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.