Sing a Song of Science! - The Magic Pipes

We’ve talked about music before here at To Infinity And…In Theory with last month’s installment on the Theremin, a touchless instrument designed by Russian inventor Léon Theremin. (If you want to know about how he went from bomb designing to musical aficionado who played Carnegie Hall, check out the blog here – “Sing a Song of Science! – The Theremin”) This month we’re going to continue the music of science with a new instrument. This one does involve touch, and it’s called a Magic Pipe.

No, I don’t mean your grandparents Magic Pipe from the box in the attic labeled “Make Love Not War”, I mean that strange conglomeration of wires, bass strings, metal pipes, and electrical relays pictured above. But what makes this instrument so unique? The variety of sounds it can produce is enormous; with the relays it’s capable of looping them. And a master of the instrument such as “That 1 Guy”, (its inventor) pictured above is going to show you how.

While it’s called a Magic Pipe the way it works is anything but by the graces of Hogwart’s. It’s actually just science. (I say that a lot, don’t I?) So just how does this bizarre looking instrument work and what does it sound like? Well first I would check out the video below, and then follow me here at TI&IT today as we see just what it is that makes this one man band capable of touring the globe.

Ya Know… He’s… “That 1 Guy”…

Yep… You guessed it, that’s a saw. He also has a boot that accompanies him in his show. But who is this strange man who made all these things? It seems like he’d fit right in at a mental institution judging by the smile on his face as he holds the toothed side of a saw to his jaw. But he’s actually not insane, just brilliant.

Even though they say it’s a fine line between the two, above all the man is an artist and a performer. Various accounts and interviews disclose he was influenced heavily by music as a child. He grew up performing the upright bass also known as a double bass. It eventually landed him a solid home with The Fabulous Hedgehogs in the 90s. (Don’t know who they are, that’s cool, check out their AWESOME song UpChuck here – Live Performance of UpChuckat LaVals Pizza Parlor in Berkeley California.)

While The Fabulous Hedgehogs are no longer a band, Mike Silverman, the bass player, luckily didn’t drop out of the music scene. Instead he went his own way, but he mastered his instrument. He was starting to feel constrained, and this is never healthy for a creative mind. So what does a brilliant man like him do? Change his name to That1Guy and build his own instrument.

Now, four albums, a couple world tours, and millions of American and Australian fans later, That 1 Guy is going from cultural obscurity, to multi-national fame. (Ya know, no big deal) Mike claims Dr. Seuss as an inspiration for his unique writing style, and also the whimsical and fantastical appearance of his Magic Pipe. Seuss may have inspired his visual presentation, but the musical genre influences of funk, jazz, and rock were always prevalent.

But just how does this unique instrument produce all these crazy sounds?

Ya’ll Don’t Know Diddley Squat ‘Bout No Gutbuckets

Washtub basses are pretty simple concepts. A big stick, a pliable string of some kind to use as a tensioner, and an old washtub to use as a resonator. It doesn’t take a physicist to figure out that by moving the stick around and increasing or decreasing tension you can raise or lower the pitch of the instrument. The gutbucket is its colloquial name, and is typically a rhythm instrument, in the hands of an artisan though it can truly be a force to reckon with.

The washtub bass was usually part of a jug band and was popularized in the early 1900’s by the lower economic classes in Southern areas. (Let’s face it; it’s a stick, a bucket, and a string. I’m poor, I get it.) It wasn’t the first incarnation of this instrument however, the washtub bass is known all throughout the world by many different names and actually has its roots in the ground harp. But how do these simple little wonders work?

It’s something called Acoustic Resonance. When the string (or strings in some cases) of the gutbucket are plucked, and the tension is greatened or lessened it produces different patterns of vibration. These vibrations are transferred over to the metal container via the string it’s touching and as a result produces sound waves. These sound waves are trapped in the container and bounce around inside, ricocheting until they hit their peak frequency. When you stop plucking the string the waves stop being produced but the sound keeps going until an effect called damping (the gradual reduction of a sound wave followed by its dissolution entirely) happens and eventually the washtub goes quiet. The next part of the instrument is just as simplistic in its design.

