ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Pamelia Kurstin - Theremin player
Pamelia Kurstin excavates a dusty artifact from the prehistoric strata of electronic music -- and demonstrates how to squeeze soul from an instrument you can't even touch.

Why you should listen

The theremin, the first electronic instrument ever invented, was on the brink of historic oblivion when it was rescued from obscurity by director Steven Martin's classic 1994 documentary Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey . And while a few brave souls have sought to master this temperamental instrument since then, none have done so with more sly effervescence than Pamelia Kurstin.

From the rock-steady composure she assumes behind the instrument (necessary lest her breathing drive the sensors out of tune), one might presume a shrinking conservatory personality, but a quick glance at the MySpace page of the self-described "bird-punching rollerskating thereminist" will quickly dash any of these quaint notions. Far from being a quirky curiosity, however, Kurstin is a sensitive, emotional stylist capable of coaxing sublime melodic content out of an instrument usually doomed to B-movie sci-fi soundtracks. (And her walking bass imitation is pretty cool too.)

Born in Los Angeles, Kurstin currently resides in Vienna, and performs with her latest project Blueblut, among many others. Her latest solo CD, Thinking Out Loud, was released in 2007 on John Zorn's legendary Tzadik label. She'll bathe your dog and give you a haircut ("if you're daring," she warns) in exchange for a six-pack.

More profile about the speaker
Pamelia Kurstin | Speaker | TED.com
TED2002

Pamelia Kurstin: The untouchable music of the theremin

Pamelia Kurstin弹特雷门琴——无法触摸的音乐

Filmed:
2,115,903 views

Pamelia Kurstin演奏并谈论了特雷门琴,这种电子乐器不需要接触就可以弹奏,而且并不限于科幻电影配乐。她演奏的曲目有“秋叶”, “怒放的生命”,还有David Mash的“听,言语离去了”。
- Theremin player
Pamelia Kurstin excavates a dusty artifact from the prehistoric strata of electronic music -- and demonstrates how to squeeze soul from an instrument you can't even touch. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

