Theremin: How science fiction got its sound
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- In this radio commentary, Bill discusses the theremin, and how it lead to one the music industry's most fundamental assets, the electronic synthesizer.
This was originally broadcast on December 26, 2000. Visit this link to view complete list of media attributions goo.gl/fmGESM.
1:29 Putin on the Ritz
That deserves a few hundred more upvotes
wow i didn't know Moog started his career by finding Theremin's plans. Good video!
RIGHT!? That's a revelation.
And that fact multiplies Theremin's legacy to the world by a billion. Both legends!
Yeah, I got to that part and was all “wait, _that_ Moog?!”
I enjoy your videos immensely. Thanks to all who contribute to their creation.
Are you gonna dip any Theremin tubes?
Peter!!
I'll always love the story of Mark Mothersbaugh pestering Bob Moog consistently about sending him the first Moog Theremin upon its completion. Annoyed at Mark's constant calling and checking in on the Theremin's development, which was delayed significantly from early projected completion, that Bob sent him his newly developed 'Memorymoog' from his personal collection. Here! Hopefully this incredibly advanced 3-oscillator voiced, 6-voice polyphonic analog synthesizer, with 100-preset patch storage will hold you over until the Theremin is finished! XD ...I'm very much a music-geek and audiophile...so stories like this fascinate me, probably more than most people... lol
There's a Shop near where I live called Moog Audio, they sell professionnal audio items. I always go there to play with the Theremin they have close to the entrance. I now know where they got their name. Thanks for this great video.
You omitted the contribution of Bebe and Louis Barron. They are credited with writing the first electronic music for magnetic tape, and the first entirely electronic film score for the MGM movie Forbidden Planet.
The theremin is not merely a step on the way to the synthesizer or a source of creepy background music to science fiction movies, In the right hands it is a highly expressive instrument in its own right. Check out Katica Illényi's performance of the soprano aria "O Mio Babbino Caro".
ruclips.net/video/sh4EQFVAE04/видео.html
Bill - thank you for doing these videos - It's for this kind of content that I keep returning to RUclips.
As a synthesizer enthusiast, I really love this kind of stuff. Thanks, Bill.
The Theremin is part of Radiohead's regular setup during live sessions.
Foxy Horse He also uses the Ondes Martenot. The original ones were based on the Theremin’s principle, but the newer ones (which I believe are what he uses) are based on a hybrid of Moog’s voltage controlled oscillator, and wave shaping networks unlike anything else I have ever seen in the synthesizer world. A version that is somewhat newer is being made by Audities in Canada.
thats great but how exactly does the sythesizer work?
Analogue synthesizers and modern digital synthesizers both rely on the same concepts, although modern day digital ones are a lot more compact. This is a really simple explanation, but basically, a synthesizer is a function generator. It produces a waveform that is processed into audible sound. The various knobs, switches, and ports on both analogue and digital synths allow you to alter that waveform in whatever way you see fit, or generate entirely new ones for completely new sounds. Altering an existing waveform is commonly known as ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release). This creates what's known as an Envelope, and virtually every kind of synthesized sound has some kind of envelope. The envelope slightly adjusts how the desired waveform sounds, but it doesn't physically change things like frequency.
Attack is how the waveform begins. It can be soft and quiet, or very loud and harsh. Decay is the time it takes for the Attack to reduce into the Sustain. Release is how the waveform actually ends, and Sustain is the intensity of the waveform between Decay and Release. There are probably near infinite combinations of all of these variables that can be put together. For example, if you wanted a quick, hard, and loud kind of sound to use for a fast melody, you would want a short Attack, short Decay, high Sustain, and a quick Release. A short Attack time would mean the note begins playing as soon as possible. A short Decay time will make the note hit the Sustain intensity much faster. A high Sustain will mean the note plays at a high intensity, and a fast Release means the note stops playing when you tell it to.
To an extent, this kind of enveloping is also existent in pianos. The three pedals on a real piano are used to apply envelopes to the keys. Not every piano has 3 pedals, but every piano has at least one, which is the Sustain pedal. On a piano, if you press a key, it stops playing as soon as you let go. But with a Sustain pedal, the note will continue ringing after you've let go of the key. On many pianos, the intensity of the notes is also dependent on how hard you press the keys. So, you can exactly control the Attack by how hard you press the key, how long that note lasts by using the Sustain pedal, and how quick of a Release the note has depending on when you decide to let go, or hit the Sustain pedal again to stop any lingering notes.
If you listen to chiptunes from something like the NES, you might be able to identify the kinds of envelopes that are used on a lot of the "instruments".
@@spartan456 excellent explanation !
Is there a way to find as many replacement pictures without the NC restriction as possible for the next iterations? The video cannot be accepted in Wikimedia Commons (and several other free cultural archives) unless the video as a whole can be licensed at least CC-By-SA.
Good suggestion .....
Remove the video. Also, isn't the fact that they were broadcast by a company prevent them from being CC?
Not if they made it themselves and only gave non-exclusive rights to the broadcast, which seems to be the case.
Thanks for uploading these. They're fantastic.
But.. How does it work, how did it evolve, some examples of what you can do with it?
This video left me with more questions than answers
Never stop making these, Bill!