You don’t get much simpler than a whipping paddle an Altoids tin, and a discarded guitar string. Throw them all together and Voilà! You officially have a Diddley Bow. This was an instrument made popular by the blues circuit, but as I’m sure you can already guess, it’s another one popular amongst the common folk with a little time and creativity. While an ethnomusicologist would refer to this instrument as a monochord zither, I prefer to call it what it is, a cheap alternative, but it isn’t too far off.

As you can see from that image above (a two octave zither) there are some rather notable differences between the blues oriented Diddley Bow, and the zither known the world around. (Seriously, China, Africa, Slovenia, like everywhere has their own version of a Zither!) They can range anywhere from one string to fifty, and is played with either the fingers or a special kind of tool called a Plectrum. Guitars use these too, although most musicians generally refer to them as “picks”. Here’s what a Zither pick looks like:

While the Diddley Bow’s sharp and tinny sound gives it that folksy twang that finds a home in modern day country, it actually has a rather rich history in the blues. The Diddley Bow was an instrument brought over to America between the 16^th and 17^th century from Africa. And if there was one thing folks coming off the boats in those days had to sing about, it was the blues. The inspiration for the Diddley Bow and other single stringed instruments like it is thought to have come from the mouth bow. The mouth bow is just a simple hunting bow, but when held up to the mouth and plucked with a piece of bark or a stick, it utilizes the skull as a resonance chamber. To see both of these unique instruments in action check out the video here.

It’s a bit different from the gutbucket in that it doesn’t have much of a resonance chamber. In fact they used to just screw old wire down to a plank of wood and use a beer bottle as a bridge. The bridge would amplify the sound a bit, acting as a resonance chamber, while the player would use a slide to modify the pitch. Some are so big in their construction it takes two people to play it, but when you consider the fact that these used to be considered children’s toys and starter instruments, that isn’t really so peculiar.

So how exactly are That 1 Guy’s Magic Pipes similar to these two very distinctly different instruments? I’m glad you asked that question. The pipes are used as a resonance chamber in order to pick up the sound waves produced through percussing of the instrument. (The washtub part of the gutbucket) and it has strings on it that are fashioned along the pipe, but because of the way they are fashioned into the bridge they don’t have much of a resonance chamber (The Diddley Bow/Zither) which is why we need to start with the most obvious difference first. The electronics.

Just a Small Sample Please

Mike Silverman’s Magic Pipes are like a seven foot tall steampunk Dr. Seussian wet dream. It has two orchestral bass strings on it, the front one plays host to lower notes while the back string achieves tenor pitches. With 13 trigger points that map to various pedals and loops to produce a variety of pre-programmed sounds, the diversity of music this instrument can produce is limited only by the artist’s imagination. (And sampling rights to certain musical pieces…as Vanilla Ice discovered the hard way.)

Perhaps the most interesting addition to this whole ensemble, in my humble opinion anyway, is the electronic drum kit setup. Capitalizing on his unique ability for multi-tasking, That1Guy has incorporated a bass kick and a snare setup into the entire entity.

The electronic drum kit isn’t exactly a new innovation (another invention Léon Theremin aided in the creation of, the Rhythmicon.) but to me personally, as a musician myself, I have to give the man a hat’s off for being able to play so many intricate and very different instruments all at once, and sing at the same time. Not only does he do this, he does so with great ease. It’s clear the right side of Mike Silverman’s brain is functioning properly.

But the Diddley Drum Gutbucket wouldn’t be complete without its synthesizer sampler. Whether Mike records the sounds himself or finds the sample elsewhere, the 13 trigger points on the pipe are where the magic happens.

The way a sampler works is a sound is recorded by the user and saved on a machine like the one picture at the top of this section. After all the sounds have been saved into the sampler, with the press of a button the user can play those sounds back in any order they so choose. While this tactic has been around since the 1960’s and the conceptualization of the Synthesizer has roots older than you’d think, it was made truly huge during the era of Hip-Hop music through the 80s and 90s. (Techno, Pop, and unfortunately Dubstep all rely almost solely on sampling.)

