Shar Pei’s Got Talent?
June 3, 2009 at 1:51 pm Leave a comment
Maybe not…
The bizarre-looking electronic instrument wailing like a mad cat trapped in a steel guitar as the dog walks by is called a theramin. Best known for providing eerie soundtrack music for scifi and horrormovies, the theramin was the first electronic musical instrument. Invented in Russia by Dr. Leon Theremin in 1920 – the theremin was the impetus for Robert Moog to create the Moog Synthesizer. It was also the inspiration for the Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations.
Created while Dr. Theremin was conducting research on proximity sensors for the Soviet government, the theremin creates sound using a pair of metal antennas that sense the position of the player’s hands. Frequency (pitch) is controlled with one hand and amplitude (volume) with the other.
The theremin is described as being extremely easy to use – but fiendishly difficult to master. Jazz musician Pamelia Kursten is one of the rare people who have mastered it. Be sure to stick around long enough to listen to the walking bass rendition in the middle of the piece.
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