Lighting up the diamond speaker! :)

In my family, a Charlie Brown tree was a must. And to this day, for me, a christmas tree is a reminder of my humble beginnings (and still to this day).

Flashy--- or--- Trashy, it's all in the eyes, and heart of the beholder.

In His Service --- Dana

molly wrote: "I am totally about tolerance for others' beliefs.....A huge problem in my part of the world is those people who are only comfortable if everyone else conforms to their view of what's right."

If you have a problem with people who do not agree with your view that everyone should be tolerant of the beliefs of others, then that in itself could be viewed as an example of the very kind of intolerance you seem to object to. Is intolerance of intolerance not intolerance?

If theremin players tend to be regarded with suspicion by the musical public, I don't think it is because they have chosen not to conform. It is because most theremin playing is so bad! 

While many thereminists like to view themselves as musical rebels, most are just plain stinko. I don't think this is a bad thing. In fact, it's probably a good thing that an instrument exists that requires nothing but the ability to wave your arms in order to play it and thereby derive some personal musical satisfaction.

The theremin has offered quite a number of good people the opportunity to fulfill their musical ambitions (something they would have been unable to do on a conventional instrument). 

After delivering a laughably horrendous performance on a TV talent show (THE VOICE, AMERICAN IDOL, etc.), contestants will sometimes be told quite frankly by the judges that they have no talent whatsoever, and have just given the worst performance of anything that anyone on the panel has ever seen. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but I am doing you a favor by telling you that you should give up any hope of succeeding in music or performing."

One would expect contestants to be devastated by such comments but they rarely are. When they are interviewed after the show, they will often say,

"I should have sung a different song."

I have to agree with something I've read one time about the theremin... I think the theremin chooses you. I *think* that the theremin picked me, and same thing for voice... All the other instruments that I picked (cello, harp and piano per example) I've ALWAYS stunk so bad at! I am not able to read music (and I know should learn), but I feel that I am able to get around fairly... Where is this post going? I am not sure lol.

"If you have a problem with people who do not agree with your view that everyone should be tolerant of the beliefs of others, then that in itself could be viewed as an example of the very kind of intolerance you seem to object. Is intolerance of intolerance not intolerance?"

OK my brain just seized up.  Not saying your statement is wrong, just that for some reason it reminds me of the argument that science is a religion because it's a belief system - it is (a belief system, not a religion) but only in an exceedingly narrow sense.  Does hating the act of people hating others = hatred?  If so then lots of otherwise fairly nice people will have to be re-categorized as big mean meanies.

"While many thereminists like to view themselves as musical rebels, most are just plain stinko."

I have to kind of agree with this, though to a large degree I blame the inherent difficulties of playing the instrument.  Sometimes I find myself avoiding listening to theremin music from anyone, even top players in a highly controlled environment like the recording studio, for fear I'll hear a sour note.  They can be quite affecting if played well, but beauty has to be coaxed out of them.

I must say coalport, your performance of Beowulf on Hurdy-Gurdy and Theremin is one of the most moving things I've heard in quite a while (link), thank you very much for posting that!

And thank you too Thomas for the blow-by-blow pictures of your hideously garish speaker - just kidding!  It's looking good - I really like the holo film on the speaker board.  Your idea to cover the antennas with an insulator is an excellent one as it eliminates the touching squeal, keeps skin oils from corroding the finish, and reduces the chances of ESD blowing the tank transistor(s).

dewster: Does hating the act of people hating others = hatred? 

Yes, it does.

dewster: If so then lots of otherwise fairly nice people will have to be re-categorized as big mean meanies.

No. They're not mean meanies. They're human........humean?

BEOWULF - I had two offers for record deals from major labels because of that video. Both of them wanted me to do the entire story in the same musical style. Of course, that was a few years back when Beowulf was popular and there were a couple of current motion pictures based on the epic. 

The suggestion that science is a religion is an attempt on the part of religious people to even the playing field in a very old debate which many of them fear they are losing. 

"The suggestion that science is a religion is an attempt on the part of religious people to even the playing field in a very old debate which many of them fear they are losing."

I agree with that assessment, though I wonder if that is the conscious motivation behind those who believe science = belief.  I tend to think they are in a belief mode in the first place, so everything to them looks like a belief system.

Back to Beowulf: The droning of the hurdy-gurdy with melody going on is reminiscent of bag pipes.  Your voice has an insistent quality rather like that of some bluegrass singers.  And your use of theremin at the end to represent the sorrow/revenge song of The Queen of Darkness is a stroke of genius.  Bravo!

I'm not so sure that the desire on the part of religious people to equate science and religion is all that innocent. Curiously, in an attempt to take religion out of creationism and make it scientific, they have coined the term "Creation Science" while at the same time those same people claim science is a religion. It doesn't make much sense but that is the nature of faith.

"Faith is believing something you know ain't true." Mark Twain

I have tried to apply all the musical things I can do, to the task of promoting the theremin. 

"Sometimes the magic works and sometimes it does not." Chief Dan George in LITTLE BIG MAN

I think that those who actively endeavor to undermine science often have nefarious reasons for doing so, but the average person on the street who has been thus persuaded usually doesn't have much of an agenda behind their thoughts.  So guilt / innocence on this subject for me boils down to motivation.

This thread has become a marathon that began with the intelligent design of a simple frilly speaker from the mystery of consciousness found in the gifted Thomas Grillo. I think it is cool.

Some people just think too much, leave that to the quantum physicists.

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." Albert Einstein