Original Article:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/theremin-centennial



Happy 100th Birthday to the Theremin, Instrument of the Future

The theremin’s mystery endures, and virtuosos are still fighting for its recognition.
by Matthew Taub December 1, 2020

Unlike other future virtuosos, Grégoire Blanc didn’t take up his
instrument after hearing a symphony, eyeing a glossy magazine, or catching
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Blanc’s path to musical prowess went through science class.

It was there that a teenage Blanc, now 24, learned about a curious
contraption called the theremin. Consisting of two antennae, arranged perpendicular to each other, the theremin makes music out of inaudible sound waves traveling between the two poles, with the player touching only air—no strings, keys, or frets to be found. Invented 100 years ago, in 1920, it’s one of the oldest purely electronic instruments in history. By now the
theremin is hardly a stranger to mainstream audiences—it’s been
prominently featured in countless film scores, and mimicked in an iconic pop song—but many still find its warbling mysterious, beguiling, and not a
little bit unsettling.

Reflecting on the historic instrument in its centennial year, Blanc thinks
back to the sheer audacity of its creation. “Imagine in the 1920s, where electricity was not in every home,” he says. Then, suddenly, someone comes along who can use electricity to do the work of a cello. Namely, that
somebody was Soviet physicist Leon Theremin (born Lev Termen), a government researcher working on the development of proximity sensors that could sense approaching objects using electromagnetic waves. He arrived at something
quite different: Each antenna of a theremin produces sound waves at
frequencies too high for humans to hear—what we pick up from the instrument is a frequency equal to the difference between the two. (The upright antenna controls pitch, the horizontal one volume.) The resulting tone is similar to
a violin’s, but still uniquely its own—thinner, like a human voice in falsetto, pinched through a straw.

Rather than punish Theremin for failing to complete his assignment, Vladimir Lenin praised the young inventor, and saw in his work an opportunity to show off a symbol of Soviet ingenuity. (Punishment came years later, when Theremin was sent to a work camp to develop more Soviet espionage equipment.)
Audiences were duly amazed. In 1930, 10 thereminists performed at Carnegie Hall. Two years later, Theremin conducted the world’s first-ever electronic symphony. The instrument’s first virtuosa, a Russian émigré named Clara Rockmore, toured the instrument around the United States, alongside prominent traditional entertainers such as Paul Robeson. All the while, Theremin was conveying American intelligence to the Soviets, and working on espionage technology for his homeland.

These days, Blanc and other performers still struggle with getting audiences
to appreciate the theremin’s tones as music, and not just a curiosity.
People see an “image of an instrument that comes from outer space,” he says—an image burnished by its association with science-fiction film
scores. It’s his job to “bring the instrument to the next level,” to
help people “forget about the fact that it is spectacular … and go beyond the novelty [of the] instrument, beyond the futuristic side.” That’s
partly why he’s used the theremin to play pieces such as the “Theme from Schindler’s List,” and Debussy’s “Clair de lune”: works that are beloved of the ivory towers and the black ties, which Blanc, who lives in France, hopes will help “legitimate” his 100-year-old instrument.

Indeed, some audiences don’t even believe that he’s really playing. They think it’s “a ventriloquist thing,” he explains, as they watch the performer make music from nothingness, or what appears to be nothingness. Guitars, pianos, drums, saxophones: All these come with visual, physical touchstones for the sounds being produced—keys and valves and strings and frets. The thereminist touches only air. In this way they are not unlike singers, who train their lungs to produce something invisible.

Playing the theremin is purely “intuitive,” says Blanc. It requires “a good sense of the space” that then leads to “muscle memories.” He eventually learned that pinching his fingers in one way created an octave, adjusting them gave him a third. He knows that, sometimes, even he will hit a wrong note and need to “compensate.” And that’s okay, in fact it’s
part of “the character of the instrument, because the pitch is not
something that is constant.” One can “recognize the jumps between the notes” on a theremin “because it is not precise.” A player’s
trademark is defined by the way she “manages these transitions between the notes,” because she’ll rarely run a perfect scale.

