Billion Dollar Brain

Hi,
Does anybody know who played the Theremin, on the soundtrack of the movie "Billion Dollar Brain"... It's a really cool clean sine wave type sound played through a large plate reverb and sounds great. I'm going to try and replicate that sound if I can.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

Sorry to disappoint you. That is not a theremin used in the movie but its cousin the ondes Martenot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondes_Martenot). That would explain the "plate reverb" sound. (Note the section on diffusers.) From Wikipedia...

"For more romantic moods, it (soundtrack of Billion Dollar Brain (http://www.hulu.com/watch/218840/billion-dollar-brain)) features the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument, played by its most prominent soloist, Jeanne Loriod. Thus, even the tender moments have an eerie undertone."

You will hear it at 58 minutes, 39 seconds into the film.

However, a clean, sine wave sound on a theremin played through a good plate reverb may get you as close as you want to be.

Thanks Jeff,
That explains why the pitching is so precise then. That was one of the things bugging me about the sound. It is beautifully played and very expressive.

And the timing for the Martenot track should be at: 9 mins and 53 seconds, into the film...

At 58 mins into the film there's no Martenot sounds as Harry Palmer is busy telling lies to the computer about killing Leo Newbigen.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

Sorry Fozzy, but I don't know what video you're watching. I am referring to the one on HULU that I provided a link to above.

As Wikipedia mentioned, the ondes Martenot is played during the "romantic" scenes. I don't know how many there are, but on the HULU link it occurs from 10:31 to 11:30 and again from 13:12 to 13:59 in addition to the one at 58:39.

Hi Jeff,
I'm (rather unusually) watching it directly off an actual 35mm Scope UK Cinema Print. So the timings will be different to the US TV Print that will be carried by HULU. So that explains the discrepancy in them.

I can't actually access HULU from the UK. Unfortunately it doesn't allow any server that's not in the USA, to play the content on there.

I have just found the following youtube video introduction to the Martenot, which is very interesting.
Introduction To The Ondes Martenot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy9UBjrUjwo)

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)