Sitting Vs Standing

LOL,

I think that the big metal music stand compressed her pitch field... :-D

Judging from her first few moments, it seemed to interfere with her bra strap as well.

There is an interesting comparison between singing and playing the theremin when it comes to innate, in-born, natural ability. Here is a vid of a boy soprano singing the same aria as the unfortunate woman in the previous video.

More Mozart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9ijwfRTv0o)

Admittedly, the boy does not have the polish and technique of a trained professional, but what you see (and hear) is the natural gift in all its astonishing glory.

With time and application almost anyone, regardless of whether they possess any natural musical gifts, can learn to play a traditional instrument. This is not true of singing and I don't think it's true of theremin playing either - at least not to the same degree.

Curiously, the theremin and the human voice are also the only two musical instruments for which there is no outside body contact whatsoever. The act of playing is a solo dance. With the theremin, it is a dance of the muscles of the arms and hands, with the human voice, a dance of the muscles of the vocal cords.

Yes, anyone can be trained but I think the average natural ceiling, past which the student will not be able to rise, is rather low for both the theremin and the voice. The good news is that the individual probably won't recognize this and will march blithely and blissfully on, unaware that it has been GAME OVER for quite some time. I know people who have been studying voice for years, and they love it more than anything else they do, but they will never sing at anything even remotely approaching a professional level. Ditto for the theremin.

The dream, however, lives on, and this is a beautiful and positive thing. You should never tell anyone that the GAME OVER sign is flashing because it is crushing and debilitating and serves no purpose whatsoever. I did it one time many years ago, and I WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN.

What people who are self-taught do not get are MUSIC lessons. A child who is sent to a violin or piano teacher will not only learn technique from the instructor but will learn music and sensitivity as well. The student will learn to listen, and how to add (hopefully with taste and restraint) musical expression and emotion to his or her playing.

Self-taught adults who have not learned this on another instrument are going to be at a disadvantage. Perhaps this is one reason why Clara Rockmore insisted that the theremin should never be anyone's first instrument.

After having heard this boy from the TKC (Tölzer Knabenchor) I tend to agree with the current opinion in early baroque times, that boys mostly have more beautiful and natural voices than trained adults...

Compare these both recordings of the 2nd mvt. of Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, in my opinion one of the most beautiful pieces he wrote:

This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCOBWxUZbmA) is a recording where the boy's singing is very natural although he seems a bit nervous during the first 30 - 40 seconds.

This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjJsqT1YAuY) is a recording with a professional countertenor, but after comparing you'll understand why Bernstein wrote that it should be sung by a boy. In my eyes this melismatic trio between soloist and choir sopranos and altos requires a natural voice.

[i]Curiously, the theremin and the human voice are also the only two musical instruments for which there is no outside body contact whatsoever.[/i]

Try telling that to the guys at the World Whistling Championships (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK1DCWrW02s). Or even this talented man (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlfgPCmOO7w). :)

Anyway does a theremins electromagnetic field not touch your hands when you play? Like when sunlight touches your skin but without the correct receptors on your hand to sense it?

I am of course being a pedantic ass :)

Not to mention the malodorous trumpet (http://www.mrmethane.com/).

Sometimes I am so proud to be British. :-(



On a more aromatic note, there is a point to getting up close to the antenna for high notes - it spreads out the pitch field: for the precision thereminist it means they are more likely to hit a note precisely, for the experimental thereminist it gives access to smaller microtonal intervals, and for both it makes for a tighter vibrato.

LOL

Brits got talent...

I wonder how much garlic soup will be needed in order to perform Rachmaninov's Vocalise...

[i]"Admittedly, the boy does not have the polish and technique of a trained professional, but what you see (and hear) is the natural gift in all its astonishing glory."[/i]

Indeed, a real natural gift.

As for the young woman that massacres the aria, she just doesn't get it, really.

The young boy just stand there and sings -- he is very focused on the music.

The woman is a bad actor trying to play the role of an opera singer. I'm amazed the orchestra could get through this with a straight face.

Lets take these a little out of context..

"Sometimes I am so proud to be British. :-("

"Brits got talent...
I wonder how much garlic soup will be needed in order to perform Rachmaninov's Vocalise..."

[more likely to be beenz.. beenz means fartz..]

"Admittedly, the boy does not have the polish and technique of a trained professional, but what you see (and hear) is the natural gift in all its astonishing glory."

[i]"Anyway does a theremins electromagnetic field not touch your hands when you play? Like when sunlight touches your skin but without the correct receptors on your hand to sense it?
I am of course being a pedantic ass :)" - Neeps [/i]

By comparison to me, you are anti-pedanti.. ;-)

As I understand it (and when it comes to magnetic, electromagnetic and electrostatic fields, "understanding" is impeded by a LOT of physics that is still being argued over), nothing actually 'touches' anything.. The field is not 'radiated' in the way that sunlight is.. There are EM components which are radiated in this way.. but these are miniscule and of no relevance with regard to the operation of the Theremin..

What the player is doing (I think) effectively a 'field stretching' process, with no 'transfer' of anything..

[b] -- Technical gobbldygook follows.. ;-) ... [/b]
[i]
Think about a capacitor with a perfect dielectric.. no current ever flows 'through' this capacitor.. it only appears to (when subjected to an AC signal) because the plates are charged and discharged, facilitating current flow IN THE CIRCUIT CONNECTED TO THE CAPACITOR. If one could examine the charge distribution within the dielectric, I think one would find a potential gradient (I have never been able to find a perfect dielectric, but this certainly works for air..) Assume one plate is at 100V, and the other is at 0V, and the distance between plates is 1m.. with a good electrostatic voltmeter (which itself will interfere with the readings) one will find the gradient goes from 100V neer the charged plate, and reduce in a non-linear manner to about 1V at 50cm and continue to reduce to a few uV at about 10cm from the grounded plate... These results are probably wildly innacurate (they are extrapolated from experiments I did years ago, examining the field from earthe electrosphere).. but the principle is, I believe, true - and is not the result of current flow due to resistive components (this gradient has been observed in a vaccum I believe).

Now.. Back to Theremins.. By moving one 'plate' (your hand) you are stretching the field (changing the capacitance).. If you could move your hand fast enough (within the time of one half cycle of the waveform on the antenna - i.e. a microsecond or less) the voltage on the antenna would be forced to change instantaniously to keep the maths in balance.. [a given charge on the plate of a capacitor, if the capacitance decreases, must result in an increase in the voltage on the plate of said capacitor, and the inverse is also true, so that Q=CV is maintained if Q is unchanged but C is changed] However, at the speeds we move, we dont need to worry about this.. What we do is simply to change the capacitance of the "antenna" plate with respect to ground (us).. and everything else takes care of itself - no current actually flows to us, even though there will be miniscule current flow between our hand and ground as a result of the capacitive coupling.. this current is not (ooohh.. my head is starting to hurt now..) 'coming' from the antenna.. [/i]

----

What I am saying, I suppose, is that I think you are wrong.. Ain't no sunshine from the antenna ;-)

Being pedantic can be great fun.. if you are a geek like me, LOL