Humorous quotations from the RCA Theremin sales brochure.

"anyonecan without tiresome practice can make exquisite beautiful music with nothing but his own two hands!"

"with no difficulty whatever!"

"You need not he able to read a single note to play the RCA Theremin magnificently!"

"And it is easiest of all instruments to play!"

ha.

These days they'd probably be sued for false advertising.

I wonder if the person who wrote any of that stuff ever actually tried a Theremin?

They should have been subjected to my playing as punishment :)

Jason, I could back you up and make it hurt twice as bad!

I wounder ... if the RCA's were realy liniear (which I don't know about) and cheep (which they weren't - but why not - they are basicly just raidos) if theremin might not have been as popular as other instaments. A theremin is not much harder to play than say a violin - which is ALSO non liniear BTW.

The Violin has the following features which the theremin does not all of which make it far less restricting and much easier to play simple pieces that would also be suitable for theremin:

1. Open string (strings that plays fixed notes)
2. Tactile reference (i.e something to hold)
3. Predictable pitches (i.e. if you put your hand in a certain place, and your instrument is tuned then you'll always get an F#)
4. Pitch preview (the player can hear the note they're about to play through the wood by quitely tapping the string)
5. Multiple strings (affording for easier leaps)
6. Fixed hand positions (even references on the fingerboard to assist you)

The theremin is more like playing an invisible one stringed violin, that's not possible to hold, covers a range of six octaves in less than 60 cm, and that provides no pitch feedback.

True -
3. Predictable pitches (i.e. if you put your hand in a certain place, and your instrument is tuned then you'll always get an F#) - Why can't a theremin do this? After it warms up why can't (or doesn't do this)
4. Pitch preview - this is a easy mode to make - and the preview can be visable or audio!
5. Multiple strings - OK
6. Yah - but with a properly tuned "lev" ant then repeated had positions lead to the same interval!

The theremin is more like playing an invisible one stringed violin - yes it is!

All of RCA's claims are completely true ...







... given appropriate definitions of exquisite, beautiful and magnificently.

This is cut and pasted from the mac os x thesaurus - synonyms of exquisite, in the sense of exquisite agony - "intense, acute, keen, piercing, sharp, severe, racking, excruciating, agonizing, harrowing, searing; unbearable, unendurable"

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - it is subjective, let us look on the positive side and presume the author does indeed find this to be beautiful. I have no doubt he is an exceptional man.

If I feel magnificent when I play and demonstrate that emotional state through facial expressions, stance and gesture then I would be playing magnificently.

Doing this gives me no difficulty, and is easy!

keep in mind, that ad probably came out back when tobbacco companys were allowed to claim that smoking made you more energetic, younger looking, and "fashionable"... im a heavy smoker and i can tell you, none of that applies.

>3. Predictable pitches (i.e. if you put your hand in a certain place, >and your instrument is tuned then you'll always get an F#) - Why >can't a theremin do this? After it warms up why can't (or doesn't >do this)

This is not really possible on the theremin because besides the hand position, you also have to be in the correct standing position too! All you need is to sway your body and you're all out of pitch! ;-D

theremino