ARTICLE:Good Vibrations tannerin--not theremin
Jimmy
American-Statesman
website at:
http://www.austin360.com/entertainment/columns/insideout/1999/07/20austin.html
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A popular misconception is that a theremin was the instrument that made
the trippy sounds on "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys. It was
actually a tannerin, the creation of studio musician Paul Tanner, and
when Brian Wilson wanted to re-create the sounds on his world tour, his
reps contacted Austin real estate broker Tom Polk, who has a Web site
(www.tompolk.com) partially devoted to his instrument-making hobby. A
big Beach Boys fan, Polk spent three months making the tannerin, then
gave it to Wilson at cost. . . . .
Jake Wildstrom
Old news, actually. It's little known outside of the audiogeek community that
the device called variously "Tanner's Box" and the "electrotheremin" (causing
no end of confusion) is used on GV, and _not_ a theremin. It's actually much
more primitive--essentially, a sliding contact on a resistive wire for pitch
and a variable resistor dial for volume. Still a cool device though, but it
doesn't have _quite_ the same fluency as the real deal. A lot easier to play
though.
I've never heard it called a "tennerin" before, and it's cool to see that
Brian's tour is using one.
+--First Church of Briantology--Order of the Holy Quaternion--+
| A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into |
| theorems. -Paul Erdos |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Jake Wildstrom |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Dan Addington
> Brian's tour is using one.
Well...from what I heard (just to add to the confusion), Steve Dahl
practiced on and is actually PLAYING a real theremin...not the contact
strip woo woo machine, but the actual "wave your arms in the air like you
really DO care!" theremin (as played by Jerry Lewis in that cinematic
masterpiece " The Delicate Delinquent ")...(huh...who said that?) ...of
course, reports say that, in spite of Dahl's constant crowing about his
quick mastery of an instrument that even the experienced players call
challenging, the sound guy has him turned WAY down, and the keyboard player
for the 'mints is doubling his part on synth....Never-the-less...it sounds
like they're lugging the actual Theremin around with them.
--
Dan
Visit the Brian Wilson Audio Minipage at:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/6281/avbrian.html
Jake Wildstrom <wil...@mit.edu> wrote in article
<7n3jm9$5...@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>...
Coyle3303
>> I've never heard it called a "tennerin" before, and it's cool to see that
>> Brian's tour is using one.
They are..Steve used it in MIlwaukee..I have the video.
Chris
Dan Addington
him in Chicago, and he was definitly NOT making physical contact with an
object, which is how, I thought, the tennerin was played.
--
Dan
Visit the Brian Wilson Audio Minipage at:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/6281/avbrian.html
Coyle3303 <coyl...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19990721133326...@ng-fe1.aol.com>...
Robert F
<dan.gw...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>> I've never heard it called a "tennerin" before, and it's cool to see that
>> Brian's tour is using one.
>
>Well...from what I heard (just to add to the confusion), Steve Dahl
>practiced on and is actually PLAYING a real theremin...not the contact
>strip woo woo machine, but the actual "wave your arms in the air like you
>really DO care!" theremin (as played by Jerry Lewis in that cinematic
>masterpiece " The Delicate Delinquent ")...(huh...who said that?) ...of
>course, reports say that, in spite of Dahl's constant crowing about his
>quick mastery of an instrument that even the experienced players call
>challenging, the sound guy has him turned WAY down, and the keyboard player
>for the 'mints is doubling his part on synth....Never-the-less...it sounds
>like they're lugging the actual Theremin around with them.
>--
>Dan
>
The Tannerin (originally invented by Paul Tanner) was not made
available to the Wondermints until May 1999. This one was built by
Tom Polk, after it was commissioned by Darian Sahanaja, lead singer of
the Wondermints. They first used it in the recent Northeast Tour this
summer. The Tannerin was not used in Milwaukee/Chicago, etc. This
one was not even built then. At those concerts Steve Dahl's theremin
playing was apparently overdubbed using a slide guitar. The
interesting thing about the Northeast concert where the Good
Vibrations riff was indeed performed by the Tannerin, Brian still had
a theremin there on stage strictly for "show" ... i.e., it was faked,
possibly because of friendship. If you want to see an actual picture
of the Tannerin that is now being used, completely with the dedication
plaque, see this:
http://www.tompolk.com/Tannerin/Tannerin.html
Also see the history of how the Tannerin came to be invented and how
it was used in the early B.B. sessions and many other projects in the
1960's/70's, see the following website by David Miller, who actually
exposed the "theremin myth" and brought the instrument to light:
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/4611/ptanner.html
Robert Froehner
The Musical Saw and Theremin Page
http://www.fastlane.net/~sawman
(If responding in Email, please remove the term NOJUNK from the Email
address in the header.)
David Miller
I named the _modern_ instrument the Tannerin. A freind came up with
several names, and I thought "Tannerin" honored Paul for the instrument
he created, so that's what I called it.
Correct, the original instrument was called the "Electro-Theremin".
Folks around Tanner gave his instrument the name (this was during the
late 1950s). Through the years it kind of just got called a theremin.
My research now leads me to believe the pitch was controlled by purely
mechanical means- through a configuration of pulleys and/or slides,
which in turn, rotated the pot of an audio generator (most likely a
Heathkit tone generator). At the time I interviewed Tanner, I thought
the instrument was more a Trautonium (using resistance over a span of
wire). The more Paul talked about the instrument, the more certain
details came back to him. The "wire" which he refered to in the
interview was actually the pitch indicator (which pointed to the
"keyboard") and the wire running from the finger switch (which started
and stopped notes) down into the instrument. Unfortunately, he can not
recall specifically what was inside the box except for the Heathkit
amplifier. The original instrument was sold long ago when synths
started becoming popular. Paul said he saw the writing on the wall-
"They could do everything I could, and more", he said. Paul ended up
selling the instrument to an audiologist in CA.
