MATRIXSYNTH: RCA Theremin & Talking Machine VOCALISE


Sunday, June 03, 2012

RCA Theremin & Talking Machine VOCALISE


YouTube Published on Jun 3, 2012 by copperleaves

"The VOCALISE of Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff has become one of the standards of theremin performance because it was written for voice without words, to be sung on an open "AH". Usually we hear it performed in the soprano register but here it is in the tenor range using the 1929 RCA theremin of Leon Theremin's assistant, Julius Goldberg, in conjunction with an ELECTRO-HARMONIX "Talking Machine" set to....yes, you got it....an open "AH".

In the second half of this video I put the instrument on a rotating table so you can see all sides of it including its unusual volume antenna which is kind of hard to see under normal performing circumstances.

You'll notice that this theremin has fancy locks on its cabinet doors. Sometime in the 1940's the late Mr. Goldberg installed these to keep his kids from opening the doors and electrocuting themselves! There are potentially lethal voltages inside."

Follow-up to this post.

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