Wiki "Thereminist" article draft

Posted: 8/2/2009 12:31:47 AM
Joe Max

From: Oakland, California

Joined: 1/2/2009

I've been working a bit on a draft for a "thereminist" article for Wikipedia. It would be great if some of the knowledgeable folks here would have a look at it and offer suggestions to improve it.

The draft is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:JMax555/Sandbox_2

Ignore the header at the top, it will be titled "Thereminsts".

Posted: 8/2/2009 1:17:14 AM
Thierry

From: Colmar, France

Joined: 12/31/2007

Oh, what a lot of research and work you did! Congratulations!

But... Lucie Bigelow Rosen seems to be missing...
Posted: 8/2/2009 2:15:18 AM
Joe Max

From: Oakland, California

Joined: 1/2/2009

Actually, I didn't do much at all. I'm just cutting up and re-arranging the material from the main "Theremin" article and breaking it into two articles. The concept is that main article would be about the instrument [i]only[/i], and refrences to composers and players is spun-off into a new "Thereminsts' article. The main thing I'm trying to do is convert the old "Uses" section of the existing article and re-arrange it into a chronological order, instead of breaking it into "pop music", "classical", "film", etc.

I've currently got it as "1920 to 1960", "1960 to 1990", and "1990 to present". I'm following a suggestion (by Fred?) to use the release of the "Electronic Odyssey" film as a timeline mark. (I know the film came out in 1993, but grouping it into "1990s" is easier.)

I'm looking for TW people to correct any errors and suggest additions, keeping in mind Wikipedia's mania for citing printed references.
Posted: 8/2/2009 2:16:51 AM
Joe Max

From: Oakland, California

Joined: 1/2/2009

Thierry:

Can you point me to a reference for Lucie Bigelow Rosen?
Posted: 8/2/2009 2:58:43 AM
Thierry

From: Colmar, France

Joined: 12/31/2007

Unfortunately I do not know more than what is written here (http://www.google.com/custom?domains=thereminworld.com&q=Lucie+Bigelow+Rosen&sa=Search&sitesearch=thereminworld.com&client=pub-3542562528338702&forid=1&channel=1578439888&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&safe=active&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BFORID%3A1%3B&hl=en) ...
Posted: 8/2/2009 3:22:24 AM
FredM

From: Eastleigh, Hampshire, U.K. ................................... Fred Mundell. ................................... Electronics Engineer. (Primarily Analogue) .. CV Synths 1974-1980 .. Theremin developer 2007 to present .. soon to be Developing / Trading as WaveCrafter.com . ...................................

Joined: 12/7/2007

[i]"I'm following a suggestion (by Fred?)"[/i]

I am guilty of many things, but not of making that suggestion - LOL ;-)

Blame Gordon!

;-)
Posted: 8/2/2009 3:25:17 AM
GordonC

From: Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, UK

Joined: 10/5/2005

Lucie Rosen: Theremin, Ether And Espionage. (Some of which is here (http://books.google.com/books?id=6DHlQJcMpBQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=snippet&q=Lucie%20Rosen&f=false)).

Also Glinsky's primary source: The Lucie Bigelow Rosen Archive, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (http://www.caramoor.org/HTML/pressreleases_165.htm).




(That's right. Blame me!)
Posted: 8/2/2009 7:30:59 AM
coalport

From: Canada

Joined: 8/1/2008

Joe wrote:

I've been working a bit on a draft for a "thereminist" article for Wikipedia. It would be great if some of the knowledgeable folks here would have a look at it and offer suggestions to improve it.

************************

What would be even greater, would be if someone knowledgeable (like Albert Glinsky) were to write the article from scratch. I read the above article and found it to be a re-hash of the Wikipedia information with many of the same shortcomings, lacunae and glaring omissions.

The other day I was watching the popular U.S. television game show, JEOPARDY, and one of the topics was "wikispeak". The clue was as follows: "The word for an article that has been written for Wikipedia using information gleaned from other articles on Wikipedia".

I can't remember what the word was (drat!!), but Joe's article is an example of it!

What we end up with are sources of information written by people with a great deal of passion and sincerity, but with no real background in, or understanding of, the subject they are writing about.

BTW, did you know that the word "wiki", as in "wikipedia", presumably comes from the Hawaiian word for "quick".



Posted: 8/2/2009 12:44:45 PM
Joe Max

From: Oakland, California

Joined: 1/2/2009

[i]"What would be even greater, would be if someone knowledgeable (like Albert Glinsky) were to write the article from scratch. I read the above article and found it to be a re-hash of the Wikipedia information with many of the same shortcomings, lacunae and glaring omissions."[/i]

Well, if Mr. Glinsky would write such a thing, that would be excellent. But I don't see him stepping up. Also, as a author of a book in publication on the subject, he could be considered biased, in the sense that he has a perfectly natural conflict of interest in selling his own book. This is frowned on by Wikipedia, and is a way in which the editing could be challenged.

So the alternative is to use the information in his book as a reference for entries in the article, and anyone can write it.

As I said, I'm only re-arranging the old "Uses" section of the current article into a chronological order. I'm using what's already there because, well, it's there, and it's a starting point, with raw data to fill in the sections with. If the data is incorrect or incomplete, it can be changed. It's only a draft, so it's not hurting anyone, and no one looking up entries in Wikipedia is going to see it until it's submitted as an article.

What would be helpful is a simple list of prominent theremin players and composers (including for concert and film) in the following categories:

* 1920 to 1960
* 1960 to 1990
* 1990 to present

A name of a person with a reference to a printed book where the person is described (with page numbers is best.) Also, names of any recordings released by a major record company or films by a major studio can be used as citations. (But only if that person is included by name in the credits.)

It would also be helpful if folks here would be more specific as to the "shortcomings, lacunae and glaring omissions." Merely stating that they exist is not helping the project move forward.

As I say, I'm only trying to whip something into shape that will conform to Wiki guidelines. I'm not an entrenched interest and I have no axes to grind. I'm a "noob", but that itself makes me a less biased observer.

The one helpful thing I've gotten from your comment is Mr. Glinsky's name and subsequently his book, which I was not aware of. What other published books are available?
Posted: 8/2/2009 1:15:27 PM
FredM

From: Eastleigh, Hampshire, U.K. ................................... Fred Mundell. ................................... Electronics Engineer. (Primarily Analogue) .. CV Synths 1974-1980 .. Theremin developer 2007 to present .. soon to be Developing / Trading as WaveCrafter.com . ...................................

Joined: 12/7/2007

Joe,

It might be a good idea for you to read Glinsky's book before you even [b]start[/b] thinking about doing the Wiki article.. Otherwise you are likely to find you have wasted your time on everything you penned..

And this, in my opinion, is why Wiki is a great idea which cannot be implemented.. No person writing something about Theremins for a [b]real[/b] encyclopedia would be unaware of what Glinsky wrote.. They would never be employed or commissioned for such a task.

Thierry's statement "Wikipedia is written by amateurs for amateurs" rings true here.. And there is nothing wrong with being an 'amateur writing for amateurs' - most forums are like this, and the process of mutual exploration and discovery benefits everyone.. The trouble is that Wiki has pretentions about being an encyclopedia - which it is NOT!

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