14-billion-years-later:

The Theremin

Possibly one of the coolest instruments in existence, the theremin is responsible for haunting, whining music everywhere such as the original Star Trek theme. The thing that sets the theremin is apart is it that to play it, you don’t need to touch it. The theremin works by having two antennas that “sense” where the player is relative to them. One controls the volume and the other the frequency and both are modulated by the distance between the antenna and the hand of the performer. The frequency is controlled using two oscillators, one is fixed while the other is free to vary, the difference between the two frequencies is what is audible and is an example of heterodyning (combining two frequencies to create a third). The frequency of one of the oscillators can be modified because the antenna and the hand act as a simple capacitor, as the hand moves closer the capacitance increases and the frequency increases.

As a bonus fact Vladimir Lenin took lessons in playing the theremin and commissioned 600 to be built and distributed around the Soviet Union.

Video of Fragile by Sting preformed on Theremin. 

oomg what

Notes

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