RensD Progress....

Hallo everybody,

Oke, here it comes.
I need people to motivate me, and I hope to get some support here. :-)

I got my Theremin yesterday. (Tuesday, 6-November-2007)

Tried to make some sounds with it, and managed to scare all the cats in the neighborhood, but I'm trying. :-)
During my rummaging somebody in the room says: "He.... did you just try to play 'Startrek'?"

And yes, I'm happy it was recognisable, it WAS an attempt to play that tune.

There is still hope for me, after 2 hours. :-)

I hope you guys will support me in getting better.

If I don't let hear from me, please ask: "Hey Rens, give us a soundbite!".

And, if I do, please give me some comments so i will get better!

I'm not afraid to here critique and ... eh ... well, I AM afraid, but need to here it to get better.
Kick me in the ass if you think I need it. :-)

Thanks in advance to everybody who is willing to help.

(Please, do not mind my English, I'm from the Netherlands, so what do I know....)


Friendly greetings

Rens

P.S. I can't attach sounds to a message, can I?

And here is the first soundbyte. :-)

First attempt on Startrek (http://www.xs4all.nl/~duysensl/
SoundBytes/Rd_001_Startrek.mp3)

The recording is not very good, but I still was very pleased with the result.
(Allthough, the last note went completely wrong. :-( )

Comments please!

Hey RensD,

Just wanted to let you know we'll be moving your "RensD Progress...." thread to the Personal Progress and Misc. forum.

It's a better spot for it for several reasons, site performance chief among them.

Please keep us posted on how things are going and the TW staff apologizes for any confusion.

Happy Thereminizing!

O... I'm sorry.
Thanks!

No worries at all, please!
Just have to keep the ship afloat is all.
Look forward to much exciting news from RensD in the Aether.

O, you will.
Absolute.
I just hope to get some comments on what I am doing.
I want to LEARN!

Oke....
This is the thrith day.

I will probably please no one with this .... because it sounds terrible, .... :-) ... but I'm going to post it anyway. :-D

Here is my very first attempt to play 'The Swan'.
Do not be scared. This IS rock bottom.
From here on, it can only get better. :-)

First attempt on 'The Swan' (http://www.xs4all.nl/~duysensl/SoundBytes/
Rd_002_TheSwan.mp3)

And, please, DO comment.

Rens

[i]"From here on, it can only get better. :-)

http://www.xs4all.nl/~duysensl/
SoundBytes/Rd_002_TheSwan.mp3

And, please, DO comment.[/i]

Rens,

As I listen and, admittedly cringe here and there, I none-the-less get a sly pleasure from your rendition. OK, "The Swan" is not one of my favorite works so I kind of ENJOY hearing it with less-than-perfect intonation. :D

However, assuming you wish to play it sweetly, here are a few comments:

As you point out, there is room for improvement. The question is: "what will make this get better?" Ironically, the more you attempt to just play this the more ingrained it will become and the harder it will be to make any improvement. It is never advisable to attempt to play a work up to performance tempo on the first try.

My first thought is that you don't really know the work. You sound as though you are trying to follow the melody from the accompianment and aren't really sure of the notes. For starters, make sure you can hum through the tune without cueing off of the melody in the accompianment.

Slow down your MIDI file to half of the performance speed and learn to play it at half speed. You will learn this work faster by practicing it slower.

Hope your find some usefulness in these comments.

[i]-- Kevin[/i]

Hey Rens, as first efforts go those are alright - not the best recordings by all accounts, but your playing is audible so for the purposes of this exercise they're just fine.

I agree with a lot of what Kevin's said, and have only to add that you're obviously someone who's going to be rather good at the Theremin, and I think your playing suffers at the moment from an unfamiliarity with the instrument. Once you know your way around it your recordings will be more confident and generally much better, I feel.

These pieces strike me as a bit ambitious, which is no reason not to keep it up, but when I was first learning, I found that Christmas Carols were a real help (and very seasonal!). This is mostly because they go up the scale and back down again, are very simple and easy pieces of music and good for familiarising yourself with any instrument. Silent Night was always my favourite :) Give it a go.

I hope we'll hear more from you soon!

Hey, thank you very much for you're comments.

@Kevin
If you enjoy less-then-perfect work.... I have lots of it! :-)

You are right. I do not know the part that well.
I happen to like it very much though. That's why I gave it an attempt.
And I know, on the 3-th day having the Theremin, that is very (really to) ambitious. :-)
But I had a lot of fun doing it.

I have no musical background what so ever and I never learned to read notes. I'm going to learn it though.
At the moment I do have the notes in front of me on paper while playing, but half way the part I'm losing track of where I am on paper.
That will become better in the next few weeks I hope.

I'm very happy with your advice and I will follow it. I'll start learning half speed. But first I will try to hum it perfectly

@Alexander
I do not have good recording appliances over here.
So, the recording device is my PDA running NoteM.
Could be better, but for the time being, it will have to do. :-)

It's the thirth day I have my Theremin, so 'unfamiliar'? I am tempted to agree. :-D

Christmas carols... Good idea.
My singing is even worse than my Theremining. (Or how do you call playing the Theremin? :-)
So if the children sing, I will play the Theremin! I'm fine with that.
So, 'Silent night' will be the next recording. (You can purchase my recordings at 5 euro a download. ;-) I DO have to cover my expenses.)

I'm very happy with your observation that I will become very good. I'm very flattered and hope you are right.
If I end up half as good as you guys, I'll be happy already.

GordonC has accused me of suffering from a worse case of ITA, which can not be cured. (Instant Theremin Addiction)
I'm afraid he is right. And I don't wanna be cured either! :-D

O... and yes, I'm afraid you WILL hear more of me. LOL

Friendly greetings from Rens