Podcast appearances and mentions of Leon Theremin

GB2RS News Sunday the 20th of April 2025   The news headlines: Take advantage of new RSGB membership benefits for 2025! The RSGB Board has announced Directors' liaison roles The RSGB has released a 1925 bulletin containing the original announcement of the formation of the IARU As a new benefit, the Society has teamed up with several museums to offer RSGB members discounted entry for 2025. Members can receive between 20% and 50% off admission fees at Amberley Museum, Bawdsey Radar Museum, Internal Fire Museum of Power, PK Porthcurno Museum of Global Communications and The National Museum of Computing. So, whether you're into engines, radar, transport, computers or communications there's sure to be something for you. To find out more, visit rsgb.org/partner-museums Following the RSGB 2025 AGM on Saturday the 12th of April, a brief Board meeting was held. The Board elected Stewart Bryant, G3YSX to continue in the role of Board Chair and Peter Bowyer, G4MJS to continue as Vice Chair. Both will remain in these roles until the 2026 AGM. The Board liaison roles with RSGB committees, Honorary Officers and areas of RSGB strategy have also been agreed. To find out more or to see contact details for each Board Director, go to rsgb.org/board World Amateur Radio Day was on Friday the 18th of April. It was also on that day in 1925 that the International Amateur Radio Union was formed in Paris. In celebration of this, the RSGB has shared a T & R Bulletin from 1925 that details the original announcement about the IARU's formation. This unique document has been made publicly available for all radio amateurs to be able to enjoy. To start reading, simply go to rsgb.org/radcom then click on the image to enter the web app and select the ‘RadCom Sample' option in the header. The RSGB website has a wealth of information available to you, and the search function is a useful tool to find what you are looking for. However, to make things as straightforward as possible, the Society has updated the contacts page on its website. If you need to get in touch about something specific, you'll be able to find the correct contact details at a glance. Each Headquarters department is listed with the range of services they offer. For example, you'll see that the Sales Team can also help with club insurance, Membership Services will help with any issues logging into its online membership portal, and that GB2RS news items should be sent to the RadCom Team. Whatever your query, the Team is there to help. If you need more local help, please contact your Regional Team representatives. Head over to rsgb.org/contact  to find out how to get in touch. Professor Gwyn Griffiths, G3ZIL is a well-known member of the RSGB Propagation Studies Committee, as well as someone involved with Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation, also known as HamSCI. In celebration of Citizen Science Month during April, the RSGB has shared Gwyn's HamSCI presentation from the RSGB 2024 Convention on its YouTube channel. In the talk, Gwyn outlines the organisation's activities, particularly during the 2023 and 2024 eclipses. Go to youtube.com/theRSGB  to watch the talk now. If you'd like to find out more, join the RSGB for May's Tonight@8 webinar when HamSCI lead Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF presents ‘Space weather we can do together'. Both Gwyn and Nathaniel recently won awards in the RSGB 2025 AGM Trophy Presentation. You can also get involved with HamSCI's preparations for a series of meteor scatter experiments in August and December. You can find further details via hamsci.org/msqp Have you ever wondered about the origins of the smart doorbell? Although a modern phenomenon, it has a history dating back over 100 years. During the latest series of The Secret Genius of Modern Life, Hannah Fry explores its early origins with a device created by Leon Theremin. During the episode radio amateur Neil, G4DBN, re-creates Leon's device. The episode will air on BBC2 at 20.00 on Wednesday the 23rd of April. Many of you will know Neil from Season One, Episode One of the series when he re-created the Great Seal Bug. Both episodes are available to watch now via BBC iPlayer. Please send details of all your news and events to radcom@rsgb.org.uk The deadline for submissions is 10am on Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week. And now for details of rallies and events The Cambridge Repeater Group Rally is taking place on Sunday the 27th of April at Foxton Village Hall, Hardman Road, Foxton, Cambridge, CB22 6RN. Doors open at 7.30am for traders and 9.30am to the general public. The entrance fee is £4. The event will include a car-boot sale, trade stands, a bring-and-buy area, catering, disabled facilities, an RSGB Bookstall and a free, marshalled car park. A cash and card burger van will open at 8am. The venue rules state strictly no dogs except assistance dogs on the field. Go to cambridgerepeaters.net for further details and bookings. The Dartmoor Radio Rally is taking place on Monday the 5th of May at the Yelverton War Memorial Hall, Meavy Lane, Yelverton, Devon, PL20 6AL. Free parking is available. There will be the usual bring and buy, trader stands and refreshments. Doors open at 10am and admission is £3. For further details, please contact Roger by phone on 07854 088882, or email 2e0rph@gmail.com Now the Special Event news The Spanish national society, URE, is on the air to mark the 100th anniversary of the IARU. Members are active on 160m to 6m until the 30th of April with ten different special event stations, including AO100IARU. Special awards will be available, as well as medals for the top participants from each continent who achieve the highest number of contacts with the stations on different bands and modes. Go to ure.es for further details. The Portuguese national society, REP, is also activating a number of special callsigns as part of celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the IARU. This includes CR1IARU from the Azores, CR3IARU from Madeira and CR5IARU from mainland Portugal. Members will be active on multiple bands and modes. Look out for activity until the 24th of April. Full details can be found via tinyurl.com/CR1IARU The Amateur Radio Society of Moldova is operating special event station ER100IARU until Wednesday the 30th of April in honour of the IARU Centenary. Full details can be found via qrz.com The Kuwait Amateur Radio Society is pleased to announce its participation in the IARU centennial celebrations. Members of the Society will be operating special event station 9K100IARU until Wednesday the 30th of April. Ten teams of radio amateurs from around the world are commemorating 80 years since Operation Manna and Operation Chowhound. The two operations were humanitarian food drops that helped to relieve the famine in the Netherlands behind Nazi lines late in World War Two. The teams will be active between the 25th and 27th of April on HF, VHF and the DMR Brandmeister Talk Groups unique to this event. A number of the teams are also welcoming visitors and arranging activities at their locations. To find details of Talk Groups for this event, the teams involved, as well as how to collect a commemorative award, go to manna80.radio Now the DX news Aldir, PY1SAD is active again from Georgetown in Guyana as 8R1TM until the 26th of April. Aldir will be operating on all bands using CW, SSB, digital and satellite. QSL via eQSL and Logbook of The World. Arno, DK1HV is active from Greenland as OX/DK1VK until Sunday the 27th of April. He'll be QRV on 160m to 10m mainly SSB using wire antennas and 100W radio. QSL available via his home callsign. Dom, 3D2USU is active again as 3D2AJT from Nadi in the Fiji Islands until the end of April. The call sign is in memory of JH1AJT, now Silent Key. QSL via Club Log's OQRS and Logbook of The World. Now the contest news On Tuesday the 22nd of April, the SHF UK Activity Contest runs from 1830 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on 2.3 to 10GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Thursday the 24th of April, the 80m Club Championship runs from 1900 to 2030UTC. Using PSK63 and RTTY, the exchange is signal report and serial number. The UK and Ireland DX CW Contest starts at 1200UTC on Saturday the 26th of April and ends at 1200UTC on Sunday the 27th of April. Using CW on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. UK and Ireland stations also send their district code. The SP DX RTTY Contest starts at 1200UTC on Saturday the 26th of April and ends at 1200UTC on Sunday the 27th of April. Using RTTY on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. SP stations also send their province code.   Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Thursday the 17th of April 2025 Last week was characterised by increased Kp index numbers and severe geomagnetic storms, peaking at G4. These drove down maximum usable frequencies and disrupted DX contacts, especially on the higher HF bands. The solar wind speed increased from 380 kilometres per second to around 500 kilometres per second on the 15th and an increase in plasma density was noted as well. Subsequently, the Kp index peaked at 7.67 on Wednesday the 16th, causing visible aurora alerts in the UK. This was caused by a pair of CMEs that left the Sun on Sunday the 13th of April. We had a total of 22 M-class solar flares over four days, so a CME event was inevitable. Unsettled geomagnetic conditions are a feature on the declining side of a solar cycle, so we could unfortunately be in for many more. According to Propquest, MUFs over a 3,000km path fell to below 18MHz for long periods on Wednesday the 16th, before climbing to around 21MHz at the end of the day. Meanwhile, the solar flux index fell from a high of 170 on Friday the 11th of April to a low of 148 on Wednesday the 16th of April. Next week, NOAA predicts that the SFI will start the week around 145 but could increase to 165 as the week progresses. Unsettled geomagnetic conditions are forecast for the 22nd to the 24th of April, with a predicted maximum Kp index of four. As always, keep an eye on solarham.com for daily updates, but more importantly, get on the bands, which are a much more effective guide to HF propagation! And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO The current period of unsettled weather looks likely to continue into the coming week. This does not mean rain every day, but periods of rain or showers with some intervening drier spells. These drier interludes are not really dominated by high pressure, just gaps between the wetter periods, so it's unlikely to produce much significant Tropo. In terms of propagation, there may be some rain scatter, although it won't be very reliable. However, the prospects for meteor scatter are more promising with the peak of the Lyrids due on Tuesday the 22nd of April. It is worth checking up on procedures for meteor scatter working if you've not done it before and you may find a new part of the hobby to add to your operating schedule. The prospects for aurora continue to be raised by what seems like an almost daily supply of aurora alerts. Continue to monitor the Kp index for signs of elevated values, where Kp is above five, for radio activity. Early signs such as fluttery signals on the LF and HF bands may suggest it's worth looking on the VHF bands for auroral activity. As we move towards the new season it is good to get into the habit of looking for Sporadic-E. The Propquest website www.propquest.co.uk shows several useful components for analysing the Es prospects. If you look at the position of the jet streams shown on the Es blog tab, these can produce favourable conditions geographically to give a hint of the right direction in which to listen. The opening season typically favours 10m or 6m. EME path losses are now decreasing towards perigee on Sunday the 27th of April. Last Friday, the 18th of April, saw minimum Moon declination, so Moon windows will lengthen along with peak elevation. 144MHz sky noise starts this week very high but decreases to low as the week progresses. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Episode 150 Chapter 11 Electronic Music Performance Instruments (1920– 40). Works Recommended from my book, Electronic and Experimental Music  Welcome to the Archive of Electronic Music. This is Thom Holmes. This podcast is produced as a companion to my book, Electronic and Experimental Music, published by Routledge. Each of these episodes corresponds to a chapter in the text and an associated list of recommended works, also called Listen in the text. They provide listening examples of vintage electronic works featured in the text. The works themselves can be enjoyed without the book and I hope that they stand as a chronological survey of important works in the history of electronic music. Be sure to tune-in to other episodes of the podcast where we explore a wide range of electronic music in many styles and genres, all drawn from my archive of vintage recordings. There is a complete playlist for this episode on the website for the podcast.   Playlist: ELECTRONIC MUSIC PERFORMANCE INSTRUMENTS (1920– 1950)   Time Track Time Start Introduction –Thom Holmes 01:35 00:00 1.     Luigi Russolo, “Serenata” (1924). Mechanical noise-intoners and orchestra. 02:01 01:38 2.     Leon Theremin, “Deep Night” (1930). The inventor playing his own instrument. 01:48 04:16 3.     Orchestra Raymonde, “Romantique” (1934). Song featuring the Electronde, an instrument based on the Theremin made by Martin Taubman. 02:55 06:06 4.     Edgard Varèse, “Ecuatorial” (1934). Scored for chorus, small orchestra, organ, and two Ondes Martenots. Performance under the direction of Pierre Boulez in 1983. 12:11 09:00 5.     Paul Hindemith, “Langsames Stück und Rondo für Trautonium” (1935). Oskar Sala played the Trautonium. 05:29 21:02 6.     Olivier Messaien, “Oraison” (1937) for Ondes Martenot and orchestra. 07:43 26:34 7.     John Cage, “Imaginary Landscape No. 1” (1939). Radios and turntables playing test signals. 08:37 34:14 8.     Slim Galliard Quartet, “Novachord Boogie” (1946). Featured the Hammond Novachord organ/synthesizer. 02:57 42:50 9.     Lucie Bigelow Rosen, “That Old Refrain” (1948) for Theremin and piano. 03:25 45:48 10.   Miklós Rózsa. “Subconscious” from Spellbound (1948). Musical score for the Alfred Hitchcock film featuring Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman on Theremin. 02:07 49:14 11.   Clara Rockmore, “Valse Sentimentale” (Tchaikovsky) (1977) for Theremin. Later performance of the famous Thereminist from the 1930s-1940s. 02:07 51:22   Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes. My Books/eBooks: Electronic and Experimental Music, sixth edition, Routledge 2020. Also, Sound Art: Concepts and Practices, first edition, Routledge 2022. See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation. For a transcript, please see my blog, Noise and Notations. Original music by Thom Holmes can be found on iTunes and Bandcamp.

SAN ONOFRE-Albert Glinsky interviú Alberto, please, put that great seal bug away! Angloentrevistas Traducidas, Vol. 2 https://libritosjenkins.bigcartel.com/product/angloentrevistas-traducidas-de-san-onofre-vol-2 SAN ONOFRE ponemos la enésima pica en Flandes y hacemos nuestros pinitos con el brainemin. Minucias, si comparamos con la sibilítica escucha que Lev Sergeyevich Termen endilgó a los gringos durante varios lvstros. Sí, créannos, amigos onofritas, parlamos hogaño con Albert Glinsky, biógrafo del caballo de Troya Leon Theremin, una de las figuras clave del siglo XX. Devoren su libro "Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage". SAN ONOFRE tenemos fundadas sospechas de que lo que a Vstedes realmente les interesa es tener un buen repertorio de consejos infalibles para ligar. Allá que te va con nuestra humilde contribución: regálenle a su persona amada un pastel de cumpleaños rodeado por ondas electromagnéticas que se mueven cuando uno se acerca a él. Y en unos meses, volvemos de contratar a Albert Glinsky para departir sobre la biografía de Robert Moog, "Switched On: Bob Moog and the Synthesizer Revolution". Ay, ¿podremos esperar tanto tiempo?

Le 1er instrument électronique c'est sans doute le Theremin. Il a été inventé en 1919 par l'ingénieur russe Leon Theremin. Instrument légendaire, c'est aussi le seul qui se joue sans jamais le toucher. Lisez l'article sur plansonore.fr

Original air date: 10/21/23 *This is an unlocked episode. For access to premium episodes, new chapters of SEKRET MACHINE MUSIC, upcoming installments of DEMON FORCES, NOID-FM mixes, and the Grotto of Truth Discord, subscribe to the Al-Wara' Frequency at patreon.com/subliminaljihad. In Part Two of SEKRET MACHINE MUSIC, Dimitri and Khalid jump to the opposite end of the political spectrum to explore the fascinating life of Soviet inventor Leon Theremin, including: the intense ideological contention over Theremin's inventions in the West, Theremin's incredible story of showing Vladimir Ilyich Lenin how to play “The Lark” on the Thereminvox in 1920, Theremin's move to New York City in 1927, becoming a celebrity sensation for the NYC silk toppers, losing his wife to an American Nazi, modern attempts to frame Theremin as a “Soviet Faust” who sold his soul to Stalin in order to keep inventing, his friendship with synesthesia enthusiast Albert Einstein, Theremin's employment at RCA and early television innovations, getting married to African-American dancer Lavinia Williams, his mysterious disappearance from NYC at the start of World War 2, being “a bit of a rezident” in New York, Armand Hammer and the AMTORG Trading Corp, spying on all the silk toppers, spending WW2 in a top secret Soviet science gulag, creating “The Thing” powerless surveillance device, and Leon Theremin's long-awaited triumphant admission to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Episode: 1818 Leon Theremin's remarkable music machine.  Today, our guest, scientist Andrew Boyd, talks about the man who wed music to electricity.

