WHAT IS A THEREMIN?

The theremin was invented by Professor Leon Theremin duing the late 1920's, and is the only musical instrument played without being touched. Its circuitry includes two radio frequency oscillators; one at a fixed rate, the frequency of the other determined by the thereminist's right hand (acting as the grounded plate of a variable capacitor) as it moves beside the upright antenna; this controls the pitch. The difference between the two frequencies creates audio signals heard via an amplifier. Using a similar principle, the left hand's proximity to the loop antenna modulates volume.

ABOUT ME

My first theremin (a Moog Etherwave Standard) arrived February 29th 2008 - which means that as of September 1st 2009 I've been playing for a year and a half. After several months I graduated to an Etherwave Pro, and recently added a wonderful Wavefront Classic to my theremin collection.

PLAYING THE THEREMIN

Learning to play the theremin has been, (and continues to be), incredibly challenging for me. A thereminist must remain utterly immobile whilst playing, (even breathing can send you out of tune); and with no strings, valves, frets or keys to rely on, has to mentally calculate the distance between notes and find them in the ether surrounding the pitch antenna. To complicate things further, the note-field can change depending on the position of the instrument or player, and other random factors like the weather! To play through an entire piece without occasionally going slightly off-key can seem like an impossible quest!

MY VIDEOS

My videos are NOT expert performances - just a personal record of my progress. In the UK, one-to-one theremin tuition isn't easily available so charting my progress here at YouTube gives me the incentive to keep learning new pieces, improving old ones and, more importantly, allows me to benefit from the constructive advice of more experienced thereminists. I take this opportunity to thank them for their encouragement! Meanwhile, I hope that by video-documenting my gradual learning curve (complete with errors) that I, too, can be a source of encouragment to anyone wanting to learn the theremin. Give it a try; I can honestly say it is one of the most creatively rewarding experiences ever!

CHECK OUT MY PLAYLISTS

If you're interested in the theremin, click PLAYLISTS in the top menu. Here you'll find the best of YouTube theremin videos (over 400!) categorised either by theremin or thereminist.

PIANO ACCOMPANIMENTS

Most of the piano backing tracks I use for practice are from the excellent and reasonably-priced www.youraccompanist.com