# First theremin in sci-fi? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050 "2014-10-01T03:25:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/1 "2014-10-01T03:25:52Z")
We all know that the theremin was used in sci-fi movies of the Fifties: **Rocketship X-M** , **The Day the Earth Stood Still** , and **The Thing**. But I think I might have just found the earliest use of a theremin in a sci-fi film. I recently bought a copy of a French film, **End of the World** (1931), in which a messianic scientist discovers a comet headed straight for the Earth. In the scenes near the end in which the dissolute rich party like there’s no tomorrow (heh heh), there’s a short bit in which there’s a musician type in the foreground. His right hand is held about waist level and he’s wiggling it up and down; and the soundtrack gets, well, a bit theremin-y at that point. I thought, surely that couldn’t be a guy playing a theremin, could it? But Wikipedia says that the theremin was invented in 1920, at which point Theremin went on a lengthy concert tour of Europe. And the picture of him in Wikipedia even looks a bit like the guy in the movie–could it be him, playing his own instrument, in End of the World? :eek: 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/2 "2014-10-01T03:40:07Z")
_End of the World_ may have been its first appearance in any film. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/3 "2014-10-01T03:49:16Z")
Arthur Honegger is one of five names listed in the Music credits for “End Of The World”; The Wikipeedonya says he invented his own electronic instrument, which is related to (and looks like) a theremin, in 1928. Comparing grainy old photos, I’d say he somewhat resembles Leon Theremin. Back to you. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/4 "2014-10-01T04:02:15Z")
Wow, that was quick! So you figure it’s a Honegger, eh? Makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/5 "2014-10-01T06:19:28Z")
Just my guess, I don’t really know. My only credential is that I’ve had a taped copy of Clara Rockmore’s _Art Of The Theremin_ LP for ages. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/6 "2014-10-01T10:45:01Z")
Just a note: Contrary to popular belief a theremin was **NOT** used in[the soundtrack for Forbidden Planet…](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Planet#Soundtrack) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/7 "2014-10-01T13:56:58Z")
One of my brothers does an awesome theremin imitation. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/8 "2014-10-01T14:51:50Z")
I hope when I have my right hand around waist level and am wiggling it up and down, nobody is filming. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/9 "2014-10-01T15:54:28Z")
**snerk** ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/10 "2014-10-01T18:02:49Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Just a note: Contrary to popular belief a theremin was **NOT** used in[the soundtrack for Forbidden Planet…](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Planet#Soundtrack) Or “Good Vibrations.” ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/11 "2014-10-01T22:35:05Z")
Looks like my guess was correct. From \*[DVD Savant, Glenn Erickson's Review Column at DVD Talk](http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s2376fin.html*:) \*“…As it turns out, La fin du monde was the film debut for an electronic musical instrument called a Martenot. It is featured in the foreground of the first big party scene.” \* The “Martenot” was Honegger’s invention. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/12 "2014-10-01T22:44:08Z")
then it would be called the Honeggenot. Maurice did it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/13 "2014-10-01T23:15:15Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Or “Good Vibrations.” I think you’re wrong there. In the 1993 documentary **Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey** they interview Brian Wilson at length. He was fascinated by the Theremin, and built his own from plans in a magazine. Wilson says he used a Theremin in _Good Vibrations_, and it certainly sounds like one. Why do you think it wasn’t used? What do you suppose is making those smoothly varying tones in _Good Vibrations_? One other interesting thin g in that film is the clip from the Jerry Lewis film _The Delicate Delinquent_ (his first post-Dean Martin solo film, with Darren McGavin taking the Martin role). I’d seen the film eons ago, but completely forgot that there’s a scene with Lewis playing the Theremin. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/14 "2014-10-01T23:22:15Z")