And now for something completely different: Paul Tas maakt onder de naam Error Instruments unieke synthesizers en muziekinstrumenten voor de hele wereld. Depeche Mode en Nine Inch Nails zijn inmiddels vaste klanten en zijn instrumenten worden toegepast in talloze Hollywoodproducties en Netflix-series. Zijn onconventionele werkwijze en methode stelt creatievelingen in staat om op intuïtieve wijze op jacht te gaan naar uniek geluid. In deze aflevering praat ik samen met instrumentenbouwer/uitvinder Yuri Landman (aflevering #14) over deze manier van muziek benaderen. Gasten: Paul Tas & Yuri Landman Audio nabewerking: Jasper Cremers Camera: Thomas de Boer Mecenas Patreon / sponsors : Josha Sietsma, Sietske's Pottery, Cartoon Box Steun Open Geesten / Zomergeesten / Boze Geesten Podcast

Today is, thanks to a long-ago calendar change, one of two birthdays in 1896 of Leon Theremin. He invented a very unusual musical instrument that you play without touching it. Plus: a UK woman pranked her husband by pretending she'd won the lottery, only three weeks later, she really did. Leon Theremin's two birthdays: his official biographer speaks (Moog Foundation) Theremin (Quartz) Woman wins £1m weeks after fake lottery win prank (BBC) Join us on Patreon and together we'll make some beautiful music --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

SynopsisWhen a flying saucer circled over Washington, DC, in the classic 1951 sci-fi film, “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” it did so to music played on an electronic instrument known as the Theremin.Its Russian inventor, Leon Theremin, was born in St. Petersburg on today's date in 1896. In 1927 Theremin traveled to America, where he obtained a patent for an electronic instrument he called the Thereminovox. In the 1930s, Theremin arranged concerts for his creation at New York's Carnegie Hall.Then, in 1938, without explanation, Theremin disappeared. Some said it was because he was in debt, others because he was married to two women at the same time. The truth was even stranger: Theremin was a spy.He had been passing on American technical information to the Soviets. Ironically, when he returned home, Theremin was immediately thrown into a Soviet prison for seven years. While incarcerated, he developed miniature electronic eavesdropping devices for the Soviet government.Decades later, in 1989, as the Soviet Union was collapsing, the 92-year old Theremin again showed up in New York to be honored at a festival of electronic music, amazed that his name and instrument were even remembered.Music Played in Today's ProgramBernard Herrmann (1911 – 1975) The Day the Earth Stood Still National Philharmonic; Bernard Herrmann, conductor. London 443 899Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971) Berceuse, fr The Firebird Clara Rockmore, theremin; Nadia Reisenberg, piano Delos 1014

Foundations of Amateur Radio Several years ago I participated in a local contest. Over a 24 hour period I activated my mobile station in about 30 different locations. On my car, my vertical antenna screwed into a boot-lip mount connected to an antenna tuner or ATU, and my radio. I used rope to guy the antenna, threaded through the rear windows and held tight by closing the car boot. Setting up consisted of parking the car, triggering the ATU to tune the antenna system and calling CQ. Moving to the next location consisted of driving there and setting up again. Although this worked really well, I'm skipping over what I'm interested in exploring today. The phrase "triggering the ATU to tune the antenna system" hides a lot of complexity. It was a surprise to me that there were several locations where the ATU just wouldn't tune. Despite my best efforts I was unable to get the system to a point where the radio was happy. In some cases I tuned off frequency and put up with a poor SWR. In others I physically had to move the car and park somewhere else. In every case it was completely unknown if a particular location was going to be a problem. I recall for example parking in an empty nondescript car-park and having to drive around to find a location where my set-up would work. Afterwards I considered that the car-park was potentially built on top of an iron ore deposit, an old industrial area, or a pipe-line, all of which were a good possibility. The point of this is that an antenna doesn't exist in isolation, it's called a system for a reason. We talk about the theoretical isotropic antenna and add disclaimers about that it cannot physically exist because it's infinitely small. One often overlooked aspect of an isotropic antenna is that it's in free space. Free space is defined as space that contains no electromagnetic or gravitational fields and used as a reference. It's a theoretical place. On Earth there is no such thing, there's a planet under your feet, but even in outer space there are both gravitational and electromagnetic fields that impact on an antenna and its performance. Staying nearer to home, recently we had a discussion about how close two antennas can be together. A suggested rule of thumb was that they need to be at least one banana or 30 cm away from each other. Similarly when we erect a dipole, there's recommendations around needing to have it mounted more than half a wavelength over the ground. Some sources say higher. I'll ask the first obvious question. Is that dipole completely straight? In other words, should the centre be half a wavelength above the ground, or should the ends, and how far should the ends be from their mounts? My point is that every antenna exists within the context of its environment and together it's a system. Some environments help the performance of your antenna system and some don't. Depending on frequency, this might not be the same for any location, or antenna design. To be clear, an antenna system consists of the antenna, the feed line and the clips that hold it, the tuner, the radio and its power supply, the mount and the space around it, the radials, the tower, the pigeon poop on the wire, all of it. Until recently my process to get any antenna to perform in a reasonable manner was to set it up, connect an antenna analyser, scan the appropriate range, tweak the antenna, scan again, rinse and repeat until it arrived at something approaching useful, or until it was good enough. If you recall, I recently added some loading coils to a telescopic antenna to attempt to make it resonant on 10m, so I could connect my Weak Signal Propagation Reporter or WSPR beacon to it directly and leave it running independently from my main station. I used the antenna analyser method, got it to the point where I had an antenna with a nice dip right at the required frequency and then watched it go completely sideways when I mounted the antenna in the window. Having spent several hours getting to that point, I walked away and left it for another day. Today was that day. I again started on the floor of my shack and got nothing but an infinite SWR and no amount of tweaking could fix it. Right until the coax fell out of the SMA connector I was scratching my head. After removing the faulty coax lead, I again tweaked the antenna and instead of using my antenna analyser, I fired up my NanoVNA, a tiny handheld open-hardware Vector Network Analyser or VNA. If you're not familiar, it's a standalone palm sized device with an LCD display and battery which will allow you to test most of your RF equipment. This little box came to me via a generous gift from a fellow amateur. It can repeatedly scan a range of frequencies and report in near real-time what's going on. Instead of waiting a minute after each adjustment, I could wait less than a second and immediately see the effect. This has been a game changer. I could mount the antenna against a metal surface and immediately see what the impact was. I could see the difference between it being mounted horizontally, where it would sag, to it being vertical where it stayed straight. I could see the steepness of the SWR plot, see how the low point moved around, up and down the band, see what the depth or lowest SWR was at any point. I could see my hand approaching the antenna, how nearby metal objects affect the antenna, what made it better and what made it worse. The reason that I'm talking about this is because it's the very first time that I was able to actually get a feel for what affects an antenna, in what way and by how much. To describe an analogy, it's like watching someone play a theremin and hearing how their hands affect the sound. If you're not familiar, a theremin is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer, named after its inventor, Leon Theremin who patented it in 1928. From the outside it looks like a metal antenna that you bring your hands near to change the field. The changes are converted into sound. The NanoVNA gives you the same level of feedback, but does so visually in a quantitative way, providing you with the insight to adjust your antenna to your liking and taking into account its entire environment. Does this mean that I'm telling you to go out and buy one today? Well, that's not up to me, but I am intensely grateful for it arriving at my doorstep. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Episode 88 The Theremin Part 1: From the Beginning to 1970 Playlist Leon Theremin, “Deep Night” (1930 Les Actualités françaises). Soundtrack from a short, early sound film of Leon Theremin playing an RCA production model Theremin. Zinaida Hanenfeldt, Nathaniel Shilkret, Victor Salon Orchestra, “Love (Your Spell is Everywhere)” (1930 Victor). RCA theremin, Zinaida Hanenfeldt; Victor Salon Orchestra conducted by Nathaniel Shilkret. The earliest records made with the Theremin were recorded in 1930 to highlight the release of the RCA Theremin. This was one of the first. This recording session dates from January 17, 1930 and was made in New York at the 28 West 44th St. studio. Billed as a recording of “Orchestra, with theremin soloist,” this was most likely made as a demonstration of the newly introduced RCA Theremin. Seven months later, Lennington Shewell (see next listing) took up making several demonstration records produced by his father, RCA VP G. Dunbar Shewell in the Camden, NJ recording studios. Lennington H. Shewell, “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes” (1930 Victor). Recorced on July 21, 1930, in Camden, NJ Studio 1. Theremin solo, Lennington H. Shewell; piano accompaniment, Edward C. Harsch. Noted as "R.C.A. theremin: Instructions and exercises for playing" and "G. Dunbar Shewell, present." Lennington H. Shewell, “In a Monastery Garden” from “Love Sends A Gift Of Roses” / “In A Monastery Garden” (1935 Victor). Shewell was an American pianist songwriter and Thereminist. He recorded several discs for RCA . Shewell was employed by RCA to travel around the USA demonstrating the Theremin as part of its marketing campaign. His father was George Dunbar Shewell, who was a vice-president of RCA for a time. Clara Rockmore, “The Swan” from Theremin (1977 Delos). Piano, Nadia Reisenberg; Produced by Robert Moog, Shirleigh Moog; Theremin, Clara Rockmore. Rockmore, of course, was the key master of the Theremin back in the 1930s and 40s, having originally learned from Leon Theremin himself. These recordings were later produced by the Moogs in the 1970s and feature some dazzling, virtuoso performances by Rockmore as she interprets many of her favorite classical works. “The Swan” was composed in by Camille Saint-Saëns (1983-1921) that was usually a showcase for a cellist and, with Rockmore's brilliant interpretation, became a much-loved work by Thereminists. Even Samuel Hoffman made a recording of it. Clara Rockmore, “Berceuse” from Theremin (1977 Delos). Piano, Nadia Reisenberg; Produced by Robert Moog, Shirleigh Moog; Theremin, Clara Rockmore. Here Rockmore interprets a piece by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). Lucie Bigelow Rosen, “Concerto in F” b Mortimer Browning (1940, privately recorded practice session). Ms. Rosen recorded this rehearsal in preparation for a live performance. Of great interest is that you can hear her speaking at the beginning and end of the session, and her playing is quite sophisticated. Lucie Bigelow Rosen, “The Old Refrain” by Fritz Kreisler (circa 1940 privately recorded session). Another privately recorded session by Ms. Rosen. Miklós Rózsa, Suite from The Lost Weekend (excerpt) from The Lost Weekend (The Classic Film Score) (1945 privately issued). Conducted, composed by Miklós Rózsa; Theremin, Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman. “This is a limited-edition recording, produced for the promotional purposes of the composer and is not licensed for public sale. The music was transferred to tape from the original acetate masters.” This was not a score released on a conventional soundtrack. This recording comes from a privately issued disc commissioned by the composer and I date it to around 1970. I wanted to include it because it a notably obscure soundtrack recording Theremin playing by Hoffman from the same era as the more famous and widely distributed Spellbound soundtrack. Harry Revel and Leslie Baxter with Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman, “Lunar Rhapsody” from Music Out Of The Moon: Music Unusual Featuring The Theremin (1947 Capitol). Hoffman, a foot doctor by profession, was one of the best-known Theremin players of his time. Not as persnickety as Rockmore about playing “spooky sounds,” he basically filled a gap in Theremin playing in popular music that Clara Rockmore refused to fill. He played one of the RCA production model Theremins from 1930. His most famous contributions included collaborations with Les Baxter, Miklos Rozsa, Harry Revel, and Bernard Herrmann, and his momentous movie music for Spellbound (1945) and The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). He was initially a classically trained violinist, and at age 14 he began playing the violin professionally in New York City. By 1936, he had taken up the Theremin and begun featuring it in publicity for his engagements. He quickly gained notoriety using the electronic instrument and he became one of the world's most famous Theremin players. Harry Revel and Leslie Baxter with Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman, “Radar Blues” from Music Out Of The Moon: Music Unusual Featuring The Theremin (1947 Capitol). Harry Revel, Leslie Baxter & Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman, “Fame” from Perfume Set to Music (1948 RCA Victor). Composed by Harry Revel; Orchestra Chorus conducted by Leslie Baxter; Theremin, Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman. "As interpreted by the British-born composer, Harry Revel, in a musical suite describing six exotic Corday fragrances." Harry Revel, Leslie Baxter & Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman, “Obsession” from Perfume Set to Music (1948 RCA Victor). Composed by Harry Revel; Orchestra Chorus conducted by Leslie Baxter; Theremin, Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman. "As interpreted by the British-born composer, Harry Revel, in a musical suite describing six exotic Corday fragrances." Elliot Lawrence and His Orchestra, featuring Lucie Bigelow Rosen, “Gigolette” (1949 Columbia). An attempt to bring the Theremin into popular music, this recording by Elliot Lawrence and his Orchestra made at the Columbia 30th Street Studio in Midtown Manhattan features Lucie Bigelow Rosen. Ms. Rosen and her husband Walter were instrumental in providing offices for Leon Theremin to work in New York during the 1930s. The inventor personally made two instruments for her. She was a practiced enthusiast and did much concertizing with the Theremin from about 1935 to 1940. Samuel J. Hoffman, “Remembering Your Lips” from Music for Peace of Mind (1950 Capitol). Orchestra conducted by Billy May; composed by Harry Revel; Theremin, Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman. “Music for PEACE OF MIND featuring the THEREMIN with orchestra.” Samuel J. Hoffman, “This Room Is My Castle of Quiet” from Music for Peace of Mind (1950 Capitol). Orchestra conducted by Billy May; composed by Harry Revel; Theremin, Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman. “Music for PEACE OF MIND featuring the THEREMIN with orchestra.” Bernard Herrmann, Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman, “Gort,” “The Visor,” “The Telescope” from The Day the Earth Stood Still (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1951 20th Century Fox). Soundtrack recorded at the Twentieth Century Fox Scoring Stage August 1951, reissued in 1993. Composed by Bernard Herrmann; Conducted by Alfred Newman, Bernard Herrmann, Lionel Newman; Theremin by Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman. Hoffmnan played one of the RCA production model Theremins from 1930 but by this time around 1950 had modified it to include an external speaker connection for improved recording of the instrument during studio sessions. Samuel J. Hoffman, “Moonlight Sonata” (Theremin Solo with Piano Accompaniment) (1951 Capitol). Eddie Layton, “Laura”, from Organ Moods in Hi-Fi (1955 Mercury). This song is noted as including the “Ethereal sound of the theremin.” Layton was a popular Hammond organ player, later on in his career he played the organ at old Yankee Stadium for nearly 40 years, earning him membership in the New York Sports Hall of Fame. This is his first album, one many, and is notable for using some early organ electronics. “It must be stated that all of the sounds in this album were created by Eddie Layton solely on the Hammond Organ including the rhythm sounds of the bass and guitar, by means of special imported electronic recording devices and microphones.” With the exception of the Theremin, I would add. An unknown Theremin model, most likely vacuum-tube driven, possibly an original RCA model. Monty Kelly And His Orchestra with Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman, “Blue Mirage” from “Blue Mirage”/ “That Sweetheart of Mine” (1955 Essex). Single release from this Orchestra led by Monty Kelly and featuring Hoffman on Theremin. Unknown Artist, “The Fiend Who Walked the West” lobby recording (1958). Theremin or musical saw? This is from an LP recording I have that was used in movie lobbies to entice people to come and see the horror film, The Fiend Who Walked the West (1958). Could this be a Theremin, or a musical saw? I think the latter. I have no information on who played the instrument, but it makes for some curious listening from days gone by while acknowledging one of the key sources of confusion for those who collect Theremin recordings. Sonny Moon And His Orchestra, “Countdown” from “Rememb'ring”/ “Countdown” (1958 Warner Brothers). A 45-RPM single from this short-lived group od the late 1950s. Includes an uncredited Theremin performance. Milton Grayson and Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman Theremin and Orchestra, “I Paid the Penalty” (1960 Royalty Recording Co.). A 45-RPM single about capital punishment. On one side of the record a San Francisco Attorney speaks about capital punishment. On the other side is this vocal by Grayson that dramatizes the subject. This appears to be some sort of public service announcement, but the disc itself bears no clues. This is the only release on this label. The vocal by Grayson is part sermon, part monolog, part song, with the threatening aura of the Theremin provided by Dr. Hoffman. It is undated, so I'm guessing around 1960 when Grayson was most active. Lew Davies And His Orchestra, “Riders in the Sky” from Strange Interlude (1961 Command). From the early sixties comes this wonderful amalgamation of exotica and space-age instruments. The Theremin is played by none other than Walter Sear, later the manager of the Sear Sound Studio in New York and an influential programmer (and sometimes player) of the Moog Modular Synthesizer. Several members of this band also became associated with the Moog Modular, including Bobby Byrne, Sy Mann, and producer Enoch Light. Bass, Bob Haggart, Jack Lesberg; Cimbalom, Michael Szittai; Drums, George Devens, Phil Kraus; Executive Producer, Enoch Light; French Horn, Paul Faulise, Tony Miranda; Guitar, Tony Mottola; Reeds, Al Klink, Ezelle Watson, Phil Bodner, Stanley Webb; Ondioline, Sy Mann; Theremin, Paul Lippman, Walter Sear; Trombone, Bobby Byrne, Dick Hixon, Urbie Green. Yusef Lateef, “Sound Wave,” from A Flat, G Flat And C (1966 Impulse!). An innovative first from Mr. Lateef who foresaw the possibilities of the Theremin for new jazz. Lateef was known for his multi-instrumental talent on Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Flute, Oboe and a variety of wooden flutes. Using the Theremin on this one track—I've never heard anything else he recorded with the Theremin—shows how a skilled jazz improviser can use the Theremin for self-expression. I would guess that this Theremin was made by Moog. Theremin, Yusef Lateef; Bass, Reggie Workman; Drums, Roy Brooks; Piano, Hugh Lawson; Produced by Bob Thiele. Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band, “Electricity” from Safe as Milk (1967 Buddah). The Theremin in this case was played by none other than Samuel J. Hoffman using his souped-up RCA Theremin model Theremin. It was perhaps the last appearance on record by Hoffman, who died later in 1967. Apparently, the record company hated the track so much that it led to their being dropped from the label, at which point Frank Zappa came to the rescue. Fifty Foot Hose, “War is Over” (1967) from Ingredients (1997 compilation Del Val). Psychedelic rock group from San Francisco, formed in 1967, disbanded in 1970 and re-formed in 1995. Drums, Gary Duos; Guitar, David Blossom; Theremin, Electronics, Audio Generator, Siren, Cork Marcheschi. Recorded in 1966 in San Francisco. Dorothy Ashby, “Soul Vibrations” from Afro-Harping (1968 Cadet Concept). Unknown Theremin player, although the producers at Cadet/Chess were known to add the instrument to a session, such as those by Rotary Connection. Recorded at Ter Mar Studios, Chicago, February 1968. The song was written by producer Richard Evans, then the go-to producer and de facto label head for Chess Records' jazz imprint Cadet. Perhaps he also played the Theremin, which was probably a Moog Troubadour. The First Theremin Era, “The Barnabas Theme from Dark Shadows" / “Sunset In Siberia” (1969 Epic). "Dark Shadows" was super-popular daytime drama about a vampire on ABC-TV. This record was not an official release of the television show, but an interpretation of the theme that is seldom heard. I thought it's exotic funky treatment was especially worth hearing. The soundtrack for the TV show also included Theremin, possibly played by composer Robert Cobert, but in its more traditional spooky role. This record was produced and arranged by Charlie Calello, a well-known producer who had worked with the Four Seasons (singing group) and later would produce such super stars as Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Bruce Springsteen, Laura Nyro, and Barbra Streisand. Mutantes, “Banho De Lua (Tintarella Di Luna)” from Mutantes (1969 Polydor). Brazilian folk-rock-psychedelic group that featured the Theremin blended with many other instruments, both acoustic and electronic. Arranged by, Mutantes; Drums, Sir Ronaldo I. Du Rancharia; Theremin, electronic Instruments, Claudio Régulus. This innovative pop trio from Brazil also collaborated with other artists such as Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil and were threatened by the military government of Brazil. What Theremin did they use? Several Moog models would have been available, but they also may have built their own. One photo I've seen suggested that they built their own. Lothar and the Hand People, “It Comes on Anyhow” from Machines: Amherst 1969 (2020 Modern Harmonic). Live recording from 1969 featuring the Moog Modular Synthesizer played by Paul Conly and the Moog Theremin played by vocalist John Emelin. On this track, the synthesizer and Theremin sounds are intermingled, making it a fun challenge to distinguish between the two of them. Bass, Rusty Ford; Drums, Tom Flye; Guitar, Kim King; Keyboards, Moog Modular Synthesizer, Paul Conly; Vocals, Moog Troubadour Theremin (“Lothar”), John Emelin. Lothar and the Hand People, “Today Is Only Yesterday's Tomorrow” from Machines: Amherst 1969 (2020 Modern Harmonic). This track was recorded live in 1969. John Emelin starts by introducing the Moog Theremin, called “Lothar.” Bass, Rusty Ford; Drums, Tom Flye; Guitar, Kim King; Keyboards, Moog Modular Synthesizer, Paul Conly; Vocals, Moog Troubadour Theremin (“Lothar”), John Emelin. Opening background tracks: Bernard Herrmann, Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman, “Prelude, Outer Space” (excerpt), from The Day the Earth Stood Still (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1951 20th Century Fox). Soundtrack recorded at the Twentieth Century Fox Scoring Stage August 1951, reissued in 1993. Composed by Bernard Herrmann; Conducted by Alfred Newman, Bernard Herrmann, Lionel Newman; Theremin by Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman. Zinaida Hanenfeldt, Nathaniel Shilkret, Victor Salon Orchestra, “(I'm a dreamer) Aren't we all?” (1930 Victor). “Orchestra, with theremin soloist.” Theremin, Zinaida Hanenfeldt. Recorded January 17, 1930 in New York at the 28 West 44th St. studio. Samuel J. Hoffman, “The Swan”( Saint-Saens) from “Moonlight Sonata” / “The Swan” (1951 Capitol). Arranged and performed on the Theremin by “Dr. Hoffman.” Orchestra and Chorus Under the Direction Of Leslie Baxter, Dr. Samuel Hoffman, “Struttin' with Clayton” from “Jet” / “Struttin' With Clayton” (1950 RCA Victor). Theremin, Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman. Miklós Rózsa, “Dementia” from The Lost Weekend (The Classic Film Score) (1945 privately issued). Conducted, composed by Miklós Rózsa; Theremin, Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman. This podcast is not intended as a thorough history of the Theremin itself. There are many excellent resources that provide that, including my own book on the history of electronic music, the Bob Moog Foundation website, Albert Glinsky's wonderful book about Leon Theremin, and the entire Theremin World website that is devoted to everything Theremin. I urgently suggest that you consult those resources for more detail on the actual history of the instrument and the people behind it. Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz. Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes. See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation: For additional notes, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.