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(Music音乐)
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Thank you. Ooh, I'm like, "Phew表示不快, phew表示不快, calm冷静 down. Get back into my body身体 now." (Laughter笑声)
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冷静。镇定。定定神。
05:40
Usually平时 when I play out, the first thing that happens发生 is
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通常我在外表演时,人们首先都会喊,
05:44
people scream惊叫 out, "What's she doing?!"
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她到底在做什么?
05:47
I'll play at these rock shows节目, be on stage阶段
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我在摇滚乐演出上表演,在舞台上,
05:50
standing常设 completely全然 still, and they're like,
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静静地站着,然后弹琴。
05:52
"What's she doing?! What's she doing?!"
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人们都很惊讶,不知道我到底在干什么。
05:55
And then I'll kind of be like -- (VvvwowVvvwow!) -- and then they're like, "Whoa!"
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然后我就会,(哦噢!)就像这样……
05:59
(Laughter笑声)
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(大笑)
06:01
I'm sure you're trying to figure数字 out,
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我猜你们一定想弄明白,
06:05
"Well, how does this thing work?"
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这个东西是怎么运作的?
06:07
Well, what I'm doing is
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呃,我是这样做的,噢!
06:11
controlling控制 the pitch沥青 with my left hand.
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用左手来控制音高。
06:18
See, the closer接近 I get to this antenna天线, the higher更高 the note注意 gets得到 --
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看见没?我的手离这根天线越近,音调就越高。
06:23
(Portamento滑音) --
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(滑音)
06:26
and you can get it really low.
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你可以弹很低的音。
06:28
And with this hand I'm controlling控制 the volume,
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我用右手来控制音量,
06:31
so the further进一步 away my right hand gets得到, the louder it gets得到.
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所以我的手离得越远,音量就越大。
06:35
(Tones)
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(音调)
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So basically基本上, with both of your hands
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基本上用双手
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you're controlling控制 pitch沥青 and volume and kind of
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你就能控制音高和音量,
06:44
trying to create创建 the illusion错觉 that you're doing separate分离 notes笔记,
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而且似乎你弹出来的是单独的音符,
06:48
when really it's continuously一直 going ...
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但实际上,是连续的音调……
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(Flourish繁荣 ... Beep)
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(音乐……嘟)
06:54
(Laughter笑声)
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(大笑)
07:03
Sometimes有时 I startle惊吓 myself: I'll forget忘记 that I have it on,
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有时我让自己大吃一惊。我忘记它是开着的,
07:05
and I'll lean over to pick up something,
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弯下身子去拿个什么东西,
07:08
and then it goes like -- (Blip昙花一现) -- "Oh!"
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琴就响了,噢!就像这样。
07:11
And it's like a funny滑稽 sound声音 effect影响 that follows如下 you around
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你身边就有了奇怪的音效,
07:14
if you don't turn the thing off.
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如果你不把琴关掉的话。
07:16
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
07:21
Maybe we'll go into the next下一个 tune,
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我可能要开始弹下一曲了,
07:25
because I totally完全 lost丢失 where this is going.
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我完全不知道自己在干什么。
07:29
We're going to do a song歌曲 by David大卫 Mash糊状物 called "Listen: the Words Are Gone,"
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接下来是David Mash的“听,言语离去了”,
07:34
and maybe I'll have words come back into me afterwards之后 if I can relax放松.
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过后言语应该会回到我身体里来。
07:38
(Music音乐)
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10:32
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
10:44
So, I'm trying to think of some of the questions问题
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我在想人们通常会问的一些问题。
10:47
that are commonly常用 asked; there are so many许多.
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有太多了。
10:49
And ... Well, I guess猜测 I could tell you
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呃,我想我可以告诉你们
10:52
a little of the history历史 of the theremin特雷门琴.
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一点特雷门琴的历史。
10:54
It was invented发明 around the 1920s, and the inventor发明者, Léon Theremin特雷门
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Léon Theremin在20世纪20年代发明了特雷门琴,
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-- he also was a musician音乐家 besides除了 an inventor发明者 --
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他既是音乐家也是发明家,
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he came来了 up with the idea理念 for making制造 the theremin特雷门琴,
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当他在研究短波收音机时,
11:10
I think, when he was working加工 on some shortwave短波 radios收音机.
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他想到了制作特雷门琴,
11:14
And there'd这红色 be that sound声音 in the signal信号 -- it's like (Screeching尖叫) --
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在信号中有这种声音——就像——(尖叫声)
11:17
and he thought, "Oh, what if I could control控制 that sound声音
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他就想,哦,我也许可以控制这种声音
11:21
and turn it into an instrument仪器, because there are pitches球场 in it."
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把它做成一个乐器,因为里面有不同的音高。
11:25
And so somehow不知何故 through通过 developing发展 that,
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就这样,通过不断的研究和改进,
11:28
he eventually终于 came来了 to make the theremin特雷门琴 the way it is now.
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他终于制造出来现在的特雷门琴。
11:35
And a lot of times, even kids孩子 nowadays如今,
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现在很多情况下,甚至是孩子们,
11:39
they'll他们会 make reference参考 to a theremin特雷门琴 by going, "Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo喔灏灏灏,"
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在谈到特雷门琴时都会发出呜呼呜呼的声音,
11:43
because in the '50s it was used in the sci-fi科幻 horror恐怖 movies电影,
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因为在50年代时,它被用于科幻恐怖片中:
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that sound声音 that's like ... (Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo胡灏灏灏)
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声音就像这样……(呜呜)
11:49
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
11:52
It's kind of a funny滑稽, goofy高飞 sound声音 to do.
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他们做出这种滑稽的声音。
11:58
And sometimes有时 if I have too much coffee咖啡,
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有时候我喝了太多咖啡,
12:00
then my vibrato颤音 gets得到 out of hand.
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手就控制不了颤音了。
12:02
You're really sensitive敏感 to your body身体 and its functions功能
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当你弹特雷门琴时,
12:05
when you're behind背后 this thing.
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你就会对自己的身体及其运作很敏感。
12:07
You have to stay so still if you want to have the most control控制.
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如果你想要尽可能地控制它,你就得站得很稳。
12:10
It reminds提醒 me of the balancing平衡 act法案 earlier on -- what Michael迈克尔 was doing --
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这让我想到了早些时候做的平衡动作,Michael做过的。
12:15
because you're fighting战斗 so hard to keep the balance平衡
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因为你在弹琴时要很努力地保持平衡
12:18
with what you're playing播放 with and stay in tune, and at the same相同 time
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不跑调,同时
12:24
you don't want to focus焦点 so much on being存在 in tune all the time;
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你还不能太过于集中精力在不跑调上面;
12:27
you want to be feeling感觉 the music音乐.
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你还得感受音乐。
12:30
And then also, you're trying to stay very, very, very still
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然后,你努力保持静止不动,
12:34
because little movements运动 with other parts部分 of your body身体
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因为你身体其他部位的小小的移动
12:38
will affect影响 the pitch沥青, or sometimes有时 if you're holding保持 a low note注意 -- (Tone rising升起 out of key) --
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都会影响到音高,有时你弹低音的时候,
12:45
and breathing呼吸 will make it ...
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然后呼吸,声音就……(音调偏了)
12:48
(Laughter笑声)
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(大笑)
12:49
If I pass通过 out on the next下一个 song歌曲 ...
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如果我在弹下首曲子时晕过去……
12:52
(Laughter笑声)
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(大笑)
12:54
I think of it almost几乎 like
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但是,我想它
12:58
like a yoga瑜伽 instrument仪器 because it makes品牌 you so aware知道的
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就像个瑜伽器械,因为它使得你
13:01
of every一切 little crazy thing your body身体 is doing,
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对自己身体的状况很在意,
13:05
or just aware知道的 of what you don't want it to be doing
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或是很注意在弹琴时不让身体有些动作:
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while you're playing播放; you don't want to have any sudden突然 movements运动.
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比如,突然的移动。
13:14
And if I go to a club俱乐部 and play a gig演出, people are like,
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如果我去酒吧演出,人们说,
13:17
"Here, have some drinks饮料 on us!"
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“来,我们请你喝点酒!”
13:19
And it's like, "Well, I'm about to go on soon不久;
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我马上就要接着弹了,
13:22
I don't want to be like -- (Teetering摇摇欲坠 tones) -- you know?"
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我不想像这样……(摇摆不定的音调)
13:26
It really does reflect反映 the mood心情 that you're in also,
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另外,它也反映出你的心情,
13:29
if you're ...
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你知道,如果你……
13:31
it's similar类似 to being存在 a vocalist歌手, except
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这和做歌手有点像,除了,
13:34
instead代替 of it coming未来 out of your throat,
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声音不是从你的喉咙里发出的,
13:36
you're controlling控制 it just in the air空气
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而是你用手在空中控制它
13:38
and you don't really have a point of reference参考;
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而且你没参考点;
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you're always relying依托 on your ears耳朵 and adjusting调整 constantly经常.
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你总得靠自己的耳朵听,不断调整。
13:46
You just have to always adjust调整 to what's happening事件
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你就得一直调整弹出来的音
13:48
and realize实现 you'll你会 have bummer长号 notes笔记 come here and there
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一发觉有奇怪的音调出来,
13:52
and listen to it, adjust调整 it, and just move移动 on,
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就调整过来,继续弹,
13:55
or else其他 you'll你会 get too tied up and go crazy. Like me.
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或者你会因此太过于疲劳而发疯,像我一样。
14:04
I think we will play another另一个 tune now.
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我想我要再弹一曲。
14:09
I'm going to do "Lush青葱的 Life." It's one of my favorite喜爱 tunes曲调 to play.
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接下来我要弹“怒放的生命”:这是我最爱的曲子之一。
14:12
(Music音乐)
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19:02
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Amy Zerotus
Reviewed by Dian Liu