You are correct. It is Maurice Martinot’s invention. I was about to come back and confess to my mistake. After my last post, I looked a little further into the subject and was “surprised” to learn that Honegger was one of several composers who wrote for the Martinot, but did not invent it. Having searched through last night’s browser history, I can’t find the reference that I misread so badly; I hope it was poorly written. Damn this is embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/15 "2014-10-01T23:29:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I think you’re wrong there. > In the 1993 documentary **Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey** they interview Brian Wilson at length. He was fascinated by the Theremin, and built his own from plans in a magazine. Wilson says he used a Theremin in _Good Vibrations_, and it certainly sounds like one. > Why do you think it wasn’t used? What do you suppose is making those smoothly varying tones in _Good Vibrations_? Brian’s memory is about as good as my own. (See my previous post.) But the misidentified “theremin” in GV has been well known for a long time. _[The Real Instrument Behind The Sound In 'Good Vibrations' : All Songs Considered : NPR](http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2013/02/07/171385175/no-it-wasn-t-a-theremin-on-good-vibrations-remembering-paul-tanner)_ Considering my track record for accuracy, I hesitate to click \ You can see Mike Love attempting to play the non-theremin in this clip: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnHj_Ei_3BE) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/16 "2014-10-01T23:45:06Z")
That link doesn’t say it wasn’t a theramin; it says that it was a kind of theramin. It’s like saying that an instrument isn’t a tuba, it’s a sousaphone. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/17 "2014-10-01T23:51:09Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Brian’s memory is about as good as my own. (See my previous post.) But the misidentified “theremin” in GV has been well known for a long time. > > _[The Real Instrument Behind The Sound In 'Good Vibrations' : All Songs Considered : NPR](http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2013/02/07/171385175/no-it-wasn-t-a-theremin-on-good-vibrations-remembering-paul-tanner)_ > > Considering my track record for accuracy, I hesitate to click \ > > You can see Mike Love attempting to play the non-theremin in this clip: > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnHj\_Ei\_3BE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnHj_Ei_3BE) Wilson did say it was a theremin, but I can’t vouch for his memory. According to Wikipedia, it was indeed Tanner’s instrument, which Wiki calls an “electrotheremin”. When is an electrotheremin not a theremin? I don’t know the technical details, but it sounds as if it could be a simply matter of how you play it, not how itproduces tones (you don’t touch a classic theremin to play it). The Wiki article has this to say about concert tours: > [@](#): > > The song is acknowledged to have further developed the use of recording studios as a musical instrument.[62][7][3][9] Upon release, “Good Vibrations” prompted an unexpected revival in theremins.[63] When the Beach Boys needed to reproduce the sound of the theremin onstage, Wilson first requested that Tanner play the instrument live with the group, but he declined due to commitments. He recalls saying to Wilson, “I’ve got the wrong sort of hair to be on stage with you fellas,” to which Wilson replied, “We’ll give you a Prince Valiant wig.”[7] The Beach Boys then requested the services of Walter Sear, who then asked Bob Moog to design a ribbon controller, since the group was used to playing the fretboards of a guitar. Sears remembers marking fretboard-like lines on the ribbon “so they could play the damn thing”. Moog then set out to manufacture his own models of theremins, but ultimately noted: “The pop record scene cleaned us out of our stock which we expected to last through Christmas.”[63] > **[Good Vibrations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Vibrations)** > > "Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. It was released as a single on October 10, 1966, and was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record charts in several countries including the United States and the United Kingdom. Characterized by its complex soundscapes, episodic structure and subversions of pop music formula, it was at the time the most expensive single ever recorded. "Good Vibrations... Does the Youtube footage show a theremin, and electrotheremin, or a theremin with a ribbon controller? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/18 "2014-10-01T23:53:35Z")
A bit more googling finds this: [http://www.tompolk.com/Tannerin/Tannerin.html](http://www.tompolk.com/Tannerin/Tannerin.html) which claims that a Tannerin was used, but which the other articles don’t. I’m confused. Here are quotes from Wilson from the documentary: > **[Brian Wilson On The Theremin.](http://myblogosophy.blogspot.com/2009/02/brian-wilson-on-theremin.html)** > > Last night, Lydia and I watched a documentary titled "Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey". It was a history of the worlds first electronic inst... edited to add: Okay – apparently a Tannerin is the same thing as an Electro-Theremin. This helps. A little ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/19 "2014-10-02T01:14:51Z")
the Theremin has two three dimensional controls which is tough. that is why few people could actually play music like Clara Rockmore did. the Tannerin makes the hard pitch control easier. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050/20 "2014-10-02T01:45:05Z")
Mystery Solved. It was a Honeggenot.\* - Which sounds even funnier than it looks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-theremin-in-sci-fi/700050.md?page=2)