For real. We really did it. We talked to one of The Nine Inch Nails. What the hell else can I say? Special thanks to our nintern Christopher G. Brown, and thank you to the infinitely generous CHARLIE CLOUSER who chatted it up with us about: synth inspirations, Leon Theremin, the Cleveland reunion and closure w/ NIN, Dr. Dre, 'Rotation' (almost), Helmet, scoring and the SAW movies, Spitfire Audio, and Charlie's sound collection Hammers! Check out all our stuff at nailedpod.com! Buy merch at nailedpod.bigcartel.com Subscribe to our Patreon to get bonus episodes and merch discounts, join our Discord, and more! Art by Tyler Snell Our nintern is Christopher G Brown Mashup concoctions by Blake Email us at nailedpod@gmail.com Nailed is on Instagram and Twitter @nailedpod Nailed is brought to you by the AUX Podcast Network.

Simon the Magpie, Analog Weapon, and Via Mardot talk theremin, saw, tubular bells, doing art for work, pseudonyms, social media, lame DM's, comparison-based comments, video games, earliest memories, kicking every kid out of school, Leon Theremin, mic choices (or lack thereof), The Lollipop Guilt, incidental aesthetic, Marxophone, The Surferjettes, and much, much more! Via Mardot Instagram Via Mardot Shop Via Mardot Bandcamp We appreciate your support via Patreon. You're also invited to join the Magpie Pirates discord community!

Synopsis A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty “Hi-yo, Silver!” Generations of American baby boomers first heard Rossini's “William Tell” Overture as the opening credits of the old Lone Ranger TV western, but we suspect only a few of them ever realized the overture by an Italian composer was written for a French opera about a Swiss archer, which was adapted from a German play by Friedrich Schiller. Like a Facebook relationship, “It's complicated.” Anyway, Rossini's “William Tell” was first heard in Paris on today's date in 1829. Rossini hoped “William Tell” would be considered his masterpiece. Ironically, the complete opera is only rarely staged these days, but the “William Tell” overture became a familiar concert hall showpiece – SO familiar, in fact, as to become something of a musical cliché. The Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich gave a dark 20th-century spin to Rossini's overly familiar theme, when he quoted the “William Tell” overture in the opening movement of his Symphony No. 15. In the context of Shostakovich's enigmatic final symphony, Rossini's jaunty little theme comes off like a forced smile, and audiences are free to read whatever political subtext they wish into its rather sinister context. Music Played in Today's Program Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) –William Tell Overture (Philharmonia Orchestra; Carlo Maria Giulini, cond.) EMI 69042 Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) –Symphony No. 15 in A, Op. 141 (London Philharmonic; Mariss Jansons, cond.) EMI 56591 On This Day Births 1884 - Russian-born American composer Louis Gruenberg, near Brest-Litovsk (Julian date: July 22); 1896 - Russian inventor Lev Sergeivitch Termen (anglicized to Leon Theremin) in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: August 15) Deaths 1784 - Italian composer and teacher Giovanni Battista Martini, age 78, in Bologna; His students included Gluck, Mozart, Grétry, and Jommelli; Premieres 1829 - Rossini: opera, "Guillaume Tell" (William Tell), at the Paris Opéra; 1941 - Robert Russell Bennett: Symphony in D ("For the Dodgers"), in New York; 1961 - John Cage: "Atlas Eclipticalis," at the "International Week of Today's Music," in Montréal; 1967 - Lalo Schifrin: cantata, "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" (adapted from the composer's filmscore) by the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, with Lawrence Foster conducting; Others 1668 - German composer Dietrich Buxtehude marries the daughter of Franz Tunder, retiring organist at St. Mary's Church in Lübeck, as a condition to succeed Tunder in his position at St. Mary's; It is thought that both Handel and J.S. Bach were both interested in the position - but not in Tunder's daughter; 1778 - Milan's famous Teatro alla Scala (La Scala) opens with a performance of “L'Europa riconosciuta” by Italian opera composer Antonio Salieri, a work written specially for the occasion; The theater took its name from the site previously occupied by the church of Santa Maria della Scala (named after Bernabo Visconti's wife, Beatrice della Scala); This same opera, conducted by Riccardo Muti, was performed on Dec. 7, 2004 at the Gala reopening of La Scala after three years of major renovation; 1779 - Mozart finishes in Salzburg his "Posthorn" Serenade; 1795 - The Paris Conservatory of Music is founded by the National Revolutionary Convention. Links and Resources On Rossini On other famous radio themes

