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Monday, July 11, 2022

What's a theremin?

Back in the early 1900's, a Russian physicist named Leon Theremin invented a musical instrument based on proximity sensors. In layman's terms, this means that the instrument is played without any physical contact. The performer on a theremin moves her hands between two metal antennas, which pick up the movement and turn it into sound waves. This is what it looks like:


I came across this instrument fairly randomly, and discovered a performance by Carolina Eyck, who specializes in the theremin. The first time I saw it, and didn't know what the instrument was, I started looking for the strings. But there weren't any! 

Here is her rendition of the Queen of the Night aria from Mozart's Magic FluteA very different kind of music, but quite pleasant to hear.

Happy Monday.

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