Microsoft wowed E3 with Project Natal, but there’s already been another controller-free device used to play games: the theremin.
Glaswegian YouTube user “conquerearth” recently posted a video of himself using the electronic musical instrument to control Mario and play Super Mario Bros. The theremin, patented in 1928 by Russian inventor Léon Theremin, works with two metal antennas that sense the position of the player’s hands. One hand controls the frequency, and the other controls volume. With a bit of hacking, the electronic signals sent out by the device can apparently be mapped to an NES controller.
Watch the “classically trained” thereminist as he navigates Mario through the first level. If that’s not enough for you, you can listen to others play the theme music for Super Mario or Legend of Zelda on the theremin, too. Forget the cowbell; we need more theremin.
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This gentleman goes after Portal’s “Still Alive” in Rock Band 2 using a rather novel approach: a theremin. How’d he do? Much better than you might expect.
“Theremin Hero” doesn’t look like a mod per se, he just outputs the instrument to a set of headphones and rests the RB2 mike in the cups. So our performer, a Scot named Greig, is going after the vocals of this beloved song. Even with a couple of abortive attempts at overdrive, he manages to rack up 138,000 points and 95 percent — on his first try.
Greig’s friend Andy wrote us with the tip, saying this was the result of Greig locking himself in “a small, apparently windowless flat in Glasgow,” from Christmas through New Year’s. Add the seclusion to the theremin, the Half-Life t-shirt, and of course, this song, and you’re talking about a holiday that just collapsed into a black hole of geek win.
So what’s the verdict? Is this cool, or are Rock Band 2’s vocals limitations weak? I say maybe both, but definitely more of the former. Rock on, Greig.
Theremin Hero — First Ever Attempt [YouTube, thanks SaladinZero]
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This gentleman goes after Portal’s “Still Alive” in Rock Band 2 using a rather novel approach: a theremin. How’d he do? Much better than you might expect.
“Theremin Hero” doesn’t look like a mod per se, he just outputs the instrument to a set of headphones and rests the RB2 mike in the cups. So our performer, a Scot named Greig, is going after the vocals of this beloved song. Even with a couple of abortive attempts at overdrive, he manages to rack up 138,000 points and 95 percent — on his first try.
Greig’s friend Andy wrote us with the tip, saying this was the result of Greig locking himself in “a small, apparently windowless flat in Glasgow,” from Christmas through New Year’s. Add the seclusion to the theremin, the Half-Life t-shirt, and of course, this song, and you’re talking about a holiday that just collapsed into a black hole of geek win.
So what’s the verdict? Is this cool, or are Rock Band 2’s vocals limitations weak? I say maybe both, but definitely more of the former. Rock on, Greig.
Theremin Hero — First Ever Attempt [YouTube, thanks SaladinZero]
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