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Pamelia Kurstin - Theremin player
Pamelia Kurstin excavates a dusty artifact from the prehistoric strata of electronic music -- and demonstrates how to squeeze soul from an instrument you can't even touch.

Why you should listen

The theremin, the first electronic instrument ever invented, was on the brink of historic oblivion when it was rescued from obscurity by director Steven Martin's classic 1994 documentary Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey . And while a few brave souls have sought to master this temperamental instrument since then, none have done so with more sly effervescence than Pamelia Kurstin.

From the rock-steady composure she assumes behind the instrument (necessary lest her breathing drive the sensors out of tune), one might presume a shrinking conservatory personality, but a quick glance at the MySpace page of the self-described "bird-punching rollerskating thereminist" will quickly dash any of these quaint notions. Far from being a quirky curiosity, however, Kurstin is a sensitive, emotional stylist capable of coaxing sublime melodic content out of an instrument usually doomed to B-movie sci-fi soundtracks. (And her walking bass imitation is pretty cool too.)

Born in Los Angeles, Kurstin currently resides in Vienna, and performs with her latest project Blueblut, among many others. Her latest solo CD, Thinking Out Loud, was released in 2007 on John Zorn's legendary Tzadik label. She'll bathe your dog and give you a haircut ("if you're daring," she warns) in exchange for a six-pack.

More profile about the speaker
Pamelia Kurstin | Speaker | TED.com