A hundred years on, after Carnegie Hall’s Soviet show and the Beach Boys
(who used the related but distinct electro-theremin on “Good
Vibrations”), the theremin is still fighting to make a name for itself musically. Of course, it was destined to be misunderstood, paradoxical
creature that it is. The theremin is at once futuristic and elemental, harnessing technology to reveal music that has always been just sitting in
the air.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: theoasisbbs.ddns.net:1357 (1:153/757.26)

Hi Charles,

On 2020-12-08 15:30:33, you wrote to All:

@MSGID: 1:153/757.26 9288b85a
@TID: Mystic BBS 1.12 A46
@TZUTC: 0000

The theremin’s mystery endures, and virtuosos are still fighting for

Your message contains (probably) utf-8 characters, but no CHRS: kludge. :-(

Bye, Wilfred.

--- FMail-lnx64 2.1.0.18-B20170815
* Origin: FMail development HQ (2:280/464)

Original Article:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/theremin-centennial

Happy 100th Birthday to the Theremin, Instrument of the Future

The instrument and the creator are explored in the 2014 novel "Us Conductors"

From the book:

"I was Leon Termen before I was Dr Theremin, and before I was Leon, I was Lev Sergeyvich. The instrument that is now known as a theremin could as easily have been called a leon, a lyova, a sergeyvich. It could have been called a clara, after its greatest player. Pash liked termenvox. He liked its connotations of science and authority. But this name always made me laugh. Termenvox � the voice of Termen. As if this device replicated my own voice. As if the theremin's trembling soprano were the song of this scientist from Leningrad.

I laughed at this notion, and yet in a way I think I also believed it. Not that the theremin emulated my voice, but that with it I gave voice to something. To the invisible. To the ether. I, Lev Sergeyvich Termen, mouthpiece of the universe."

More excerpt: https://www.edelweiss.plus/?sku=1935639811&g=4400

Cover art [1]: https://www.bookmanager.com/i/m.php?b=ERwtpK2h44BTI-eMeuJG7Q Cover art [2]: https://www.bookmanager.com/i/m.php?b=CP4DNomx-HFc-OwV8ZC65A Cover art [3]: https://www.bookmanager.com/i/m.php?b=ERwtpK2h44BDMBV2myhBjw
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.2)

On 08 Dec 2020, Wilfred van Velzen said the following...

Hi Charles,

On 2020-12-08 15:30:33, you wrote to All:

@MSGID: 1:153/757.26 9288b85a
@TID: Mystic BBS 1.12 A46
@TZUTC: 0000

The theremin’s mystery endures, and virtuosos are still fighting fo

Your message contains (probably) utf-8 characters, but no CHRS: kludge. :-(

It could well be on the UTF-8. Is there a problem with that? I copied the article into a text editor which saves as UTF-8 by default since I've bee
been told that direct copy/paste comes out ugly at times.

As far as the CHRS: Kludge, I don't know what that is or where it comes s
from. I'm using a normal release of Mystic, so I don't know why it wouldn't
be there.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: theoasisbbs.ddns.net:1357 (1:153/757.26)

Hi Charles,

On 2020-12-08 16:49:40, you wrote to me:

@MSGID: 1:153/757.26 9288b85a
@TID: Mystic BBS 1.12 A46
@TZUTC: 0000

The theremin’s mystery endures, and virtuosos are still

fighting fo

Your message contains (probably) utf-8 characters, but no CHRS:
kludge.
:-(

It could well be on the UTF-8. Is there a problem with that?

Not if there is an accompanying CHRS kludge. ;)

I copied the article into a text editor which saves as UTF-8 by
default since I've bee been told that direct copy/paste comes out ugly
at times.

As far as the CHRS: Kludge, I don't know what that is or where it comes s from. I'm using a normal release of Mystic, so I don't know why it wouldn't
be there.

