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Carolina Eyck, renowned superstar of the theremin
- asdefghyk 1y agoFrom the articale ....With its sci-fi antennae bristling left and right, Russian physicist Leon Theremin’s novel invention of 1919 remains the only musical instrument you play without touching anything. “Aerial fingering” was the technique devised by the inventor’s original Lithuanian prodigy, Clara Rockmore, in the 1930s. ......
- brudgers 1y agoA 00's Roland with a D-Beam (or Two!) can be played without touching.
- ChrisMarshallNY 1y agoJarre plays a laser harp: https://youtu.be/nuM2Jw78u8Y https://youtu.be/nuM2Jw78u8Y
- zimpenfish 1y agoYou could make the case that he has to "touch" (there's a physical interaction where his hand/glove blocks the light) the laser to trigger the note. I'm not even sure it would be that pedantic - there's a definite physicality to it that the theremin doesn't have.
- ChrisMarshallNY 1y agoGood point. 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.
- brudgers 1y agohttps://archive.ph/Trcww https://archive.ph/Trcww
- mitchbob 1y agohttps://archive.ph/2025.04.24-080835/https://www.smh.com.au/culture/music/even-this-modern-maestro-won-t-touch-the-world-s-weirdest-instrument-20250417-p5lsms.html https://archive.ph/2025.04.24-080835/https://www.smh.com.au/...
- cess11 1y agoShe's really good. Here's an example of her covering a well known piece by Morricone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajM4vYCZMZk 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: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q
- croisillon 1y agoi didn't know the marble machine, thanks for the discovery!
- asdefghyk 1y ago265M views! - amazing
- jacquesm 1y agoHalf of those are probably mine. She's absolutely amazing.
- cess11 1y agoThose are on the marble machine video, Eyck has a comparably puny 11 million. I think she deserves more, though. Theremin is something of a niche instrument however. Around the same time as the Morricone cover was released I also stumbled on this syrian rap song, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxah0kE4cwU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxah0kE4cwU, and over the months after it was released I was surprised at how fast it was getting views. Apparently it found a broader audience despite being kind of niche as well.
- srean 1y ago"The Thing" Requires a mandatory mention [0]. Same principles and same designer. 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) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device)
- hermitcrab 1y agoThe inventor was an interesting character. The Soviets forced him to work in gold mine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Theremin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Theremin
- epizootics 1y agoA tribute to Lèon Theremin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6H1sLwJDQE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6H1sLwJDQE
- gireesh007 1y ago[dead]
- jansan 1y agoJack White uses a theremin in "Fear of the Dark", just so you know that it can be used in rock music, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3xPyPEOmmM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3xPyPEOmmM
- totikom 1y agoFun fact: there in was used in recording Teen Age Message to extraterrestrial civilizations: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Age_Message https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Age_Message
- perilunar 1y agoThe theremin is a fully electronic instrument that could sound like anything at all — so why does it sound so unpleasant?
- afandian 1y agoOriginally because it produced sound by heterodyning two sine waves. 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. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XdFSU8sn3mo https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XdFSU8sn3mo
- Al-Khwarizmi 1y agoDepends on which theremin, in which hands, with which effects, or lack thereof. Does this sound unpleasant to you? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=62lT9XsZVio https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=62lT9XsZVio (maybe it's subjective, but it sounds very pleasant to me).
- tpm 1y agoTo me it does sound unpleasant, like out of tune in a bad way (and I love untuned, atonal, experimental electronic music and use my own modular synth often, as a point of reference). Like the OP, I never understood the appeal of a theremin.
- dieggsy 1y agoI quite like the sound of a theremin played well, but that particular example sounds out of tune to me too. The comment in the other reply to the parent comment, as well as what I've heard of Carolina Eyck's playing, do sound pleasant to me though.
- ajb 1y agoIt was designed in 1920, before digital computers, and is made using a very small number of electronic components. So, they couldn't have made it sound like whatever they wanted, at the time.
