Coalport ~ Talking Machine .. .. ..

This is me to a "T". Seriously, I wake up in the middle of the night to record ideas and vocal line I am hearing... Though it is amazing to be able to do that, i also cuts dowm on my sleep and can be quite exhausting! :)

dewster: "I wonder how prevalent it is?"

Hard to say, dewster. I don't think it's that rare...one in a thousand?? The thing is, it is not necessarily accompanied by any practical musical talent or by a desire to be a musician.

Similarly, practical musical talent and a fervent desire to be a musician may well exist in someone who does not (by my definition above) have "music in his or her soul".

Then there are those who genuinely love music but have neither a talent to perform it, nor are they obsessed by it.

The "perfect storm" is someone who has a musical soul, loves music, and is naturally gifted as a performer. These natural gifts might include extraordinary dexterity on an instrument, a beautiful voice, perfect pitch, etc. etc.

I did mean vocals through the TM.

I'm also thinking about sending theremin audio through an effect I've used on guitar. I don't remember it's proper name, but it uses a sealed speaker connected to a plastic tube inserted in the performers mouth, and then amplified through a microphone.

Peter Frampton and Joe Walsh are best known for this effect.

The down side is a microphone and stand in the playing field.

@Fred- I really like your idea of modulating the VFO. I'm going to try that sometime.

"@Fred- I really like your idea of modulating the VFO. I'm going to try that sometime."

Actually, it doesnt need to be the VFO - Either VFO or REF will do, which ever is easiest to modulate (often, the tuning mechanism is on the REF osc, and it is easy to do it there.. just put a tiny bit of modulation by AC coupling this to the wiper of the tuning potentiometer).

"sealed speaker connected to a plastic tube inserted in the performers mouth.."

Yeah - know what you mean.. Most people find it difficult to sing and play the theremin at the same time - So it would surprise me if anyone managed to play a theremin with a tube stuck in their mouth ratteling their teeth! LOL ;-)

Ok if you just want to make spooky noises and articulate "OoooAhhhh Whyyyy-Ohhh-Whyyyyyy-deeeed-eye-eeveer-geeet-eentoooo-theeereemeeeennnnsss"

Fred.

"Personally, I tend to regard the idea as a neurological phenomenon rather than a "spiritual" one. For me, and by my definition, people who have music in their souls are people who have music playing in their heads all day. I don't just mean that they play a little ditty in their musical imaginations once in a while - it plays in their heads constantly during their waking hours whether they like it or not. (Yes, it subsides during sleep). " - Coalport

I am happy to say that, by the above definition / description, I do not have "music in my soul".

I hear full orchestrations in "my head" quite often - and these are actually hearing at super hi-fi, which for me is quite different from the "other kind" of "hearing" which is more akin to imagination.. as in, when I am hearing the music I have actually reached over to my unpowered amplifier to turn the volume down, in case I wake someone up!

And the above is also my greatest frustration - I steer the music, and have some conscious part in its "construction" and "composition" - but there is a hell of a lot going on which I have no conscious control over .. I just wish I could capture it, record it, or even remember it in full - Because once the piece is completed I never hear it again, and my memory of it is only fragmentary.

Fred.

I am impressed by Amey playing Pie Jesu once again.

THanks so much Dominik!!! :) *blush*

Fred: "the above is also my greatest frustration......Because once the piece is completed I never hear it again, and my memory of it is only fragmentary."

This is where the craft of music comes in. With the skill acquired through formal training you can recall, perform, repeat, and write down a passage of music that has "played" in your musical imagination.

There are many theremin experimentalists who play aleatoric compositions that they record as they are created. The problem is that the recording remains the only performance of the piece because the composition cannot be repeated. It's sort of like throwing paint at a canvas. You can never make the same design twice.

I once saw a street artist who made centrifugal paintings by dropping paint onto a blank canvas that was spinning on a turntable. Passers-by could pay five bucks and make a painting of their own. The paintings were great, and each one was different, but when you'd seen one you'd seen 'em all.

The interesting thing was that people were terrifically pleased with the paintings they had created themselves, but seemingly unimpressed with those made by others. Perhaps what delighted them when they looked at their own handiwork was not the actual beauty of the art but reliving the fun they had making it (something they would not experience looking at someone else's picture).

It seems to me a lot of experimental/aleatoric theremin music is like those centrifugal paintings. An elaborate setup and sophisticated equipment are needed to make the creation but no real skill is required to execute it. The musicians who work in this genre often seem to get more satisfaction from the act of creating their compositions than audiences do listening to them. 

Because of this, experimentalists often seem to feel they are under-appreciated and frequently blame audiences for their failure to "understand" the music.

I heard an interview on CBC Radio the other day with a composer who had just written an opera that is currently being staged by a semi-professional group of musicians and singers. He said, "When I began to compose the music, the first thing I had to get over was my fear of not being thought of as contemporary."

"I am impressed by Amey playing Pie Jesu once again." - Dominik

Yeah, she really has it! - Its good to know that there are players really mastering the theremin who have the potential to fill the "top slots" as well as, or better than the present top performers.

IMO, with people like you, Amey, the theremin will live on! - And the really thrilling thing about you is that your progress has been visible to us all here at TW - We can see how rapidly you are improving (we cannot see the number of hours you spend perfecting your playing - but I expect it is almost every available moment) and think this is probably encouraging for others - you are demonstrating that theremin mastery is not impossible!

Fred.

Hey there Fred!

I am really touched by your kind words! I started my theremin journey in April of 2011. I received a theremin for Christmas but had to put the theremin aside to fight pretty bad carpal tunnel syndrome. I was given the ok to play in April after 4 months, and I decided to make up for lost time! In the first 6 months or so I think I played 45 mins in the morning and then 1 hour at night, every day of the week. I have 2 jobs to keep afloat and spare time is pretty scarce. But I was determined (and still am) to be as good as I can be at the theremin. It was a personal goal, and didn't want to be "better or as good as "x" player". Now, I think I play about 45 mins to 1 hour a day, every day. In all honesty, I made leaps and bounds in my learning when I got my Subscope, it is by far the most wonderful theremin I have ever played ( I played the Etherwave, the Wavefront and tried a Kees at a random shop in my area)! The linearity is amazing on the Subscope, it's a fantastic theremin, so it makes it easy for learning, IMO.

Theremin Mastery? I think I am still far from that, so many more things to learn, crash and burn so to speak. I think the fact that I am a vocalist really helped me to "get it faster". To me, when there is a will, there is a way... And it does apply to the theremin.

:)