Theremin And Vulcan Harp

I have never used Theremin World for personal promotion of any of my theremin videos before but here is something that might interest STAR TREK fans. It is a composition for Vulcan harp and theremin (Samuel Hoffman's RCA).

The Vulcan harp in the video is one of only two prototypes that exist. I do not own it. It is on "semi-permanent loan" from its designers because they wanted to see what could be done with their concept by someone who could actually play the thing. Since I do play the harp, I had some "transferrable skills" in my right hand which made things easier. The left hand, which has to push valves and manipulate the "shift disc" is another story.

This baby did not come with an instruction manual!

The concept of the Vulcan harp was first introduced by visionary designer, Wah Ming Chang, in 1966 and was intended to be "played" by the character "Mr. Spock" (actor Leonard Nimoy) in the original STAR TREK television series.


THE KATRIC ARK (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRfbWrI03gc)

I found this link:

http://www.maidenwine.com/catalog_05_film_stage.html

scroll down to:

Charlie X
Year: 1967
Broadcast: Television

This is the first appearance of the Vulcan Lyrette on Star Trek. Mr. Spock is contently strumming and plucking a musical ditty in the mess hall when Uhura decides to join him in song.

Pretty cool that he did (or even try) to play this! Seems to me that the strings are so close to each other that it might be that easy to play... I'd have my fingers all over the wreong places!

Note that there are videos of another instument (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN9yUUd2_J8&feature=related) - one of several - made by a luthier that is, at least visually, more consistant with the lyre shown in Star Trek. I didn't see any videos of anyone actually playing it though.

There is also a Vulcan harp for sale on eBay with BUY NOW price tag of $1500.00

Vulcan Harp (http://cgi.ebay.com/Star-Trek-Vulcan-Harp-/280608876024?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item415597a5f8#ht_500wt_1156)

The Vulcan harp I play is not a reproduction of the original instrument featured in STAR TREK in 1966. It is larger and it is playable. I believe Mr. Spock's harp was just a stage prop. Apparently STAR TREK producer Gene Roddenberry kept it on the wall in his office for decades.

"The Vulcan harp in the video is one of only two prototypes that exist. I do not own it. It is on "semi-permanent loan" from its designers because they wanted to see what could be done with their concept by someone who could actually play the thing."

"The Vulcan harp I play is not a reproduction of the original instrument featured in STAR TREK in 1966. It is larger and it is playable."  - coalport

Fascinating!

Who designed and built the one you play in the video?

The strings are so close together, I imagine it must be difficult to play?  How are they tuned (i.e. what series of notes is employed)?  It looks like the pitch knob doesn't physically change the pitch of the strings, but is more of an electronic pitch shifter?  Could you elaborate on the functions of the valves and what the various combinations of them do specifically?

" It looks like the pitch knob doesn't physically change the pitch of the strings, but is more of an electronic pitch shifter?" - Dewster

Thanks for that insight, Dewster - This was my biggest puzzle with regard to the harp - how the electronic voicing followed bend from the pitch knob so rapidly and how the polyphony was resolved..

But I think you are right - closely looking at times when the knob is rotated, I dont think the strings are actually being stretched - the position of the knob just probably conveys this illusion (albeit, its quite difficult to be sure from the video) - I do hope that Peter clarifies this.

Suddenly, if the above is correct, the operation becomes MUCH simpler - I guess that the synthesis engine is in fact not an "engine" at all, but is a processor / modifier taking the composite audio (produced acoustically from the strings, and probably picked up from a single transducer) and the 'valves' and 'bender' are applied to this signal to provide the chording etc, probably as several seperate channels - Effectively one is probably hearing the output from a DSP mixing and shifting (and doing other things like "storing" the instantaneous waveforms) the incoming signal in wonderful dynamically controlled ways.

My big puzzle was with regard to how the independent pitches from each string were being resolved - I think the answer probably is that they arent being resolved - as in, there is probably no tracking of individual frequencies, no ability to drive synthesis engines from these frequencies, no real bending from the strings (?) (still not sure about this - If there is no physical stretching of the strings, then the unamplified / unprocessed acoustic output would be different pitch to the bent / processed pitch - but perhaps this is the case - perhaps the harps body is an extremely poor resonator so the direct acoustic output isnt heard)

Certainly if the strings are not pulled by the bend knob, the mechanics would be much simpler - but either way, there is no need for an electronic (potentiometer or whatever) output for 'bend' and simultaneous physical bend, which was one of the things that was mystifying me! - It could use either the signal from  physically stretched strings, or use an electronic control signal to electronically bend the pitch, both would not be required.

Fred. 