- fxj 1y agoThere are still several companies who build it. Get one from Doepfer (German Manufacturer) here and connect it to a modular system or a semi-modular synth like a mini moog. https://www.thomann.de/de/doepfer_a178.htm https://www.thomann.de/de/doepfer_a178.htm https://doepfer.de/a178.htm https://doepfer.de/a178.htm live in action: https://youtu.be/1mIferngPqY https://youtu.be/1mIferngPqY or from stylophone: https://www.thomann.de/de/duebreq_stylophone_theremin.htm https://www.thomann.de/de/duebreq_stylophone_theremin.htm live in action: https://youtu.be/NNn-se0S4Ww https://youtu.be/NNn-se0S4Ww
- tgv 1y agoLost Volts too: http://lostvolts.co.uk/ http://lostvolts.co.uk/
- Intermernet 1y agoOpenTheremin is great. I have a v3 (which I'm trying to port to TinyGo for fun) but v4 is apparently awesome. https://www.gaudi.ch/OpenTheremin/ https://www.gaudi.ch/OpenTheremin/
- Al-Khwarizmi 1y agoAs a now inactive theremin player (but I will go back at some point!) I'm sad to learn that Moog isn't making real theremins anymore (the theremini isn't one). 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.
- av500 1y ago
- lars512 1y agoAnd here I thought it would be the antagonistic undecagonstring...
- lproven 1y agoTRILLIAN: Zaphod! Please take your hand off me. And the other one. Thank you. And the other one. ZAPHOD: I grew that one specially for you Trillian, you know that. Took me six months but it was worth every minute.
- opminion 1y agoI recently watched her live, introducing to the Theremin "for families", with a pianist. It was ok but too verbose and dumbed down (probably not by her, by her hosts). I'd try to attend her shows for grown ups instead, even with kids. This was a case where the novelty of the instrument stood in the way of the performance.
- footlose_3815 1y ago[flagged]
- footlose_3815 1y agoSucks I got flagged, but I'm happy someone changed the title away from the clickbait!
- alexjplant 1y ago"Good Vibrations" was actually recorded using an Electro-Theremin [1] (emphasis mine). It was essentially the same but sported more traditional knob controls. Also if you ever hear a Theremin-esque noise in an Elmer Bernstein soundtrack like "Heavy Metal" it was actually an Ondes Martenot [2] which is distinct from and less similar to the classic Theremin. I'm a lot of fun at parties. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro-Theremin https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro-Theremin [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondes_Martenot https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondes_Martenot
- dr_kiszonka 1y agoChatting with a theremin expert would easily beat the vast majority of my party conversations.
- CoastalCoder 1y agoI dunno, their explanations would probably be all hand-wavy.
- BrtByte 1y agoWhat stood out to me most is how personal the instrument is. The idea that the theremin tunes to your body and environment - that you become part of the instrument - feels almost mystical
- Al-Khwarizmi 1y agoIndeed. The drawback is that it's kind of a solitary instrument. No one can move near you or they get you out of tune :)
- pdpi 1y agoRob Scallon did a video with Carolina a few years ago, where they go into a bit of detail about how you play the thing and how it words. If you’re interested in the theremin, it’s a pretty good watch. https://youtu.be/LYSGTkNtazo?si=wuqxx0_ojI-vfbwa https://youtu.be/LYSGTkNtazo?si=wuqxx0_ojI-vfbwa
- dewster 1y agoThe "digital one" Carolina refers to is my open source D-Lev design: https://d-lev.com/ https://d-lev.com/
- Blackthorn 1y agoAny plan to sell kits or pieces again? The biggest barrier for me (dunno about others) is the faceplate/enclosure.
- dewster 1y agoThere are 50 or so kits spread out all over the world, some in the hands of the world's best Thereminists, which has been quite gratifying. But the project has been in a bit of a hiatus while I do more R&D, and the current tariff situation isn't exactly filling me with enthusiasm. Enclosures and antennas have been a burden for some, a wine box build is probably your best bet. I don't mind supplying hand-wound coils and any guidance you may need. My contact info is on the support page.
- dewster 1y agoHere's Carolina playing the D-Lev: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vjJ2SG5cVA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vjJ2SG5cVA She's a super sweet person, and a consummate musician!
- dr_kiszonka 1y agoImpressive! Do you know if there are any affordable "theremin" like MIDI control devices that enable free assignment of parameters to the antennas? For example, I could have both antennas control pitch, independently of each other, and amplitude would be set to a fixed value via a knob or on a device that the "theremin" sends its output to.
- dewster 1y agoThe D-Lev has a fairly extensive MIDI implementation, and you can control any CC with the volume hand (7 or 14 bits), so perhaps something like this would be possible if the synth it's driving is flexible enough. Manual: https://d-lev.com/support/D-Lev_Manual_2024-01-08.pdf https://d-lev.com/support/D-Lev_Manual_2024-01-08.pdf Processor: https://d-lev.com/research/Hive_Design_2022-10-24.pdf https://d-lev.com/research/Hive_Design_2022-10-24.pdf
- pmags 1y agoThe synth company SOMA has an interesting new theremin-like synth called Flux, that uses magnetic "bows". See: https://somasynths.com/flux/ https://somasynths.com/flux/
- calamity_elf 1y agoI built a theremin in the early 80s for a school project. Had to get the local library to obtain books and other printed resources on it so I could make one. Sadly no pictures survive, and the device itself is long gone. Didn't think to document it at the time, beyond the hand in materials for the project. I was 14. I have wondered about getting a modern one though. They're so cool.