 The trigger points on the pipes act like the buttons on the sampler. Whether Mike slaps them, plucks the string above, or occasionally uses a drum stick to activate them, the end result is the same. A sample loop is played through an amplifier and, when strung together in a particular order, produce the macabre sounds that give us albums like “The Moon is Disgusting.”

I for one applaud Mike Silverman. In a world populated by hipster teenage crap like Dubstep it’s nice to see somebody out there still has an innovative bone. Mike’s on tour this year and is picking up more and more of a following every day, (and no…not in a Kevin Bacon kinda way.) For news, album information, tour dates, or anything else about Mike and his Pipes you can head on over to his website by clicking here. Hope you enjoyed the blog today everyone!

-       Ryan Sanders

Thanks for reading! As always feel free to share this around on Facebook and Twitter! Hope you all had a great time learning about the history of a few unique instruments! If you want to know a little bit more about some of the unique stuff I talked about today you can by following the links below. Happy learning!

-       How to make your own Diddley Bow (The owner of this blog is not responsible for damage or injury resultant to yourself or personal property. Any DIY project requires a certain amount of skill. If you undertake a project you are not equipped to handle and are injured I take no responsibility.)

-       How to make your own Washtub Bass (The owner of this blog is not responsible for damage or injury resultant to yourself or personal property.)

-       Wiki entry on That1Guy

-       Wiki entry on the Mouth Bow

-       In depth history of Zithers and some different ones found all around the world.

10 Tantalizing Technologies Revolutionizing The Consumer Landscape

What does a mobile phone, 5 ¼ inch Floppy drive, (for those of you who remember…) an ice chest, and a NASA space shuttle have in common? At one time or another each one of these very distinctly different items was considered to be the peak of technology. As bright new minds enter the development and engineering world’s everyday new advances, and sometimes brand new things altogether come about.

When the first cell phone call was placed in 1973 it blew everyone’s mind. Similarly when the floppy drive was created it meant that information was now mobile! You could save that important document and bring it down to the library and print it up (printers were extremely expensive around the time of their inception and therefore not common in many households.) Before all this NASA put a man on the moon using less computing power than today’s most common digital watches!

All these wonderful inventions were thought to be the pinnacle but as modern teenagers with their texting addictions have shown us (when I was a kid there was no such thing as texting without a stamp and a mailman.) technology will continue to evolve and knock us back on our laurels with its overwhelming awesomeness. But with all the ludicrous inventions hitting daytime infomercials like the “Perfect Bacon Bowl” and bizarre inventions from Japan (like the crawling baby onesie dust-mop Swiffer thingy for those of you who are unaware) it’s becoming increasingly difficult to sift through the haystack to find that shiny needle.

Today at To Infinity And…In Theory we’re going to take a look at the fast-paced technological landscape and dig through that haystack for you. Here’s a glimpse at ten inventions you may or may not have heard of before, but everything on this list has the potential to revolutionize how we live in this strange and ever changing world. From interesting novelty items like the Guitar Pick Punch to game changers like Amazon.com’s aircraft answer to same day doorstep delivery with unmanned Drones, let’s see what the brilliant minds of the world over have to offer consumers like you and I.

1.  The BioLite Camping Stove

Ever been on a hiking excursion through the wilderness before that lasted more than a week? (Intentionally I might add…) As a Boy Scout I know I’ve done my fair share. Nothing beats a nice warm fire on a chilly Autumn night while you swap campfire stories, but nothing can ruin the taste of your food quicker than smoke from an old moldy log, (unless you’re into that sort of thing.) also if the logs collapse in the pit and your equipment isn’t set right you run the risk of losing your meal into the fire pit itself. Companies like Coleman have camping stoves, and while they’re nice for those of us with R.V.s, they just aren’t much use to us hikers where packing only the essential with as little weight encumbrance as possible is key. So what to do?

Enter the developers of the BioLite! This little camping stove has taken popular science publications by storm since it hit the market. As seen in the picture above this nifty little wood burning gadget can save your life should you find yourself stranded, injured, and without any zap left in your phone, (even SIRI can’t help you without juice.) Also it reduces smoke emissions drastically cutting down on deadly carcinogen emissions that, if you do a lot of cooking over open fires, can build up over time and shorten your life.

