For most people of my generation it was Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys that was our first remembered encounter with a Theremin. Not that we knew it a the time. Just some weird, other worldly sound effect cooked up by Brian Wilson in the studio as he added those perfect touches and moods to his masterwork elpee Pet Sounds. Though not strictly an original theremin, actually it was a later hybrid the 'electro theremin', it opened up more strange and wonderful sounds into the pop field.
The inventor of the device was Leon Theremin, born Lev Sergeyevic Termen in St Petersburg on this day August 15th 1896. A scientific prodigy, Leon invented and explored a variety of different oscillating devices, from electromagnetic TV's, burglar alarms, the rhythmicon (the World's first drum machine), and various listening 'bugging' devices including 'the thing' called The Great Seal Bug which the USSR used extensively for bugging and surveilance.
The Theremin is the invention best known and celebrated in the west, an unusual instrument requiring no physical contact but by breaking soundwaves to control pitch and volume. In popular music the volume oscillator is usually controlled via a volume knob, leaving just the pitch to operate. The closer to the device, the higher the pitch. When in America in 1928 Leon Theremin performed with the New York Philharmonic and within two years had conducted his first Theremin orchestra, including other inventions of his including the fingerboard theremin that looked like a cello.
The Theremin was perfect for use in movies, as it could create a variety of sound effects as well as musical tones, notes and moods. It was used on such films as Spellbound (1945), Thing From Another World and the classic The Day The Earth Stood Still (both 1951). The strange other worldly sounds were perfect for sci-fi and horror movies, but it wasn't until the 1960's that pop artists latched on to its' possibilities. Apart from using the electro theremin on 3 Beach Boys tracks Brian Jones dabbled on Between The Buttons and Satanic Majesties Request on what were credit as 'oscillators'.
The big breakthrough in recorded pop or rock music was, of course, Jimmy Page's majestic sonic maelstrom in Whole Lotta Love. Jimmy first used it onstage at Winterland Ballroom on April 26th 1969, at the end of an extended and spine chilling version of Dazed And Confused, the heavily echoed sound blats floating around the hall.
The groundbreaking studio version of Whole Lotta Love was laid down on April 19th in Olympic Studio 1, before the second US tour started. Once used to stunning effect on the lead track of Led Zeppelin II, it became a concert staple, and after two versions during the recently discovered Paris show on December 6th became a fixture in the set. From then until it was extended live featuring mad call and response games with Robert over a stunning syncopated funk undercurrent from Jonesy and Bonzo.
The groundbreaking studio version of Whole Lotta Love was laid down on April 19th in Olympic Studio 1, before the second US tour started. Once used to stunning effect on the lead track of Led Zeppelin II, it became a concert staple, and after two versions during the recently discovered Paris show on December 6th became a fixture in the set. From then until it was extended live featuring mad call and response games with Robert over a stunning syncopated funk undercurrent from Jonesy and Bonzo.
In 1971, Jimmy added a few nuances to No Quarter, on December 3rd in Island studios to be exact, but only the single distant moan behind the 'dogs of doom' lyric remained on the released version. Once Jimmy's showcase was extended in 1977 he took the Theremin to a different level, building a wall of sound with richly echoed sound blats and siren swoops before he unleashed the bow.
The last onstage use for Led Zeppelin was in No Quarter on the 4 1979 performances, but post Zep he pulled it out regularly in a variety of songs. On record, he used it again on A Shadow In The City from the Death Wish II film soundtrack.
Many other artists have used the Theremin, or assimilated something to duplicate the sound, the mood. From Sun Ra to Portishead, it seeps through challenging and interesting popular music to this day.
After extensive use in film and TV work, it's even found a place on highly popular detective series Midsomer Murders. Just one of the many inventions by Leon Theremin, the device that took his westernised name has become the stuff of legend. Go on, dig out Led Zeppelin II or The Soundtrack to the Film The Song Remains The Same. You'll like it.
After extensive use in film and TV work, it's even found a place on highly popular detective series Midsomer Murders. Just one of the many inventions by Leon Theremin, the device that took his westernised name has become the stuff of legend. Go on, dig out Led Zeppelin II or The Soundtrack to the Film The Song Remains The Same. You'll like it.
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