The theremin, thought up in 1919/1920 by Lev Thermen, is the first purely electronic musical instrument and still the only one that works without physical contact. However, the inventor Maurice Martenot had doubts about its playability and presented his answer, the Ondes in Paris in 1928. While the functionality of this instrument changed with each iteration [https://bit.ly/3kK3hC2] the theremin has only marginally developed in terms of handling and the available timbres over the course of 100 years.

The statement by Jacques Tchamkerten: "for precision, contact, lyricism, for real expressive feeling, there is nothing that can match the ondes" [https://bit.ly/2PRZFjd] I can't agree to though. The expressiveness of the equally monophonic theremin as well as the direct insight into its handling for the audience–which does not mean that it is easy to learn and play–is unsurpassed in my opinion.

The Moog Etherwave allows the thereminist a very sensitive phrasing as well as the immediate and completely free definition of the pitch over many octaves. The only thing missing is a wider range of timbres–somewhat alleviated in 2021 with the introduction of the Moog Claravox, featuring a complex hybrid (analog / digital) audio engine and effects. However, you have been able to use the control voltage outputs of the Moog Etherwave Plus in combination with a modular synthesizer for some time.

For me the need for a wider range of timbres presented itself most urgently in 2016 at a concert in St. Heinrich, Kiel with the organist Manuel Gera. A cursory glance at the disposition of the instrument with a total of 44 stops [https://bit.ly/3gVVsHm] is enough to see the range of instrumental facets I would be exposed to and in some way competing with.

After the concert I spent a considerable amount of time studying the history of sound synthesis, bought a semi-modular east / west coast synthesizer, the 0-Coast by Make Noise Music (introduced in 2016) and got thoroughly acquainted with it. That was much better. The question that remained for me was how the sound could be varied dynamically. In the end a modular systems seemed unavoidable…

Tony Rolando (1996): "Modular synthesizers give you a one-way ticket to the edge of the solar system" [https://youtu.be/mVs_MfIpBlc]

Theremin+ now combines my performance set: Moog Etherwave Plus or Claravox Theremin and Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard with a completely modular synthesizer that allows me to do this timbre manipulation in real time. Thanks to the "Pressure Points" module [https://bit.ly/3g0uYmK] and "Veils", a four-channel VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier) [https://bit.ly/3qJNbOm] I can dynamically mix the three voices of the amazing tELHARMONIC [https://bit.ly/3HomlkH], coded by Tom Erbe.

My project Theremin+ was made possible through 'Zukunftsstipendium', a grant by Landesmusikrat Hamburg, funded by the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media.