It may not appeal to all the Outdoors types with a weight clocking in at 33 oz. but new more lightweight and compact models are in development to cut down on this problem. Also, if you feel like the model pictured above is too small and unmanly for you to carry, there is a home stove model available. BioLite was used during the relief efforts of Hurricane Sandy, it’s also been featured in publications like Time magazine, The New York Times, Huffington Post, and Popular Science.

If you still prefer the old isopropyl beer can stove over the BioLite I won’t blame you. The $130 price tag is a bit too rich for even my blood, but as more time and development go into this the price should come down to more reasonable levels. While I won’t be running out to buy one tomorrow, you can rest assured this is still on my radar.

If you’d like to learn more about the BioLite or pick one up you can by going to their website by clicking here.

2.  Solowheel

It’s a fast paced world. Either you keep up with the best or get mowed down like the rest. Well now the rest can keep up with the best with the Solowheel. Basically a minimalist’s unicycle Segway, for the rider under 250 lbs this little spherical skateboard that would’ve blown Marty McFly’s mind is capable of chugging along at a brisk pace of 10 Mph and can hold its charge for up to two hours depending on speed and the rider’s weight. With 1,000 Watt motor and a Lithium-Ion battery coupled with the ability to recharge itself slightly by gliding or braking could this strange little device be the answer to cheap, efficient, and green short distance travel?

Yes and no. While the creators at Inventist Inc. claim to have reinvented the wheel that’s not necessarily the case. It’s still round and rolls forward and while that dynamic may not have changed, they certainly have created an interesting little gadget worth a try. While the developer’s claim it is user friendly and relatively easy to use (and they have plenty of videos showing individuals gliding happily along seemingly effortlessly) and has a built in gyroscope to aide in balance it still requires some skill, patience, and a bit of practice to use.

While miniaturized and zero-emission self-propelled travel options aren’t exactly new to the consumer world this little guy has advantages motorized bicycles, Segways, and other similar options don’t. With a carrying handle on top to fold up and take with you it only takes up about the space of a briefcase, plus it doesn’t take very long to charge. Just rode it to the office this morning and out of juice? No big deal, plug it into the wall at work and it’s ready to take you back home at the end of the day.

With a $2,000 price tag it still clocks in at more of a novelty toy rather than a commuter’s solution to big city traffic and fast paced environments that is unlikely to replace foot power or bike’s as the end all method any time soon. Still, it’s a neat little invention perfect for a Saturday afternoon stroll up to the ice cream parlor.

You can read more about the Solowheel or even purchase one by visiting Inventist Inc.’s website by clicking here.

3.  Sugru

Need a comfortable way to prop that Galaxy Tablet up on the countertop as you rifle through a recipe while making dinner? Maybe that old hammer has seen better days but you don’t have a lathe to turn a new handle and want an eco-friendly alternative to buying rubberized or polymer grips for it. Maybe you’re a little kid at heart like me and want to up the ante of your plastic dinosaur and Lego collection by attaching colorful block wings to it and converting the Allosaurus into an Aerial Attacking All-out-asaurus.

Whether you’re looking to satiate your playtime needs with the kids or just want a better way to organize that jumble of keys without buying an expensive cabinet to hang them (in my experience, you buy them and still end up throwing your keys in the fruit bowl anyway.) English company FormFormForm has something in store for you.

Like a strange cross between rubber, modeling clay, silicone, and silly putty, this strange malleable substance may become your short answer to anything. Websites like Pinterest have dozens of articles and pictures circulating of people using Sugru to “hack” everyday items from kitchen knives to cell phones. When removed from the packaging, Sugru works a lot like silly putty, easily molded and shaped into many different sizes and geometric orientations, it’s when it hardens that the magic happens.