You can hear Paul on numerous things- Dark Shadows, My Favorite
Martian, The DA's Man, the motion picture, "Strait-Jacket", and many
more. (A rule of thumb is: if it sounds like a theremin, but is more
sine wave, very accurate and appeared on the ABC network, it's going to
be Paul).
He also cut a couple of feature albums- "Heavenly Bodies" and "Music
from Outerspace".
So, getting back to the issue of the name, Tannerin. The Tannerin
(which there are only a few we made) is a modern re-creation of Paul's
original. One is currently being used by Wilson's band (The
Wondermints). They just got back from Japan a few days ago. Prior to
that, a member of the band had been playing the Tannerin while a
theremin was faked in front. Now, I think it is just the Tannerin.
Wilson was not out to fool anyone with the pantomime theremin. It was
just a result of logistics and scheduling of the tour in the US.
Sorry for such a long and perhaps off-topic post.
Dave M
(remove REMOVE to reply)
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Jake Wildstrom wrote:
"Old news, actually. It's little known outside of the audiogeek
community that the device called variously "Tanner's Box" and the
"electrotheremin" (causing no end of confusion) is used on GV, and _not_
a theremin. It's actually much more primitive--essentially, a sliding
contact on a resistive wire for pitch and a variable resistor dial for
volume."
<SNIP>
Jon P. Nossen
>He also cut a couple of feature albums- "Heavenly Bodies" and "Music
>from Outerspace".
Heavenly Bodies happens to be also the title of the best song (in my
opinion) from the Brian Wilson/Gary Usher sessions of 1986-87. No relation I
suppose, but do you know?
Jon P
Dan Addington
Chicago radio show about learning to play the very difficult Theremin by
moving ones arm around in front of it was...well...not the truth?
--
Dan
Visit the Brian Wilson Audio Minipage at:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/6281/avbrian.html
Jon P. Nossen <jon...@online.no> wrote in article
<JUVl3.49$wZ2...@news1.online.no>...
David Miller
called, "Music for Heavenly Bodies". It dates from 1959. I doubt there
is any connection there. Different title, but interesting coincidence,
though.
oooOOOOooooo
Dave M
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David Miller
a very difficult instrument to master. Even as simple as the GV riff
sounds, it is quite a bit more difficult on a real theremin. (Oh, did I
mention that is Paul on "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"?)
If Dahl was implying he has "learned" (read, "mastered") the instrument,
all I can say is folks who heard him think otherwise. Even after quite
a few years of practice and study, I consider the GV riff a challenge.
Dave M
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Arne Stenström
that's not a "Tanner's Box", so what is it?
Did the Beach Boys ever use a real wave-your-hands-in-the-air Theremin
in the studio or on stage or on film?
In a documentary about Lev Termen, Bob Moog mentioned that Brian had
ordered a specific Theremin from Moog - what was that?
--Arne
David Miller
after they failed to get Paul Tanner to go on tour with them.
I've seen the docu you reference 21 times now, and I can't recall a
specific mention that Brian ordered a theremin from Bob. Maybe I'll
need to watch it one more time. :-)
What it appears did happen was after Paul put the "theremin" tracks down
for the Beach Boys, they wanted him to go on tour. Paul was already a
major name in the Hollywood and LA studios on trombone (got his start w/
Glenn Miller). He was also on staff at ABC and teaching at UCLA (his
JAZZ book, one of the top selling classroom books on the subject). Paul
politely turned the BBoys down jokingly saying his hair was the wrong
style. They said they'd get him a wig!
Well, anyway, what it seems then happend was Wilson called up Bob Moog
who was living in NJ to see if he could build him a machine like Paul's.
I have asked Bob about this on a couple of occasions, but he can't
recall the details. It seems Bob called up Paul to have him explain his
instrument. Paul said he told Moog it was "Tinker toy" in comparison to
what Moog was capable of building. After describing his instrument,
Paul said Moog replied, "You're right- it IS Tinker toy". Moog denied
saying that when I asked him, but in the context, I could see that he
could have easily agreed with Paul's humbled opinion about his
instrument.
So it seems that Moog ended up making a free standing ribbon controller
for the Beach Boys to go on tour. This instrument has been documented
on film. The player slides his finger along a "keyboard". Pretty neat
instrument. Kursweill (sp?) now makes a similar instrument, called the
ExpressionMate. It's a full MIDI ribbon controller.
Steve Martin (the person who made the Theremin documentary you refered
to) told me that the original Moog ribbon ended up being "borrowed" by
one of the roadies or crew members. It's whereabouts are unknown.
Dave M
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David Miller
claim the Beach Boys used a real theremin. As far as printed material,
their own musician rosters list Paul Tanner on "theremin". FWIW, Tanner
never played a real "wave your hands in the air" theremin.
To me, it really doesn't matter. Wilson proves over and over he got the
sounds he wanted. Paul's instrument fit the bill.
In the documentary, Wilson mentions visiting a neighbor who owned a
theremin. One can't help but think that could have been the one and
only, Sam Hoffman. I can picture Hoffman playing something really
spooky (he made a living doing that) to scare the daylights out of
Wilson. It made an impression, that's for sure.
Had Hoffman lived long enough, the union would have refered Wilson to
him, not Tanner. I'm fairly certain about that. At the time Wilson
contacted the AFM about obtaining the services of a thereminist, Hoffman
was dead, and Paul was the only person who could come close to sounding
like a theremin.
Dave M
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