Lost instruments

[Dr_Phibes]

The Clavioline. Wikipedia says;

The clavioline is an electronic keyboard instrument, a forerunner to the analog synthesizer.

It was invented by Constant Martin in 1947. It consists of a keyboard and a separate amplifier and speaker unit. The keyboard usually covered three octaves, and had a number of switches to alter the tone of the sound produced, add vibrato, and provide other effects. Several models were produced by different companies; among the more important were the Standard, Reverb, and Concert models by Gibson and Selmer in the 1950s. The Bode 6-octave model employed octave transposition.

In England the Jennings Organ Company's first successful product was the Univox, an early self-powered electronic keyboard based on the Selmer Clavioline

Examples;





Pre-cursor to MGMT or better than a B3?

[Dr_Phibes]

Nice ones! Didn't think I'd find any Joe Meek fans on here.
I'm trying to think of someone who put that much of a signature or a stamp into a sound and I honestly can't. You hear a song for the first time and say to yourself, 'that's Joe Meek'. Genius. You'll get a kick out of this, it's 'The Outlaws', a Meek stable band (Ritchie Blackmore, Mick Underwood). It was on You-Tube years ago then disappeared, now it's back again:



or a re-working of Teen Beat by Sandy Nelson, 'Crazy Drums'. It's fucking nuts:



There's some really decent footage from him on the BBC floating around now, everything he did he recorded in his apartment. He'd have Screamin' Lord Sutch doing vocals in his bathtub, drums in the living room and the brass section on the floor below. Same old thing, Duane Eddy was recording in a cut in half water tank, mics at one end, amps at the other. Or Link Wray recording in a stairwell.

The treatment he gives the Clavioline has a wonderful depth, when Del Shannon used it, it's like fingers on a chaulkboard, you just want to start breaking furniture. When I first heard 'Popeye Twist', I couldn't figure out what I was listening to, I thought he was actually manipulating a guitar.

[Dinsdale]

Mick Underwood

Is there a bigger fucking loser in that era?

"Nahhhh, I don't wanna be in Led Zepplin."

"Nah, you guys aren't going anywhere, so why the fuck would I want to join Deep Purple?"

"Bad Company? PShaw!"


Every stupid decision that he could have possibly made, he jumped on.

[Dr_Phibes]

Every stupid decision that he could have possibly made, he jumped on.

Hey, the man had integrity, don't knock it. I'll give him a pass, considering Meek told the Beatles they were shit and going nowhere. And he went out in a blaze of in-glory just before a court case would have solved his money woes.

[Mikey]

Not completely lost, but it probably fits the description.


Theremin

The theremin (/ˈθɛrəmɪn/[1]), originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone[2] or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device in 1928. The controlling section usually consists of two metal antennas which sense the position of the player's hands and control oscillators for frequency with one hand, and amplitude (volume) with the other, so it can be played without being touched. The electric signals from the theremin are amplified and sent to a loudspeaker.

The theremin is associated with a very eerie sound, which has led to its use in movie soundtracks such as Miklos Rozsa's for Spellbound and The Lost Weekend and Bernard Herrmann's for The Day the Earth Stood Still and as the theme tune for the ITV drama Midsomer Murders. Theremins are also used in concert music (especially avant-garde and 20th- and 21st-century new music) and in popular music genres such as rock. Psychedelic Rock bands in particular, such as Hawkwind, have often used the theremin in their work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin

[Mikey]

I have a Fender Theremin 2XVB that I play old Lutheran hymns and medieval folk tunes on.

Seriously?

Do you have a mellotron too?

[Mikey]

Ah, so you probably don't have an archlute either, then.

[Dr_Phibes]

Theremin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin

Theremin invented another listening device called The Thing. Disguised in a replica of the Great Seal of the United States carved in wood, in 1945 Soviet school children presented the concealed bug to U.S. Ambassador as a "gesture of friendship" to the USSR's World War II ally. It hung in the ambassador’s residential office in Moscow, and intercepted confidential conversations there during the first seven years of the Cold War, until it was accidentally discovered in 1952

That's hilarious.

[Toddowen]

Figured I'd bump this thread instead of starting a new one.


Have you Chechnyad this out yet, Phibes? Always did want to add this fairly recent {2005} CD to my collection. So I did.






One song off it- with a hilarious montage of stills.