Episode one hundred and forty-six of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys, and the history of the theremin. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a ten-minute bonus episode available, on "You're Gonna Miss Me" by the Thirteenth Floor Elevators. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources There is no Mixcloud this week, because there were too many Beach Boys songs in the episode. I used many resources for this episode, most of which will be used in future Beach Boys episodes too. It's difficult to enumerate everything here, because I have been an active member of the Beach Boys fan community for twenty-four years, and have at times just used my accumulated knowledge for this. But the resources I list here are ones I've checked for specific things. Stephen McParland has published many, many books on the California surf and hot-rod music scenes, including several on both the Beach Boys and Gary Usher.  His books can be found at https://payhip.com/CMusicBooks Andrew Doe's Bellagio 10452 site is an invaluable resource. Jon Stebbins' The Beach Boys FAQ is a good balance between accuracy and readability. And Philip Lambert's Inside the Music of Brian Wilson is an excellent, though sadly out of print, musicological analysis of Wilson's music from 1962 through 67. I have also referred to Brian Wilson's autobiography, I Am Brian Wilson, and to Mike Love's, Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy. As a good starting point for the Beach Boys' music in general, I would recommend this budget-priced three-CD set, which has a surprisingly good selection of their material on it, including the single version of "Good Vibrations". Oddly, the single version of "Good Vibrations" is not on the The Smile Sessions box set. But an entire CD of outtakes of the track is, and that was the source for the session excerpts here. Information on Lev Termen comes from Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage by Albert Glinsky Transcript In ancient Greece, the god Hermes was a god of many things, as all the Greek gods were. Among those things, he was the god of diplomacy, he was a trickster god, a god of thieves, and he was a messenger god, who conveyed messages between realms. He was also a god of secret knowledge. In short, he was the kind of god who would have made a perfect spy. But he was also an inventor. In particular he was credited in Greek myth as having invented the lyre, an instrument somewhat similar to a guitar, harp, or zither, and as having used it to create beautiful sounds. But while Hermes the trickster god invented the lyre, in Greek myth it was a mortal man, Orpheus, who raised the instrument to perfection. Orpheus was a legendary figure, the greatest poet and musician of pre-Homeric Greece, and all sorts of things were attributed to him, some of which might even have been things that a real man of that name once did. He is credited with the "Orphic tripod" -- the classification of the elements into earth, water, and fire -- and with a collection of poems called the Rhapsodiae. The word Rhapsodiae comes from the Greek words rhaptein, meaning to stitch or sew, and ōidē, meaning song -- the word from which we get our word "ode", and  originally a rhapsōdos was someone who "stitched songs together" -- a reciter of long epic poems composed of several shorter pieces that the rhapsōdos would weave into one continuous piece. It's from that that we get the English word "rhapsody", which in the sixteenth century, when it was introduced into the language, meant a literary work that was a disjointed collection of patchwork bits, stitched together without much thought as to structure, but which now means a piece of music in one movement, but which has several distinct sections. Those sections may seem unrelated, and the piece may have an improvisatory feel, but a closer look will usually reveal relationships between the sections, and the piece as a whole will have a sense of unity. When Orpheus' love, Eurydice, died, he went down into Hades, the underworld where the souls of the dead lived, and played music so beautiful, so profound and moving, that the gods agreed that Orpheus could bring the soul of his love back to the land of the living. But there was one condition -- all he had to do was keep looking forward until they were both back on Earth. If he turned around before both of them were back in the mortal realm, she would disappear forever, never to be recovered. But of course, as you all surely know, and would almost certainly have guessed even if you didn't know because you know how stories work, once Orpheus made it back to our world he turned around and looked, because he lost his nerve and didn't believe he had really achieved his goal. And Eurydice, just a few steps away from her freedom, vanished back into the underworld, this time forever. [Excerpt: Blake Jones and the Trike Shop: "Mr. Theremin's Miserlou"] Lev Sergeyevich Termen was born in St. Petersburg, in what was then the Russian Empire, on the fifteenth of August 1896, by the calendar in use in Russia at that time -- the Russian Empire was still using the Julian calendar, rather than the Gregorian calendar used in most of the rest of the world, and in the Western world the same day was the twenty-seventh of August. Young Lev was fascinated both by science and the arts. He was trained as a cellist from an early age, but while he loved music, he found the process of playing the music cumbersome -- or so he would say later. He was always irritated by the fact that the instrument is a barrier between the idea in the musician's head and the sound -- that it requires training to play. As he would say later "I realised there was a gap between music itself and its mechanical production, and I wanted to unite both of them." Music was one of his big loves, but he was also very interested in physics, and was inspired by a lecture he saw from the physicist Abram Ioffe, who for the first time showed him that physics was about real, practical, things, about the movements of atoms and fields that really existed, not just about abstractions and ideals. When Termen went to university, he studied physics -- but he specifically wanted to be an experimental physicist, not a theoretician. He wanted to do stuff involving the real world. Of course, as someone who had the misfortune to be born in the late 1890s, Termen was the right age to be drafted when World War I started, but luckily for him the Russian Army desperately needed people with experience in the new invention that was radio, which was vital for wartime communications, and he spent the war in the Army radio engineering department, erecting radio transmitters and teaching other people how to erect them, rather than on the front lines, and he managed not only to get his degree in physics but also a diploma in music. But he was also becoming more and more of a Marxist sympathiser, even though he came from a relatively affluent background, and after the Russian Revolution he stayed in what was now the Red Army, at least for a time. Once Termen's Army service was over, he started working under Ioffe, working with him on practical applications of the audion, the first amplifying vacuum tube. The first one he found was that the natural capacitance of a human body when standing near a circuit can change the capacity of the circuit. He used that to create an invisible burglar alarm -- there was an antenna sending out radio waves, and if someone came within the transmitting field of the antenna, that would cause a switch to flip and a noise to be sounded. He was then asked to create a device for measuring the density of gases, outputting a different frequency for different densities. Because gas density can have lots of minor fluctuations because of air currents and so forth, he built a circuit that would cut out all the many harmonics from the audions he was using and give just the main frequency as a single pure tone, which he could listen to with headphones. That way,  slight changes in density would show up as a slight change in the tone he heard. But he noticed that again when he moved near the circuit, that changed the capacitance of the circuit and changed the tone he was hearing. He started moving his hand around near the circuit and getting different tones. The closer his hand got to the capacitor, the higher the note sounded. And if he shook his hand a little, he could get a vibrato, just like when he shook his hand while playing the cello. He got Ioffe to come and listen to him, and Ioffe said "That's an electronic Orpheus' lament!" [Excerpt: Blake Jones and the Trike Shop, "Mr. Theremin's Miserlou"] Termen figured out how to play Massenet's "Elegy" and Saint-Saens' "The Swan" using this system. Soon the students were all fascinated, telling each other "Termen plays Gluck on a voltmeter!" He soon figured out various refinements -- by combining two circuits, using the heterodyne principle, he could allow for far finer control. He added a second antenna, for volume control, to be used by the left hand -- the right hand would choose the notes, while the left hand would change the volume, meaning the instrument could be played without touching it at all. He called the instrument the "etherphone",  but other people started calling it the termenvox -- "Termen's voice". Termen's instrument was an immediate sensation, as was his automatic burglar alarm, and he was invited to demonstrate both of them to Lenin. Lenin was very impressed by Termen -- he wrote to Trotsky later talking about Termen's inventions, and how the automatic burglar alarm might reduce the number of guards needed to guard a perimeter. But he was also impressed by Termen's musical invention. Termen held his hands to play through the first half of a melody, before leaving the Russian leader to play the second half by himself -- apparently he made quite a good job of it. Because of Lenin's advocacy for his work, Termen was sent around the Soviet Union on a propaganda tour -- what was known as an "agitprop tour", in the familiar Soviet way of creating portmanteau words. In 1923 the first piece of music written specially for the instrument was performed by Termen himself with the Leningrad Philharmonic, Andrey Paschenko's Symphonic Mystery for Termenvox and Orchestra. The score for that was later lost, but has been reconstructed, and the piece was given a "second premiere" in 2020 [Excerpt: Andrey Paschenko, "Symphonic Mystery for Termenvox and Orchestra" ] But the musical instrument wasn't the only scientific innovation that Termen was working on. He thought he could reverse death itself, and bring the dead back to life.  He was inspired in this by the way that dead organisms could be perfectly preserved in the Siberian permafrost. He thought that if he could only freeze a dead person in the permafrost, he could then revive them later -- basically the same idea as the later idea of cryogenics, although Termen seems to have thought from the accounts I've read that all it would take would be to freeze and then thaw them, and not to have considered the other things that would be necessary to bring them back to life. Termen made two attempts to actually do this, or at least made preliminary moves in that direction. The first came when his assistant, a twenty-year-old woman, died of pneumonia. Termen was heartbroken at the death of someone so young, who he'd liked a great deal, and was convinced that if he could just freeze her body for a while he could soon revive her. He talked with Ioffe about this -- Ioffe was friends with the girl's family -- and Ioffe told him that he thought that he was probably right and probably could revive her. But he also thought that it would be cruel to distress the girl's parents further by discussing it with them, and so Termen didn't get his chance to experiment. He was even keener on trying his technique shortly afterwards, when Lenin died. Termen was a fervent supporter of the Revolution, and thought Lenin was a great man whose leadership was still needed -- and he had contacts within the top echelons of the Kremlin. He got in touch with them as soon as he heard of Lenin's death, in an attempt to get the opportunity to cryopreserve his corpse and revive him. Sadly, by this time it was too late. Lenin's brain had been pickled, and so the opportunity to resurrect him as a zombie Lenin was denied forever. Termen was desperately interested in the idea of bringing people back from the dead, and he wanted to pursue it further with his lab, but he was also being pushed to give demonstrations of his music, as well as doing security work -- Ioffe, it turned out, was also working as a secret agent, making various research trips to Germany that were also intended to foment Communist revolution. For now, Termen was doing more normal security work -- his burglar alarms were being used to guard bank vaults and the like, but this was at the order of the security state. But while Termen was working on his burglar alarms and musical instruments and attempts to revive dead dictators, his main project was his doctoral work, which was on the TV. We've said before in this podcast that there's no first anything, and that goes just as much for inventions as it does for music. Most inventions build on work done by others, which builds on work done by others, and so there were a lot of people building prototype TVs at this point. In Britain we tend to say "the inventor of the TV" was John Logie Baird, but Baird was working at the same time as people like the American Charles Francis Jenkins and the Japanese inventor Kenjiro Takayanagi, all of them building on earlier work by people like Archibald Low. Termen's prototype TV, the first one in Russia, came slightly later than any of those people, but was created more or less independently, and was more advanced in several ways, with a bigger screen and better resolution. Shortly after Lenin's death, Termen was invited to demonstrate his invention to Stalin, who professed himself amazed at the "magic mirror". [Excerpt: Blake Jones and the Trike Shop, "Astronauts in Trouble"] Termen was sent off to tour Europe giving demonstrations of his inventions, particularly his musical instrument. It was on this trip that he started using the Romanisation "Leon Theremin", and this is how Western media invariably referred to him. Rather than transliterate the Cyrillic spelling of his birth name, he used the French spelling his Huguenot ancestors had used before they emigrated to Russia, and called himself Leo or Leon rather than Lev. He was known throughout his life by both names, but said to a journalist in 1928 "First of all, I am not Tair-uh-MEEN. I wrote my name with French letters for French pronunciation. I am Lev Sergeyevich Tair-MEN.". We will continue to call him Termen, partly because he expressed that mild preference (though again, he definitely went by both names through choice) but also to distinguish him from the instrument, because while his invention remained known in Russia as the termenvox, in the rest of the world it became known as the theremin. He performed at the Paris Opera, and the New York Times printed a review saying "Some musicians were extremely pessimistic about the possibilities of the device, because at times M. Theremin played lamentably out of tune. But the finest Stradivarius, in the hands of a tyro, can give forth frightful sounds. The fact that the inventor was able to perform certain pieces with absolute precision proves that there remains to be solved only questions of practice and technique." Termen also came to the UK, where he performed in front of an audience including George Bernard Shaw, Arnold Bennett, Henry Wood and others. Arnold Bennett was astonished, but Bernard Shaw, who had very strong opinions about music, as anyone who has read his criticism will be aware, compared the sound unfavourably to that of a comb and paper. After performing in Europe, Termen made his way to the US, to continue his work of performance, propagandising for the Soviet Revolution, and trying to license the patents for his inventions, to bring money both to him and to the Soviet state. He entered the US on a six-month visitor's visa, but stayed there for eleven years, renewing the visa every six months. His initial tour was a success, though at least one open-air concert had to be cancelled because, as the Communist newspaper the Daily Worker put it, "the weather on Saturday took such a counter-revolutionary turn". Nicolas Slonimsky, the musicologist we've encountered several times before, and who would become part of Termen's circle in the US, reviewed one of the performances, and described the peculiar audiences that Termen was getting -- "a considerable crop of ladies and gentlemen engaged in earnest exploration of the Great Beyond...the mental processes peculiar to believers in cosmic vibrations imparted a beatific look to some of the listeners. Boston is a seat of scientific religion; before he knows it Professor Theremin may be proclaimed Krishnamurti and sanctified as a new deity". Termen licensed his patents on the invention to RCA, who in 1929 started mass-producing the first ever theremins for general use. Termen also started working with the conductor Leopold Stokowski, including developing a new kind of theremin for Stokowski's orchestra to use, one with a fingerboard played like a cello. Stokowski said "I believe we shall have orchestras of these electric instruments. Thus will begin a new era in music history, just as modern materials and methods of construction have produced a new era of architecture." Possibly of more interest to the wider public, Lennington Sherwell, the son of an RCA salesman, took up the theremin professionally, and joined the band of Rudy Vallee, one of the most popular singers of the period. Vallee was someone who constantly experimented with new sounds, and has for example been named as the first band leader to use an electric banjo, and Vallee liked the sound of the theremin so much he ordered a custom-built left-handed one for himself. Sherwell stayed in Vallee's band for quite a while, and performed with him on the radio and in recording sessions, but it's very difficult to hear him in any of the recordings -- the recording equipment in use in 1930 was very primitive, and Vallee had a very big band with a lot of string and horn players, and his arrangements tended to have lots of instruments playing in unison rather than playing individual lines that are easy to differentiate. On top of that, the fashion at the time when playing the instrument was to try and have it sound as much like other instruments as possible -- to duplicate the sound of a cello or violin or clarinet, rather than to lean in to the instrument's own idiosyncracies. I *think* though that I can hear Sherwell's playing in the instrumental break of Vallee's big hit "You're Driving Me Crazy" -- certainly it was recorded at the time that Sherwell was in the band, and there's an instrument in there with a very pure tone, but quite a lot of vibrato, in the mid range, that seems only to be playing in the break and not the rest of the song. I'm not saying this is *definitely* a theremin solo on one of the biggest hits of 1930, but I'm not saying it's not, either: [Excerpt: Rudy Vallee, "You're Driving Me Crazy" ] Termen also invented a light show to go along with his instrument -- the illumovox, which had a light shining through a strip of gelatin of different colours, which would be rotated depending on the pitch of the theremin, so that lower notes would cause the light to shine a deep red, while the highest notes would make it shine a light blue, with different shades in between. By 1930, though, Termen's fortunes had started to turn slightly. Stokowski kept using theremins in the orchestra for a while, especially the fingerboard models to reinforce the bass, but they caused problems. As Slonimsky said "The infrasonic vibrations were so powerful...that they hit the stomach physically, causing near-nausea in the double-bass section of the orchestra". Fairly soon, the Theremin was overtaken by other instruments, like the ondes martenot, an instrument very similar to the theremin but with more precise control, and with a wider range of available timbres. And in 1931, RCA was sued by another company for patent infringement with regard to the Theremin -- the De Forest Radio Company had patents around the use of vacuum tubes in music, and they claimed damages of six thousand dollars, plus RCA had to stop making theremins. Since at the time, RCA had only made an initial batch of five hundred instruments total, and had sold 485 of them, many of them as promotional loss-leaders for future batches, they had actually made a loss of three hundred dollars even before the six thousand dollar damages, and decided not to renew their option on Termen's patents. But Termen was still working on his musical ideas. Slonimsky also introduced Termen to the avant-garde composer and theosophist Henry Cowell, who was interested in experimental sounds, and used to do things like play the strings inside the piano to get a different tone: [Excerpt: Henry Cowell, "Aeolian Harp and Sinister Resonance"] Cowell was part of a circle of composers and musicologists that included Edgard Varese, Charles Ives, and Charles Seeger and Ruth Crawford, who Cowell would introduce to each other. Crawford would later marry Seeger, and they would have several children together, including the folk singer Peggy Seeger, and Crawford would also adopt Seeger's son Pete. Cowell and Termen would together invent the rhythmicon, the first ever drum machine, though the rhythmicon could play notes as well as rhythms. Only two rhythmicons were made while Termen was in the US. The first was owned by Cowell. The second, improved, model was bought by Charles Ives, but bought as a gift for Cowell and Slonimsky to use in their compositions. Sadly, both rhythmicons eventually broke down, and no recording of either is known to exist. Termen started to get further and further into debt, especially as the Great Depression started to hit, and he also had a personal loss -- he'd been training a student and had fallen in love with her, although he was married. But when she married herself, he cut off all ties with her, though Clara Rockmore would become one of the few people to use the instrument seriously and become a real virtuoso on it. He moved into other fields, all loosely based around the same basic ideas of detecting someone's distance from an object. He built electronic gun detectors for Alcatraz and Sing-Sing prisons, and he came up with an altimeter for aeroplanes. There was also a "magic mirror" -- glass that appeared like a mirror until it was backlit, at which point it became transparent. This was put into shop windows along with a proximity detector -- every time someone stepped close to look at their reflection, the reflection would disappear and be replaced with the objects behind the mirror. He was also by this point having to spy for the USSR on a more regular basis. Every week he would meet up in a cafe with two diplomats from the Russian embassy, who would order him to drink several shots of vodka -- the idea was that they would loosen his inhibitions enough that he would not be able to hide things from them -- before he related various bits of industrial espionage he'd done for them. Having inventions of his own meant he was able to talk with engineers in the aerospace industry and get all sorts of bits of information that would otherwise not have been available, and he fed this back to Moscow. He eventually divorced his first wife, and remarried -- a Black American dancer many years his junior named Lavinia Williams, who would be the great love of his life. This caused some scandal in his social circle, more because of her race than the age gap. But by 1938 he had to leave the US. He'd been there on a six-month visa, which had been renewed every six months for more than a decade, and he'd also not been paying income tax and was massively in debt. He smuggled himself back to the USSR, but his wife was, at the last minute, not allowed on to the ship with him. He'd had to make the arrangements in secret, and hadn't even told her of the plans, so the first she knew was when he disappeared. He would later claim that the Soviets had told him she would be sent for two weeks later, but she had no knowledge of any of this. For decades, Lavinia would not even know if her husband was dead or alive. [Excerpt: Blake Jones and the Trike Shop, "Astronauts in Trouble"] When Termen got back to the USSR, he found it had changed beyond recognition. Stalin's reign of terror was now well underway, and not only could he not find a job, most of the people who he'd been in contact with at the top of the Kremlin had been purged. Termen was himself arrested and tortured into signing a false confession to counter-revolutionary activities and membership of fascist organisations. He was sentenced to eight years in a forced labour camp, which in reality was a death sentence -- it was expected that workers there would work themselves to death on starvation rations long before their sentences were up -- but relatively quickly he was transferred to a special prison where people with experience of aeronautical design were working. He was still a prisoner, but in conditions not too far removed from normal civilian life, and allowed to do scientific and technical work with some of the greatest experts in the field -- almost all of whom had also been arrested in one purge or another. One of the pieces of work Termen did was at the direct order of Laventy Beria, Stalin's right-hand man and the architect of most of the terrors of the Stalinist regime. In Spring 1945, while the USA and USSR were still supposed to be allies in World War II, Beria wanted to bug the residence of the US ambassador, and got Termen to design a bug that would get past all the normal screenings. The bug that Termen designed was entirely passive and unpowered -- it did nothing unless a microwave beam of a precise frequency was beamed at it, and only then did it start transmitting. It was placed in a wooden replica of the Great Seal of the United States, presented to the ambassador by a troupe of scouts as a gesture of friendship between the two countries. The wood in the eagle's beak was thin enough to let the sound through. It remained there for seven years, through the tenures of four ambassadors, only being unmasked when a British radio operator accidentally tuned to the frequency it was transmitting on and was horrified to hear secret diplomatic conversations. Upon its discovery, the US couldn't figure out how it worked, and eventually shared the information with MI5, who took eighteen months to reverse-engineer Termen's bug and come up with their own, which remained the standard bug in use for about a decade. The CIA's own attempts to reverse-engineer it failed altogether. It was also Termen who came up with that well-known bit of spycraft -- focussing an infra-red beam on a window pane, to use it to pick up the sound of conversations happening in the room behind it. Beria was so pleased with Termen's inventions that he got Termen to start bugging Stalin himself, so Beria would be able to keep track of Stalin's whims. Termen performed such great services for Beria that Beria actually allowed him to go free not long after his sentence was served. Not only that, but Beria nominated Termen for the Stalin Award, Class II, for his espionage work -- and Stalin, not realising that Termen had been bugging *him* as well as foreign powers, actually upgraded that to a Class I, the highest honour the Soviet state gave. While Termen was free, he found himself at a loose end, and ended up volunteering to work for the organisation he had been working for -- which went by many names but became known as the KGB from the 1950s onwards. He tried to persuade the government to let Lavinia, who he hadn't seen in eight years, come over and join him, but they wouldn't even allow him to contact her, and he eventually remarried. Meanwhile, after Stalin's death, Beria was arrested for his crimes, and charged under the same law that he had had Termen convicted under. Beria wasn't as lucky as Termen, though, and was executed. By 1964, Termen had had enough of the KGB, because they wanted him to investigate obvious pseudoscience -- they wanted him to look into aliens, UFOs, ESP... and telepathy. [Excerpt, The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations (early version)" "She's already working on my brain"] He quit and went back to civilian life.  He started working in the acoustics lab in Moscow Conservatory, although he had to start at the bottom because everything he'd been doing for more than a quarter of a century was classified. He also wrote a short book on electronic music. In the late sixties an article on him was published in the US -- the first sign any of his old friends had that he'd not  died nearly thirty years earlier. They started corresponding with him, and he became a minor celebrity again, but this was disapproved of by the Soviet government -- electronic music was still considered bourgeois decadence and not suitable for the Soviet Union, and all his instruments were smashed and he was sacked from the conservatory. He continued working in various technical jobs until the 1980s, and still continued inventing refinements of the theremin, although he never had any official support for his work. In the eighties, a writer tried to get him some sort of official recognition -- the Stalin Prize was secret -- and the university at which he was working sent a reply saying, in part, "L.S. Termen took part in research conducted by the department as an ordinary worker and he did not show enough creative activity, nor does he have any achievements on the basis of which he could be recommended for a Government decoration." By this time he was living in shared accommodation with a bunch of other people, one room to himself and using a shared bathroom, kitchen, and so on. After Glasnost he did some interviews and was asked about this, and said "I never wanted to make demands and don't want to now. I phoned the housing department about three months ago and inquired about my turn to have a new flat. The woman told me that my turn would come in five or six years. Not a very reassuring answer if one is ninety-two years old." In 1989 he was finally allowed out of the USSR again, for the first time in fifty-one years, to attend a UNESCO sponsored symposium on electronic music. Among other things, he was given, forty-eight years late, a letter that his old colleague Edgard Varese had sent about his composition Ecuatorial, which had originally been written for theremin. Varese had wanted to revise the work, and had wanted to get modified theremins that could do what he wanted, and had asked the inventor for help, but the letter had been suppressed by the Soviet government. When he got no reply, Varese had switched to using ondes martenot instead. [Excerpt: Edgard Varese, "Ecuatorial"] In the 1970s, after the death of his third wife, Termen had started an occasional correspondence with his second wife, Lavinia, the one who had not been able to come with him to the USSR and hadn't known if he was alive for so many decades. She was now a prominent activist in Haiti, having established dance schools in many Caribbean countries, and Termen still held out hope that they could be reunited, even writing her a letter in 1988 proposing remarriage. But sadly, less than a month after Termen's first trip outside the USSR, she died -- officially of a heart attack or food poisoning, but there's a strong suspicion that she was murdered by the military dictatorship for her closeness to Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the pro-democracy activist who later became President of Haiti. Termen was finally allowed to join the Communist Party in the spring of 1991, just before the USSR finally dissolved -- he'd been forbidden up to that point because of his conviction for counter-revolutionary crimes. He was asked by a Western friend why he'd done that when everyone else was trying to *leave* the Communist Party, and he explained that he'd made a promise to Lenin. In his final years he was researching immortality, going back to the work he had done in his youth, working with biologists, trying to find a way to restore elderly bodies to youthful vigour. But sadly he died in 1993, aged ninety-seven, before he achieved his goal. On one of his last trips outside the USSR, in 1991, he visited the US, and in California he finally got to hear the song that most people associate with his invention, even though it didn't actually feature a theremin: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations"] Back in the 1930s, when he was working with Slonimsky and Varese and Ives and the rest, Termen had set up the Theremin Studio, a sort of experimental arts lab, and in 1931 he had invited the musicologist, composer, and theoretician Joseph Schillinger to become a lecturer there. Schillinger had been one of the first composers to be really interested in the theremin, and had composed a very early piece written specifically for the instrument, the First Airphonic Suite: [Excerpt: Joseph Schillinger, "First Airphonic Suite"] But he was most influential as a theoretician. Schillinger believed that all of the arts were susceptible to rigorous mathematical analysis, and that you could use that analysis to generate new art according to mathematical principles, art that would be perfect. Schillinger planned to work with Termen to try to invent a machine that could compose, perform, and transmit music. The idea was that someone would be able to tune in a radio and listen to a piece of music in real time as it was being algorithmically composed and transmitted. The two men never achieved this, but Schillinger became very, very, respected as someone with a rigorous theory of musical structure -- though reading his magnum opus, the Schillinger System of Musical Composition, is frankly like wading through treacle. I'll read a short excerpt just to give an idea of his thinking: "On the receiving end, phasic stimuli produced by instruments encounter a metamorphic auditory integrator. This integrator represents the auditory apparatus as a whole and is a complex interdependent system. It consists of two receivers (ears), transmitters, auditory nerves, and a transformer, the auditory braincenter.  The response to a stimulus is integrated both quantitatively and selectively. The neuronic energy of response becomes the psychonic energy of auditory image. The response to stimuli and the process of integration are functional operations and, as such, can be described in mathematical terms , i.e., as  synchronization, addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc. But these integrative processes alone do not constitute the material of orchestration either.  The auditory image, whether resulting from phasic stimuli of an excitor or from selfstimulation of the auditory brain-center, can be described only in Psychological terms, of loudness, pitch, quality, etc. This leads us to the conclusion that the material of orchestration can be defined only as a group of conditions under which an integrated image results from a sonic stimulus subjected to an auditory response.  This constitutes an interdependent tripartite system, in which the existence of one component necessitates the existence of two others. The composer can imagine an integrated sonic form, yet he cannot transmit it to the auditor (unless telepathicaliy) without sonic stimulus and hearing apparatus." That's Schillinger's way of saying that if a composer wants someone to hear the music they've written, the composer needs a musical instrument and the listener needs ears and a brain. This kind of revolutionary insight made Schillinger immensely sought after in the early 1930s, and among his pupils were the swing bandleaders Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey, and the songwriter George Gershwin, who turned to Schillinger for advice when he was writing his opera Porgy and Bess: [Excerpt: Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, "Here Come De Honey Man"] Another of his pupils was the trombonist and arranger Glenn Miller, who at that time was a session player working in pickup studio bands for people like Red Nichols. Miller spent some time studying with him in the early thirties, and applied those lessons when given the job of putting together arrangements for Ray Noble, his first prominent job. In 1938 Glenn Miller walked into a strip joint to see a nineteen-year-old he'd been told to take a look at. This was another trombonist, Paul Tanner, who was at the time working as a backing musician for the strippers. Miller had recently broken up his first big band, after a complete lack of success, and was looking to put together a new big band, to play arrangements in the style he had worked out while working for Noble. As Tanner later put it "he said, `Well, how soon can you come with me?' I said, `I can come right now.' I told him I was all packed, I had my toothbrush in my pocket and everything. And so I went with him that night, and I stayed with him until he broke the band up in September 1942." The new band spent a few months playing the kind of gigs that an unknown band can get, but they soon had a massive success with a song Miller had originally written as an arranging exercise set for him by Schillinger, a song that started out under the title "Miller's Tune", but soon became known worldwide as "Moonlight Serenade": [Excerpt: Glenn Miller, "Moonlight Serenade"] The Miller band had a lot of lineup changes in the four and a bit years it was together, but other than Miller himself there were only four members who were with that group throughout its career, from the early dates opening for  Freddie Fisher and His Schnickelfritzers right through to its end as the most popular band in America. They were piano player Chummy MacGregor, clarinet player Wilbur Schwartz, tenor sax player Tex Beneke, and Tanner. They played on all of Miller's big hits, like "In the Mood" and "Chattanooga Choo-Choo": [Excerpt: Glenn Miller, "Chattanooga Choo-Choo"] But in September 1942, the band broke up as the members entered the armed forces, and Tanner found himself in the Army while Miller was in the Air Force, so while both played in military bands, they weren't playing together, and Miller disappeared over the Channel, presumed dead, in 1944. Tanner became a session trombonist, based in LA, and in 1958 he found himself on a session for a film soundtrack with Dr. Samuel Hoffman. I haven't been able to discover for sure which film this was for, but the only film on which Hoffman has an IMDB credit for that year is that American International Pictures classic, Earth Vs The Spider: [Excerpt: Earth Vs The Spider trailer] Hoffman was a chiropodist, and that was how he made most of his living, but as a teenager in the 1930s he had been a professional violin player under the name Hal Hope. One of the bands he played in was led by a man named Jolly Coburn, who had seen Rudy Vallee's band with their theremin and decided to take it up himself. Hoffman had then also got a theremin, and started his own all-electronic trio, with a Hammond organ player, and with a cello-style fingerboard theremin played by William Schuman, the future Pulitzer Prize winning composer. By the 1940s, Hoffman was a full-time doctor, but he'd retained his Musicians' Union card just in case the odd gig came along, and then in 1945 he received a call from Miklos Rozsa, who was working on the soundtrack for Alfred Hitchcock's new film, Spellbound. Rozsa had tried to get Clara Rockmore, the one true virtuoso on the theremin playing at the time, to play on the soundtrack, but she'd refused -- she didn't do film soundtrack work, because in her experience they only wanted her to play on films about ghosts or aliens, and she thought it damaged the dignity of the instrument. Rozsa turned to the American Federation of Musicians, who as it turned out had precisely one theremin player who could read music and wasn't called Clara Rockmore on their books. So Dr. Samuel Hoffman, chiropodist, suddenly found himself playing on one of the most highly regarded soundtracks of one of the most successful films of the forties: [Excerpt: Miklos Rozsa, "Spellbound"] Rozsa soon asked Hoffman to play on another soundtrack, for the Billy Wilder film The Lost Weekend, another of the great classics of late forties cinema. Both films' soundtracks were nominated for the Oscar, and Spellbound's won, and Hoffman soon found himself in demand as a session player. Hoffman didn't have any of Rockmore's qualms about playing on science fiction and horror films, and anyone with any love of the genre will have heard his playing on genre classics like The Five Thousand Fingers of Dr T, The Thing From Another World, It Came From Outer Space, and of course Bernard Hermann's score for The Day The Earth Stood Still: [Excerpt: The Day The Earth Stood Still score] As well as on such less-than-classics as The Devil's Weed, Voodoo Island, The Mad Magician, and of course Billy The Kid Vs Dracula. Hoffman became something of a celebrity, and also recorded several albums of lounge music with a band led by Les Baxter, like the massive hit Music Out Of The Moon, featuring tracks like “Lunar Rhapsody”: [Excerpt: Samuel Hoffman, "Lunar Rhapsody”] [Excerpt: Neil Armstrong] That voice you heard there was Neil Armstrong, on Apollo 11 on its way back from the moon. He took a tape of Hoffman's album with him. But while Hoffman was something of a celebrity in the fifties, the work dried up almost overnight in 1958 when he worked at that session with Paul Tanner. The theremin is a very difficult instrument to play, and while Hoffman was a good player, he wasn't a great one -- he was getting the work because he was the best in a very small pool of players, not because he was objectively the best there could be. Tanner noticed that Hoffman was having quite some difficulty getting the pitching right in the session, and realised that the theremin must be a very difficult instrument to play because it had no markings at all. So he decided to build an instrument that had the same sound, but that was more sensibly controlled than just waving your hands near it. He built his own invention, the electrotheremin, in less than a week, despite never before having had any experience in electrical engineering. He built it using an oscillator, a length of piano wire and a contact switch that could be slid up and down the wire, changing the pitch. Two days after he finished building it, he was in the studio, cutting his own equivalent of Hoffman's forties albums, Music For Heavenly Bodies, including a new exotica version of "Moonlight Serenade", the song that Glenn Miller had written decades earlier as an exercise for Schillinger: [Excerpt: Paul Tanner, "Moonlight Serenade"] Not only could the electrotheremin let the player control the pitch more accurately, but it could also do staccato notes easily -- something that's almost impossible with an actual theremin. And, on top of that, Tanner was cheaper than Hoffman. An instrumentalist hired to play two instruments is paid extra, but not as much extra as paying for another musician to come to the session, and since Tanner was a first-call trombone player who was likely to be at the session *anyway*, you might as well hire him if you want a theremin sound, rather than paying for Hoffman. Tanner was an excellent musician -- he was a professor of music at UCLA as well as being a session player, and he authored one of the standard textbooks on jazz -- and soon he had cornered the market, leaving Hoffman with only the occasional gig. We will actually be seeing Hoffman again, playing on a session for an artist we're going to look at in a couple of months, but in LA in the early sixties, if you wanted a theremin sound, you didn't hire a theremin player, you hired Paul Tanner to play his electrotheremin -- though the instrument was so obscure that many people didn't realise he wasn't actually playing a theremin. Certainly Brian Wilson seems to have thought he was when he hired him for "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times": [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times"] We talked briefly about that track back in the episode on "God Only Knows",   but three days after recording that, Tanner was called back into the studio for another session on which Brian Wilson wanted a theremin sound. This was a song titled "Good, Good, Good Vibrations", and it was inspired by a conversation he'd had with his mother as a child. He'd asked her why dogs bark at some people and not at others, and she'd said that dogs could sense vibrations that people sent out, and some people had bad vibrations and some had good ones. It's possible that this came back to mind as he was planning the Pet Sounds album, which of course ends with the sound of his own dogs barking. It's also possible that he was thinking more generally about ideas like telepathy -- he had been starting to experiment with acid by this point, and was hanging around with a crowd of people who were proto-hippies, and reading up on a lot of the mystical ideas that were shared by those people. As we saw in the last episode, there was a huge crossover between people who were being influenced by drugs, people who were interested in Eastern religion, and people who were interested in what we now might think of as pseudo-science but at the time seemed to have a reasonable amount of validity, things like telepathy and remote viewing. Wilson had also had exposure from an early age to people claiming psychic powers. Jo Ann Marks, the Wilson family's neighbour and the mother of former Beach Boy David Marks, later had something of a minor career as a psychic to the stars (at least according to obituaries posted by her son) and she would often talk about being able to sense "vibrations". The record Wilson started out making in February 1966 with the Wrecking Crew was intended as an R&B single, and was also intended to sound *strange*: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations: Gold Star 1966-02-18"] At this stage, the song he was working on was a very straightforward verse-chorus structure, and it was going to be an altogether conventional pop song. The verses -- which actually ended up used in the final single, are dominated by organ and Ray Pohlman's bass: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations: Gold Star 1966-02-18"] These bear a strong resemblance to the verses of "Here Today", on the Pet Sounds album which the Beach Boys were still in the middle of making: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Here Today (instrumental)"] But the chorus had far more of an R&B feel than anything the Beach Boys had done before: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations: Gold Star 1966-02-18"] It did, though, have precedent. The origins of the chorus feel come from "Can I Get a Witness?", a Holland-Dozier-Holland song that had been a hit for Marvin Gaye in 1963: [Excerpt: Marvin Gaye, "Can I Get a Witness?"] The Beach Boys had picked up on that, and also on its similarity to the feel of Lonnie Mack's instrumental cover version of Chuck Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee", which, retitled "Memphis", had also been a hit in 1963, and in 1964 they recorded an instrumental which they called "Memphis Beach" while they were recording it but later retitled "Carl's Big Chance", which was credited to Brian and Carl Wilson, but was basically just playing the "Can I Get a Witness" riff over twelve-bar blues changes, with Carl doing some surf guitar over the top: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Carl's Big Chance"] The "Can I Get a Witness" feel had quickly become a standard piece of the musical toolkit – you might notice the resemblance between that riff and the “talking 'bout my generation” backing vocals on “My Generation” by the Who, for example. It was also used on "The Boy From New York City", a hit on Red Bird Records by the Ad-Libs: [Excerpt: The Ad-Libs, "The Boy From New York City"] The Beach Boys had definitely been aware of that record -- on their 1965 album Summer Days... And Summer Nights! they recorded an answer song to it, "The Girl From New York City": [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "The Girl From New York City"] And you can see how influenced Brian was by the Ad-Libs record by laying the early instrumental takes of the "Good Vibrations" chorus from this February session under the vocal intro of "The Boy From New York City". It's not a perfect match, but you can definitely hear that there's an influence there: [Excerpt: "The Boy From New York City"/"Good Vibrations"] A few days later, Brian had Carl Wilson overdub some extra bass, got a musician in to do a jaw harp overdub, and they also did a guide vocal, which I've sometimes seen credited to Brian and sometimes Carl, and can hear as both of them depending on what I'm listening for. This guide vocal used a set of placeholder lyrics written by Brian's collaborator Tony Asher, which weren't intended to be a final lyric: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations (first version)"] Brian then put the track away for a month, while he continued work on the Pet Sounds album. At this point, as best we can gather, he was thinking of it as something of a failed experiment. In the first of the two autobiographies credited to Brian (one whose authenticity is dubious, as it was largely put together by a ghostwriter and Brian later said he'd never even read it) he talks about how he was actually planning to give the song to Wilson Pickett rather than keep it for the Beach Boys, and one can definitely imagine a Wilson Pickett version of the song as it was at this point. But Brian's friend Danny Hutton, at that time still a minor session singer who had not yet gone on to form the group that would become Three Dog Night, asked Brian if *he* could have the song if Brian wasn't going to use it. And this seems to have spurred Brian into rethinking the whole song. And in doing so he was inspired by his very first ever musical memory. Brian has talked a lot about how the first record he remembers hearing was when he was two years old, at his maternal grandmother's house, where he heard the Glenn Miller version of "Rhapsody in Blue", a three-minute cut-down version of Gershwin's masterpiece, on which Paul Tanner had of course coincidentally played: [Excerpt: The Glenn Miller Orchestra, "Rhapsody in Blue"] Hearing that music, which Brian's mother also played for him a lot as a child, was one of the most profoundly moving experiences of Brian's young life, and "Rhapsody in Blue" has become one of those touchstone pieces that he returns to again and again. He has recorded studio versions of it twice, in the mid-nineties with Van Dyke Parks: [Excerpt: Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, "Rhapsody in Blue"] and in 2010 with his solo band, as the intro and outro of an album of Gershwin covers: [Excerpt: Brian Wilson, "Rhapsody in Blue"] You'll also often see clips of him playing "Rhapsody in Blue" when sat at the piano -- it's one of his go-to songs. So he decided he was going to come up with a song that was structured like "Rhapsody in Blue" -- what publicist Derek Taylor would later describe as a "pocket symphony", but "pocket rhapsody" would possibly be a better term for it. It was going to be one continuous song, but in different sections that would have different instrumentation and different feelings to them -- he'd even record them in different studios to get different sounds for them, though he would still often have the musicians run through the whole song in each studio. He would mix and match the sections in the edit. His second attempt to record the whole track, at the start of April, gave a sign of what he was attempting, though he would not end up using any of the material from this session: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations: Gold Star 1966-04-09" around 02:34] Nearly a month later, on the fourth of May, he was back in the studio -- this time in Western Studios rather than Gold Star where the previous sessions had been held, with yet another selection of musicians from the Wrecking Crew, plus Tanner, to record another version. This time, part of the session was used for the bridge for the eventual single: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys: "Good Vibrations: Western 1966-05-04 Second Chorus and Fade"] On the twenty-fourth of May the Wrecking Crew, with Carl Wilson on Fender bass (while Lyle Ritz continued to play string bass, and Carol Kaye, who didn't end up on the finished record at all, but who was on many of the unused sessions, played Danelectro), had another attempt at the track, this time in Sunset Studios: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys: "Good Vibrations: Sunset Sound 1966-05-24 (Parts 2&3)"] Three days later, another group of musicians, with Carl now switched to rhythm guitar, were back in Western Studios recording this: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys: "Good Vibrations: Western 1966-05-27 Part C" from 2:52] The fade from that session was used in the final track. A few days later they were in the studio again, a smaller group of people with Carl on guitar and Brian on piano, along with Don Randi on electric harpsichord, Bill Pitman on electric bass, Lyle Ritz on string bass and Hal Blaine on drums. This time there seems to have been another inspiration, though I've never heard it mentioned as an influence. In March, a band called The Association, who were friends with the Beach Boys, had released their single "Along Comes Mary", and by June it had become a big hit: [Excerpt: The Association, "Along Comes Mary"] Now the fuzz bass part they were using on the session on the second of June sounds to my ears very, very, like that intro: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations (Inspiration) Western 1966-06-02" from 01:47] That session produced the basic track that was used for the choruses on the final single, onto which the electrotheremin was later overdubbed as Tanner wasn't at that session. Some time around this point, someone suggested to Brian that they should use a cello along with the electrotheremin in the choruses, playing triplets on the low notes. Brian has usually said that this was Carl's idea, while Brian's friend Van Dyke Parks has always said that he gave Brian the idea. Both seem quite certain of this, and neither has any reason to lie, so I suspect what might have happened is that Parks gave Brian the initial idea to have a cello on the track, while Carl in the studio suggested having it specifically play triplets. Either way, a cello part by Jesse Erlich was added to those choruses. There were more sessions in June, but everything from those sessions was scrapped. At some point around this time, Mike Love came up with a bass vocal lyric, which he sang along with the bass in the choruses in a group vocal session. On August the twenty-fourth, two months after what one would think at this point was the final instrumental session, a rough edit of the track was pulled together. By this point the chorus had altered quite a bit. It had originally just been eight bars of G-flat, four bars of B-flat, then four more bars of G-flat. But now Brian had decided to rework an idea he had used in "California Girls". In that song, each repetition of the line "I wish they all could be California" starts a tone lower than the one before. Here, after the bass hook line is repeated, everything moves up a step, repeats the line, and then moves up another step: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations: [Alternate Edit] 1966-08-24"] But Brian was dissatisfied with this version of the track. The lyrics obviously still needed rewriting, but more than that, there was a section he thought needed totally rerecording -- this bit: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations: [Alternate Edit] 1966-08-24"] So on the first of September, six and a half months after the first instrumental session for the song, the final one took place. This had Dennis Wilson on organ, Tommy Morgan on harmonicas, Lyle Ritz on string bass, and Hal Blaine and Carl Wilson on percussion, and replaced that with a new, gentler, version: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys: "Good Vibrations (Western 1966-09-01) [New Bridge]"] Well, that was almost the final instrumental session -- they called Paul Tanner in to a vocal overdub session to redo some of the electrotheremin parts, but that was basically it. Now all they had to do was do the final vocals. Oh, and they needed some proper lyrics. By this point Brian was no longer working with Tony Asher. He'd started working with Van Dyke Parks on some songs, but Parks wasn't interested in stepping into a track that had already been worked on so long, so Brian eventually turned to Mike Love, who'd already come up with the bass vocal hook, to write the lyrics. Love wrote them in the car, on the way to the studio, dictating them to his wife as he drove, and they're actually some of his best work. The first verse grounds everything in the sensory, in the earthy. He makes a song originally about *extra* -sensory perception into one about sensory perception -- the first verse covers sight, sound, and smell: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations"] Carl Wilson was chosen to sing the lead vocal, but you'll notice a slight change in timbre on the line "I hear the sound of a" -- that's Brian stepping into double him on the high notes. Listen again: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations"] For the second verse, Love's lyric moves from the sensory grounding of the first verse to the extrasensory perception that the song has always been about, with the protagonist knowing things about the woman who's the object of the song without directly perceiving them. The record is one of those where I wish I was able to play the whole thing for you, because it's a masterpiece of structure, and of editing, and of dynamics. It's also a record that even now is impossible to replicate properly on stage, though both its writers in their live performances come very close. But while someone in the audience for either the current touring Beach Boys led by Mike Love or for Brian Wilson's solo shows might come away thinking "that sounded just like the record", both have radically different interpretations of it even while sticking close to the original arrangement. The touring Beach Boys' version is all throbbing strangeness, almost garage-rock, emphasising the psychedelia of the track: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations (live 2014)"] While Brian Wilson's live version is more meditative, emphasising the gentle aspects: [Excerpt Brian Wilson, "Good Vibrations (live at the Roxy)"] But back in 1966, there was definitely no way to reproduce it live with a five-person band. According to Tanner, they actually asked him if he would tour with them, but he refused -- his touring days were over, and also he felt he would look ridiculous, a middle-aged man on stage with a bunch of young rock and roll stars, though apparently they offered to buy him a wig so he wouldn't look so out of place. When he wouldn't tour with them, they asked him where they could get a theremin, and he pointed them in the direction of Robert Moog. Moog -- whose name is spelled M-o-o-g and often mispronounced "moog", had been a teenager in 1949, when he'd seen a schematic for a theremin in an electronic hobbyist magazine, after Samuel Hoffman had brought the instrument back into the limelight. He'd built his own, and started building others to sell to other hobbyists, and had also started branching out into other electronic instruments by the mid-sixties. His small company was the only one still manufacturing actual theremins, but when the Beach Boys came to him and asked him for one, they found it very difficult to control, and asked him if he could do anything simpler. He came up with a ribbon-controlled oscillator, on the same principle as Tanner's electro-theremin, but even simpler to operate, and the Beach Boys bought it and gave it to Mike Love to play on stage. All he had to do was run his finger up and down a metallic ribbon, with the positions of the notes marked on it, and it would come up with a good approximation of the electro-theremin sound. Love played this "woo-woo machine" as he referred to it, on stage for several years: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations (live in Hawaii 8/26/67)"] Moog was at the time starting to build his first synthesisers, and having developed that ribbon-control mechanism he decided to include it in the early models as one of several different methods of controlling the Moog synthesiser, the instrument that became synonymous with the synthesiser in the late sixties and early seventies: [Excerpt: Gershon Kingsley and Leonid Hambro, "Rhapsody in Blue" from Switched-On Gershwin] "Good Vibrations" became the Beach Boys' biggest ever hit -- their third US number one, and their first to make number one in the UK. Brian Wilson had managed, with the help of his collaborators, to make something that combined avant-garde psychedelic music and catchy pop hooks, a truly experimental record that was also a genuine pop classic. To this day, it's often cited as the greatest single of all time. But Brian knew he could do better. He could be even more progressive. He could make an entire album using the same techniques as "Good Vibrations", one where themes could recur, where sections could be edited together and songs could be constructed in the edit. Instead of a pocket symphony, he could make a full-blown teenage symphony to God. All he had to do was to keep looking forward, believe he could achieve his goal, and whatever happened, not lose his nerve and turn back. [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Smile Promo" ]

