the mysterious sound, there is the way it's played. There are no strings, reeds, valves, mallets or fingerboard to touch, strike, blow on or into, or pluck. It's not an instrument you touch at all, as when playing the Theremin you are literally flailing your arms in the air, manipulating the unseen elements about two silver antennas.

As seen from the players perspective, the antenna on the left controls volume. As your hand pulls away from the silver loop, the note begins to play, drop your hand back, it stops. As your other hand dances in space toward the upright antenna to the right, the pitch soars up almost beyond the range of hearing. As your right arm pulls back, the dishes in the room begin to rattle from the rich, full, pure bass sounds of the Theremin.

For a short time in the 1930's RCA manufactured and sold Theremins with the promise that they could be played by anyone. They couldn't. Without a clear reference point in space, finding the exact pitch proved impossible. And the spacing between notes, especially in the upper registers, was so close, that merely taking a breath lead to faltering pitch.

Soon the Theremin was forgotten, a relic known only for the spacey wavering soundtrack of a grade B science fiction film, remembered more for it's camp value than it's ability to make music. Every now and then an article in an electronics magazine would offer plans to build your own Theremin, the chance to create your own soundtrack for an unknown world, but they rarely worked.

But in the 1990's something happened to bring the Theremin back from musical oblivion. One factor was certainly the work of electronic music guru Bob Moog, whose early synthesizers made musical history in the hands of Wendy/Walter Carlos. He's been making Theremins since he was a kid, and by the 90's was offering a truly high quality and affordable Theremin. Then there was the movie, "Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey", opening the eyes of a new generation to the entire bizarre and almost unbelievable tale of Theremin and his wonderful instrument.

The greatest Theremin player of all time was Clara Rockmore, a crippled violinist who saw a new pathway for music in Theremin's invention. Every time I hear her play this piece, The Swan by Saint-Saens, I am touched.

While there are now perhaps a dozen very good thereminists in the world, there is one that has taken the instrument to a different universe... the unlikely pixie of a performer, Pamelia Kurstin. In the video below be sure to listen to the end to hear her performance of Lush Life. It's an incredibly difficult piece to perform on any instrument. I thought it impossible on the Theremin.

By the way, I can't resist sharing one more version of Lush Life, even though it doesn't feature Theremin. This is, without the question, the best version ever recorded. This song has it all, and this performance brings out every drop of its power. Genius. Heart ache. A universal sense of love and loss. (Please ignore the video to this YouTube clip. It is, without doubt, the world's worst video set to the world's greatest song).

Buy Your Own Theremin

So now you have the Theremin bug and want to give it a try yourself, but what instrument do you buy? It is all subjective, but here are my choices in order of preference. These Theremins all feature antennas for pitch and volume, required for any serious playing. (Theremin Buyers Guide)

Moog Etherwave Theremin Pro - These are no longer being made, but they are well worth trying to find used if you have visions of Theremin grandeur. This is a great instrument capable of playing in any setting, from the concert hall to the VFW hall.

Moog Etherwave Theremin - The Theremin of choice for the casual to moderate performer. Relatively affordable. Keep an eye out for them used on Ebay.

Wavefront Technologies - I've never laid eyes on one, but some reputable experts talk glowingly of the tone and quality of these instruments.

PAIA Theremax - I've never built one, but once, while mentoring a student, he brought me a Theremax he had built. Simply put, it didn't work. That is most likely more a reflection on his lack of patience than on the quality of the instrument. It does have CV outputs for those who are set up for analog synthesis. Affordable.

Other Links

ThereminWorld.com - This is really all you need, a site filled with Theremin info and a Forum. Check out the forum for the latest info, as the website authors enthusiasm seems to have fallen a bit resulting in diminished posts. The forum members are taking up some of the slack.