Theremin & Talking Machine

I dont actually agree that this is PP's best theremin performance - quite difficult to say which is, they are all so good - but I dont think its this one!

What perhaps makes this "sound like the best" is the vocal intonation from the EH-TM.. I do not think many (any?) other thereminist will manage to match or better what Peter has done in this performance for a LONG time (if ever)... I do, however, think that Peter will better this performance.

IMO, it is probably Peter's singing expierience which gives him the edge - his use of vibrato in particular.. He just knows exactly how to intonate everything in the way a singer would - pitch - vibrato - dynamics .. nothing is amiss or wrong, everything is completely believable and convincing and 'right'. 

IMO, the only area where improvement in the vocal synthesis is possible would be if real-time control was given to the performer - so that the voice was not stuck on one vowel ('ah' or whatever) - But however the TM does it, it largely manages to overcome this limitation - the more I listen to the performance, the more convinced I become that some "AI" is involved - this is not a static vowel filter, it is dynamic- I think influenced by frequency, amplitude and harmonic content of the input signal.

I think that Peter has done many performances at least equal or perhaps better than this one - because I have heard him make theremins sing like a human without using the TM.. Ok, the vocal formants were not there in the tone, but everything else was perfect.. Perfect enough that I could hear a 'human' in the theremin tone.

I hope the TM doesn't make good thereminists lazy.

Fred.

Fred,

I think the reason that the vowel filter of the Talking Machine seems dynamic rather than static has to do with the way the RCA timbre shifts from note to note. The changes in sound coming out of the TM are attributable to the changes going in. In this regard, Goldberg's RCA is particularly active.

As for adding a convincing "vocal" quality to any theremin performance, much of it depends on the ability to control the rate and depth of vibrato. This is something few thereminists learn to do. 

Before the beginning of the 19th century, vibrato was not used at all unless it was specifically written into the score by the composer. Everyone recognized that vibrato added excitement and emotion to a dramatic moment in an opera or an oratorio, so composers would add a wavy line over notes where they wanted to hear vibrato. Audiences liked it, so it became fashionable and pretty soon singers and instrumentalists began adding more and more vibrato until they were using it all the time. 

Since the whole idea of vibrato was to add dramatic dynamics to a performance, what do you do to add dynamics when vibrato is being used constantly?

You learn to control rate and depth.

The problem for many thereminists is that they are using techniques that do not allow them to adjust their vibrato accurately because they are using the same muscle groups for both vibrato and pitch. One of the advantages of Rockmore style "aerial fingering" is that the two tasks are mechanically separated so that they can be controlled independently. 

Once you have learned HOW to control vibrato, you have to learn WHEN to apply what you have learned. You do that by listening. It is what Clara Rockmore called "....years and years and years of the study of music."

And even if one uses different muscle groups, it's not easy to learn to control vibrato... well, not for me at least. Although I use the hand for pitch and arm for vibrato, I have seen when I'm doing certain hand movements (not all) in songs with a not very slow tempo, I unconsciously stop doing vibrato... I guess it's a matter of needing all the concentration to keep on pitch. More and more practice, I guess.

And that's just for having the arm do exactly what you want to do. Then, there's the added difficulty of knowing what exactly you should order it to do :) 

Fred said: I dont actually agree that this is PP's best theremin performance - quite difficult to say which is, they are all so good - but I dont think its this one!

My personal favorite is "Gabriel's Oboe" on the Hoffman theremin. I think that video was the last straw that made me go from "I'd like to play the theremin" to "I *must* get a theremin now".

But this performance is also among the best IMHO, and the important thing is that it introduces new possibilities that we didn't know were there...

"But this performance is among the best IMHO, and the important thing is that it introduces new possibilities that we didn't know were there..."

Yes, I agree.

For me, it is quite a strange thing listening to Peter playing theremin through the TM.. I have had this obsession about applying (controllable) formant filters to theremin for several years - and have discussed it with several thereminists including Lydia and Gordon.. It is actually quite strange to hear such a good voice actually coming from a theremin - I have heard it before, but only in my imagination or far weaker and imperfect renditions from prototypes.. Enough to convince me that it had great potential - But my imagination never dared to let me hear anything as spectacular as what I am now hearing!