Sabemos más de algunas lunas y planetas que de las profundidades marinas... El 80 por ciento no han sido cartografiadas y apenas se sabe de la vida en las zonas abisales, donde la luz no llega, las condiciones de presión y temperatura son duras y su exploración requiere de tecnología avanzada. Sin embargo, poco a poco vamos desplazando esa última frontera. Una investigación internacional ha realizado la mayor secuenciación de muestras de ADN de esa región de los océanos y ha descubierto que existe una gran diversidad y que la mayoría de las especies son desconocidas. Hemos entrevistado a Covadonga Orejas, investigadora del Instituto Español de Oceanografía y coautora del estudio. La COVID 19 ha provocado un incremento de trastornos mentales como ansiedad, estrés o depresión. Verónica Fuentes, nos ha informado de un macroestudio con 150.000 personas que revela que el riesgo se mantiene hasta un año después de la infección. Carlos Briones nos ha hablado del famoso experimento de Stanley Miller que reproducía las condiciones de la Tierra primitiva. Según un reciente estudio, de haber tenido en cuenta el material de los matraces los resultados habrían sido muy distintos. Con Jesús Puerta hemos empezado la historia de los aceleradores de partículas, los instrumentos empleados por los físicos para conocer la intimidad de la materia. Javier Ablanque nos ha llevado en su máquina del tiempo a 1947 para conocer un artilugio de espionaje denominado Burán que fue desarrollado por Leon Theremin. Este sistema de escuchas podía registrar y traducir las vibraciones causadas en el cristal por las conversaciones. De la mano de Esther García, hemos viajado a Taiwán para visitar el péndulo del rascacielos Taipei 101, en su día el más alto del mundo. Escuchar audio

