As many of the people here know, although it is often assumed that a theremin was used on the Beach Boy’s song, “Good Vibrations,” the actual instrument was a Tannerin, also known as an “Electro-Theremin” or Slide Theremin. Although a Tannerin sounds like a theremin it is played completely differently.
A Tannerin comes in a keyboard-sized case and has a non-functional keyboard drawn along the top. Below the keyboard is a slider with a pointer. The slider gives a control to sound generators resulting in a glissando sound, and the pointer shows the note that is being played. Thus, it becomes incredibly easy to find the exact note, rather than needing to use pre-listening via an earphone, rapid searching to find the exact note by ear, using a “cheater” (such as a “pitch corrector”), air fingering, etc.
As a comparison, it would be similar to a ribbon controller, but points to exact notes.
I have both the E-Pro and a form of Tannerin, a custom built device known as a Therevox (sorry, this isn’t an advert so look it up yourself if you’re interested). Both work incredibly well.
My question to people here is this: Since most people think the sound on “Good Vibrations” is a Theremin, does it really matter if you use a Theremin, a Tannerin such as a Therevox, or just a synth with portamento/glide turned on? Should we be purists and only use a Theremin, or is the only thing that matters the sound? Would you prefer to use a Tannerin where you can easily hit the right notes every time?
There is no “right” or “wrong” in this debate, I’d just like to see what people think.