Anyone play or own a Theremin?

My next door neighbor has one but he's an old school musician with a zoo for instruments in his front room. He can play them all aswell
 
They are great and weird instruments with a fascinating history and used so much in films of a certain age.

I have vague memories of making a very, very basic one when I was in my teens as it was in an electronics project book & kit I had.
 
robfosters said:
Did they perform the Dr Who theme on the theremin?

The tone and portamento bends sound absolutely bang on.
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It sounded like one but it wasn't.

Also after looking at that video of The Beach Boys that it isn't a Theremin, it's actually called a Tannerin (myth busted)
 
SexyGreyFox said:
It sounded like one but it wasn't.

Also after looking at that video of The Beach Boys that it isn't a Theremin, it's actually called a Tannerin (myth busted)
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Well whatever they used, I bet they was trying to replicate the sound. It wouldn’t surprise me, I’ve read that it is virtually impossible to play with precision, so when recording for a major TV show, they probably opted for something easier to play.
 
robfosters said:
Well whatever they used, I bet they was trying to replicate the sound. It wouldn’t surprise me, I’ve read that it is virtually impossible to play with precision, so when recording for a major TV show, they probably opted for something easier to play.
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IIRC it was basically an early synth type thing with various sound delays, a lot of playing with tape (running it different and varying speeds, cutting tape etc) and test equipment, it sounds similar in places but is a very different way of getting an eerie sound but it's done bit by bit rather than it being "played".
There are still people who create music using similar methods with tape, but it's very unusual as it required a lot of both musical and technical knowledge in a bunch of different areas (the woman who created the DR Who theme was using things like studio audio test gear for tones)

You can play theremins with a reasonable amount of precision with practice, it's very much a case of knowing exactly the position of your hands in relation to it without any physical feedback (unlike other instruments where you have at least some), but the "imperfection" and improvisation is part of the beauty of it.
There are some superb players who can do it pretty much perfectly and make it seem easy, but I suspect it takes a lot more time to get to reliably sounding "ok" than many other instruments, and requires a really good kinesthetic sense (like a quick draw who can shoot from the hip accurately vs having the gun up in the normal way).
 
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