The Smithsonian still has not theremin on display...

Or any other musical instruments for that matter!

I was there yesterday and the entire musical instrument exhibit was closed off. I took a peek behind the barricades they had set up and the cases were empty.

Maybe they are revamping it and that rumored RCA they supposedly have in their collection theremin will show up soon.

Something I forgot to add...

I'm sure many of us have thought about how the theremin would be the perfect instrument for a museum display.

They could encase one in glass and still allow people to play it.

The same idea could also be applied to other displays.

How often have you wanted to interact with an exhibit but were unable to because of the "please do not touch" sign?

they never heard of tesla either.

the science museum in baltimore used to have one that could be played but it was hardly musical.

There was a crappy one at a local museum here for many years. Not very musical either but it was enough to get me interested in the things.

I am always very impressed with the Smithsonion's exhibits and I really think they could do a bang-up job with an electronic music exhibit.

They could show their RCA theremin and set up and Etherwave some how that could be played.

They could do the same with some early Moogs...Show off the originals and then give us some knobs to twist on a reproduction of the circuits used.

Sure they would wear out a few pots and switches but they're cheap and it would be a great display!

the smithsonian's budget has been slashed by morons in congress so the only way that an exhibit like that would be "curated" is if a corporate sponsor bribed, er, ah, i mean, footed the bill for the exhibit. the other big consideration is how much revenue the exhibit could generate through sales in the museum gift shops. tourists aren't likely to fork out 3 to 4 hundred dollars for a theremin or budget synth as a souvenir of their trip to washington.

seriously, revenue from giftshops is a priority.

it's a real shame, i saw morton subotnik play there when it was still generously funded.

perhaps a consortium of electronic music manufacturers could muster up enough green to wrangle a couple of square feet to encompass the history of electronic music. i think yamaha did something like that with the keyboard exhibit at the sackler. they sold a lot of cds and a book.

the two problems with historical electronic music is that most of it is out of print and most people wouldn't want to hear it anyway - unless you can dance to it.

DiggyDog, there are several museums that have theremin displays similar to the one you describe. I remember seeing a photo of a display online that actually had a plastic covering over the antennae - in almost the same way that you describe. I couldn't find the site, but here's another museum's exhibit:

http://www.thebakken.org/exhibits/tour/Theremin.htm

Thanks, Charlie.

Zakiman, you are spot-on about the funding issue.

There were gift shops for almost every exhibit where you could buylittle trinkets and things.

We left a few dollars there and I didn't mind beacuase it was for a good cause.

We also went to the INternational Spy Museaum in DC. This is a for-profit venture so we had to pay to get in. (They have a gift shop as well, of course).

It was interesting to see how the two different museaums conducted their business.

I think you meant Rupert, not Zakiman.

You are correct, That's what I get for trying to post while I am supposed to be working....