"We're going to show you how to make the world's most bare-bones electronic music instrument – and a bunch of other things, as well.This instrument is called a 'ribbon controller', but it's also known after its inventor, Paul Tanner, as a 'tannerin'. He called this instrument an 'Electro-Theremin'. That name didn't catch on because this is not a Theremin (the musical instrument you control by moving your hands in the air) even though it sounds like one. You are going to build a sound generator that changes pitch as you slide wires back and forth on a conductive “ribbon” we will make as part of this project..
We also discuss how you can take this same circuit and do many other experiments with things you have around your home.
Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys' song “Good Vibrations” used the magic of Paul Tanner's ribbon controller to make its distinctive sweeping wee-oo-wee sound. Wikipedia has a great page on the history of the ribbon controller"
click here for more detail.
That was a ribbon on Good Vibrations? There's a theremin documentary floating around with an interview of an insane Brian Wilson talking about using a theremin on Good Vibrations.
ReplyDeleteIt was actually the Tannerin: link
ReplyDelete