WyzGuys Tech Talk

In the early 1920s, Soviet radio engineer León Theremin shocked audiences around the world with what appeared, at first glance, to be a magic trick. Standing in front of a contraption resembling a radio with two antennas, he conducted his hands in precise patterns and shapes, never touching the device itself. As Theremin’s hands moved, an eerie mechanical harmony issued forth, as if he were pulling the music out of thin air.

One hundred years later, Theremin’s namesake instrument continues to astound and inspire. In honor of its centennial, musicians, inventors and musicology enthusiasts alike are celebrating the history—and enduring intrigue—of the unusual instrument.

The electro-theremin, a descendant of Theremin’s original device, was featured in the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations.” And musician Samuel Hoffman used the instrument to craft the otherworldly score of science-fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).

Theremin’s device also inspired Robert Moog, an American inventor who built his own theremin at age 14 by copying drawings found in a hobbyist magazine, per Smithsonian. Moog would go on to change the music landscape forever when he debuted the first commercial modern synthesizer in 1964.

In honor of the theremin’s centennial, the Moog manufacturing company has designed a limited edition theremin dubbed the “Claravox Centennial” after Rockmore herself, reports Kait Sanchez for the Verge. Music lovers can listen to thereminist Grégoire Blanc and pianist Orane Donnadieu demonstrate the instrument in a rendition of “Claire de Lune,” available on YouTube and Soundcloud.  More…