Inspired by the life and work of Leon Theremin, a Russian inventor whose most famous invention was the Theremin –– an instrument that produces otherworldly, haunting music, and which is played seemingly by magic. At the height of the Cold War, Theremin's passions for music and science drew him into dangerous territory: the price of pursuing his great passions would be to live his life as a spy. Writer: Michael LaPointeVoice: Gerard HowardProduction: Christopher Hooton See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Com Voodoo Child, Nicolas Cage e seu filho Weston botam em prática suas nerdices e criam uma história em quadrinhos de super-herói como ninguém viu antes (a não ser que você já tenha lido qualquer outro quadrinho de herói na vida)! Bem-vindos ao Nicolas, a investigação aleatória e recorrente sobre a carreira do grande ator internacional Nicolas Cage. Com PJ Brandão, Rudy, Jotapê e Jéssica Reinaldo. COLABORE COM NOSSO APOIA.SE! E no próximo episódio... Os Vigaristas, 2003. Nos encontre por aí: Grupo de ouvintes do Nicolas no Telegram / HQ Sem Roteiro / Iradex / Sobre Fotografia / CoolCoolCool / Fright Like a Girl / Let's Scare Jessica to Death (newsletter da Jéssica) / The Witching Hour @pedropjbrandao / @rudylonia / @jumbopaulo / @capirojesca Créditos: Edição: Roberto Rudiney e JP Martins Arte: JP Martins Voz de veludo do início: Leon Theremin

Episode Twenty of Everybody and Their Mother Has a Podcast takes a journey to the sentimental stories of our youth. A journey to find our place. Our new family units. Our home. And what better story to take you on that journey than “ET” and “T2”? Try to keep up. There's a lot happening here. We've got a healthy dose of sci fi movies and a demo of the original and ultimate sci fi music instrument, the Theremin. And the true, sad story about the inventor. But don't worry. The rest is quite happy. And he did invent something cool that bears his name, so cheers to you Leon Theremin! And if you haven't seen it yet, White Lotus is the real deal. Everybody and Their Mother Has a Podcast is a lot of fun. It's a break from the pandemic and whatever else might be stressing you out. Our favorite Mom and Son in podcasting are bringing more warmth to your ears with every download. Episode Twenty is like another big hug from your mom, your best friend, your cat, or your Rabbi.  The last year has been a wild ride, and it's not over. This pod will help you recover from it and move forward. And in a brash and loud pandemic world of stress and chaos, Everybody is like a warm vaccine of nice and lovely content. It'll soothe your soul--and leave you feeling better than when you started. It's a pod with real heart. And, as with every Righteous Media production, it'll bring you the 5 I's: Independence, Integrity, Information, Inspiration and Impact.  Everybody and Your Mother Has a Podcast. But this one will quickly become one of your favorites. Call your mother! Watch the Full Episode Here: https://youtu.be/BLwQBWUHr7Q Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy day after America day, buddies. This week your favorite deep-fried potato balls decided to celebrate by getting into some controversial gear topics.What better way to honor America's birth than diving into the details of when Leon Theremin built a device used to spy on us, or Dave shitting all over St. Louis-style pizza, or Hank bellyaching about selling his Explorer? Or how about the difference between light/heavy guitars, PRS making a signature Jimi Hendrix amplifier 50 years after homeboy died, or Behringer dropping even more clone Moog synthesizers? Hoo baby.Also discussed: stone Firebirds, Sweetwater's new gear mecca, The Black Crowes, and making tough Jazzcisions.Is Fender a dinosaur on the way out? (No.)

In this episode, Dr. Albert Glinsky covers the life of Leon Theremin. Theremin invented the odd musical instrument that bears his name, but he also engaged in espionage in the US for the Soviet Union. His brilliance allowed him to invent a seemingly innocuous device known as The Thing, the world's fist covert listening tool. IG: @spycraft101Patreon: Spycraft 101Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/spycraft101)

Leon Theremin è un ingegnere straordinario, un musicista e una spia del regime sovietico. La sua storia non ha nulla da invidiare ad un romanzo. Ringraziamenti a Carolina Eyck per averci permesso di usare una sua clip https://www.carolinaeyck.com Seguici anche su: YOUTUBE https://youtube.com/channel/UCSccnE9-Y9PfJC2thw-vgtg FACEBOOK https://facebook.com/mentecast/ INSTAGRAM https://instagram.com/mentecast SPOTIFY https://open.spotify.com/show/6rEXAE1nfxmfdzY9dtFYO7 iTUNES https://podcasts.apple.com/it/podcast/mentecast/id1458522809? SOUNDCLOUD https://soundcloud.com/user-613167048 TWITTER https://twitter.com/mentecast FONTI Albert Glinsky - Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage https://archive.org/stream/thereminethermus00glin#page/14/mode/2up Pavel Nikitin - Leon Theremin https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258648238_Leon_Theremin_Lev_Termen The Thing lo strumento di spionaggio https://hackaday.com/2015/12/08/theremins-bug/ Articoli vari https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/theremin-100-years-anniversary-instrument-music-history-180976437/ https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/creepy-music-and-soviet-spycraft-the-amazing-life-of-leon-theremin https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/10/theremin-instrumental-instruments https://www.forumdaily.com/en/kak-lev-termen-stal-millionerom-v-ssha-i-vyzhil-na-kolyme/ https://artmargins.com/between-bad-things-good-vibrations-leon-theremin-t-vox/ Conferenza alla Harvard University https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mznvxLxMGOY Ritagli di giornale sul theremin https://archive.org/details/I930-earlyThereminDemonstration-firstElectronicInstrument video del Terpsitone (eliminare gli spazi intorno al punto) vimeo . com/236567221

I denne episoden snakker vi om Leon Theremin og thereminen, en av de mest spennende og inflytelsesrike instrumentoppdagelsene i den 20, århundret. Se Leon Theremin spille theremin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5qf9O6c20o

El Theremin fue el primer instrumento electrónico, y aunque hoy en día no es muy popular, su creación cambió la música para siempre. Pero la vida se creador es aún más interesante... pasando de científico a músico internacional a espía soviético. Esta semana hablamos de Leon Theremin, su invención y su relación con la URSS Facebook: /Un Dato Nuevo Twitter: @UDNPodcast

Brevi Storie Podcast a cura di Johann Merrich Episodio 3: Theremin, il terpsitone e l'American Negro Ballet Company Appunti per una storia della musica elettronica più equa e paritaria: nel terzo episodio delle sue Brevi Storie in forma di podcast, Johann Merrich racconta la collaborazione tra Leon Theremin e l’American Negro Ballet, compagnia di danza fondata ad Harlem nel 1934. Elenco degli ascolti: In apertura e chiusura: Delia Derbyshire, Ziwzih Ziwzih Oo-Oo-Oo Rimskij-Korsakov, Il volo del calabrone. Esecuzione: Carolina Eyck, theremin; Christopher Tarnow, piano. Elliott Lawrence Orchestra & Lucie Bigelow Rosen, Giglolette. Germaine Tailleferre, Valse Lente. Esecuzione: Grégorie Blanc, theremin. Stravinskij, L’Uccello di Fuoco, Suite Finale Esecuzione: Vienna Philharmonic Salzburg condotta da Valery Gregiev Tchaikovsky, Berceuse Esecuzione: Nadia Reisenberg, piano; Clara Rockmore, theremin. La Vie en Rose Esecuzione: Nadia Reisenberg, piano; Clara Rockmore, theremin. —— Fonte principale delle informazioni narrate: Albert Glinsky, Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage, University of Illinois Press, 2000. www.electronicmusic-shorthistory.com

You are probably familiar with the four basic types of musical instruments: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.  However, is it possible to have an instrument that doesn’t fit into one of these families?   In the early 20th century, Russian inventor Leon Theremin came up with an instrument that doesn’t fit into any family and doesn’t sound or play like any other.  Learn more about the theremin, the world’s first electronic instrument, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.   https://everything-everywhere.com/skillshare -------------------------------- Executive Producer James Makkyla Associate Producer Thor Thomsen   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere   Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/EEDailyPodcast/ Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/

In the 1950s and ‘60s, the vibrating sound of the Theremin instrument was synonymous with sci-fi movies like The Day the Earth Stood Still or horror shows like Dark Shadows to the point where the Theremin became a genre cliché. But a new generation of experimental pop musicians like Dorit Chrysler and Miles Brown (of the band Night Terrors) are using the Theremin to create otherworldly sonic landscapes. Also I talk with Albert Glinsky, biographer of Leon Theremin, about how the inventor of the Theremin lived a life that was more like a Kafkaesque science fiction tale. Check out Albert Glinsky’s book “Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage.” Today's episode is brought to you by Serial Box and BetterHelp. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? We have partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle our advertising/sponsorship requests. They’re great to work with and will help you advertise on our show. Please email sales@advertisecast.com or click the link below to get started. Imaginary Worlds AdvertiseCast Listing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The theremin is probably the strangest musical instrument in the world. It uses a magnetic field to produce spherical musical tones without even being touched. Carolina Eyck plays it professionally.

Chapters00:32 - Introduction02:11 - Cyril Lance / The Claravox16:44 - Dorit Chrysler25:26 - Bruce Woolley32:08 - Katia Isakoff 45:40 - EndingMusic credits:Rachmaninov Vocalise - Clara Rockmore, theremin. Nadia Reisenberg, piano.From: “Clara Rockmore – The Art of the Theremin”. Delos Productions CD. Courtesy of The Nadia Reisenberg / Clara Rockmore FoundationSchneeleichen - by Dorit Chrysler - unreleased extract from M - eine stadt sucht einen moerder - with kind permission of Dorit ChryslerBeat Monjune - by Dorit Chrysler - unreleased extract from M - eine stadt sucht einen moerder - with kind permission of Dorit ChryslerTherexotica - by Peg Ming - with kind permission of Dorit Chrysler (a track on the Theremin 100 compilation produced by The NY Theremin Society)Peace Song to Other Worlds (2 extracts) - by Radio Science Orchestra - with kind permission of Bruce WoolleyTheremini solo - by Katia Isakoff - with kind permission of Katia IsakoffClara Rockmore BiogClara (Reisenberg) Rockmore holds a unique place in music history as the star performer of the theremin. Born in Russia, in 1911, at four, she was accepted as the youngest ever violin student at the St. Petersburg Imperial Conservatory. As conditions deteriorated after the Revolution, the Reisenberg family left Russia and travelled across Europe for several years until 1921 when they succeeded in gaining passage on a steamship bound for America. In New York, Clara resumed her studies with Leopold Auer, but shortly before she was to make her American debut (playing the Beethoven Concerto), she developed an arthritic problem with her bow arm, and had to give up the violin.Fortunately, she had met Leon Theremin (an Americanisation of Lev Termen, as he was known in Russia), the inventor of the world's first electronic instrument. “I was fascinated by the aesthetic part of it, the visual beauty, the idea of playing in the air,” Clara recalled, “and I loved the sound. I tried it, and apparently showed some kind of immediate ability to manipulate it. Soon Lev Sergeyevich gave me, for a present, the RCA model theremin.”She convinced Leon Theremin to build her a far more precise and responsive instrument than the RCA model, one with a five-octave range, instead of three. Over the years she performed extensively but it was not until 1977 that she saw the release of her first commercial LP, performances with Nadia Reisenberg (recorded by Robert Moog) titled ‘The Art Of The Theremin'.In 1989, Steve M. Martin, long fascinated by the instrument, embarked upon the documentary Theremin - An Electronic Odyssey, a film including some of Clara's last public performances (videotaped at a 1989 Nadia Reisenberg tribute concert in Merkin Hall), and the New York reunion of Clara and Leon Theremin (then aged 95). Premiered in New York at Alice Tully Hall, the film in large measure revitalised interest in both the theremin itself and Clara Rockmore's unique accomplishments. She died in 1998.Cyril Lance BiogCyril Lance is the Chief Technical Officer at Moog Music and lead designer of the Moog Claravox Centennial Theremin. Cyril first met Bob Moog in January 2005 during an informal visit to Moog factory.  When Bob was diagnosed with cancer in April of 2005, Cyril was asked to come up and take over the engineering effort.  Since then, Cyril has been at the helm of engineering and product development and, along with the dedicated and passionate team at Moog Music, has helped to continue Moog's legacy of designing and producing beautifully crafted electronic instruments aimed at inspiring artists world-wide to explore and expand their personal sonic vocabularies.  Cyril strives daily to continue Bob Moog's legacy and to have a lot of fun along the way.  “It's truly a blessing to have the opportunity to contribute in one small-way to the transformative powers of music to bring joy and connect people on the deepest levels through-out the world”.https://www.moogmusic.com/Dorit Chrysler BiogDorit Chrysler has been dubbed a superior wizard of the theremin. An Austrian-born, New York based composer and performer, Chrysler is the co-founder of the NY Theremin Society and started the first international school for Theremin, KidCoolThereminSchool and L'Ecole Theremine with branches in NY and Paris. She is also one of the most visible Thereminists spreading the gospel of this mysterious sounding instrument. Most recently she finished her analog soundtrack for a remake of “M” by Fritz Lang and was featured on the soundtrack of the HBO documentary “Going Clear”. Chrysler received her master's degree of musicology in Vienna and has notably collaborated with Anders Trentemøller, Cluster, Adult., CERN, Carsten Nicolai, Elliot Sharp and Laurie Spiegel. She has performed with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, had her work commissioned by MoMA and the Venice Biennale, and is the founder of “Dame Electric,” a festival dedicated to female | pioneers in Analog Music. As the director of the NY Theremin Society, Chrysler is promoting the application of theremin in different art disciplines and has produced the THEREMIN100 compilation release, commemorating the 100th birthday of the Theremin in 2020.http://www.doritchrysler.com/toc.htmlhttps://www.nythereminsociety.org/Bruce Woolley BiogIn 1969 Bruce Woolley bought a Futurama electric guitar, formed a school band, and dreamed of being a professional musician. After years of experimentation, and unsuccessful attempts at becoming a famous jazz-rock guitarist, he decided to concentrate on writing pop songs. In 1979 he co-wrote “Video Killed the Radio Star”.  After a stint fronting cult New Wave unit The Camera Club, Woolley moved back into songwriting and production, forming a creative partnership with Grace Jones. In 1994, Woolley discovered Exotica and formed The Radio Science Orchestra, a theremin-led group that defined retrofuturism before people were talking about retrofuturism. A sonic time machine travelling along the whole history of electronic music, the Orchestra has collaborated with the world's leading theremin virtuosi including Lydia Kavina, Carolina Eyck and Charlie Draper. Notable guest artists include Grace Jones, Polly Scattergood, Ken Hollings, Dr. Robert Moog, Steve Dub and Thomas Dolby.http://www.brucewoolleyhq.com/https://www.radioscienceorchestra.com/Katia Isakoff BiogKatia Isakoff is a composer and multi-instrumentalist music producer whose compositions, performances and productions first appeared in the Add N To (X) album Loud Like Nature (Mute Records).  She has since collaborated on numerous albums and projects including John Foxx and Steve D'Agostino's Evidence of Time Travel which was composed and produced at her London studio. Having contributed synths and co-mixed EOTT, she went on to join them for a live concert performance at Electri_City Conference Dusseldorf, adding Moog Theremini and synths to the sonic architecture of this ever evolving and expansive Karborn graphic novel, which premiered with a live performance at the British Film Institute UK and Sonic Acts Festival, Amsterdam.  She has since spent much of her time between London and Berlin working on her forthcoming album She's Not Here.In 2019, Katia launched !N_K o L // B a new and innovative composer producer series bringing together pioneering, established and emerging composer producers to collaborate in various iconic studios and pop-up locations. Each series sees a new guest pioneer and group joining her; together, they embark on the journey of making an album through improvisation and exploration of the studio as an instrument, building a global network through musical collaborations – one album and city at a time.The first IN_KoLAB series was hosted by British Grove Studios. The group spent two days recording and filming what would become an immersive four-movement quadrophonic piece called IN_KoLAB Making Waves with Suzanne Ciani.  The album and accompanying short will be released in 2021 and plans are in motion for the next series.https://www.katiaisakoff.com/ | https://inkolab.orgCaro C BiogCaro C is an artist, engineer and teacher specialising in electronic music. She started making music thanks to being laid up whilst living in a double decker bus and listening to Warp Records in the late 1990's. This "sonic enchantress" (BBC Radio 3) has now played in most of the cultural hotspots of her current hometown of Manchester, UK. Caro is also the instigator and project manager of electronic music charity Delia Derbyshire Day.URL: http://carocsound.com/Twitter: @carocsoundInst: @carocsoundFB: https://www.facebook.com/carocsound/Delia Derbyshire Day Charity: https://deliaderbyshireday.com

