The Martin Martian Theremin Guitar

http://vimeo.com/69876112 

I'll have to go figure out why embedding Vimeo videos isn't working in the forums, but in the meantime, the quick summary is:  Martin guitar shaped like an alien that has a theremin built into it.

Discuss...

Hello Jason,

There is always the quiet before the storm, I'm looking forward to next year being special for the theremin community.

hypergolic mentioned that guitar a few weeks ago and I followed up with:

Michael Brolly who designed the Martin guitar is a brilliant modern day Master Artist in Wood. The above video could have expressed more on how functional mixing a guitar with a theremin might be.

The guitar is creative but.....

More of the Artists brilliant wood work

Christopher

Edit: Wood working on steroids. The Musical Ark by Michael Brolly launched in Scotland recently.

Richard Leo Johnson is an interesting guy. The instrument he proposes will probably be great for a kind of New Music "performance art" type of thing but as he points out, it is difficult to play and the built-in theremin is for simultaneous FX only because it cannot be controlled with precision. 

The boys with the boat-harp are brimmin' with enthusiasm but they seem to have forgotten the MUSIC. What they have built, as much as I like it and as original as it may be, is very reminiscent of William Close's "EARTH HARP". Close has taught himself to fine tune and play his instrument and that is what the boys in the Viking boat-harp have to do. It's not enough to string a few wires from stem to stern and make some random squeals and screeching sounds.

http://williamandtheearthharp.com/

"It's not enough to string a few wires from stem to stern and make some random squeals and screeching sounds." - Coalport

From a health and safety perspective, that boat looks deadly to me! Note the gloves required - out on the water, with possibly slippery deck / squal etc, a minor accident could be lethal.. IMO, its one of the daftest and most non-musical contraptions I have ever seen.

Fred.

An example of the triumph of FORM over CONTENT.

Richard Leo Johnson is an interesting guy. The instrument he proposes will probably be great for a kind of New Music "performance art" type of thing but as he points out, it is difficult to play and the built-in theremin is for simultaneous FX only because it cannot be controlled with precision. 

The boys with the boat-harp are brimmin' with enthusiasm but they seem to have forgotten the MUSIC. What they have built, as much as I like it and as original as it may be, is very reminiscent of William Close's "EARTH HARP". Close has taught himself to fine tune and play his instrument and that is what the boys in the Viking boat-harp have to do. It's not enough to string a few wires from stem to stern and make some random squeals and screeching sounds.

http://williamandtheearthharp.com/

This is Michael Brolly, and you are right, the music stinks.  I tried to raise enough money to get the kids who can play the boat over to Scotland but we did not raise enough.  I am not a musician but I am hopeful that I will find one.  I worked with Bill Close when he came home to New Bedford a few years back.  That is how I knew the boat would work.  I built him, what turned out to be, his first acoustic sound board for his Earth Harp.  That is where I got the glove knowledge from.  Also the sound that is heard above the water is not what I am really going for, that  is eye and hopefully soon, ear candy for the humans.  There are other ranges that are transmitted into the water that I really want to work on, but I am in my infancy with this.  I also teach high school and have two young boys so my time is limited.  I am hoping to get a non profit up and going in the not too distant future to be able to get some extended time with musicians and scientists and equipment out on the water to see what we can come up with.

If you are ever in the area and think you can play the boat I would be more than willing to set her up for you.  A harpsichordist off of one of the ocean liners that stopped  in Scotland, tuned Sephira up to be just like a harpsichord but we did not leave it that way long.  I am not a harpsichord fan.

And I have to put a plug in for Richard, he can make that Martian Guitar sing.  There will be an album out soon.  I have copies of some of the songs if you would like to hear them.  But you are right, it is not a 'true' Theremin sound, but still very cool.

All the Best,

Michael

Opps!  I probably was supposed to post the above here, sorry.

Michael Brolly

Hello Michael,

I remember when you first mentioned the theremin guitar around 2009. My theremin designing has concluded or I might say I graduated to where now I might focus on other ideas. The first part of 2014 I think I will re-invent the electro-theremin which tried to simplify theremin playing yet have a realistic sound. I will call my electro-theremin the Altermen for Alternative-Theremin. Once I get my test model working maybe then I will play everyone a melody.

Keep up the great creativity, it is your gift in time,

Christopher

Edit: Now that think about it Paul's Box was used when Martin the Martian raised his antennae.

Edit2: Michael's performance below needs to end with my natural theremin whale cry. mp3

Hello Michael,

I remember when you first mentioned the theremin guitar around 2009. My theremin designing has concluded or I might say I graduated to where now I might focus on other ideas. The first part of 2014 I think I will re-invent the electro-theremin which tried to simplify theremin playing. I will call my electro-theremin the Altermen for Alternative-Theremin. Once I get my prototype working maybe then I will play everyone a melody.

Keep up the great creativity, it is your gift in time,

Christopher

Everyone, I will be transferring my oldtemecula.com website host Sunday night, hope I don't crash everything.

Hey Christopher,

Great to hear you again.  Can't wait to see what you are up to.  I think I may add a real harp to the boat, since I don't have time to build another one, for the human ears.

Be well, more later, gettting ready for a show,

Michael

Here is a great video of the harpship SEPHIRA in performance. This is the way to "frame" the boat, in a musical tale of imagination and fantasy. IMHO, if it is demonstrated without the magical, mystical atmosphere it seems to lose its musical and mythical significance. 

In a context like this, the ship makes sense. 

Since the name of the vessel is SEPHIRA (a "sephira" being any one of the ten vessels of the Tree Of Life of the traditional Cabalah) I think two more wires should be added to the eight that are already there. The ship would then be equipped to explore the Universe from Somethingness to Nothingness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQe0Qg1Ne8o

EARTH HARP player, William Close, has understood the importance of the way his instrument is presented in his shows. Unfortunately, he has turned the experience of the instrument into a Las Vegas style "Cirque Du Soleil" extravaganza with lasers, flashing lights, half naked female acrobats flying in on wires, singers, dancers and you-name-it. Somehow, for me, the Earth Harp gets lost in the tsunami of FX that are presumably there to enhance the very instrument that they overpower.

On the other hand, as someone once said: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."