After a 24 hour curing period Sugru turns into a bendable and powerful adhesive suitable for a vast variety of uses. Want to remove it? Not a problem! Just cut it from the surface with a sharp knife to remove the majority of it. Use your fingernail and a napkin to get the pieces that hang around behind, (non-porous surfaces only!!!!) and with an 8 pack of the miracle malleable mud coming in at $25 (that includes shipping depending on your location) it may become your new cheap and far less messy method of patching up areas of your house.

To read more about Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh from Kilkenny, Ireland and her incredible invention and pick up a packet of the Play-Dough for adults visit Sugru’s website by following the link here.

4.  Guitar Pick Punch

The guitar pick. Best friend to players of the instrument worldwide. But if you’re anything like me and love to shred your six-stringed pal till your heart gives out then chances are, like me, you break a metric ton of picks every year. On top of that, it always seems like you need a pick at the worst possible times and there are just none to be found. Enter William Von Luhmann, inventor of the Pick Punch.

The Pick Punch looks more like a glorified stapler but it’s so much more than that. Got a bunch of expired credit cards lying around? Instead of chopping them up with scissors and throwing them in the trash why not turn them into guitar picks? With the Pick Punch you can turn boring and bland piles of plastic into picks as unique and diverse as your play style itself.

With its relatively small size and lightweight design (around 1.5 lbs) you can toss this little guy into your gig bag and, should you run out of picks midway through that rock show, you can snap a replacement out in less than a few seconds! For a $25 investment you can bet I’ll be adding this to my gig equipment in the near future.

To read more about The Pick Punch and to pick one up for yourself check out Von Luhmann’s website dedicated solely to his invention and DIY tips by clicking here. 

5.  Space Saving Furniture

It’s no secret that the human population is expanding on this Earth, but with the little blue rock we float on being 70% water, livable space is quickly becoming an issue. In places like Japan where there are a lot of people concentrated in tiny areas on islands, space saving furniture and domiciles have already become the new “in” thing. Resource Furniture’s ever growing line of multi-purpose furnishings is now looking to bring that same kind of compact living standard, right to your living room now.

With products like tables that fold out to expand from seating three to being able to host a Christmas dinner with the in-laws and an Ottoman that breaks down into 5 separate stools, there is no shortage of creativity in the masterminds of this company. Can only afford a one bedroom apartment but you don’t want to sacrifice all your tables and chairs to the Ikea store? That’s perfectly fine! Just head on over to Resource Furniture’s website by clicking here to see all their home decoration options available.  

6.  Consumer Drones

Yes. You read that correctly, Drones for the everyday consumer like you and me. These fearsome, flying death machines won’t be the robotic bomb filled warbots flying over The Middle East currently, but they operate on the same principle. But Drones have far better uses than military applications (Uncle Sam just has difficulty seeing the forest for the trees sometimes) and the guys at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas this year feel exactly the same way.

See that little fella pictured above? That’s the SenseFly eBee. Aerial toy developer Parrot teamed up with the Swedish company SenseFly to deliver the eBee to CES this year. What does it do? Cartography of course!

With a 96cm wingspan and a “shake it to start the motor and toss it in the air” interface this little guy is capable of surveying an area of 10sqkm in a single pass. What’s more is that not only can it detect geographical features and elevation levels; it does so with pinpoint accuracy, within 5cm. That’s pretty incredible if you ask me.

And why shouldn’t it be? With a price tag north of $10,000, this aerial mapper won’t be commonplace in everyone’s hobby closet any time soon, but it has the features to match the cost. Parrot and SenseFly have another model called the Swinglet Cam as well with a shorter flight distance but still the 16MP camera and mapping within 5cm of accuracy. Other companies at CES featured Drones as well. For the full report on CES drones head over to CraveOnline and check out their article. For more information on SenseFly and the eBee you can check out their website by clicking here.

7.  Vikuiti Rear Projection Film

Moving into 2014 we may already have 100’s of mediums for advertiser’s to channel their products through. But company 3M is rolling out the glass carpet for a new form of Budweiser beer bombardment. May I introduce to you, the Vikuiti (Pronounced Vi-Cue-It-Tee) Rear Projection Film, and while you may be thinking this is just another showy form of projection, I assure you, it’s much more than that.

