photo: PBS
Santa Fe New Mexican Local news in briefs, November 11, 2009
PBS 'History Detectives' plans visit
Investigators with the PBS television series History Detectives are looking into a Santa Fe man's suspicion that he owns one of the first electronic instruments known as theremins.
The show's host, Elyse Luray, and her crew plan to visit Santa Fe on Nov. 23 to share results of their probe into whether the man has one of fewer than six original theremins built by Leon Theremin, a news release said.
The only instrument played without touching, the theremin "makes eerie, ethereal music, the kind that creates uncertainty and suspense in movie sound tracks," the statement said.
The Santa Fe man bought his theremin through e-Bay, according to the release.
Robert Moog, creator of the electric synthesizer, was quoted as having called the theremin "a vital cornerstone of our contemporary music technology." -------------------------------------------------
This sure 'creates uncertainty and suspense' for us. If it's true and he's not a TW member yet, hope he joins and tells us about it!
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http://en.wikipedia....èse (http://en.wikipedia...èse#Back_in_the_United_States)
Musical mystery comes out of history at Caramoor (http://www.lohud.com...) (LuHud.com)
Unless a vintage "mystery" instrument, like the one that is to be featured in the upcoming episode of HISTORY DETECTIVES, is identical in every way to instruments that are known to be from the hand of Lev Termen, or unless it is actually signed and dated on the chassis by Lev himself (which this instrument is not), then it is unlikely that anyone will ever be able to say for sure that it is an original Termen theremin.
In the art world there are well known works that are recognized to be from the workshop of a particular master, but not from the hand of the master. The great painters of the Renaissance all had apprentices who created works of their own using the same materials - wood, canvas, paint, etc. - as the teacher. Only a highly specialized expert can tell whether the hand of the master was involved in the actual concept and application of paint.
Certainly the mystery theremin did come from the Theremin Studio on West 54th St., but did it come from the hand of the Master? I doubt we will ever know. I expect that Reid Welch could have shed some light on this question had he been asked to do so. Careful examination of vintage parts by someone acquainted with their exact dates of manufacture could reveal much about the instrument.
Someone like Albert Glinsky, for whom I have only the greatest respect and admiration, may have considerable historical knowledge of the life and times of Leon Theremin but I do not believe he has the technical expertise to glance at a resistor and tell you exactly who made it, where it was made, and when. I would be very surprised if he could look at a knot of cables and say, "This is exactly the way Lev Sergeievitch braided the cables in all his electronic devices!"
I suspect that the HISTORY DETECTIVES theremin episode will end the way many of them do. The "detective" will report back to the owner of the object and say. "Well, I have good news and bad news. Your painting is definitely 15th century Italian but we just can't say whether or not it is from the hand of Leonardo Da Vinci."
The object of the show is not to find out whether Joe Blow's painting is a Da Vinci. Nobody but Joe cares about that anyway. The object is to entertain with an informative, educational and interesting search, tours of museums and interviews with scholars and curators, and HISTORY DETECTIVES knows exactly how to do that.
Regardless, I think an important question would be does it play? If it does, how does it sound, feel, etc... After all, these are instruments, not just museum pieces. I hope it does get played!
I think Art will do a fine job. Reid would too, I'm sure, or Mark Keppinger, or etc. There are a number of us out there that have a fondness for 100 year old electronics (AND can identify the parts -- it's not terribly hard in many cases).
Bottom line is that Art has a talent for explaining how all these things worked in modern and easy to understand terminology. That makes for better TV than hiring a lab to analyze carbon, oil and tin in the components and spend an hour talking about the parallel growth of materials science and electrical engineering.
Ultimately, remember that this is TV, and that TV is about viewers, ratings, etc...
However, I am keenly interested in the Theremin that I never even knew was in my vicinity.
Lorin
Can't say I've done more than see the outside of an original Termen instrument, but I have worked on RCAs and plenty of electronics from the teens and 20s.
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It is my belief that anyone who examines the mystery theremin with a view toward deciding whether or not it is from the hand of Leon Theremin, needs to be familiar with the hand of Leon Theremin.
Reid is.
Prior to the unfortunate rift between Reid and Clara Rockmore, Reid had access to her custom instrument. He is familiar with the earmarks of Lev's techniques and methods of construction. This is a highly specific area of expertise which very few people alive today possess.
The mystery instrument may be the best sounding theremin ever made, but that doesn't necessarily make it a Termen theremin.
Regardless of its conclusions, the show will undoubtedly be fascinating when it is aired. The visit to Caramoor should be interesting.
My only addition is just that the producers' job on a TV show is to make entertainment and bring in revenue (viewers, advertising). So, maybe we should brace ourselves for a lot of "this is a theremin, isn't it cool -- wow, spooky".
If the historical details and points about the instrument are resolved, well then, that will be a great bonus.
Regardless, I'll watch, and I'll keep my eye out around town for this theremin. Hopefully, I won't see it bouncing around in the back of an old pickup with a toilet and an old dog (ah, my beloved New Mexico).
Over and out from Northern New Mexico, land of the strange, artistic, absurdly desolate and rather backwoods...
Lorin
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