The theremin - truly out of this world!

Leon Theremin, 1924

Truly the most awesome instrument in the history of music has to be the theremin.  It is the ultimate atompunk instrument and the epitome of cool. You can take your grungy electric guitars and your kitschy ukuleles but give me a theremin every time, baby! 

The theremin was invented after the Russian revolution and civil war by physicist Lev Sergeivich Termen in October 1920 as a byproduct of government research in proximity sensors. Termen later travelled to America under the somewhat anglicised name Léon Theremin and brought his “aetherphone” to the West and the theremin was born. 

Popular for its unique extraterrestrial sound the theremin is synonymous with creepy, spooky, otherworldy goings on and THE instrument of the atomic age – just look at Bernard Herrmann’s theme tune for The Day the Earth Stood still... 

So being musically dyslexic as I am I decided the theremin was for me - after all you just waft your hands about and get a cool and creepy sci-fi sound right? Right? Actually, wrong.  Apparently the theremin is one of the hardest musical instruments to master, with many professional musicians giving up on the thing in despair! Bugger.

Just look at the concentration on professional thereminist Thomas Grillo’s face in this youtube clip to see what I mean.   

The man is playing a simple scale and he yet his concentration is so intense.  This is a man who, if interrupted whilst playing the theremin, might very well cut you. And cut you bad.

So it’s hard to master. Really, really, hard. And they don’t come cheap either – a decent Moog theremin will set you back around £350.00.  And yet, despite my severe lack of musical talent (my music teacher once begged me not o come back to lessons) and the bohemian state of finances, I really bloody want one and I will try my hardest to master this thing, even if it takes me years.  Because everybody needs a hobby, right?  And why not one as truly awesome as the theremin?