The way it works is fairly simple. You roll out the black adhesive acrylic and cut it to match whatever shape you want it to. Then you can attach it to a piece of glass or acrylic like the cut-out of the spokeswoman above or you can just hang it in your store window. After being lit up from behind by the projector, it appears as though it jumps to life! The major benefit to this technology is that outside light sources don’t affect it, so you can see what you’re looking at even if the sun directly overhead is beating down on it. In some ways, advertisers are saying this is more useful than using LCD TVs in storefronts!

To read more about 3M’s RPF technology, applications, and purchasing you can visit the website by clicking here.

8.  Siri

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last decade I can almost bet that you’ve heard of Apple’s personal assistant Siri. With movies like “Her” hitting the entertainment landscape this past year featuring a human man falling head over feels in love with an A.I. (Let’s be honest though, if my phone sounded like Scarlett Johansson I’d be lovesick too!) I feel it’s important to talk about how far we are into that world.

While Siri may not be able to help you repel an alien onslaught multiple times (Wake up Chief…) or try to suck the oxygen out of your environment out of self-preservation (Sorry Dave…) she is quite handy for a multitude of things. But why is she so useful?

Siri is outfitted with specialized language software that not only can interpret what you’re saying but in a sense is capable of learning through it. In fact, she is so adept at this that outside developers are dying to get their hands on her. There has even been talk of Siri completely erasing Google entirely. I mean, why run all the way to your laptop to Google it when you just ask Siri where Capuchin Monkeys are native to?

She may not currently be the singularity but she is the doorway to it and the developer’s at Apple are fully aware of this. And if you still don’t believe me, try asking Siri about the Spike Lee Jones film and see what she says. Artificial women can be so defensive.

9.  Recon: Jet Heads Up Display

While development company Revision is on the cutting edge of HUD technology for the soldier, Recon developers have set their sights on the health junkie market. While the glasses won’t make you Geordi La Forge and get you a ticket aboard the enterprise, they have a variety of other applications that will appeal to the everyday cyclist.

With biometric displays like a heart rate monitor and blood pressure, at first glance it doesn’t seem like Recon is bringing anything new to the battlefield, but if you scratch a little deeper, there’s gold hidden underneath.

The battery pods are designed to be replaceable and with a $50 or so price range for the parts that doesn’t seem too bad. The two features that really shine on this (in my opinion) is the tracking feature and the ability to turn your afternoon bike ride into a home movie. With the push of a button on the side of the unit you can snap a quick picture (with better resolution than most cellular phone cameras) but if you double tap and hold the button a little longer on the second one your sunglasses turn into a video camera.

The tracking feature allows you to see on a map where your riding partner is located just by syncing the two devices together. With features like blue tooth, GPS, and others, these sports glasses could quickly sweep the athletic community by storm by being able to keep groups of multiple runners or cyclists in constant contact with one another, thereby allowing everyone to move at their own pace.

The Recon: Jet HUD and their other model the Snow2 geared toward the extreme winter sports crowd are still in prototype development stages. The current price tag is around $600 so you won’t see them on everyone’s head until that cost drops significantly. These glasses are powered by the Android Jellybean OS as its kernel but use an OS developed by Recon to run the glasses themselves. Weighing in at 1oz of visual goodness I can’t wait to get my eyes on a pair of these myself.

To read more about the Jet HUD or maybe pick up a pair for yourself you can head over to their website. To read about some hands on time with the machine check out this review over at DCrainmaker.com.

10.  OLED Foldable TV’s

Everyone loves wallpaper right? Well…maybe not so much. But companies like Samsung are looking to reinvent the wall glue with these new displays. CES this year was rife with cutting edge technology, especially the wearable kind. Let’s take a look at what they had in store for us.

Since the advent of high definition imagery the consumer marketplace has been flooded with options for the entertainment mogul like never before. Companies are looking to capitalize on this even further. Enter the OLED Foldable screen. The model featured above is flexible and lightweight enough to be worn on your arm while out for a jog.

The way an OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) works is quite simple actually. OLEDs are solid-state devices composed of thin films of organic molecules that create light with the application of electricity. OLEDs can provide brighter, crisper displays on electronic devices and use less power than conventional light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or liquid crystal displays (LCDs) used today.

