Product Details

• Format: NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303960162
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #372,823 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The Inventor of Electronic Music, September 23, 2011

By 

Acute Observer (By the Shore NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Theremin, An Electronic Odyssey, 1995 film

Leon Theremin invented the electronic sound machine. This story begins with the voice of an old man speaking with a slight accent. Clara Rockmore was a Theremin virtuoso. This machine creates sounds or tones via an electronic machine that is played by positioning hands near its antennae. One hand controls pitch, the other for volume. People talk about events from the 1920s and 1930s; a concert in Carnegie Hall used many Theremin machines at the same time. The use of sensing devices had other applications. The sound of a Theremin can be compared to a single string cello or violin. Soviet operatives abducted Theremin from New York city in the late 1930s. Tourists from America found him in Moscow in the early 1980s; they met in a subway station.

Theremin worked on a `buran' or bug to listen to conversations. Stalin awarded him a prize. Robert Moog began producing theremins commercially. Theremin discovered his sound effect while working on a radio (like feedback). Moog used this machine to create his synthesizer, which had an effect on popular music. The `Beach Boys' were early adaptors and used it in their hit song "Good Vibrations". [The appeal of a novel sound.] Theremin received an award from Stanford University in 1991. We see Clara Rockmore greeting Leon in the 1980s and playing an RCA Theremin in her apartment. Later they walk the sidewalks of New York. Lev Termen died in Moscow on November 3, 1993.
The credits list the many who contributed to this production.

5.0 out of 5 stars if you have even a passing interest in electronic music . ., June 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey [VHS] (VHS Tape)

You will love this film. If you are not interested in electronic music or it's birth, you will probably like this anyway--it's a fascinating story of a brilliant man and his very unusual instrument. A highlight for me was the woman playing the extra large Theremin with her entire body ( instead of just one hand!).

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for any sci-fi and theremin fan's library!, June 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Being that this video is where it all started for me as a thereminist I *am* raither fond of it! What a great introduction to the many players in the story of this enchanting instrument!