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I think the theremin remained a curiosity because it's both hard to control and low-dimensional. Something like the cello or saxophone is just strictly better:

I think the theremin remained a curiosity because it's both hard to control and low-dimensional. Something like the cello or saxophone is just strictly better: there are more dimensions on which you can control the sound, and at the same time controlling pitch is easier. Or to put it another way, on cello or saxophone a beginner can learn a passable C major scale much faster than on the theremin, and at the same time there are much more expressive possibilities. Combining the theremin with the keyboard helps with pitch, but the low dimension problem remains. You might as well play a keyboard with one hand and a trackpad or joystick with the other, it's easier and the number of dimensions is the same.

QuantumNomad_ 1y ago
The theremin is cool because it’s weird though. And being able to play it is impressive in part because it is difficult. But most of all what I like about the theremin is that it is an electronic instrument all of its own unique kind and not an emulation of the instruments that existed before electricity was usable by humans. Saying that a cello is “strictly better” than a theremin kinda feels to me like saying that ice skating is “strictly better” than rollerblading. It’s just different activities that different people enjoy.
- cousin_it 1y ago
  Yeah, I put it somewhere in the same category as unicycling, or playing a guitar with your teeth. In fact I'd double down on the "strictly better" bit. There's an instrument that's literally strictly better than the theremin: it makes a very similar sound, looks every bit as cool and weird, but is much easier to play well. The musical saw! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7cMJn0HAdE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7cMJn0HAdE
  - egypturnash 1y ago
    You have to touch the saw, though. You don't touch the theremin! You just wave your hands in its vicinity and music happens! (Or an awful shrieking cacaphony, if you're a beginner.) How cool is that?

QuantumNomad_ 1y ago

The theremin is cool because it’s weird though. And being able to play it is impressive in part because it is difficult. But most of all what I like about the theremin is that it is an electronic instrument all of its own unique kind and not an emulation of the instruments that existed before electricity was usable by humans. Saying that a cello is “strictly better” than a theremin kinda feels to me like saying that ice skating is “strictly better” than rollerblading. It’s just different activities that different people enjoy.

cousin_it 1y ago
Yeah, I put it somewhere in the same category as unicycling, or playing a guitar with your teeth. In fact I'd double down on the "strictly better" bit. There's an instrument that's literally strictly better than the theremin: it makes a very similar sound, looks every bit as cool and weird, but is much easier to play well. The musical saw! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7cMJn0HAdE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7cMJn0HAdE
- egypturnash 1y ago
  You have to touch the saw, though. You don't touch the theremin! You just wave your hands in its vicinity and music happens! (Or an awful shrieking cacaphony, if you're a beginner.) How cool is that?