97 is the age at which Leon Theremin, the inventor of the Theremin (did you guess?) died in 1993. SHOUT your answers and TWEET your score to @plentyquestionz. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The only podcast answering the big questions like: what bands do tax avoiders listen to? This week sees the end of our foray into sticking music on the episodes (far too much work for far too little reward) so if you like the sound of what the guys are talking about with their Discover Weekly playlists on Spotify, you'll have to do the work yourself. And by "work", we mean "Google". Birthdays that are celebrated this week are Chilli Peppers frontman/addiction specialist Anthony Kiedis and John Barry, a man as integral to the Bond series as Sean Connery. Aren't we topical? Our events commemorate the debut of legendary show the Tube and Ozzy fans being caught in a not so elaborate police sting.   Finally, KGB spy and technical genius Leon Theremin is added to the MTS Hall Of Fame. Three guesses as to what his contribution to music turned out to be... Join your hosts John Gavin and Joseph Goss for another fun time bashing each others favourite bands for a reaction! Available where all good podcasts are gotten. We'd love a wee 5-star review on iTunes as well. Thanks!

Episode: 3070 Leon Theremin's Remarkable Music Machine.  Today, an aural oddity.

When a flying saucer circled over Washington, DC, in the classic 1951 sci-fi film, “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” it did so to music played on an electronic instrument known as the Theremin. Its Russian inventor, Leon Theremin, was born in St. Petersburg on today’s date in 1896. In 1927 Theremin traveled to America, where he obtained a patent for an electronic instrument he called the Thereminovox. In the 1930s, Theremin arranged concerts for his creation at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Then, in 1938, without explanation, Theremin disappeared. Some said it was because he was in debt, others because he was married to two women at the same time. The truth was even stranger: Theremin was a spy. He had been passing on American technical information to the Soviets. Ironically, when he returned home, Theremin was immediately thrown into a Soviet prison for seven years. While incarcerated, he developed miniature electronic eavesdropping devices for the Soviet government. Decades later, in 1989, as the Soviet Union was collapsing, the 92-year old Theremin again showed up in New York to be honored at a festival of electronic music, amazed that his name and instrument were even remembered.

When a flying saucer circled over Washington, DC, in the classic 1951 sci-fi film, “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” it did so to music played on an electronic instrument known as the Theremin. Its Russian inventor, Leon Theremin, was born in St. Petersburg on today’s date in 1896. In 1927 Theremin traveled to America, where he obtained a patent for an electronic instrument he called the Thereminovox. In the 1930s, Theremin arranged concerts for his creation at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Then, in 1938, without explanation, Theremin disappeared. Some said it was because he was in debt, others because he was married to two women at the same time. The truth was even stranger: Theremin was a spy. He had been passing on American technical information to the Soviets. Ironically, when he returned home, Theremin was immediately thrown into a Soviet prison for seven years. While incarcerated, he developed miniature electronic eavesdropping devices for the Soviet government. Decades later, in 1989, as the Soviet Union was collapsing, the 92-year old Theremin again showed up in New York to be honored at a festival of electronic music, amazed that his name and instrument were even remembered.

In this episode, Karbo and Ross follow Leon Theremin (born Lev Termen) as he invents the Theremin – an instrument most recognizable for its use in sci-fi movies. Theremin navigates the rise and fall of the Soviet Union as soldier, spy, prisoner, scientist, and outcast. View Show Notes Find Us Online - website: http://wdav.org/powerplay - support: https://donate.wdav.org/pledge/ (Add “Power Play” to the Comments) Read: "Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage" Music from MC Productions Music from Carolina Eyck U.N. Spy Debate. Reds 'Bugged' American Embassy Lodge Claims Neil Armstrong Talks to the Space Center - Audio

Michelle Moog-Koussa is the daughter of the man who’s name is almost synonymous with the word synthesizer - Bob Moog. Michelle has been the executive director of the Bob Moog Foundation for the 12 years since its inception. She has guided the organization through the creation and growth of  its hallmark educational project, Dr. Bob's SoundSchool, which inspires thousands of teachers and young children every year through a 10-week experiential science of sound curriculum.  Michelle has also maintained her vision for a Moogseum, a historical and educational center that houses all of the Foundation's projects and is home to Bob Moog’s archives. It’s mission is to encourage people of all ages to embrace the process of scientific and creative discovery. During the interview we spoke about growing up with a famous father, her father’s early days pursuing a concert piano career, his relationship with Leon Theremin, the mission of the Bob Moog Foundation, and much more. Check out her excellent TED talk here. On the intro I’ll take a look at how labels are now able to place ads for songs on Spotify, and how Gibson lost its trademarks on two iconic instruments.

In the room are: Rebecca Kite, Marco Schirripa, Brian Nozny, Brian Blume, Caleb Pickering, Ben Charles, Casey Cangelosi0:00 Continuing thoughts on publishing 7:55 Dealing with self-publishing and copyright. 14:52 "Fair use" 20:12 Percussionists-composers -"hits" 30:26 The instant satisfaction delema 43:53 Casey: This day in music - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Leon Theremin, Sofia Shostakovich, Harry Partch, Pauline Oliveros.Watch here. Listen below.If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element

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The theremin is one of the most unique instruments in the world, and the only one that is played without touching it. In today's episode, we'll talk about Russian inventor Leon Theremin, and how he pulled this new sound out of thin air, literally. We'll also talk about the theremin's use in modern music like The Beach Boys and Led Zeppelin, how the instrument works, and Theremin's secret identity. This episode features music by thereminists Clara Rockmore, Carolina Eyck, Peter Pringle, and Gregoire Blanc.

It's time for an extra-long episode as Kirk answers your questions about Phil Collins drum solos, musical Wilhelm screams, odd time signatures, Beatles instrumentation, drop-tuned guitars, Bond music, and much more. STRONG SONGS ON PATREON Strong Songs has a Patreon! If you liked this episode (or, you know, any of them), we hope you'll consider supporting the show. Learn more here: https://www.patreon.com/strongsongs SHOW NOTES/LINKS ———————————— "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins from Face Value, 1981 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify ———————————— Jennifer Hudson sings "The Star Spangled Banner" by Frances Scott Key and John Stafford Smith at Super Bowl XLIII, 2009 ———————————— A YouTube compilation of the Wilhelm Scream An excellent Vox video on the history of the "Orchestra Hit" sample "When I Think of You" by Janet Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis from Control, 1986 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify "In My Life" by Lennon–McCartney from Rubber Soul, 1965 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" by Ben Gibbard from Plans, 2006 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify ———————————— A cool NPR article about Paul Tanner's Tannerin, developed as a more playable derivation of Leon Theremin's original Theremin.  "Good Vibrations" by Brian Wilson and Mike Love from a 1966 Beach Boys LP Single Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify ———————————— "Blue Rondo a la Turk" by Dave Brubeck from Time Out, 1959 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" by Lennon-McCartney from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify "Money" by Roger Waters from The Dark Side Of The Moon, 1973 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify ———————————— "The Way" by Tony Scalzo from All The Pain Money Can Buy, 1998 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify "You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire" by Josh Homme and Mario Lalli from Songs for the Deaf, 2002 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify ———————————— "Mind Games" by John Lennon from Mind Games, 1973 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify A nifty "Doctor Mix" YouTube video demonstrating the Mellotron  ———————————— "Theme from Dr. No" by Monty Norman, arranged by John Barry from Dr. No, 1962 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify "Skyfall" by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth from Skyfall, 2012 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify "Manners Maketh Man" by Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson (I failed to co-credit Margeson on the show) from Kingsman: The Secret Service, 2015 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify  ———————————— "Permission to Come Aboard" by Rupert Gregson-Williams from Aquaman, 2018 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify "Wonder Woman Theme" by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL performed by Tina Guo, released as a single in 2017 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify  ———————————— "Gimme Shelter" by Jagger/Richards from Let It Bleed, 1969 Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify  

The people of the late 1930's saw some fun music made by some remarkable women. Lily May Ledford and her band from Pinchem Tight Holler, KY (YEOW!!) play for President Roosevelt, First Lady Eleanor and the King and Queen of England. She almost hugs the queen. Clara Rockmore almost gives up music entirely until she meets Leon Theremin and literally writes the book on a new instrument. Featuring the voices of Julia Purcell, Mick Sullivan and sounds by Todd Hildreth.

Bernard Herrmann - The Day the Earth Stood Still (20th Century Fox, 1951) Prelude / Outer Space/Radar The Shining Soundtrack (Warner Bros. Records, 1980) Krzysztof Penderecki - “Utrenja” (Polskie Nagrania Records) Fragmento de película “Jurassic Park” (Amblin Entertainmente, 1993) Fragmento de video “Leon Theremin playing his own instrument” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5qf9O6c20o&feature=youtu.be&t=14s

Der Alltag hat uns wieder. Auf die Jubiläumsepisode folgt in gewohntem Rhythmus die nächste Geschichte. Es geht diesmal um Leon Theremin, den Erfinder des Theremins. Den musikalischen Aspekt streifen wir aber nur, auch wenn das Theremin den Beginn der elektronischen Musik markiert, denn vor allem sprechen wir über das wechselhafte und faszinierende Leben von Theremin. Nachdem er – in St. Petersburg geboren – einige Jahre in New York ein teilweise glamouröses Leben hatte, ging er zurück in die Sowjetunion und galt im Westen als verschollen. Was nicht zuletzt daran lag, dass Theremin seine Erfindungen nun für einen anderen Anwendungsfall einsetzte und für den Geheimdienst arbeitete. Und so kommt es, dass Theremin nicht nur das erste elektronische Instrument gebaut hat, sondern auch die erste passive Wanze – the Great Sealbug oder auch The Thing. Ein besonderer Dank für diese Episode geht an Lothar Bodingbauer und Albert Glinsky für ihre Expertise, und an Thomas für die Idee.

On this date in 1966, Brian Wilson began recording what would come to be the Beach Boys single “Good Vibrations.” Here are some things you may not have known about the song. “Good Vibrations” was recorded while the Beach Boys were working on their album “Pet Sounds.” At some point, the song was intended to appear on the album, but was later held back as Brian Wilson continued to work on it. The recording and production of “Good Vibrations” took seven months and cost an estimated $50,000 to $75,000, making it the most expensive single ever made up to that time. The entire “Pet Sounds” album had cost $70,000, which was an unusually high cost for an album at the time. Wilson worked on individual portions of the song, and spliced them together later. It’s believed that more than 90 hours of tape were used in more than a dozen sessions while recording the 3 minute, 35-second song. While Wilson was the driving force behind the song, the lyrics were written by his bandmate, and sometimes rival, Mike Love. The lead vocals on the song were sung by Carl Wilson, Brian’s brother and the band’s lead guitarist. The song was described by Wilson and the band’s publicist Derek Taylor as a “pocket symphony,” for its episodic nature and otherwise complex musical structure. Perhaps the most notable feature of the song is the presence of the electro-Theremin. The electronic instrument, which was frequently used in science-fiction and horror films, was rarely used in popular music at the time. Its use in “Good Vibrations” and other Beach Boys songs led to a shortage of the instruments. It also led Soviet authorities to exile the inventor of the instrument, Leon Theremin. When the song was released, it was hailed as one of the finest pop songs of all time. It was the Beach Boys’ first million-selling single and their third of four No. 1 singles in the United States. Our question … it’s more of a command, really: Name one of the other three No. 1 hits by The Beach Boys. Today is unofficially National Cabbage Day, National Woman’s Heart Day, and National Cafe au Lait Day. It’s the birthday of football legend Jim Brown, who is 81; basketball legend Michael Jordan, who turns 54; musician Billie Joe Armstrong, who is 45. This week in 1966, the top song in the U.S. was “Lightnin’ Strikes” by Lou Christie. The No. 1 movie was “Doctor Zhivago,” while the novel “The Source” by James Michener topped the New York Times Bestsellers list.  Links Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or our website. Also, if you’re enjoying the show, please consider supporting it through Patreon.com Please rate the show on iTunes by clicking here. Subscribe on iOS: http://apple.co/1H2paH9  Subscribe on Android: http://bit.ly/2bQnk3m  Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Vibrations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro-Theremin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beach_Boys_discography https://www.checkiday.com/2/17/2017 http://www.biography.com/people/groups/born-on-february-17 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_1966_box_office_number-one_films_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times_Fiction_Best_Sellers_of_1966

