Theremin

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Technology

Theremin · The Russian physicist Lev Termen built an instrument around 1920 that you play without touching it. Two antennas measure the distance to your hands: one controls the pitch, the other the volume. The sound is a gliding, singing tone that recalls a voice or a singing saw. Clara Rockmore played classical music on it. In Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s, the theremin became the sound of suspense, madness and flying saucers. Robert Moog began building theremins in the 1950s, before he made synthesizers. Later, rock musicians such as Jimmy Page also used the theremin.

Listening

• 
  The Swan · Clara Rockmore, 1979
• 
  The Day the Earth Stood Still: Prelude / Outer Space / Radar · Bernard Herrmann, 1951
• 
  Whole Lotta Love · Led Zeppelin, 1969

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Genre Map · Technology^NL Map
• The Dream Factory: Film Reel 2^NL Reader
• The Dream Factory: Film Reel 5^NL Reader
• The Dream Factory: Film Reel 8^NL Reader

See also

• Moog-synthesizer
• Moog and the first synthesizer pop