Sunday Synth Jam: This is another very nice theremin performance by Peter Pringle, Duparc’s L’invitation au voyage.

Pringle’s intonation sets an example for other thereminists and the intensity and expression of his playing is equally amazing.

via copperleaves:

This is one of my favorite songs from the works of French composer Henri Duparc, originally written to a poem by Charles Baudelaire. I have taken certain liberties with the arrangement in order to make up for the absence of the words which are extraordinarily powerful.

Duparc lived an unhappy, tormented life and did not write many compositions. Along with composer Camille Saint-Saens, he founded the National Society Of Modern Music in his native France.

I should mention that I probably would not have been able to play this on my Moog Etherwave Pro theremin if it’s volume circuit linearity had not been greatly improved by the addition of the EPVM1345, a tiny module invented by French engineer Thierry Frenkel.

This is the music video for theminist May Roosevelt’s Phantasma, made for the Moog Halloween Theremin contest.

This video’s fantastic on a lot of levels – including Roosevelt’s performance and the video filming and editing.

Let me know what you think!

via MayRoosevelt:

My video for the Moog Halloween contest using the etherwave standard!

Music by May Roosevelt.

Video done with the help of Alex Al.

Night Of The Theremin is a terror-filled short about a strange encounter on a dark, desolate highway.

Here’s the sequel – Dawn Of The Theremin:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Happy Moogloween!

via iloveanalogue:

Learn more about the Moog Etherwave Theremin at http://www.moogmusic.comLearn more about Bob Moog’s Legacy at http://www.moogfoundation.org

This is a gorgeous transcription and performance for theremin of Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff’s song, Opus 21 #7, Zdes Xorosho (How Fair This Spot).

Peformed by Peter Pringle.

via copperleaves:

According to the New York Times, Rachmaninoff attended a demonstration of the theremin in 1930, given by its inventor, Leon Theremin (a fellow Russian), at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Apparently there was a woman in the audience who leapt to her feet after the first number applauding and shouting “Bravo! Bravo!” Rachmaninoff who, according to the article, was sitting behind her, loudly exclaimed, “Sit down Madame! You Exaggerate!”

At the time, the instrument was unknown and there were no musicians, other than its inventor, who were competent to play it.

Although Rachmaninoff never wrote anything for the theremin, one of his compositions, VOCALISE, has become one of the standard transcription compositions for the instrument. In regard to this song, HOW FAIR THIS SPOT, written for piano and voice in 1901, I found the following information on the internet:

“Rachmaninoff and his wife were on their honeymoon when he composed the work, which, not surprisingly, he also dedicated to her. Moreover, he had recently recovered from a depression caused by the disastrous 1897 premiere of his Symphony No. 1, which undermined his confidence and ability to compose until the appearance in 1901 of his ever-popular Piano Concerto No. 2. This was obviously a blissful time in his life, then, true to his nature, Rachmaninoff was moved to write music here about romance and passion, leaving out the sunshine and merriment he must also have felt. The song features one of the composer’s most soaring, beautiful vocal melodies that would not have been out of place in a slow movement of one of his concertos or symphonies. The accompaniment is appropriately subdued and just as romantic as the vocal line. The text, by G. Galina, describes a pastoral scene where young lovers have come to be alone with nature and themselves. This lovely song typically has a duration of just over two minutes.”

A thereminist plays the Moog Etherwave theremin and attracts the attention of convention-goers at Music Moscow 2009.

If you know anything about the thereminist, leave a comment below.

via aclexvideo

Moonpie From Planet X

Theremin duo Art Harrison and Rupert Chappelle playing, respectively, a Harrision Instruments Theremin and a Big Briar Etherwave Theremin, on August 16, 2009.

Also used – Alesis Microverb, Boss Digital Delay and Behringer Tube Distortion Box – recorded live to camera microphone.

via saintrupert

Moog Music – Factory Tour

A quick walk through the Moog factory in Asheville, NC. This is Moog Central. It’s all made here!

via MoogMusicInc

If you’re into theremins, you probably already know that the new Moog Etherwave Plus theremin has control voltage outputs, so it can be used to control analog synths.

This is a demonstration of the Etherwave Plus controlling the MiniMoog Voyager Analog Synthesizer.