 

Did you ever see the video where I turned the Vulcan lyre around and showed the back of it? I deleted it about a year ago during a YT channel tidy-up. Too many videos!

 

The last 30 seconds of it (URL below) will give you an idea of how complicated the instrument is. It is not a "lyre" at all. It is a highly sophisticated synthesizer that uses the strings of the instrument as triggers. It was designed by scientists (one of whom is a professor at MIT)........and BOTH of whom are long time Trekkies.

 

Fred, you are correct, the wheel in the center of the lyre does not change the tension on the strings. It is a pitch bend control, similar to the "mod wheel" on a synthesizer. The bend effect is entirely electronic, not acoustic. In fact, the instrument is acoustically as dead as an electric guitar.

 

All the buttons on the back of the lyre are for settings and are not played in performance. Only the buttons on the front of the lyre are played but their responses and functions can be altered by the presets on the back. Once the presets have been chosen, all the controls on the back are deactivated so that they cannot be inadvertently activated by the player. The instrument is equipped with dozens of different sounds, and a sequencer/arpeggiator that is capable of all sorts of rhythmic combinations.

 

"Infinite diversity in infinite combination."  Vulcan Proverb

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaD5OMbATXc

 

 

The late Gene Roddenberry, speaking at a STAR TREK convention, once referred to diehard fans of the show as "Trekkies". A member of the audience stood up and said, "Excuse me Mr. Roddenberry, but we are not 'Trekkies'. We are Trekkers."

 

Roddenberry replied, "Don't tell me who you are! I invented you!"

 

The original STAR TREK series followed on the heels of a decade of dozens of successful TV "Western" dramas (Gunsmoke, Bat Masterson, The Rifleman, etc. etc.) and one of the proposed titles for the new "Space" series about the "final frontier" was WAGON TRAIN TO THE STARS.

 

Wowsers, thanks for that!  It's prettier on the back than the front!  Looks like a strong candidate for a digital user interface.

So, how hard is it to play, with those strings so close together?

My favorite "space western" is Firefly.

The lyre strings are configured in a "fan" formation, so the higher up you place your hand, the wider apart the strings are. Still, they have been placed so that they are as close together as possible without touching when they are struck. 

 

Frankly, it's a BITCH to play, and the trick is not to strike the strings too hard with the finger picks.

 

Unlike classic lyres and harps, the instrument is conceived to be played with only one hand on the strings, while the other (presumably the left) is occupied with buttons & knobs.

"I invented you!"

LOL ;-)  Sheer profundity!

"It is a highly sophisticated synthesizer that uses the strings of the instrument as triggers. It was designed by scientists (one of whom is a professor at MIT)........and BOTH of whom are long time Trekkies." - Coalport

If the above is true - if in fact it is a "synthesiser" in the true sense, and not a "processor" using the sounds picked up from the strings, then I am at a nearly complete loss in terms of understanding the technology.. If each string acts 'merely' as an independent trigger (and perhaps envelope) signal (as in, the tuning of the strings is irrelevant) then I can get some way towards understanding - But I would be surprised if this was the case..

My problem with comprehension comes down to pitch detection - this is something that has bugged every attempt at control of synthesisers from stringed instruments - its what caused ARP to go bancrupt, and has only recently been sort-of cracked using DSP.. Each string requires an independent transducer of some kind, and each strings signal must be tracked to determine its frequency - IF this is what your Vulcan Harp is doing, then there is technology in it which could completely revolutionise guitar synths and the like - I have certainly never seen anything comparable.

On the other hand, if each string simply activates a trigger and is effectively untuned, and these triggers drive a polyphonic synthesis engine, then the complexity is greatly reduced - but my ears tell me that this is not whats happening.

No - I am still inclined to my first hypothesis.. I guess that the strings are tuned, that all the audio from the strings is summed to form a composite 'acoustic' signal, that this signal is then processed by a DSP - Two streams are generated, one is the "acoustic" signal which is only processed by the pitch bend, and the other stream is this audio processed in a complex way - its pitch shifted in accordance with the actuation of the 'valves' and bender - this "stream" is sampled and looped to provide the sustain heard, and quite probably multiple samples are taken (perhaps whenever the valve switches change) - I strongly suspect that something like a MPX-1 or similar audio processing board or boards, or dedicated multi-DSP boards are used - Yes - it could be called a synthesiser - it is a "synthesiser" - But its more a real-time sampler / processor..

Thats my guess - but however its done, its extremely impressive!

"Fred, you are correct, the wheel in the center of the lyre does not change the tension on the strings."

Actually, that was Dewsters observation, not mine! - I hadnt even thought of that until he suggested it!

Fred.