https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajM4vYCZMZk
From the headline I kind of expected it to be about some more contrived apparatus, something that was built ad hoc and is constantly close to self-disassembling from being used, like Wintergatan's Marble Machine:
It was a very sophisticated covert listening device (bug) for its time that went undetected for a long time. It did not have a conventional power source such as a battery or mains connection.
My first intro to this was the fascinating book The SpyCatcher.
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device)
Modern ones (the Moog ones I saw 20 years ago) have tunable waveforms but still hark back to that original sound.
I like the sound. In the sonic tradition of the cello.
Does this sound unpleasant to you? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=62lT9XsZVio (maybe it's subjective, but it sounds very pleasant to me).
https://www.thomann.de/de/doepfer_a178.htm
live in action: https://youtu.be/1mIferngPqY
or from stylophone:
https://www.thomann.de/de/duebreq_stylophone_theremin.htm
live in action: https://youtu.be/NNn-se0S4Ww
The Moog Etherwave (Standard/Plus) wasn't the best theremin, but it was always extremely solid in terms of bang for the buck, a standard, easy to set up, reliable option with lots of other players you could ask for help, accessories (carry bag, mods, etc.) so it was the most logical recommendation for most newcomers.
There were (and probably still are) great choices from smaller makers as well, in fact I own one in addition to my Moog, but they were more adventurous choices that didn't offer the reliability and newbie-friendliness of the Moog at a comparable price. Many players would have their pet underdog theremin that they would personally use and prefer to the Moog, but would still recommend the Moog to newcomers because you just couldn't go wrong with it, and others were either expensive, fickle, unsupported, inconsistent quality, difficult to set up, difficult to source, etc. I don't know if newer options will have changed this.
This was a case where the novelty of the instrument stood in the way of the performance.
I'm a lot of fun at parties.
asdefghyk•2d ago
......
brudgers•1d ago
ChrisMarshallNY•2h ago
zimpenfish•2h ago
ChrisMarshallNY•2h ago
Many stringed instruments, the actual sound is made by whatever the strings are attached to, so there's a similar distance between touch and sound.
With percussion, it's quite direct, as with many wind instruments.