What's in a Name, Pink Floyd

The name Pink Floyd came from their original front man, Syd Barrett. Barrett was a big fan of blues artists Pink Anderson and Floyd Council, so he took one name from each of them and combined them into one name for the band. Early on in their career, with little budget Pink Floyd would create visual effects for their live shows in a number of cheap, but effective ways. One of these ways was to cover their lights with colored condoms.

The Theremin is an original electronic instrument invented in the 1920s by Russian musician and engineer Leon Theremin. Its antenna sends out electromagnetic waves and the pitch the instrument produces is changed by moving your hand to and from it.

The sound of the Theremin is familiar from Hitchcock and science fiction soundtracks, and a version features on 'Good Vibrations' by The Beach Boys and 'Echoes' by Pink Floyd, and by Nine Inch Nails. It has also been seen played by Dr. Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang Theory. The new Leap Motion 'no touch' controller even has an application to play a digital Theremin on your PC.

Japan's musicians recently set a new world record for the most players on the Theremin - the musical instrument used without being touched. In the central city of Hamamatsu, 272 people performed at a concert.

This is totally different from the few year old Eigenharp, which seems to have more buttons and levers than any other instrument.

Theremin taught Lydia Kavina, his grand-niece how to play this interesting, simple, and eerie instrument. Here is a demo of the instrument LINK