Without it the message editors of the readers used throughout fidonet, don't know which character set was used to post the message, and most default to plain ascii in that case, and won't show the utf-8 characters correctly. And your message becomes somewhat unreadable...

Bye, Wilfred.

--- FMail-lnx64 2.1.0.18-B20170815
* Origin: FMail development HQ (2:280/464)

On 08 Dec 2020, Wilfred van Velzen said the following...

I copied the article into a text editor which saves as UTF-8 by default since I've bee been told that direct copy/paste comes out ugl at times.

As far as the CHRS: Kludge, I don't know what that is or where it com from. I'm using a normal release of Mystic, so I don't know why it

wouldn't

be there.

Without it the message editors of the readers used throughout fidonet, don't know which character set was used to post the message, and most default to plain ascii in that case, and won't show the utf-8 characters correctly. And your message becomes somewhat unreadable...

So copying and pasting to a text editor, then again to the default editor in mystic didn't help on your end.....

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: theoasisbbs.ddns.net:1357 (1:153/757.26)

Hi Charles,

On 2020-12-08 17:41:22, you wrote to me:

Without it the message editors of the readers used throughout
fidonet, don't know which character set was used to post the message,
and most default to plain ascii in that case, and won't show the
utf-8 characters correctly. And your message becomes somewhat
unreadable...

So copying and pasting to a text editor, then again to the default
editor in mystic didn't help on your end.....

I don't know. Maybe it would look even worse if you didn't? ;-)

This is what it (partly) looks like on my system:

https://susepaste.org/view/raw/d59e9325


Bye, Wilfred.

--- FMail-lnx64 2.1.0.18-B20170815
* Origin: FMail development HQ (2:280/464)

On 08 Dec 2020, Wilfred van Velzen said the following...

So copying and pasting to a text editor, then again to the default editor in mystic didn't help on your end.....

I don't know. Maybe it would look even worse if you didn't? ;-)

This is what it (partly) looks like on my system:

https://susepaste.org/view/raw/d59e9325

Interesting. So, back to the drwaing board.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: theoasisbbs.ddns.net:1357 (1:153/757.26)

1:153/757.26 9d058e28
On 08 Dec 2020, Wilfred van Velzen said the following...

So copying and pasting to a text editor, then again to the default
editor in mystic didn't help on your end.....

I don't know. Maybe it would look even worse if you didn't? ;-)

This is what it (partly) looks like on my system:

https://susepaste.org/view/raw/d59e9325

Interesting. So, back to the drwaing board.

Most of the time the "problem" is the two forms of single and double quotes (since there is a an open quote and a closed quote look for each) and the ellipses.

Put your quoted material into something like "Notepad++" with an intitial setting ANSI, and then toggle it to UTF-8. The problem chars will then be obvious:
.
https://brorabbit.g0x.ru/pic/5fcfcdbb.jpg




--- tg BBS v0.6.3
* Origin: Fido by Telegram BBS by Stas Mishchenkov (2:460/58)

Hi Wilfred!

08 Dec 20 17:52, you wrote to Charles Pierson:

Your message contains (probably) utf-8 characters, but no CHRS:
kludge.
:-(

It could well be on the UTF-8. Is there a problem with that?

Not if there is an accompanying CHRS kludge. ;)

Even my post about the book Us Conductors had an ellipses in the body. Pasting the text into Notepad did not convert it or change it. :(

I find that the most often 8-bit chars that get overlooked when copying/pasting are the alternate representations of the double and single quotes, and the ellipses.


---
* Origin: ----> Point Of VeleNo BBs (http://www.velenobbs.net) (2:333/808.7)

On 08 Dec 2020, August Abolins said the following...

Most of the time the "problem" is the two forms of single and double quotes (since there is a an open quote and a closed quote look for each) and the ellipses.

