Dr. Moog's Visit to Vanderbilt
On April 15th, 1996, Dr. Robert Moog visited Vanderbilt University as part
of the "Good Vibrations: The Turning on of Electronic Music" series.
This week-long event was co-sponsored by Sarratt Student Center, the
Nashville Film Society, and the Vanderbilt University School of
Engineering. The photos on this page were taken by Carl Nelson, and
are the property of Jason Barile and Carl Nelson, and may not be used
without permission. Full size images may be available upon request.
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3:00pm - "Circuits for Space Music" or "How to Build a Theremin"
At 3:00pm, Dr. Moog gave his lecture, "Circuits for Space Music - or How to Design a Theremin." This insightful talk explained
Lev Termen's vaccuum tube theremin design and its transistor modernizations. Dr. Moog also explained why his designs use a
series-resonant circuit on the antennae in addition to the LC-tank oscillators - it helps linearize the pitch/volume control a bit, and
it provides nearly 100 times the effect of the LC-tank alone. This lets his oscillators run at slower speeds (250-450 kHz) and still
generate a 4 octave pitch range from only 1 pF of hand capacitance!
More Photos are available:
Dr. Moog demonstrates a Big Briar Series '91 B-Cabinet theremin
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5:00pm - "A History of Electronic Music Instruments"
At 5:00pm, we all moved into Sarratt Cinema at the student center. There, Dr. Moog gave a
lecture on the history of electronic musical instruments. His slides primarily came from
Thomas L. Rhea's collection (Mr. Rhea did his PhD. thesis at Peabody college in 1971 and
later became vice-president of Moog Music). Many of these photos can also be seen in the
Keyboard Magazine article, "It's Dr. Moog's
Travelling Show of Controller Oddities." from a few years back. The talk was very
informative, as Dr. Moog took us from the first room-sized monophonic music-maker to today's
modern synthesizers. Dr. Moog also brought with him a Big Briar Etherwave and a Series '91
digital theremin - B cabinet (which, I was surprised to find, dismantles and fits neatly
within a large suitcase). This is the same theremin style used by Lydia Kavina in the
Big Briar video, Mastering the Theremin.
6:30pm - Public Theremin Demonstration
At 6:30pm, Chris Stone and I hooked up two
more Etherwaves and a Theremax and invited the public to try them out. With Dr.
Moog's two theremins, we had a total of 5 theremins cranking out our "Composition
for theremins and public." for nearly an hour. Several people ran screaming looking
for the nearest asprin vendor, but many stayed and fought back tears as they patiently
waited their turn to wail. It was chaotic, but beautiful. Sadly, we did not record the
event. It wouldn't be too hard to duplicate though - just set a bunch of theremins up
in a pasture and stampede your herd of cattle through them. Believe it or not, there
was method to our madness though...
Several pictures are available.
7:30pm - "Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey"
At 7:30pm, after a brief introduction and stories of the film's creation by Dr. Moog, the Steve Martin documentary, "Theremin:
An Electronic Odyssey" was shown. Now, all these disillusioned folks who now thought the theremin was only for creating
obnoxious sound- effects were finally given the chance to witness the true magic of Clara Rockmore and Lev Sergeyvich
Termen. Of course, the Brian Wilson interview generated the most reaction from the audience (if you haven't seen the film, then
you probably don't know what I'm talking about, but believe me - it's amazing!) In general, the reaction was quite good and
several people stayed after the show to try a theremin again.
It's not every day that one gets to meet and talk witht the person who probably most inspired them to become an engineer - but
I was given that chance. Dr. Moog was incredibly kind and informative throughout the entire day, and I cannot thank him enough
for making the long drive to come talk to us. It was surely a day I shall remember for all time.
-Jason Barile
