MUSIC OUT OF NOWHERE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 171, 10 October 1927, Page 13

MUSIC OUT OF NOWHERE

FINGERS PLUCK STRAINS FROM AIR Music coaxed from the air by linger vibrations, which resemble in some degree the showmanship of a hypnotist, is the latest marvel of r<uiio science. In a concert hall of the International Music Exhibition at Frankfort-on - Main, writes a correspondent of tfca “Daily Mail,” I have watched a tall young Russian moving sensitive fingers up and down invisible keys in an apparently empty atmosphere and reproducing to a pianoforte accompaniment the music of the masters with the touch and tone and variations oZ a practised violinist. This uncanny performance was effected by a box like a large-size cabinet, with a thin rod rising from it at one end, a number of tuning contrivances in the manner of organ stops, some lengths of wire, and a couple of loud-speakers. The demonstrator, who happened to be also the inventor. Professor Leo Theremin, of Leningrad, stood in front of this simple-looking apparatus and plucked sweet sounds from the adjacent ether. If one shut one’s eyes the impression was of hearing a ’cello solo over the wireless. With vision added the whole thing was incredibly uncanny. At Professor Theremin’s request t went up on to the platform and tested for myself the genuineness of the sound waves- I found that my hands produced them just as readily as his. The scale ascended or descended according to whether my fingers were nearer to or further from the rod. which stood erect above the top of the box. But there was this difference: My fingers produced discord; the professor’s were those of the skilled musician. As it seems to my untechnical mind, the basic principle of this new discovery is that vibrations of the fingers and hands in the air create sounds. These, however, are too minute to be detected by the human ear. Pre*fessor Theremin’s invention magnifies them so that they can be hoard and attunes them to the musical pitch required. He te'lls me that his instrument, which has been named the termenvox, will probably be demonstrated in London in a few weeks' time.