Time will tell how much of the 'perfection' we are hearing is the result of Peters skill + Goldberg theremin, and what others manage with the TM.

"I think the reason that the vowel filter of the Talking Machine seems dynamic rather than static has to do with the way the RCA timbre shifts from note to note."-Peter

You may be right .. I am sure that shifting timbre will have an effect.. But I still think it likely that there is a lot more to the story.

Fred.

"My personal favorite is "Gabriel's Oboe" on the Hoffman theremin.."

My favorites are probably in the"Vulcan harp + theremin" series ( Katric Ark and #2) the theremin has, IMO, a wonderful 'vocal' quality in these, and I know that its probably not the best, but I love Peters performance of  "long and winding road" by the Beatles.. Happens to be one of my favorite songs, and the only performance where Peter both plays theremin and sings..

But my tastes are probably due to me not having listened to much classical or opera until recently - And even now, if I just want to relax and listen to music, it certainly wont be opera and probably wont be classical.

Fred.

The one who makes me want to learn the theremin more is PP's Sergei Rachmaninoff's beautiful song, Opus 21 #7, "Zdes Xorosho" (How Fair This Spot).

Sinply beautiful :)

LESS IS MORE

If you want your theremin to sound like a tenor, first you must restrict yourself to what a tenor would do. That means you will not have the full range of your instrument to work with. 

Does anyone here remember a STAR TREK VOYAGER episode called VIRTUOSO in which the ship's doctor (who is an EMH = Emergency Medical Hologram) decides to leave Voyager and embark on a singing career? It wasn't one of the better episodes but there is a lesson to be learned in it for thereminists. Here's a badly written synopsis from Wikipedia (which I have abridged):

"Voyager encounters a slightly, more technologically advanced race of people called the Qomar--.....They appear to have enormous egos and dislike the Doctor simply for being a holographic entity. The Qomar becomes enthralled, after having initially dismissed him as a simple hologram, with the Doctor's ability to sing since they never conceived the concept of music. When the Doctor explains how music is used and how many others on the ship can use it naturally, the Qomar invite the crew to their homesystem--previously restricted to outsiders-- to solely learn more of music. ..............However, the aliens replace the Doctor with an upgraded singing hologram capable of a greater vocal range. "

For his farewell concert, the Doctor sang a simple Neapolitan song as Captain Janeway wiped away a tear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHxqPg2CsJI

The Qomar philosophy was MORE IS BETTER so they created their own singing hologram with a 10 octave range. Unfortunately, in the above clip we do not get to see the new hologram which performs immediately after the Doctor. 

The long and the short of it is that humans react negatively to gender confusion in vocal performance. A baritone who can sing soprano, and a soprano who can sing bass will only be appreciated as circus acts. 

Here's a weird gender bender from BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6BlH-ZC5P0

coalport wrote: "The long and the short of it is that humans react negatively to gender confusion in vocal performance. A baritone who can sing soprano, and a soprano who can sing bass will only be appreciated as circus acts."

I must partially contradict you. Think of the phenomenon which appeared in Italia several hundred years ago: The castrates and/or countertenors. People, especially in Venezia during the Renaissance era were so amazed by the male soprano voices that they had no inhibitions to mutilate young boys by hundreds...

Fortunately, today's countertenors are mostly baritones or tenors with an especially trained falsetto voice and they are allowed to keep their testicles.

The love of the castrato voice ("la voce bianca") seems to have started in the Vatican and later spread to the opera stage where the presence of women was socially frowned upon. Today, many people make a distinction between a genuine countertenor and what is called a "falsettist". I'm not sure what the difference is or if it is a snob thing. I don't much care because I have never really liked either.

There is one really fine singer from France, Philippe Jaroussky, who is a superb artist with quite an amazing soprano voice. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFheoVsUAIc

He should have been a theremin!

Philippe Jaroussky is indeed a stunning vocalist. His rendition of 'Cara Sposa' is, in my opinion, better than that which was featured in the film 'Farinelli' (for which the sound engineers digitally combined the voices of a soprano and countertenor). A while ago somebody mixed the visuals from the film with Philippe's singing, which was rather interesting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8HuTVSB4Yw

Less successful was his recent foray into French art music - I think it sounded effete. But it was full of good ideas for theremin repertoire.