När den amerikanska tonsättaren Ruth Crawford Seeger är mellan 29 och 31 år komponerar hon de verk som långt senare ger henne en rättmätig plats i musikhistorien som en nyskapande tonsättare. Ruth Crawford föds i Ohio 1901 och utvecklar en kompositions­stil som ingen an­nan i världen har gjort tidigare. Efter ett Guggenheim-stipendium i Europa reser hon hem och gifter sig med den 14 år äldre musikvetaren Charles Seeger. Hon föder fyra barn: Mike, Peggy, Penny och Barbara och tar även hand om tre barn från Charles Seegers första äktenskap, bl a den le­genda­riske folksånga­ren Pete Seeger. Även Mike och Peggy Seeger är välkända folkmusiker.Det trista är att hon sam­tidigt slutar tonsätta sin egen mu­sik. När hon dör 1953, endast 52 år gammal, har hon just börjat komponera igen. Det gör tra­giken ännu större och kvinnan Ruth Crawford Seeger en utmaning att försöka förstå.Hennes man gör först klart sitt förakt för kvinnliga tonsättare: "Din lilla kvinnosjäl som du kuvar genom att vara den mest manlige av konstnärer - musikern". För sina barn för­klarar Charles See­ger barn att "kvinnor inte kan komponera symfonier".Senare blir dock Charles Seeger Ruth Craw­fords starkaste stöd och de arbetar in­ten­sivt till­sammans med idéunderlaget till hen­nes komposi­tioner. Ruth Crawford går inte sällan emot hans teore­tiska este­tik. Trots att han varnar henne för att skriva för stråkar ger hon sig i kast med den stråkkvartett som kommer att bli hennes främsta komposition.Ett annat märkligt och vackert stycke, banbrytande med sitt pulserande kluster, är  To A Kind God av den då 29-åriga Ruth Crawford.  Hon tonsatte stycket redan 1930 - 20 år innan denna tek­nik skulle få sitt genombrott i Tyskland i det vi idag kallar en fullständig serialism. Verket skriver Ruth Crawford faktiskt i Berlin som den första kvinnliga tonsät­taren att erhålla ett Guggenheim-stipendium. Först 60 år senare får To A Kind God sin ur­premiär, nämligen 1994 vid Aldeburghfestivalen.Vad är det då som gör detta stycke musik så enastående för sin tid? Jo, själv kal­lade hon det dissonant musik. Ruth Crawford hade aldrig hört ös­ter­ländsk mu­sik, t e x buddistiska munkars meditationer, men hade fått dem be­skrivna av Charles Seeger som "ett komplext dis­sonant ljud-flor". Hon skriver här en slags världsmusik och hon vill an­vända ord ur nå­gon en­gelsk över­sättning av den indiska Bhagavad Ghita, men hon finner ingen och löser upp­gif­ten genom att skapa egna ord. Hon uppfin­ner både kon­so­nanter och voka­ler. I To A Kind God skri­ver Ruth Crawford in 12 rös­ter, en för varje ton i den väster­länd­ska skalan, och i styc­kets klimax hörs alla to­nerna samtidigt. En slags sam­mansatt mass-tonart.I ett brev till tonsättarkollegan Vivian Fine samma år som hon skrev To A Kind God - 1930 alltså - uttrycker Ruth Crawford sin besvikelse över romantik, neoklassi­cism, amerikansk mainstream-symfonisk jazz och tolvtonsättaren Arnold Schönbergs cerebrala övningar: "Här i Europa hoppas jag finna en stor tonsät­tare som frodas ur en mylla av både konsonans och dis­sonans. En mäktig musik som inte enbart är torrt in­tellektuell utan även bär en djup enkelhet - en känsla om man vill använda det ordet - som knyter an till vanliga män­niskor lika myc­ket som till de intel­lektuella".Denna dröm-tonsättare skulle bli Ruth Crawford själv som med några få verk, komponerade mellan 1930 och 1932, skriver in sig i musikhisto­rien, inte enbart som en av USA:s främsta tonsät­tare utan även på en central plats inom hela 1900-talets musi­kaliska litteratur. Stråk­kvartetten från 1931 räknas som hennes mästerverk.Sin tidiga musik beskrev Ruth Crawford som ett "träd av ljud och klangfärger". Nu ville hon ha horisontella linjer, "reda ut tilltrass­lade nystan och finna en tråd i en hög av rot­lösa, trädlösa löv". I formen bäddade hon in rika mönster vilka hon jämförde med komplext designade persiska mattor. Men liksom det i dessa mattor vävdes in små defekter och förskjut­ningar kom­po­nerade Ruth Crawford in en och annan asymmetri. Hon var noga med att beskriva skill­na­den mellan sin "dissonanta kontrapunktik" och den samtida euro­peiska seria­lis­men. Hon listade sina ideal: skriv klara me­lodiska linjer, undvik ihopklibbande rytmer, använd ryt­misk självständighet mellan de­larna, skapa en känsla av tonalt och rytmiskt cen­trum och expe­ri­mentera med varierande typer av disso­nanser.Hennes mor, Clara Crawford, hade tagit Ruth till hennes första pia­nolektion och blev hennes starkaste supporter och tuffaste kritiker. Modern tillhörde den tidiga vå­gen av femi­nister som strävade efter, och slutligen uppnådde, ekonomisk oav­hän­gighet. Ruths mor var pionjär - en av de första kvinnliga stenogra­ferna och var t ex irriterad över att Robert Schumann "blev bossen i huset när Clara Wieck gift sig med ho­nom".Men Crawfords levde i en tid då det, precis som under Clara Schumanns liv - 70 år tidigare - ansågs att "den känslomässiga delen av kvin­nan stred mot den krea­tiva pro­cessen i musikska­pandet". Ruth Crawford kallade sig al­drig någonsin för kvinnlig tonsättare och var inte medlem i The Society of American Women Composers. Kollegan Charles Ives skrev att "en god dissonans är som en man". Och tidigt ansåg kritiker att hennes musik hade manliga kvaliteter: djärv och viril. Men i sin dagbok skrev hon ti­digt ner sin mammas råd (Mamas Advice): "dölj all­tid dina stygga tan­ker, var stolt över din blyghet och se till att andra har det bra i ditt sällskap, lägg dig inte i grannens bu­si­ness, vi le­ver för andras skull och ta hänsyn till andras käns­lor." I dagböc­kerna be­skri­ver Ruth Crawford "brännande, irriterande och otåliga" käns­lor. Senare sina de­pressi­oner.Ruth Crawford föredrog målaren Corot framför den idylliske ljus­skil­draren Monet. Hon skriver: "I en målning måste finnas balans mellan skugga och sol; inte en­bart ly­ses mörkret upp av lju­set utan genom denna kontrast bestrålar mör­kret även ljuset."Music for Small Orchestra från 1926 skall spelas långsamt, grubblande. Med tritonus- och kvartsintervall relate­rade till Scriabin och fagott-fragment ur Stravinskijs Våroffer. Hennes vän, tonsätta­ren och astrologen Dane Rudyar, talade om symboliken i en enda ton "som en levande cell där makro­kosmos speglas i mikrokosmos; en enda cell som kan avslöja alla univer­sums myste­rier". Från öster­ländsk musik stammade denna idé. Och Ruth Crawford anammade det eso­teriska och my­tiska. I Chicago upplevde hon ett andligt och spiri­tuellt svärmeri för sin pia­nolära­rinna Djane Lavoie Hertz och 27 år gammal dedicerade hon sina pianopre­ludier till "Djane, min inspiration." Genom henne kom Ruth Crawford i närmare kon­takt med ryske tonsät­taren Scrabins teosofi, mysticism och spiritualism, som funge­rade som ett slags pre-freu­dianskt sätt att få kontakt med sitt undermedvetna. Tyvärr upp­fördes al­drig Music for Small Orchestra under Ruth Crawfords livstid.1928 var Ruth Crawford med och startade Chicagoavdelningen av Inter­national Society for Contemporary Music och hennes Three Songs med texter Carl Sandburg representerade USA 1933 vid ISCM:s festival i Amsterdam.Ruth Crawford klipper sitt hår kort, flyttar till New York och inleder en tät vänskap med tonsättaren Marion Bauer, den första amerikanska eleven hos Nadja Boulan­ger i Paris. Marion Bauer stöttar henne och gör klart för Ruth Craword vilken stor ta­lang hon är. "Min kära underbara Marion" börjar ett brev. "Marion har befriat mig", ett annat. "Jag skriver igen och jag komponerar". Med Marion disku­terar hon ska­pande och sexualitet. Ruth är oskuld och lever i celibat trots att hon när­mar sig de 30. "Visst kan du sublimera", säger Marion, "men den fysiska akten kan full­bordas på ett vackert sätt, som en symbol."Senare funderar Ruth på arten av henne och Marions relation. I Ber­lin hade Ruth upplevt den helt öppet homosexuella kultu­ren under Weimarre­publikens sista skäl­vande dagar och nätter och skriver: "Med Marion var det som att bli förälskad. Vår förbindelse hade kommit mycket nära ett erotiskt uttryck, men vi delade på oss istället för att starta detta lesbiska pro­jekt."I New York bosätter sig Ruth på gångavstånd till Carnegie Hall och Metropolitanoperan. Hon kommer i kontakt med den nyaste musiken av Copeland, Gershwin, Varèse, Duke Elling­ton och Bessie Smith. Hon går på konserter med verk av Rachmaninov, Hindemith, Schönberg, Brahms, Wagner, Bach, Béla Bártok, Carl Ruggles och mannen som uppfann en av de första synthesizrarna - Leon Theremin.Snart enga­gerar sig hennes make Charles Seeger i "musiken som ett va­pen i klasskampen" och förlorar in­tresset för mod­ernismen. Han komponerar revo­lu­tionär musik, antar pseudonymet Carl Sands och är mest på marxistiska möten. För Ruth är det omöjligt att ersätta deras tidiga musika­liska intimitet med den proletära kultur­rörelsen. Hon förlorar sin musa. Hon kompo­nerar inte längre.1952 skriver Ruth Crawford Seeger sitt sista verk, Suite for Wind Quintet, vars inledande ostinato återkallar början på andra satsen av det verk hon 1932 brände originalnoterna till: Sonat för violin och piano. Ruth Crawford Seeger insjuknar och dör i magcancer precis som hennes mamma gjort. Och resten är en öronbedövande tystnad.Programmet är inspirerat av Judith Tick's stora biografi Ruth Crawford Seeger - A Composer's Search for American Music från 1997. Judith Tick är professor emerita vid Northeastern University i Boston, USA. Musiklista:Rose, Rose and Up She RisesRuth Crawford, sång White MoonRuth CrawfordDawn Upshaw, sopranMargo Garret, pianoNONESUCH 7559 79364 2 To A Kind GodRuth CrawfordAmanda Pitt, sopranJeanette Ager, AltJames Wood, dirigentNew London Chamber Choir, damkörRuth Crawford Seeger: PortraitDeutsche Grammophon 449 925-2, 1997 String Quartet 1931, Sats 3, AndanteRuth CrawfordInstrumentalister ur Schönberg EnsembleRuth Crawford Seeger: PortraitDeutsche Grammophon 449 925-2, 1997 Andante for StringsRuth CrawfordChristoph Von Dohnanyi, dirigentCleveland Orchestra String Quartet 1931, Sats 1 Rubato AssaiRuth CrawfordInstrumentalister ur Schönberg EnsembleRuth Crawford Seeger: PortraitDeutsche Grammophon 449 925-2, 1997 Music for Small Orchestra IIRuth CrawfordOliver Knussen, dirigentMedlemmar Ur Schönberg EnsembleRuth Crawford Seeger: PortraitDeutsche Grammophon 449 925-2, 1997 Rat Riddles, ur "Three Songs" med texter Carl SandburgRuth CrawfordOliver Knussen, dirigentLucy Shelton, sopranInstrumentalister ur Schönberg EnsembleRuth Crawford Seeger: PortraitDeutsche Grammophon 449 925-2, 1997 To An Angel, för kvinnokör och sopransoloRuth CrawfordAmanda Pitt, sopranJeanette Ager, AltJames Wood, dirigentNew London Chamber Choir, damkörRuth Crawford Seeger: PortraitDeutsche Grammophon 449 925-2, 1997 Piano Study in Mixed AccentsRuth CrawfordReinbert De Leeuw, PianoRuth Crawford Seeger: PortraitDeutsche Grammophon 449 925-2, 1997 String Quartet 1931, sats 4Ruth CrawfordInstrumentalister ur Schönberg EnsembleRuth Crawford Seeger: PortraitDeutsche Grammophon 449 925-2, 1997 Suite for Wind Quintet, sats 1 (Svit för blåsarensemble)Ruth CrawfordInstrumentalister ur Schönberg EnsembleRuth Crawford Seeger: PortraitDeutsche Grammophon 449 925-2, 1997

Today we celebrate the birthday of Leon Theremin--born on this day in 1894--by exploring his singular contribution to the sound world of the 20th century: The Theremin.  How did this spy influence The Beach Boys? Find out on today's "A Day in the Life."

Sección del programa de Rpa "La radio es mía" que demuestra que la modernidad es algo que viene de antiguo. Emisión del 8/10/2015 sobre Lev Sergeievich Termen, el inventor de uno de los primeros instrumentos electrónicos: el theremin, el primer instrumento que se toca sin tocarlo. Hoy hablamos de su vida en Nueva York y el retorno a la Unión Soviética y su estancia en los gulag.

Sección del programa de Rpa "La radio es mía" que demuestra que la modernidad es algo que viene de antiguo. Emisión del 8/10/2015 sobre Lev Sergeievich Termen, el inventor de uno de los primeros instrumentos electrónicos: el theremin, el primer instrumento que se toca sin tocarlo. Hoy hablamos de su vida en Nueva York y el retorno a la Unión Soviética y su estancia en los gulag.

Sección del programa de Rpa "La radio es mía" que demuestra que la modernidad es algo que viene de antiguo. Emisión del 1/10/2015 sobre Lev Sergeievich Termen, el inventor de uno de los primeros instrumentos electrónicos: el theremin, el primer instrumento que se toca sin tocarlo.

Sección del programa de Rpa "La radio es mía" que demuestra que la modernidad es algo que viene de antiguo. Emisión del 1/10/2015 sobre Lev Sergeievich Termen, el inventor de uno de los primeros instrumentos electrónicos: el theremin, el primer instrumento que se toca sin tocarlo.

Today we celebrate the birthday of Leon Theremin--born on this day in 1894--by exploring his singular contribution to the sound world of the 20th century: The Theremin.  How did this spy influence The Beach Boys? Find out on today's "A Day in the Life."    

Teknoloji küçülüyor ve küçüldükçe bilgisayarlar ceplerimize, cep telefonları saatlerimize giriyor. Vücut içindeki malzemelerle ilgili çalışmaların da katkılarıyla teknoloji derimizin altına inebiliyor ve vücut içine bir şeyler yerleştirebilme imkanı insanlara artık korkunç gelmiyor. Pasaport, kredi kartı gibi şeylere gelecekte ihtiyacımızın olmayacağını; derimizin altına yerleştirilen cihazlar ile yaşacağımıza inanan biyopunklardan daha önce bahsetmiştik. Bu gelecek, beklediğimizden daha hızlı geliyor olabilir. Kalp pili ya da vücut içi protezlerine hiç olmazsa kulak aşinalığımız var ve bunlara ek olarak sürekli ilaç kullanılmasını gerektiren durumlarda bunu vücut içinden gerçekleştirecek mikroçiplere yönelik çalışmalar yapılıyor. Ayrıca sağlığınızla ilgili bilgileri toplayan ve bunu örneğin cep telefonunuza gönderen çipler implant edilebilir teknolojilerin farklı bir çalışma alanı. Öte yandan bugün vücutlarında radyo dalgaları yayan minik etiketler taşıyan azımsanmayacak sayıda insan var. Bu yazı dizisinin ilk bölümünde alışveriş sonrası unutulan ve mağazadan çıkarken güvenlik alarmının bir anda ötmesine sebep olarak yüzümüzü bolca kızarmış RFID teknolojisini ve bu teknolojinin deri altına inme serüveninden bahsedeceğiz. Gelecek ay ise kontrollü ilaç salım çiplerini inceleceğiz. Öncelikle RFID ("Radyo Frekans ile Tanımlama") teknolojisini inceleyelim. RFID, Leon Theremin tarafından 1945’te icat edilen ve radyo dalgalarını kullanarak bir etiket ile okuyucu arasında iletişim kurulmasına sağlayan bir teknolojidir. Fotoğraf: Michel Jansen, Flickr   Fotoğrafta gördüğümüz bir elektronik kartın aslında bir etiketin içidir. Mağazalardaki güvenlik yapışkanlarını sökmeye çalışır ya da toplu taşıma kartlarınızı güçlü bir el fenerine tutarak bakarsanız benzer bir yapı görürsünüz. RFID etiketleri bilgi almak, saklamak ve göndermek için programlanabilirler. Sistem temelde bir mikroçip ve antenden (uzun ince tellerden) oluşur. Aktif etiketler ilave bir pil ile kendileri sinyal yayabilirken, pasif etiketler işlevini yerine getirmek için gereken gücü gelen sinyalden alır. En basit ve düşük maliyetli etiketler çipsiz etiketlerdir, bunlar genellikle ürün güvenlik etiketleri olarak kullanılırlar. Örneğin toplu taşıma araçlarına binerken okuyucuya tutulan kart cihazın oluşturduğu elektromanyetik alana girer ve kendine çarpan elektromanyetik dalgaları karta özgü bir frekansta geri yansıtır böylece okuyucu cihaz, kartı tanır. Benzer şekilde etkisiz hale getirilmemiş güvenlik etiketi çıkışlardaki güvenlik alanındaki elektromanyetik sinyalleri geri yansıtarak güvenlik sistemini alarma geçirir. Bu sistem büyük depolarda ürün kutuları üzerindeki barkodları tek tek okutma zahmetinden de kurtarır. Bir cihazdan gönderilen sinyal kutulardan yoklama alınan sınıfta "burada" denmesine benzer özel frekanslarda radyo dalgaları şeklinde yansır. Akıllı cihazlardaki NFC de bu teknolojinin bir sonucudur. Türkiye'de ise İTÜ RFID Laboratuvarı'nda bu teknolojiye yönelik araştırma projeleri yürütülmektedir.   Düşük maliyeti, uygulama pratikliği sayesinde kendisine hemen her alanda yer bulabilen bu cihazlar yapıları dolayısıyla bir pirinç tanesi boyutlarına küçültülebilir ve bu sayede deri altına kolayca yerleştirilebilir. 31 Temmuz 1997’de Amerika Patent Ofisi, “kişisel izleme ve kurtarma sistemi” adı altında implant edilebilir RFID çiplerine patent verdi. Patente göre cihaz çocuk kaçırma olaylarında koruyucu unsur olarak ve kalp krizi gibi acil tıbbi durumlarda sevk işlemlerini kolaylaştırmak için kullanılabilirdi. Patentte cihaz şöyle tanımlanmıştı: “İzleme ve kurtarma için insan yararına kullanılan, bir güç kaynağı ve uzun süre kullanılabilir kalmasını sağlayacak bir çalışma sistemi içeren implant edilebilir alıcı-verici cihazdır.” Fotoğraf: Dan Lane, Flickr   Profesör ve azılı bir biyopunk olan Kevin Warwick, Ağustos 1998’de bu RFID çipine vücut içinde sahip olan ilk kişi oldu.

In 1929 a Russian inventor brought an electronic musical instrument to the USA. His name was Leon Theremin, and at the time many people thought it would revolutionise music making. He taught Lydia Kavina to play it when she was a child. Photo: Leon Theremin and Lydia Kavina.

The Tank Team probes the life and inventions of Leon Theremin. While most noted for the electronic musical instrument named after him, we further discuss his life of intrigue, his other inventions and his impact on other inventors. From stunning stage performances to high tech spying involving the KGB and Stalin, Theremin lived a life scripted for Hollywood. We synthesize his influence on Robert Moog and music. Additionally, we look at Theremin artists Clara Rockmore and Lydia Kavina. All this, viewer mail, and more!

Il Dottor Michelangelo Rocchetti, fisico e thereminista, ci accompagna alla scoperta di questo straordinario strumento musicale, capostipite della musica elettronica, svelandoci i segreti che permettono la sintesi del suo suono caratteristico. Il Theremin fu inventato negli anni ’20 dal Leon Theremin, un fisico sovietico. Nato per la musica classica è presto diventato un punto di … Leggi tutto "TA 023 – Theremin"