Theremin Cellos Part 2

I just found another article about Leon Theremin's cello from Modern Mechanix, posted just over a week ago. It was originally published in May 1932, one month before the article in my first Theremin Cello post.


The transcription from Modern Mechanix:

Tones of New Stringless Cello Generated by Electricity

AN ELECTRIC cello without strings capable of producing tremendous volume and exquisite tone has been invented by Leon Theremin, who is shown in the photo on the left demonstrating how his new instrument is played.

Tones are varied by running the fingers of the left hand up and down the heavy black line which replaces the strings, while the right hand works the pump to control the volume.

An external oscillator, amplifier and loud speaker are used with this cello and the tones are generated by the oscillating tubes in the instrument. As the fingers are run up and down the black line, under which a coil is concealed, the player varies the capacity of the circuit which alters the frequency, or pitch, of the oscillating tubes.

There's even a short demo of its sound on YouTube:



As suggested by sidecars, the guy in the video above, search Google for "theremin cello pringle" for more information. Judging by the search results, it's "pringle" as in "Peter Pringle," the thereminist.

Theremin Cellos

I found this clipping on Modern Mechanix, a blog that posts articles from old electronics and science magazines. This one came from the June, 1932 issue of Modern Mechanix Magazine.


Someone at Modern Mechanix transcribed the text, and it reads:

Theremin Cellos Win Music Public in “Electric Concert”

THE electric cello, developed recently by Leon Theremin, has now been accepted by the music public as an instrument of high artistic merit.

At a symphony concert of electric music given a short while ago at Carnegie Hall, New York City, the electric cello made a sensational debut in a program consisting of selections from the old music masters– Bach, Haydn, Debussy, and others.

Producing exquisite tones, with both extremes of volume, the electric cellos have as their innards vacuum tubes whose oscillations are controlled by levers and coils on the instrument.

Pretty awesome, right? These completely predate even the earliest electric cellos that I've heard about, which were made in the early 1980's (Ernest Nussbaum's Travielo comes to mind). The only catch is that they're really Theremins and not really cellos. I suppose that if nothing else, Leon Theremin had the idea for an electric cello first.