My brother actually owns the same Studebacher at 2:10


Fukken amazing that all this was recorded in a little London flat.

[Van]

Joe Bonamassa still features a theremin two or three times per show.

[Felix]

never did quite get the whole keytar thing, but in the right hands it's a pretty cool instrument

[Dinsdale]

Joe Bonamassa still features a theremin two or three times per show.

Too bad he can't heed this thread title's advice...

But Bonamassa is good at wasting talent -- do everything that's been done to death.

[Van]

He uses it during his Zep covers, where it pretty much needs to be included.

Other than that, go see him live. You'll change your tune. The guy effortlessly covers so much ground, he's now approaching Steve Morse Land.

[Dr_Phibes]

Have you Chechnyad this out yet, Phibes?

No I wouldn't have, I'm after the vinyl and that stuff is seriously obscure, you'd never find it or hear it otherwise. The second half was good, The Blue Men were brilliant, 'Enter The Globbotts' is a must have, that's humour - but didn''t like the first tracks, regimental dirgy ballads.

[Dr_Phibes]

unrelated B3, Blue Flames tribute

[Toddowen]

Have you Chechnyad this out yet, Phibes?

No I wouldn't have, I'm after the vinyl and that stuff is seriously obscure, you'd never find it or hear it otherwise. The second half was good, The Blue Men were brilliant, 'Enter The Globbotts' is a must have, that's humour - but didn''t like the first tracks, regimental dirgy ballads.

I enjoyed 'em all. They're funny little rip offs of The Everly Brothers, Lonnie Donegan, Frankie Avalon, Keely Smith, and others. But as always, the real star is the recording technique of Joe Meek.

And I've had "I Hear A New World" since 2001, which I have on CD as part of a signed book that I bought from the author. {Unfortunately, my trusting nature had me lend it to an untrustworthy douchebag. But if he wants his copy of "30th anniversary edition of Layla and other songs by Derek and The Dominos", he can always man up and return it. But I place as much hope as that happening as I do for B-Smack repaying Wolfman.}


But I agree that vinyl would be great to have. Not just for historic value, but from what I recall mention was made in the book of how the original vinyl is ideal over other platforms to sample Joe Meek's work.


The same YT account recently added this to their channel

[Toddowen]

'Enter The Globbotts' is a must have, that's humour.

The one that had a few curious coworkers stopping by with a look of puzzlement was "Disc Dance Of The Globbots".


Starts at 27:42




I had it close to max volume on my Kenwood system at work at the lonely far end of the shop where I'm happily stuck all alone for the next few weeks.

Very funny.

[Toddowen]

The Ondioline








And a few well known examples of its use-

[Jay in Phoenix]

I have a Fender Theremin 2XVB that I play old Lutheran hymns and medieval folk tunes on.

Sam, when you play those hymns, do your fingers and toes suddenly blacken and fall off? Do you desire to smoke Cuban cigars and sport a "Beer is my Life" avatar? Do you suddenly find yourself U&L?

Inquiring minds and all.

[Dr_Phibes]

But I agree that vinyl would be great to have. Not just for historic value, but from what I recall mention was made in the book of how the original vinyl is ideal over other platforms to sample Joe Meek's work.

You can get it, it's still a bit of work with his better known acts. The collections you posted would be pretty much impossible or take too many years and money. 45's out of the UK don't oftentimes recognise the difference between Very Good or Near Mint, which is a curse or can be a blessing, depending.

But not just Meek, though especially him, it was engineered for the format. Anything else and it's hopelessly compromised.

[Toddowen]

But I agree that vinyl would be great to have. Not just for historic value, but from what I recall mention was made in the book of how the original vinyl is ideal over other platforms to sample Joe Meek's work.

You can get it, it's still a bit of work with his better known acts. The collections you posted would be pretty much impossible or take too many years and money. 45's out of the UK don't oftentimes recognise the difference between Very Good or Near Mint, which is a curse or can be a blessing, depending.

But not just Meek, though especially him, it was engineered for the format. Anything else and it's hopelessly compromised.

I was looking recently on ebay at vinyl for anything by Joe Meek, and there was a listing for a sealed 1960 copy of "I Hear A New World" for around $1500. I believe the seller location was Portland, Oregon. They also mentioned that all authenticity could be proven and urged contact and investigation prior to buying.