Video: cat plays Theremin

"In 1971, Mary Ross sent some Folds to Neil Todd, a geneticist in Newtownville, Masachusetts, USA. Development continued in the United States, using British and American Shorthairs, and Folds were fully recognised by 1994. A faction in the British Cat Fancy felt that the Scottish Fold would be prone to ear infections and deafness. They campaigned to prevent their acceptance for registry in Great Britain. Folds are still not accepted for registry in registries of Great Britain and Europe."

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#7 posted by Brian "DoctaBu" Moore

, April 14, 2008 1:19 PM

the staring, questioning cat at the very end might've been the funniest part.

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#8 posted by ill lich , April 14, 2008 2:09 PM

Clearly the cat is playing WITH the theremin ANTENNA, and is not necessarily interested in the tone it produces.

I wonder: does the antenna emit a frequency that the cat particularly sensitive to?

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#9 posted by w000t , April 14, 2008 2:11 PM

Worth watching just for the wide-eyed reaction shot of the other cat. He just needs a thought bubble that reads, "ZOMG!! WTF?!"

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#10 posted by Chris

, April 14, 2008 2:37 PM

That pan over to the other cat (and its alarmed expression) at the end is priceless.

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#11 posted by Patrick Dodds

, April 14, 2008 2:53 PM

That cat isn't very good at his theremin and shouldn't have allowed distribution of the video at this stage - it will only hold back his career later.

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#12 posted by Chocolatey Shatner , April 14, 2008 3:00 PM

dis noize haz a flavr

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#13 posted by danhawkeye , April 14, 2008 3:03 PM

The video cut out just before he went into a perfect rendition of the middle section of "Whole Lotta Love".

That cat has one of the most human like faces I ever seen on any animal.

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#14 posted by Chelvis , April 14, 2008 3:08 PM

What is actually amazing is the impressive amount of time that cat spends balanced on its hindlegs, fully erect, using it's front paws to manipulate an object rather than as a means of locomotion. This can is on the verge of using it's paws in a prehensile fashion, similar to the cats who can turn door handles. Look at that cats eyes again, they show an eerie understanding of their little cat world. This cat is a cat GENIUS!

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#15 posted by Knife Knut , April 14, 2008 4:04 PM

I, for one, welcome our new feline overlords.

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#16 posted by dougrogers

, April 14, 2008 4:33 PM

I was LOL ROFL at the WTF cat.

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#17 posted by Wingo , April 14, 2008 4:40 PM

@8 - Based on my very unscientific personal observations, yes.

I tend to play synthesizers frequently, and mostly I can blast sounds pretty loudly and my old cat will not bat an eye. He will sit very close to the amp, even, and not even seem to notice the sound at all, 98% of the time.

Then suddenly certain sounds completely fire him up. He will perk up, look somewhat annoyed and diturbed, and sometimes even go and quizzically sniff the source before darting away.

Although it seems that these sounds tend to be higher in pitch, I think it also has something to do with the timbre. It is my random conclusion that the sounds that annoy/intrigue him contain some sort of overtones that human ears don't pick up - sort of like the dog whistle effect.

And yeah, thoroughly amazed cat number two at the end is the kicker.

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#18 posted by prom77 , April 14, 2008 5:13 PM

Clearly the cat is playing WITH the theremin ANTENNA, and is not necessarily interested in the tone it produces.
I wonder: does the antenna emit a frequency that the cat particularly sensitive to?

Nahh, cats play with anything sticklike. The wobbliness of the antenna is a bonus too.

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#19 posted by Kieran O'Neill , April 14, 2008 5:19 PM

This beats any unicorn chaser.

Takuan, perhaps the cat was playing with the thing *because* it was hard of hearing, and the theremin produced a noise it could actually hear?

(Interesting factoid, though.)

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#20 posted by Takuan , April 14, 2008 5:34 PM

or they rubbed catfood on it (I love getting the little bastards ripped on nip)

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#21 posted by beep1o , April 14, 2008 5:39 PM

Scottish folds are not congenitally deaf, nor are they any more prone to ear infections than other cats. Hate to burst your bubble guys, but this has been borne out by the evidence since 1971.

Leave it to the UK to ban a native breed.

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#22 posted by Takuan , April 14, 2008 5:49 PM

what?

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#23 posted by Antinous , April 14, 2008 5:49 PM

Who cares if it's playing. It's standing on its hind legs and it looks like an Ewok. Want.

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#24 posted by Antinous , April 14, 2008 6:01 PM

There is one medical problem that has been found to be related to Scottish Fold breeding. If both parents have folded ears, their kittens will be extremely likely to develop a painful degenerative joint disease that fuses the tail, ankles and knees. This condition also affects Scottish folds with one copy of the fold gene, to a lesser degree, and is the reason the breed is not accepted by the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy and the Fédération Internationale Féline.

from Wikipedia

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#25 posted by starcadia , April 14, 2008 6:02 PM

Star Trek. Let me play yuz it on ma thurmin.

Yeah, the expression of the cat at the end is totally priceless. =(o.o)=

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#26 posted by ornith , April 14, 2008 6:10 PM

Theremincat probably doesn't care one bit about the sound. There are quite a few cat toys out there that consist of a wobbly stick attached to a base - this one just doesn't have a mouse on the end. And my cat is always rubbing his face on stuff the same way.

And yeah, I too sat there thinking "this cat sucks at playing theremin" and then cracked up when the second cat was shown.

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#27 posted by Sireture , April 14, 2008 7:58 PM

cat playing fetch:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kDip33dW8OY

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#28 posted by Bonnie

, April 14, 2008 8:04 PM

If anyone out there has a dog that can play the MOOG, I think we may have a WIN.

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#29 posted by scottfree , April 14, 2008 9:01 PM

Re: cat playing poorly: that's what they said about Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry. You ain't hip to his groove, man. This cat's so into it, he plays with his /face/. Besides which, we have it on the authority of Samuel Johnson no less that we aren't impressed that a dog walks on his hind legs well, but that he walks on his hind legs at all. Had Samuel Johnson known of the theremin, he no doubt would have applied his aphorism to the playing of them by cats.

Does it take requests? Dr who theme? I'll gladly do the ba-ba-ba-bum part.

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#30 posted by Evil Jim , April 15, 2008 2:50 AM

Wait until Thomas Grillo sees this.

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#31 posted by bibulb , April 15, 2008 5:45 AM

i can haz moog now plz?

(Oh, by the way - sheer awesomeness. Adorable as all get out.