Imagine, turning your entire living room wall into a football stadium to watch the Superbowl. Eventually you may even be able to stitch these little fellas into your clothing (although I’m not sure why anyone would want to go that far with their television obsessions…) or even attach one to the upholstery in your car! However with new OLED technology carrying a price tag a little south of $10,000 we probably won’t be seeing these pop up in your average household for quite a while. Older models of OLED tech is now retailing for around 2 to 3 thousand dollars, so if you have the extra money and want to see what it’s all about I highly recommend it.

For those of you that can’t afford hands on time with the device you can check out this article on HowStuffWorks.com about OLED technology, or you can check out some of the different models, prices, and features available by clicking here.

That’s it for now guys. I hope you enjoyed this article and yes, I do realize some of this technology has been around longer than this past year, however, not everyone has heard about all of it. I tried to make it so this list contained a little bit of everything for everyone out there.

Do you know some cool piece of technology that you’d like to see discussed here or feel like it deserved a spot on this list? That’s absolutely fine! (And totally awesome with me!) Feel free to tell me about it in the comments section. With the way the technology marketplace is changing every few minutes I’m sure I’ll be doing more blogs like this in the future.

Thanks for reading everyone! And if you enjoyed this piece feel free to share it around on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, or whatever other social media site you’re on. Happy learning!

-       Ryan Sanders

Sing a Song of Science! - The Theremin

Music is unique. It’s a form of interpretation and expression that has no equal. The emotion that can be evoked with the simplicity of strumming the strings of a guitar and poetic prose is a high that only an artist would understand. But at the core of that emotion is the instrument. And the key to making that instrument work, well, its science.

As a musician myself I’ve taken the initiative to search out some of the strangest and most unique musical instruments from all over the world. This is the first in what I hope will become a long running monthly segment of “Sing a Song of Science!”

Whether it’s your first toot of the Recorder in grade school or you go on to become the next Louis Armstrong there are reasons those sounds are produced, not to mention the sounds themselves. Be it woodwind, brass, string, or percussion; air movement, vibration, frequency and harmonics, all come into play.

Now we don’t need to talk about all the minor and tedious details of all these things as they really aren’t that important for what we’re going to be talking about. The art of creating music using the aforementioned equipment has been around since time immemorial. However, a very unique instrument has only been around for about 100 years.

It’s made a niche home for itself in science fiction movie jingles and even helped the burned out psychedelic metal-heads add to their already peculiar sound. It’s how this machine works that is the true marvel. The Theremin or Etherphone as it was originally called, sounds as strange as the name, so to understand this crazy instrument, we have to go back to the beginning of the 20^th century.

I’m Not Touching You…

Other than the tonal qualities the Theremin produces the other thing that sets this incredible instrument apart is the fact that there is no direct contact between the device and the user. The way the machine works is there are two antennae’s. The performer moves their hands between the two metal rods to manipulate the sounds that come out of it. One controls the frequency (the pitch) and the other controls the amplitude (the volume). The configuration can be switched to accommodate left or right handed players.

The Theremin operates on the Heterodyne Principle. This principle was first crafted by Canadian Engineer, Reginald Fessenden in 1901. The Heterodyne Principle works by crossing two different radio signals, each one undetectable to the human ear alone, thereby producing a different frequency, one that can be heard. I know what you’re saying, “who cares? Why is this so important?” Crossing two frequencies led to the invention of the vacuum tube. Do you like rock concerts? I thought so. Well without the vacuum tube early rock concerts would have been rather quiet since that’s one of the main ingredients in an amplifier for guitars. (Another point for Science!)

Some versions of the Theremin have a control knob for the volume; however the classic works on the above described principles. The hands of the Thereminist disrupt the signals producing different pitches, which are the notes, and different volumes, in order to go pianissimo or fortissimo. (Quiet or really loud)

But who invented this unique instrument? Surely he had to be a brilliant mind to find a way to manipulate sounds like this. Well I assure you, this Russian inventor and physicist was quite brilliant indeed. He was also trying to make something very different from the Theremin initially as well.