Part 2 and details below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via Rhythmicons:

In the second part I demonstrate a spur of the moment Theremin Excercise in which the Gate CV activates a Sample and Hold, sent to the Freqbox for random note matching/harmonization.Just in case any of you out there were wondering what it would sound like for a Voyager to be a slave to the Theremin, here it is a new Etherwave Plus demonstration. Not very melodic, this demo is just to give you an idea of the way the Theremin and the Voyager respond and react to this new area of control.I had a Standard Theremin upgraded at the factory.Thanks for watching!Rhythmicons

This is a performance of Over the Rainbow on the theremin, by Sae Sato.

The performance on the piano is by Tomonobu Naru.

via tepmeh

Got some extra cash burning a hole in your pocket? 

If so, consider yourself fortunate and check out Moog’s Grammy Sale. For all of February, Moog Music is offering rebates on some of its most popular electronic music gear:

Receive Massive Rebates on Moog Gear

$100 – Minimoog Voyager or Voyager Old School,
$75 – Little Phatty Stage II, Stage or Tribute Edition
$30 – Etherwave Theremin or Moogerfooger

In honor of Bob Moog’s Grammy win, it’s time for our 5th annual Grammy Sale. Get money back on gear purchased from authorized dealers in the US during the month of February 2009.

Offer good only on purchases by U.S. retail customers from authorized Moog dealers in the U.S. 

If on the other hand, you’ve got bills to pay, check out our massive coverage of free music software instead!

Can you find the prog rock keyboardist in this photo?

The 2009 Winter NAMM Show has fewer vendors and visitors this year, but there’s still a ton of new gear and software to check out – and fantastic performances by musicians like Keith Emerson, above. Synthtopia is on site to bring you the latest news about electronic music software and gear. 

Here are some of the highights of Day 3 of the 2009 NAMM Show:

• Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio is out of the price range of a lot of people – but, if you’re a Sonar user it’s pretty drool-worthy; 
• A lot of people are excited about the microKorg XL, even though it’s pricey for a mini-synth (Tip for other manufacturers – it’s the vocoder!); and
• The Moog Etherwave Theremin Plus is what everybody wanted in a theremin.
• Metasonix’ new Eurorack synth modules show put vacuum tubes into new places;
• The Korg nanoSeries is now available in black; and 
• Max For Live is one of the biggest music geekfests in years. 

Check out some more highlights below. 

We got a sneak preview from the Museum Of Making Music of an upcoming exhibit on the work of Robert Moog. We’ll have more on this in a few days – but check out the photo above for a taste of the artifacts that they’re lining up for the exhibit.

There were tons of great musicians to see and friendly people to meet, like ModWheelMood’s Alessandro Cortini:

And, as always, there were some bizarre sites to see:

Kinky sex outfits or a Tonium Pacemaker demo? You make the call!

If you made it to NAMM, leave a comment and let us know what you thought!

2009 Winter NAMM Show: Moog Music introduced the Etherwave Plus – an instrument that lets you control  synthesizers and effects while playing the Theremin. It’s also a stand-alone CV (Control Voltage) controller.

The Etherwave Plus’ CV control signals are proportional to the pitch and volume of the Theremin’s audio signal and can be connected to the pitch and volume CV inputs of a Little Phatty or other analog synthesizer for a new way to interact with a synth.  

The Etherwave Plus has all the features and tone of Moog’s standard Etherwave Theremin and is housed in a naturally finished hardwood cabinet.

The “Plus” features include: 

• Pitch & Volume CV Outputs – control a different CV parameter with each hand
• Gate Output – trigger envelopes and other events
• Pitch Preview/Headphone Output – with separate volume control, lets you hear your note before the audience does.
• Power LED – instant visual power status on dark stages

“The Etherwave Plus’ CV signals are not limited to pitch and volume control, so they can be routed to any CV destination for a new world of expression,” said Moog Marketing Manager Chris Stack. “Use it to control anything from the cutoff frequency of the Moog Guitar Ladder Filter to the LFO Amount on a Moogerfooger Ring Modulator to the stereo panning on a Minimoog Voyager.”

Nice theremin work and great video production values. Note also the bizarre carpet massage effect.

Here’s how the Ether and AEther Experiment explains the video:

The main theremin was passed through iZotope Trash, an awesome software guitar effects plugin. The video was edited entirely in Adobe After Effects. The hand on the carpet was to simulate wind noise, definitely cause for confusion. This also means all the parts of the song were performed with hands only. CRAZY!

These guys are releasing a series of videos – so keep an eye out for more crazy shit.

Thanks to Peter Kirn over at CDM for pointing this out.