[ghostly theremin music]
- Charles Collins: I started fixing
musical instruments, amplifiers, and stereo equipment
35 years ago for a local store.
That had to go somewhere.
My name's Charles Collins, and I build theremins.
[sci-fi outer space theremin]
The theremin is a musical instrument
that you can play without touching it.
[theremin oscillates eerily]
You don't find the theremin; the theremin finds you.
*
[quivering high-pitched opera-like theremin]
A person named Leon Theremin invented it
back in about 1919, 1920.
[film reel static]
[frightening theremin, heavy breathing]
It's just a creepy sound that every B-movie had
back in the '50s.
[ominous theremin]
When the monster comes out, he always had a theremin.
- Actor: It's unbelievable.
[intimidating breathing]
- You listen to that, you gotta have one.
[heavy breathing]
I was able to find one at a swap meet,
and the guy thought it was
a burglar alarm that didn't work very well.
It was fascinating, and I thought,
"You know, other people would like this.
Maybe I could make a cheap one."
And it took off from there.
[futuristic squawking]
There's the monster.
I've sold over 10,000 in 25 years.
It operates with
two radio frequency oscillators mixing together
to form a third frequency, which is an audio tone.
[ascending notes, then siren]
Theremin has two circuits:
one being the pitch circuit
and the other is the volume.
This is the pitch antenna,
and the note gets higher as your hand comes nearer to it.
[high-pitched saxophone-like sound]
This is the volume antenna,
and as your hand gets nearer to that,
the pitch gets quieter
until you can't hear it.
[sound waivers between audible and silent]
It's essentially a pretty simple circuit.
It's still challenging--
It can be--
When things don't work quite right,
there's a reason,
and sometimes that reason can be very elusive.
[theremin sounds like a needle scratching a record]
I started 25 years ago.
I didn't want to work in a factory,
so I essentially made my own factory.
I haven't gone mad.
[funky music]
There could be other worse things to do.
You're finally done making one, and it works,
and it's going in the box
and being sent out to the person.
That is the best feeling.
*