DiggyDog's Progress

Since I am trying ot turn Thereminworld into my own personal blog, here is an update (a quick one).

I played bass on a few tunes and idd fine. I am getting used to the new bass after playing the Hofoner for over 15 years so that part was fine.

We then played "Everybody Knows" by J J cale wiht me on the theremin and the place went nuts.

Well, some of them went nuts while the rest kept drinking and just got a little interested in the music.

There were these two girls and a guy standing about 4 feet away saying “That Sh** is awesome!”, “Oh my God”, “How does that thing make those sounds?” etc.

Afterward one of the girls came up and asked me if it was a “theremone”. I told her that was close enough and later informed her less drunk friend of the correct spelling. She is going to get one for her boyfriend, who completely fell in love with the thing.

Long story short...it was a fun gig. Probably not worth a plane ticket but a lot of fun nonethe less.

[i]and asked me if it was a “theremone”[/i]

Oh yes, I always douse my theremin in pheromones before a gig.

Funny you should mention pheremones.

I was going on about them after the gig Thursday night.

I don't normally like to toot my own horn but I am happy to pass it along when someone else does it for me. Here is a nice compliment I got via email from the guy I played with:

"Man, I thought the theremin sounded fanTASTic on "Everybody Knows". You're DARN good with the thing (great choice of effects, too), and that's high praise from me, cause the theremin can be the single most annoying sound in the universe in the wrong hands. Thank the powers that be that you use your powers for good. :)"

It's a good thing when someone who is not a big theremin fan likes it.

[i]I don't normally like to toot my own horn[/i]

With pheromones you should never need to!

I bought some as a teenager for a laugh - they had just come onto the market - and within a week I got kicked out of a pub for making out with two girls at the same time. (Making out with one girl would have been a major success - I was not exactly popular with the ladies.)

I was going to make a joke that started with "If I could reach" but I won't.

I will just come up with something about how you were multi-tasking before any of use ever used that term on our resumes.

Thank you.

There's a much better term coined by computer programmers - not usually the most poetic people in the world -

Graceful Degradation.

"Graceful Degradation." That would make a great title for a looping piece.

This just in...not necessarily theremin related...

I am playing a gig with the Ace Winn Band next Tuesday at Copeland's, which is a New Orleans style restaurant.

Mardi Gras is their biggest day of the year and they want us to perform at their annual blow-out.

I will be playing the new headless bass I got for xmas.

I am going to scope out the stage area and see if there is room for the Etherwave. If so, I may "just happen to have it in the car"....

Well, the one thing in my life that stays the same is change...

At the last minute the drummer could not make it so I played drums instead. No time for theremin this time. I think I will bring it to the next rehearsal but that might take a while. I have been playing with the Ace Winn Band since around '93 and we have had exactly ONE rehearsal.

The rest of the time we just wing it, following along with Ace. Fortunately he is easy to play along with and and good at signaling any strangeness that may occur. It also helps that the other guitarist is great as well.

Between the two of them I am usually abel to muddle through whatever I am playing at any given time.

Anyway, the gig went really well. I even had a hostess flirt with me a little.

I know it's just part of her job and sort of comes naturally to her when she is working but i am willing to suspend my dibelief and play along.

It's good for the ole ego and I now have another c-note to stuff into my gig money stash.

I remember when the gigs bought groceries. Now they mostly buy toys.

I have posted before about the first theremin I ever played. Here is a picture of one that is almost exactly the same....

http://www.msu.edu/~dillenbu/exhibits/Clever/exclever5.html

Scroll down to the one with the metal hands for plates.

It is not the most playable instrument but it got me hooked.