What I think engineerguy meant to say was that Robert Moog invented the world's first modular synthesizer. However, the FonoSynth was actually developed in the late 50s by Gino Marinuzzi Jr, Giuliano Strini, MSEE, and Paolo Ketoff.
The first synthesizer that utilized keyboard control was the Telharmonium, developed in 1897 by Thaddeus Cahill.
+Nathan Patton There was also the Hammond Novachord from the late 1930s.
+gadget73 Also worth mentioning is the Ondes Martenot from 1928 and many more!
Even prior to the PhonoSynth was the Hammond Novachord!
So now I know who thank for all my music. Electronic music in all it's glory, from Kraftwerk to New Order and OMD, New Wave, Synthpop and Trance. All the cool aural sounds from my childhood to present.
A modified Theremin created by Paul Tanner, was used in the Beach Boys hit, "Good Vibrations".
I've heard that they were trying to make presence detectors and the research lead to the theremin.
The first rock band to use a Moog synthesizer was The Monkees in "Daily Nightly."
That's my friend at 50 seconds in! :) He played at my wedding. (Bassoon, not theremin). There is a video of him playing theremin at the bottom of this article about him:
www.blogto.com/music/2009/12/ttc_busker_profile_jeff_burke/
Cool photo credits.
0:59 earth always stands still; it's level and stationary, not a wobbly waterball in a vacuum
Nice to see the newer Eurorack modular synth at the end. No mention of Don Buchla's contribution to synthesizers? I suppose this episode was about the Theramin to begin with. Truly Moog and Buchla and even Theramin himself are the pioneers of the equipment that produces the popular EDM music of today.
Great video! You mentioned an album at the end but I was not able to catch the name clearly. What was the name?
I believe he said "Switched-on Bach"
Hi, Very interesting story..
I have an off topic question..A few years ago, you did an interesting video on fiber optics. I have an application where I would like to remote blacklight ftom a single source. Can I transmit blacklight over fiber optic line? The distance is less than a foot but in two opposite directions.
Thanks,
Glenn
glad i found this video
Very cool and informative.
Moog made the first *commercially-available* synthesizer in 1964, yet the first real synthesizer was technically the RCA Mark II, seven years earlier (it also took up a lot of space!).
One might argue that the Hammond Novachord was the world’s first electronic synthesizer, using vacuum tubes and neon bulbs as frequency dividers and wave shapers. Also, don’t forget the Ondes Martenot, a monophonic instrument, combining the sounds of the Theremin, additional tone shaping, and the ability to play either ‘ruban’ for swoops spacey sounds, or ‘clavier’ for precision in a more traditional style. It is basically an additive synthesizer, which is quite different than most, and gives it a character that is quite different.
Really enjoy these.
Thanks for the informative video. I had always though Moog's name was pronounced "moog". May I ask how you came across the "moge" pronunciation?
I called his office when I was doing radio!
@@engineerguyvideo Thanks!
Can you do a video about space technologies? It would be very great!
One great video about space technology is this one:
The History, and Future, of Space Suits
Awesome as always! :)
Grateful
Thanks, Bill!
Switched on Bach was an amazing album!
There was no such person as "Leon Theremin," a fanciful Anglicization of his name, which was actually Lyev Syergyeevich Tyermen (Лев Сергеевич Термéн).
My best firend has a Theremin, it is so odd to watch him play it!
Everyone needs to look up Moog Guitars!
In the article "Leon Theremin: The man and the music machine", it claims he wasn't kidnapped, but returned to the USSR, because of tax and financial troubles.
1:29 seriously? :P
putin on the ritz hah
drojf If you type "Putin on" in Google, it auto-suggests "Putin on the ritz".
Love those ole sci Fi flicks!
Not Klaatu - that's the alien in s apacesuit. Klaatu is the robot.
there are some really cool covers of songs done with theremins on youtube. Search this "Gnarls Barkley Crazy Theremin Jam" and there's some Zelda ones and other cool stuff!
Putin on the Ritz
yer awesome luke skywalker. thanks for this video
0:07 LEGO Ghosts!
Leg-osts?
Interesting!🤔🎼🎼🎼
*PROG INTENSIFIES*
Poor Leon.
1:30 ...
Slow Clap
Cover the theremin, and its part in sci-fi sound effects, but ignore the largest audience ever had by the instrument: The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations".
Not the same instrument as a real Theremin, even though it sounds exactly the same. Please look at www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2013/02/07/171385175/no-it-wasn-t-a-theremin-on-good-vibrations-remembering-paul-tanner
I have that album. (CD)
Can you do a video on the first experiments on AI?
A Theramin was used by the Santa Clara Vanguard for their 2015 program "The Spark of Invention."
ruclips.net/video/p0CBNCYIpYc/видео.html At the 45 second mark.
Nice!!
What happen to him once he started working for the KGB?
I've never heard of "switched on Bach" ... Sack your produce for sticking that at the end with no subtitles, no reference, and just a mumbled quick annunciation (which thankfully I heard).
putin on a ritz lmao
Given how ubiquitous electronic music is today, I'd say Einstein was exactly right.
wtf you didn't explain it!
Don't get why Putin is on a RITZ
Saibba
moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooog not moaggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
What are you objecting to?
Funny how the people who think they're cool because they have a synthesizer look absolutely nothing like the creators. I use synthesizers but do not feel the need to dress goofy or edgy to play music.🤷🏽♂️
ayy lmao