- davidw 1y agoAngelo Moore from Fishbone uses one on occasion, but... IDK, not sure I love it compared with, say, his playing other instruments.
- phren0logy 1y agoIf the idea of "spaghetti western theremin" strikes you as at all interesting, check out Via Mardot! https://youtu.be/jfpYluPyP3s?si=ohiXEkdEYoJkFht0 https://youtu.be/jfpYluPyP3s?si=ohiXEkdEYoJkFht0
- dang 1y agoRelated. Others? I feel sure that there have been others... (It's hard to separate music Theremin from spy Theremin so I've just not tried) Show HN: iOS Theremin Simulator with Hand Tracking (Beta) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42267668 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42267668 - Nov 2024 (1 comment) What the hell is a luminiferous theremin? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41204378 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41204378 - Aug 2024 (54 comments) The Thing (Listening Device) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40583607 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40583607 - June 2024 (1 comment) YouTuber recreates Theremin's “Great Seal” spy bug [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36092382 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36092382 - May 2023 (2 comments) The Thing (Listening Device) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31232681 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31232681 - May 2022 (1 comment) The Thing (Listening Device) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27676518 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27676518 - June 2021 (3 comments) Russian Espionage and Electromagnetic Fields: The Story of the Theremin (2017) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23304053 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23304053 - May 2020 (24 comments) Theremin - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23029127 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23029127 - April 2020 (1 comment) The Thing - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20157116 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20157116 - June 2019 (104 comments) Peter Theremin’s haunting music, on his great-grandfather’s invention - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17955295 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17955295 - Sept 2018 (1 comment) Theremin's Bug: How the Soviet Union Spied on the US Embassy for Seven Years - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15498685 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15498685 - Oct 2017 (11 comments) Three Radio Theremin: Convert Old Radios into a Theremin - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11998382 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11998382 - June 2016 (1 comment) Our Comrade the Electron - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10437775 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10437775 - Oct 2015 (1 comment) Theremin - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10103717 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10103717 - Aug 2015 (39 comments) Our Comrade the Electron - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7310045 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7310045 - Feb 2014 (2 comments) The Great Seal Bug: How Theremin Eavesdropped On US Ambassador - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4191036 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4191036 - July 2012 (1 comment) Leon Theremin: The man and the music machine - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3696549 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3696549 - March 2012 (1 comment)
- Projectiboga 1y agoI think I saw her around 1999 or 2000 w an electronic group Arling & Cameron w a wind player. Lots of sound from a four piece. There is a different player on the album but they billed her as a world champion theremin player. The albums from that time were Arling & Cameron Music For Imaginary Films https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP5E3f0kgIG2riT_HOfOYwoMrqvXunHVl&si=nnryNWx3Ctq2C754 https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP5E3f0kgIG2riT_HOfOYwoMr... Others were All In & Voulez Vous an EP.
- meta-meta 1y agoThis is timely, I've been listening to Carolina Eyck a lot during the past few weeks! I've been building a virtual theremin for the Meta Quest, hoping to make this instrument more accessible and flexible by leveraging the powers of visual overlays and motion controllers. Here's a basic walkthrough: https://youtu.be/m8xFstjNxUo?si=ss2wSk1SIG90OWCM https://youtu.be/m8xFstjNxUo?si=ss2wSk1SIG90OWCM I've been stuck waiting for Meta to verify my identity. Shortly after that happens, it'll be available on the Quest store.
- dtgriscom 1y agoWatching one of her videos, you can see that her theremin has a pitch display, showing pitch on a hex grid of LEDs. It must make accurate pitch a lot easier (although in no way "easy"). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vjJ2SG5cVA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vjJ2SG5cVA
- dewster 1y agoAFAIK Carolina only uses the D-Lev pitch circle for coming in on pitch, not for active playing. That's pretty typical for players who have learned on an analog Theremin, where they have necessarily been guided only by fingering techniques and their ears. Many Thereminists plug a guitar tuner or similar into their Theremin for this, but those sorts of tuners are rather sluggish. When you have a highly responsive tuner, then playing turns into an almost "paint by numbers" experience, and you are much more aware of the key and other song structure.