We’re celebrating 48 hours of DIY stuff here as we get ready for Handmade Music tomorrow night in Brooklyn! Thingamagoops are the friendly, optical emitter antennaed electronic creatures. Whether your cat / significant other / fan base would describe them as a sweet-sounding instrument, they do make a lot of noise and look cute in the process. Optical sensors onboard mean you can reposition the lights for some fun.

They were fun to begin with. But in kit form, you’ve got even more good times as you assemble them / find an odd case to put them in.

The kits come with groovy labels, eyes and mouths a la Mr. Potato-Head (well, in sticker form), and all the knobs and parts and things you need to make it work. A kit will set you back US$55. If you can’t be bothered to find an enclosure but still want to have some assembly, the enclosure-included version is US$66.

ThingamaKIT Product Page

And for an example build not by the Bleep Labs folks, MAKE shows off the build process:

ThingamaKIT build photos [MAKE: Blog]

I hope we’ll see more of this kind of kit in muso land soon.

But here’s why appropriated enclosures are enviro-friendly and fun – from Flickr, an example of an enclosure rescued from an old desktop intercom by Bleep Labs creator Dr. Bleep.

Peter’s fantastic, historic and educational vintage tape looping and Dr Who posts made me think of the BBC and theremins (yes, I’m fully aware that there were no theremins used for the Dr Who theme, but the myth is too strong), and the person who best combines the BBC and theremins: Bill Bailey.

If you’re not familiar with Bill Bailey, have I got a treat for you! I’ve never encountered anyone who combines music and comedy to such great effect (If you know of someone else with these skills, please tell us in the comments). Fortunately there is a huge volume of his stuff available on Youtube, so I can share some of his genius with you.

Tribute to Kraftwerk

There’s a little bit of theremin in that video, unfortunately his best theremin/electronic music bits aren’t included in any of the short clips I could find, so I’ve added some choice cuts, and if you feel the need for more theremin you can spend some quality time on Youtube or buy his DVDs: Bewilderness or Part Troll.

In this case it was “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” as the folks at Moog backed up their promise of ANOTHER DIMENSION with an intimate solo theremin performance. A sizable crowd enjoyed this breath of fresh air in a convention jam packed with high energy live gigs.

Ed.: Moog Music has an incredible group of friends when it comes to Theremin players. In this case, the artist is Japanese Theremin superstar ERI, who has the enviable domain theremin.org. She’s truly one of us, as she likes pulling up her webpage on her DS.

In other items from the theremin beat, our friends at Theremin World have some great items recently: a lost Clara Rockmore album on iTunes, a Theremin soft synth, and a chance to learn from master thereminist Carolina Eyck in L.A.. All this, and they’re getting attention in the New York Times. Theremin is, after all, the instrument of record. Congrats! -PK

I love controversy. But after a week in which US politicians were talking about World War III (or was that IV) and somehow CDM’s great comment threads wound up on the topics of whether hardware or software was better (discussion = not allowed on this site), and whether starving children would be able to eat affordably-priced laptops, I decided it was time for an experiment. Could I write an entry with total appeal and zero controversy?

I present, as mind candy for the weekend: adorable animals with synthesizers.

Poor Tia Thomas! Here’s a whiz kid who can spell ortstein, velocious, marmoreal, and totipalmate, and she has the misfortune to be eliminated from the National Spelling Bee on the word Theremin:

Theremin ends spelling bee contestant’s hopes [Theremin World]

(She guessed “Theramin”, which Theremin World’s Jason notes is a misspelling widely spread on eBay.) Heck, I don’t even know what those words mean, though I’ll be the World Wide Web knows, as it’s smarter than I am . . . Let’s see, totipalmate has to do with webbed feet, marmoreal means marble-like, as in, “that’s a very marmoreal Theremin case you’ve got there,” and ortstein means, um, “An indurated layer in the B horizon of Podzols in which the cementing material consists of illuviated sesquioxides and organic matter.” Try to use that in a sentence. Though I will say, Crazy Pete and the Illuviated Sesquioxides would make a killer band name.

No, let’s face it: our children are missing out on a proper Theremin education. We need children building Theremins in Physics class, fashioning gorgeous metal cases in shop, and studying the instrument’s rather elusive playing technique in extensive lessons and together in enormous choirs. (Wait, scratch that last idea, as that would throw off the calibration of the instrument . . . for chorus, they can all have Martenots.) I’m sure the Bush Administration would be game here in the U.S., since inventor Leon Theremin had a background in security and developing listening devices (for the KGB, but now we’re all on the same side). And developing listening devices and hidden microphones? Also more fun that most of what I did in school. I’m sure you’re more likely to run into a Theremin player than you are an indurated layer in the B horizon of Podzols.

Otherwise, there’s just no hope for the Tia Thomases of the world. And she, incidentally, I’m fairly certain of this, is a whole lot smarter than I am. Tia, if you’re out there and want a job as a copy editor, you know where to find us. (If I misspelled anything here, readers, do let me know.)

Any other industry, and a manufacturer Website with nothing but user stories about a product would be just another marketing ploy. But this is the music and audio tech industry, and, frankly, we love our tech toys and use them in interesting ways. It’s little surprise, then, that the Wires Suck! Website, dedicated to Frontier’s slick, little wireless remote for controlling audio apps, actually makes great reading. Users are taking advantage of the TranzPort’s wireless control capabilities for such unexpected tasks as DJing and recording Theremins (which otherwise wreak havoc since any movement — like going over to hit the record button — throws the instrument). That’s film/TV/game composer Shawn Clement pictured below, rocking out on his TranzPort and his Moog Theremin (dig Bob’s signature across the case). And as you know, we love anything with Theremins.

