Lev Sergeyevich Termen was a Russian inventor born in 1896 who later renamed himself Léon Theremin to become all the rage in 1920 Europe and the US.
Theremin did a series of remarkable things in his time, like interlacing horizontal lines in video signals for a smoother appearance for example. He also is credited for the invention of “The Thing”, a device hung in plain sight of the US embassy in Moscow. "The thing" or “The Great Seal Bug” as it was also called was a passive transponder, or very early RFID, hidden behind the Great Seal of the United States to eavesdrop on any conversation in the room. It accomplished this in such a way that it was almost entirely undetectable because it used an unconspicuous external radio signal as its only power source and piggy backed the recorded sound back onto the same signal. Lev Sergeyevich Termen definitely was clever.
When not abiding the Soviets in their cold war effort to sniff out the US, he dedicated himself to the finer things in life like electronic music. While Thaddeus Cahill’s 200t 50HP Teleharmonium beat Theremin in being the first to create electronic music by 30 years, Theremin was the first to invent a device that ended up being mass produced.
The Theremin as his device became known was also the only musical instrument that could be played without being touched. Well almost entirely without being touched because the musician would be connected to the electrical ground of the contraption by means of a ground strap.
It’s operating principle relies on the use of two metal antennae and a player who would move his two hands at alternating distances from both. By varying the distance of the player’s hand to the first antenna the frequency or pitch would be altered. Moving the hand closer to the pitch antenna plays higher notes. Removing the other hand from the second antenna would increase the volume.
Granted the commonly used term “antenna” is really a misnomer for what in reality were the plates of a capacitor. The hand of the player acted as the other plate and the distance between the two “plates” determined the capacitance. Below is some rather rare footage of Theremin playing his own instrument.
One of the many nice things about capacitors is that they can be used in circuits that oscillate at certain frequencies by combining them with a suitable coil and the frequency of such oscillation depends solely on the capacitance the therminist has control over by moving his hand.
The volume control relies on a similar principle by putting an LC oscillator with hand variable capacitance in resonance with a reference frequency. The closer the two frequencies were together the stronger the resonance, and after converting the AC signal into DC a reference for volume was created.
Horn loudspeakers were used to reproduce the sound, thanks to their great efficiency and directivity.
Lev Thermin came up with this device in 1920 bolshevist Russia, he spent most of the 1920is demonstrating his invention in Europe in front of thrilled audiences in packed houses. He made his way to the US around 1928 was rewarded a patent for his Thermin and granted commercial rights to The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) who formed the company RCA Thereminvox.
Clearly formed on the promise of a handsome reward, RCA Thereminvox hit the market a few months before the 1929 stock market crash and the subsequent Great Depression when people’s priorities shifted away from arts and entertainment to sheer survival.
While the economy was tough and the commercial success for Theremin never evolved, Theremin players or thereminists as they were also called started to fill concert halls like Carnegie Hall and other renowned venues. Clara Rockmore, perhaps the best known thereminist, toured performing a classical repertoire and composers around the world like Dmitri Shostakovich started to write scores for the novel instrument. Even the famous conductor Leonard Bernstein took note of the unique possibilities the instrument entailed.
It is unclear what exactly happened to Theremin in 1938. Some accounts say he was abducted by the KGB to be forced to work in a Siberian laboratory / prison camp. Others say that he was experiencing crushing debt and decided to get away from it all only to be caught up in Stalin’s political purgatory that ensued at the time and decades to come. He did reappear 30 years later to be featured in the New York Times In this unique interview at this time in his life a professor at the Moscow conservatory.
Perhaps not a commercial success for the inventor himself, his instrument the Theremin has entered our cultural consciousness, in may ways. Thereminists contributed to the scores of several horror - science fiction movies such as The Day the Earth Stood Still or The Spiral Staircase. It is perhaps best known for its appearance in the Star Treck Theme Music.
It was until the 60s that rock musicians started to catch on: The Beach Boys recorded using an instrument very similar to a theremin on “Good Vibrations” and Brian Jones and The Rolling Stones introduced the instrument on “Their Satanic Majesties Request” as well as “Between the Buttons”.
Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin used a variety of the theremin in extended solos during the song Whole Lotta Love in concert and on the 1982 released soundtrack of “Death Wish II”. A few bands still use the theremin, including, Cake, strangely enough on the song ‘’Guitar.’’
The Theremin last made a cultural appearance in The Big Bang Theory with Shelodon succesfully using it to annoy his friends.
In our times today, the theremin is far from extinct. In 2013 nearly 300 theremin players got together in Japan to go down in history as the largest Theremin Ensemble ever. Their Theremin of choice was the Matryomin, a theremin housed in a traditional Russian stacking doll, or Matroyshka Amazing grace to you too, good people from the Matryomin ensemble.
Today Theremin’s are available as kits and available from Moog Music, Theremaniacs, Harrison Instruments, or Jaycar. On the other end of the scale, many low-end Theremins, some of which have only pitch control, are offered online and offline, sometimes advertised as toys. I should really pick one up one day. Maybe I have a gift…..
Arved Deecke is founder of the Danish / Mexican Loudspeaker company KVART & BØLGE that makes audiophile quarter wave loudspeakers and sound systems at a price anyone can afford. In his free time he blogs about all things related to sound, music and audio.
