On the occasion of Google taking note of the Theremin electronic instrument, Comrade Red Square has invited me to make a small commentary on its inventor.

Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Ле́в Серге́евич Терме́н), in Anglicized form Léon Theremin. Born August 27 1896, died November 3 1993.

Termen was a brilliant electrical engineer of prodigious capacity, but is mainly remembered as a progenitor of electronic music. While experimenting with radio equipment, he discovered that the frequency of a high frequency oscillator can be affected by the presence of a human body. This produced two quite different types of equipment -- electronic body proximity sensors and touchless electronic instruments.

Termen used this effect to control both pitch and volume in the instrument he called the "etherphone" which became known outside the USSR as the "Theremin." From the late 1920s through the late 1930s, Termen toured worldwide playing concerts. The unusual tonal qualities and gliding pitch changes of a Theremin are familiar to anyone who has seen late 1950s or early 1960s science fiction films.

Termen abruptly returned to the Soviet Union in 1938 for reasons still unclear. Thereafter he was imprisoned and put to work in a sharashka, a secret laboratory in the gulag system. Termen eventually developed several novel passive eavesdropping systems, including the notorious "The Thing" built into the Great Seal in the U.S. embassy in Moscow.

In 1947, Termen was awarded the Stalin Prize for advances in Soviet espionage technology. Despite this he remained alive, and due to his usefulness he was "rehabilitated" in 1956.

After release he worked at the Moscow Conservatory of Music where he built electronic instruments in quiet obscurity. He was discovered there by a music critic from the New York Times; but when an article appeared mentioning Termen, the Conservatory's managing director declared "electricity is not good for music; electricity is to be used for electrocution." His instruments were removed, further electronic music projects were banned, and Theremin was summarily dismissed.

Termen eventually became a professor of physics at Moscow State University developing his inventions and supervising graduate students.

When you hear that distinctive sweeping "wee-ooo", whether in a soundtrack or in one of Clara Rockmore's recordings, remember Lev Termen. (The original one, not the internet copy.)

Ah ha! Moog Music sent me this just today:

From: Moog Music inc <[email protected]>
Subject: Google Honors Theremin Virtuosa Clara Rockmore On Her 105th Birthday
Date: March 9, 2016 at 11:54:23 AM PST
To: Comrade Otis, Doctor of Dictatorship
Reply-To: Moog Music inc <[email protected]>

Google Honors Theremin Virtuosa Clara Rockmore On Her 105th Birthday
View this email in your browser

Interactive Google Doodle Invites You To Play The Theremin On Clara Rockmore's 105th Birthday
Clara Rockmore: Theremin Virtuosa
Today marks the 105th anniversary of Clara Rockmore's birth. Born in March of 1911 in what was then the Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire, Clara exhibited the signs of musical prodigy from a young age and by the age of 5 joined the Saint Petersburg Conservatory as a violinist. Clara retired from the violin after an onset of tendonitis during her teenage years and soon after met inventor Leon Theremin who introduced her to his electronic invention, the Theremin.
Clara quickly became the foremost virtuosa thereminist, establishing an audience for the quirky instrument that would later inspire Bob Moog in the creation of the first synthesizers. Although she made orchestral performances in New York and Philadelphia and amazed audiences on her coast-to-coast tours, it was not until 1977 that she released a commercial recording called The Art Of The Theremin, recorded at the behest of Bob Moog.
Today, Google honors Clara Rockmore's legacy with an interactive musical #GoogleDoodle. Upon visiting www.google.com, users are prompted with a theremin lesson before engaging in their own performance with the unique electronic instrument. Celebrate Clara Rockmore's 105th birthday today by composing your own masterpiece.

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Pamalinsky actually built a theremin... is she awesome or what?!
.

The most astute [color=#C0392B]Comrade Putout[/color] wrote:.
Pamalinsky actually built a theremin... is she awesome or what?!
.

She is indeed!

Just how old is Pamalinsky I wondered to myself?!

I found this on the internet today...
.

Comrade Putout wrote:

The most astute [color=#C0392B]Comrade Putout[/color] wrote:.
Pamalinsky actually built a theremin... is she awesome or what?!
.

She is indeed!

Just how old is Pamalinsky I wondered to myself?!

I found this on the internet today...
.

No, Putout, that's Pammy's mother. Her mother was a mad scientist who was fascinated by and sought to develop a process for cloning. She eventually developed a process for this, but gained no fame. This is mainly because the only problem she had was that whenever she cloned a being, they didn't come out of the test tube as an adult, but as a baby.

And I did enjoy your treatise on Squirrels. I look forward to more of your works on the animal kingdom peace, love, and freedom kollektive.

Comrade Putout wrote:

The most astute [color=#C0392B]Comrade Putout[/color] wrote:.
Pamalinsky actually built a theremin... is she awesome or what?!
.

She is indeed!

Just how old is Pamalinsky I wondered to myself?!

I found this on the internet today...
.

Ah yes! This was my Carnegie Hall debut after graduating from Juilliard! I received a standing ovation from the usher who was trying to get me out of there. I was also the only concertmaster in the history of the NY Philharmonic who played kazoo!

And, I believe I was the only student at Juilliard who received a degree in both instruments EVER!
Yeah, true story.

Pamalinsky wrote:

Comrade Putout wrote:I was also the only concertmaster in the history of the NY Philharmonic who played kazoo!

Shouldn't that be concertmistress? Actually both terms are racist and sexist!

Yale Professor Seeks To Abolish The Word ‘Master'

A professor at Yale University is attempting to stamp out the use of the word “master” at the school, claiming it is so offensive to the college's black and female students that some have had to move off campus to avoid it.

Good grief, Comades,

We already know we are all transgender now. Why must we quibble about things like master and mistress?

I've heard of some real estate guys who refer to the main bedroom in new homes as “owner's bedroom” lest they seem sexist or something.

Now that we know master could be transgender, i.e. the owner, what's the BFD? Let's call this whole thing off!

This issue was dealt with many years ago by Ella and Louis:

Red Square wrote:

Pamalinsky wrote:

Comrade Putout wrote:I was also the only concertmaster in the history of the NY Philharmonic who played kazoo!

Shouldn't that be concertmistress? Actually both terms are racist and sexist!

Yale Professor Seeks To Abolish The Word ‘Master'

A professor at Yale University is attempting to stamp out the use of the word “master” at the school, claiming it is so offensive to the college's black and female students that some have had to move off campus to avoid it.

"But now, professor Stephen Davis, master of Pierson College, has said that[highlight=#ffffff] he no longer wants his students to refer to him [/highlight]as “Master Davis.”

“I have found the title of the office I hold deeply problematic given the racial and gendered weight it carries,” Davis wrote in an email to Pierson students Friday, according to the Yale Daily News. “I think there should be no context in our society or in our university in which an African-American student, professor, or staff member—or any person, for that matter—should be asked to call anyone ‘master' … And [highlight=#ffff00]there should be no context where male-gendered titles should be normalized as markers of authority.[/highlight]"

What are the odds that Comrade Davis has a "MASTERS DEGREE IN SOCIAL ENGINEERING"?

Captain Craptek wrote:What are the odds that Comrade Davis has a "MASTERS DEGREE IN SOCIAL ENGINEERING"?

BINGO, COMRADE!