Put your quoted material into something like "Notepad++" with an
intitial setting ANSI, and then toggle it to UTF-8. The problem chars will then be obvious:
.
https://brorabbit.g0x.ru/pic/5fcfcdbb.jpg

OK. There isn't a text editor for Android which I have found yet that does ANSI. Most default to UTF8 although I have found one that has USASCII, which does make a mess of some of the characters.

However, on my MysticBBS board here, which reads the message fine, leads me
to believe that UTF8 isn't the issue. It must be the lack of CHRS: kludge
that Wilfred mentioned.

Dealing internationally as we are there are always going to be some
characters that don't always translate correctly. The name Bjorn, when spellled properly doesn't come across correctly, nor does most Cyrillic.

So, apparently, I need to find out why these messages are lacking that
Kludge.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: theoasisbbs.ddns.net:1357 (1:153/757.26)

Hi Wilfred!

08 Dec 20 17:52, you wrote to Charles Pierson:

Your message contains (probably) utf-8 characters, but no CHRS:
kludge.
:-(

It could well be on the UTF-8. Is there a problem with that?

Not if there is an accompanying CHRS kludge. ;)

Even my post about the book Us Conductors had an ellipses in the body. Pasting the text into Notepad did not convert it or change it. :(

I find that the most often 8-bit chars that get overlooked when copying/pasting

are the alternate representations of the double and single quotes, and
the ellipses.

What I found web searching the issue.


String Functions - Online String Manipulation Tools
Encoding Problem Table

What happens if you encode a character with one encoding and then try to
decode with another? This is often the case when you have a mix of operating systems and/or internationalization requirements. Also, this tend to be a problem with web frameworks where the code page can be set in the http header or in the http head section. Selecting the wrong encoding (code page) may display some characters correctly but others will be scrambled. The first 256 characters in a mixed selection of encodings are displayed below. Encoding a text with Unicode (UTF-8) and decoding with US-ASCII will sometimes produce strange characters. Characters may display as a box denoting binary data, another character or even several other characters.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: theoasisbbs.ddns.net:1357 (1:153/757.26)

Hi August,

On 2020-12-08 19:16:42, you wrote to me:

It could well be on the UTF-8. Is there a problem with that?

Not if there is an accompanying CHRS kludge. ;)

Even my post about the book Us Conductors had an ellipses in the body. Pasting the text into Notepad did not convert it or change it. :(

I find that the most often 8-bit chars that get overlooked when copying/pasting are the alternate representations of the double and single quotes, and the ellipses.

It's very likely that you are right here! ;)

Bye, Wilfred.

--- FMail-lnx64 2.1.0.18-B20170815
* Origin: FMail development HQ (2:280/464)

Hi Charles,

On 2020-12-08 20:21:24, you wrote to August Abolins:

Most of the time the "problem" is the two forms of single and double
quotes (since there is a an open quote and a closed quote look for
each) and the ellipses.

Put your quoted material into something like "Notepad++" with an
intitial setting ANSI, and then toggle it to UTF-8. The problem chars
will then be obvious:
.
https://brorabbit.g0x.ru/pic/5fcfcdbb.jpg

OK. There isn't a text editor for Android which I have found yet that
does ANSI. Most default to UTF8 although I have found one that has USASCII, which does make a mess of some of the characters.

However, on my MysticBBS board here, which reads the message fine, leads me
to believe that UTF8 isn't the issue. It must be the lack of CHRS: kludge that Wilfred mentioned.

Well if you were using regular quote characters, or could somehow easily convert to them, the ommision of the CHRS kludge line would be ok. And it would be the solution I would prefer, because plain ascii is readable by everybody, while utf-8 is not (even with the kludge).

Dealing internationally as we are there are always going to be some characters that don't always translate correctly. The name Bjorn, when spellled properly doesn't come across correctly, nor does most Cyrillic.

If you indeed want to use those characters, plain ascii won't do...

So, apparently, I need to find out why these messages are lacking that Kludge.

Probably this is why:

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)

;)

Bye, Wilfred.

--- FMail-lnx64 2.1.0.18-B20170815
* Origin: FMail development HQ (2:280/464)