After all, what would the Russian military want with an instrument?

From Russia to Carnegie Hall

When Léon Theremin was contracted by the Russian military at the turn of the 20^th century they were expecting proximity sensors. What they got was an instrument that impressed Lenin himself. After demonstrating the Theremin for the Russian dictator, Theremin was asked to teach him how to play it, and his instrument went into mass production. In 1928, after Léon came to the United States, to New York, he patented his device and it went into production over here, where it found itself just as successful.

Unfortunately the general public didn’t have access to this musical wonder. This was a time of great poverty here and the common man would be lucky to own six strings for his acoustic around then. However amongst the sycophantic community, it found itself a good home.

The inventor or Vacuum Tubes was good at this instrument, but he wasn’t nearly as good as Clara Rockmore. A childhood prodigy, Clara was accepted into the Imperial Conservatory of Saint Petersburg at the age of 5 for the violin! Not only is that one heck of an achievement, it’s one that has never been duplicated. Clara still remains the youngest student to walk the Conservatory halls.

When she and Theremin (the inventor and the invention) crossed paths it was a perfect fit. She loved the instrument and to this day remains probably one of the most renowned musicians to use it. She suggested many improvements to Léon, such as a more responsive volume control. She even developed the strange fingering system used to play the instrument accurately, no easy task.

In 1938 it’s widely believed that Theremin was the victim of kidnapping by Russian KGB agents and whisked back to Russia to work on spy technology for the Kremlin. His instrument however went on to enjoy huge fame, finding it being performed at grand halls from The Albert Hall all the way to Carnegie. From the 50’s on the Theremin has been used in many science fiction movie soundtracks, (perhaps most notably the theme to Star Trek’s strange tones are commonly confused for Theremin music. The Beach Boys on the other hand in their number one hit “Good Vibrations” incorporated the Theremin quite nicely.)

Léon returned briefly to New York shortly before his death in 1993. Had his work not been interrupted who knows what kind of instruments we’d have now (or other inventions for that matter) unfortunately that isn’t how the cards fell. He returned to Russia, where he passed away peacefully in 1993. His Theremin however, still lives on.

He also invented the Electric Cello and the Rhythmicon.

From “Leningrad” to “The Big Bang Theory”

As I mentioned above the Theremin has been enjoying a long life in the world of the entertaining arts. This is very strange to me because it doesn’t have any of the qualities of a classic instrument. So what makes the Theremin so enticing? It’s otherworldly sound of course! The sounds are akin with the macabre noises we associate with what we imagine an incoming alien aircraft sounds like.

That’s why it has enjoyed long careers on TV shows like “Midsomer Murders” and in films like “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. But did you know without the Theremin the performing arts wouldn’t exist like they do today? Theremin (the inventor) practically invented the display by coupling the odd sounds of his device with dancing and flashy dress of female performers moving around a stage to the beat.

Here’s a list showing the diversity of places you can spot the Theremin.

-       The Big Bang Theory – Season 04 – The Bus Pants Utilization

-       The Beach Boys – Song – Good Vibrations

-       Led Zepplin – Songs – “No Quarter” and “Whole Lotta Love”

-       A “White Castle” television ad used the Theremin

-      “Andrew Joron’s” book “Constellations for Theremin” its used as a literary device.

-       Destroy All Humans – 2005 Video Game – Soundtrack

The list goes on, with modern age bands using the Theremin in their music still and it still pops up sometimes in soundtracks for TV and films. His vacuum tube may have been the most important addition to the music world in the long run, but as far as I’m concerned, the Theremin will always deserve center stage.

-       Ryan Sanders

Thanks for reading! If you would like to learn more about the Theremin or its inventor, or to see and hear the device in action, follow any of the links below. Feel free to share this on Facebook and Twitter guys! Happy learning!

-       An interview with Léon Theremin

-       “Sheldon Cooper” on “The Big Bang Theory” shows off his Theremin skills

-       Short “Inventor of the Week” blurb

-       Léon Theremin demonstrating the instrument himself

-       Wikipedia entry about the Theremin