If you’ve got your own interesting story, you can get free accessories for your TranzPort. If they don’t post it, though, try me. I’ll, uh, buy you a drink or something. Oh, and I love my own TranzPort, or I wouldn’t be posting this. (I ain’t no shill.) I just don’t have a terribly interesting story about it. Then again, the night is young.

Theremin World’s community of Theremin junkies never ceases to amaze. Mark McKeown has now built his own semi-replica of the classic RCA Theremin, down to the wooden cabinet and 1928-style power supply. You can bet it’ll behave and sound different than the cheap kits available online. Mark’s secret weapon was the treasure trove of specs and schematics at Art’s Theremin Page, worth a browse even if you don’t try to built your own.

Complete details and photos [Theremin World]

Related:

Build Your Own Minimoog [though that project was decidedly less complete!]

Theremin fans, there’s no reason to sit at home with dusty records with plenty of new Theremin performance to hear:

Singapore’s Sheuh-li in Texas

Our friend Sheuh-li, Singapore’s grand diva of the Theremin, writes us to say her Xenovibes show has its last Texas performance Saturday October 1. (Flyer after the break or see her site.) I’ve never been to Richardson, Texas, but if you hail from there, cancel your Saturday night plans and go see what looks like a great show, featuring an e-drummer and more special guests. And let us know how it goes. (See my previous story on Sheuh-li.)

Hypnotique in UK; Downloadable Tribute to Moog

Sheuh-li I believe is looking for more bookings in the US on her tour. But maybe you’re booking a venue in the UK and want someone local. In that case, by all means give Miss Hypnotique a call. She’a a fantastic player, and looking for more bookings. A reader points to her this week, in case you missed her in our Theremin diva roundup.

Miss Hypnotique also produces a radio program called Switched On. Check out the Moog Memorial page for a tribute and extended interviews not only with Bob Moog, but Jean-Jacques Perrey, Gershon Kingsley, and Keith Emerson, to say nothing of part 2 with “classic to trashy” Moog-made music.

Theremins South of the Border

Sure, you think it’s impressive having just one great blog dedicated to the Theremin, like Theremin World. Brush up on your Spanish, and you can read not one but three Spanish-language Theremin blogs: Mi Theremin, Theremin Hispano, and El Theremin En México. Sure enough, it looks like México has a great scene going, both indigenous and with visitors like Peter Pringle.

Got more? Let us know. Now go out there — especially if you’re in Richardson this Saturday. Oh, and thanks to Google Maps I’ve now figured out that’s really close to Dallas.

Bored with keyboards and drum pads? How about light-sensitive photocells with customizable control options, all in a spacey case that looks like it escaped from Sun Ra’s Arkestra?

Tony Amendolore of ElectroKraft has a new MIDI controller creation he calls the Lunar Module:

Multiple photocell “portholes” light up blue for feedback; use as a Theremin-like control

Push-button controllers can be used in combination for controlling effects

Send MIDI messages like program/bank change, notes, transposition, or all notes off “panic”

Customization options, before or after purchase, for controller options like pitch bend, sustain, modulation wheel, etc.

US$249, free continental US shipping, each handmade

The idea is, you hook the Lunar Module up to your existing MIDI hardware and/or computer and take advantage of the alternative control options. Looks quite nice, and the price is about right, knowing what these parts cost. Tony also offers an unlimited lifetime warranty, which is more than you can say for most music manufacturers.

Thanks for the heads-up, Tony!

Previously on CDM: (More of Tony’s creations!)

Theremin Guitar
Space Box: Theremin + Effects Box
Space Invaders Invades Synth, Guitar

The beauty of musical instruments lies partly in their strangeness: odd objects that have mysterious sound-making powers. So really, why not a toilet?

Toilet, Pooh, Pikachu: Cementimental’s “Optical Theremin Loo” packs an optical theremin (with a photoresistor, in other words) into a plastic toy toilet. (Tom at Music Thing should like this as it’s white, not silver.) You can control the flow of light into the device using the lid. That’s just one of Cementimental’s strange creations: on his circuit bending projects page are various other toy modifications, including a fantastic Ghostbusters Ghost Box, Winnie-the-Pooh toy turned black box with plastic man pilot, and a Pikachu who seems to have taken up body modification. Suggestion: do NOT take his project Parcel Bomb on the subway. Cementimental describes these as part of his “anti-quality aesthetic. [insert joke about least favorite music manufacturer here]

Link Love for Benders: Cementimental’s real claim to fame is that he’s got the largest, most obsessive list of circuit bending links anywhere. If you want to see why CDM will never try to catalog bending links, go look at the enormous vastness of his list.

Other candidates for bizareness from the world of circuit bending:

Horrible things happen to Howdy the Talking Pony and a toy turntable gets a new lease on life [carrionsound]

Remember those Beat Blenders toys I pointed out in January, saying they’d make a great bending project? Tech Dweeb has circuit-bent “Bling Bling” and “Dreck” (think Shrek) models. Other fantastic projects: turning the dancing daisy toy into the noisy flowerport Opera Daisy and remaking Billy Bass, that talking bass toy thing.

Thanks to Adrian Dimond for turning me on to stop of this stuff; more on his work later!

Elsewhere on the Web: Get LoFi is a circuit bending blog; this week’s posts include a bent/hacked Sega Master System II and Bent TI99 and Atari 2600, both outputting bizarre video art that looks a bit like what happened when my ColecoVision bit the dust.

Previously on CDM: Reed Ghazala, father of circuit bending, writes CDM shares background on his work; scroll down for some terrific links