Watch a theremin virtuoso play "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"

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Originally published at: Watch a theremin virtuoso play "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" | Boing Boing

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Shredding that theremin like there’s no tomorrow.

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Cool sound but her right hand is taking this instrument way to seriously. I predict arthritis.

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Eyck is great but I prefer her “The Ecstasy of Gold”, looping in her voice as well.

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It really is the most pulp-sci-fi of instruments; in sounds, appearance and operation.

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And like pulp sci-fi, there’s a definite popularity/following, but (and I’m going to go there) in terms of total quality, it seems almost like a joke. Kind of like a slide whistle.

There are made up/new instruments that are sonically amazing. (like Mark Deutch’s Bazantar)
While I respect the talent of the people who play it, the theremin has always had a bit of a “Gilbert Gottfried’s voice” quality to my ears. (Let the stone throwing/casting of spears commence!)

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[throws stone]

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Britney?

I love theremin. I would love to have one and learn to play it.

Thanks for the bazantar vid.

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Portisheads’s album “Dummy” makes extensive usage of a SH-101 synthesizer coaxed to sound like a theremin. The album would be very different without it and is not used in a hokey sense

I remember reading once that they wanted to get a theremin but couldn’t find one, and even if they did they wouldn’t have had time to learn it. Adrian Utley is listed as playing the Theremin though.

Similar effect in their second album.

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This is kind of what I’m talking about. Either you really like the “spooky B-movie” vibe/aesthetic or you don’t. There are instruments that there’s just something about, regardless of complexity or skill required to perform well, that just sound “limited” imho.

Then there are other instruments that are generally dismissed like the recorder (Maybe because every third grader is taught to play one very poorly) that can actually be quite enchanting.

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Yes… it’s such an amazing album, and that theremin sound is part of the reason why… Theremins are amazing instruments that are by all accounts difficult to play well. I always get a little annoyed when people dismiss them out of hand.

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