GOOD VIBRATIONS

As promised in yesterday’s post, we’re going to take a look at and have a listen to the music of an instrument called the electro-theremin, and its parent, the theremin. I’m sure everybody is familiar with the haunting sounds they make, but probably never knew what was making them. This pair of instruments is responsible for those eerie out-of-this-world sounds in everything from cheesy 50s sci-fi movies to 60s pop classics to 2007 White Castle hamburger ads. Let’s take a quick look at the two.

From Russia With Love - The very first theremin was invented in the early 1900s by a Russian physicist named… Theremin - Leon Theremin. But I think Tesla would have been a good guess, too. Apparently, Leon’s invention was the result of a Russian government-sponsored research into something called “proximity sensors.” Whatever; let’s just call it a “black box” to make things easy. The most intriguing thing about the theremin (other than the fact that Lenin thought it was so cool he actually took lessons) is that it’s the only instrument you play without touching it. Simply put, the player moves his/her hands around two metal antennae to control the pitch and volume. Sounds simple 'til you realize that there are no keys, valves, or frets like on a guitar. That would pretty much make playing “air theremin” impossible. Or at least redundant. It’s like making music out of thin air! Mastering a theremin obviously takes a lot of practice and skill. Enter the electro-theremin.

Born in the USA -The electro-theremin is also called a tannerin. It was invented by a fellow from Kentucky named…Tanner - Paul Tanner (who, incidentally, played trombone with Glenn Miller’s band) and actor/electronic whiz kid Bob Whitsell. The resulting instrument had everything it’s pappy had, but is much easier to play and control. You might think of it as an otherworldly trombone with a volume knob. Brian Wilson used the electro-theremin in his 1966 masterpiece, “Good Vibrations.” In fact, it’s Paul Tanner himself who’s playing the electro-theremin on that one. Two other Beach Boys songs, “Wild Honey” and “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times” also employ the electro-theremin. Obviously this instrument isn’t just for space aliens anymore! And once you start looking, you will find there are a lot of serious musicians today who are devoted to the amazing sounds. I don’t know about you, but I’m becoming a real fan!

Ladies and Gentlemen...meet the theremin! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX8vrt3j1xc

The Beach Boys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5jZiPd2Y48

cute Bobby McFerrin cover http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6bSRcRAhnc

Website for UK musician Martin Solomon (above photo). Be sure to check out his sound clips of his original music, and a lovely theremin treatment of "Edelweiss." http://www.martinsolomon.com/html/theremin.htm

photo by Phil Nicholls www.philnicholls.co.uk

PI DAY and a FAMOUS BIRTHDAY, TOO

Hey kids, it’s March 14^th and you know what that means….it’s Pi Day! Yaaaay! You remember pi, that adorable little mathematical constant that we all learned about back in school. No? Need a refresher? Here you go (and do I need to mention that I am not recalling this from my own memory?)

Pi is a little word with a big meaning. According to Wikipedia, “It represents the ratio of the area of a circle to the square of its radius.” Got that? Just wait, it gets worse. “It is an irrational number, which means that its decimal expansion never ends or repeats. Indeed: beyond being irrational, it is a transcendental number, which means that no finite sequence of algebraic operations on integers (powers, roots, sums, etc.) could ever produce it. Throughout the history of mathematics, much effort has been made to determine π more accurately and understand its nature; fascination with the number has even carried over into culture at large.”

So, pi is beyond being irrational, huh. Well, who doesn’t know someone like that?! Anyway, it means pi quite literally goes on forever (and the party never ends!) Since Pi Day has been celebrated on this date every year since 1988, I think there’s a good chance it will go on forever. At least as long as there are math geeks in the world. But why March 14, you ask? Well, that’s because the value of pi is conveniently shortened, as is recommended with a number that goes on forever, and it gets shortened to 3.14. Or, March 14^th. If you take pi to a few more traditional decimal places to 3.1415926 you get a real ‘pi moment” - March 14 at 1:59:26 p.m. On Pi Day, celebrants often tromp around is circles for a while, then break to consume pies (dessert, pizza, whatever). You could find worse ways to spend one afternoon a year.

As for the part about being carried over into the culture, get this. MIT sends out acceptance letters so that they arrive on Pi Day. Sometimes Pi Day is also an opportunity for just plain showing off. On March 14, 2004, a fellow named Daniel Tammet recited from memory 22514 decimal places of pi. Amazing! And he did it on one breath, too! (no he didn’t, I’m just goofin’ around).

At this point you might be thinking that this whole Pi business is kind of silly. Who, beyond the aforementioned math geeks, really cares? What possible significance could it have? Well, what if I told you that March 14^th was also the birthday of one Albert Einstein. Yup. Coincidence? Cue the electro-theremin music! (for an explanation of that, see tomorrow’s post). And now, the part you’ve been waiting for the music! For this, we’re going to dip way back into the vintage years, to the 1940s. Too bad we can't serve pie online!

Song by Irving Berlin, played by Glenn Miller, vocals by The Modernaires
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eenS6mfsk_A

Baby Boomers may remember this commercial from the late50s/early 60s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5knUtbSladQ

Before I go, I might as well take this opportunity to include one of my fave non-vintage songs by those real bad hombres, The Highwaymen (aka Kris, Willie, Waylon, Johnny). And a very clever YouTube video, too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa2RhjKsdqE

photo: Dan Parsons/Wikimedia Creative Commons