Lighting up the diamond speaker! :)

I think the point is not that you shouldn't decorate your gear, but that you should be aware of the image you project. For the "serious" musician (a term I am not in favour of, other than for describing po-faced old fuddy-duddies) playing in an orchestral context, then yes, probably evening dress and a pristine instrument is the way to go.

And yes, if you stick a candelabra on your instrument, the audience is going to anticipate Liberace.

For what I do the industrial/DIY ethic dictates an oh-so-carefully-cultured function-over-form look with hulking great visually mismatched amps and a beat-up theremin with gaffer tape and scratches. One has to pay so much attention to looking like you just don't care. ;-)

A "serious" musician is someone for whom creating music is as important as eating and breathing. 

This person could be the first oboe player with the Berlin Philharmonic, or a kid in the slums of Rio playing a guitar made from an empty gasoline can.

These are the people who, as Clara Rockmore said, 'have music in their souls'.

"First, have music in your soul. If you have that, you will find a way to do it."

So, ok, I guess decorating a theremin speaker, and theremin like this would be just a bit too much then. Eh?

I think of the "christmas tree syndrome" when you cannot see the tree undermeath because of all the ornaments on it, that's when it has gone too far :)

Indeed. LOL :)

Thomas, that truck is not "too much" if you're in India. If you take your theremin to Bollywood you'll be a big hit if you make the same kind of statement with your speaker.

Having lived in India, I couldn't help but be reminded of the way Indians like to dress up their elephants for festivals and special occasions.

Coalport, I like your definition of a serious musician. I just wish I didn't see it used as a "no true Scotsman" type put-down on the websites I visit quite so often.

(e.g. Synthtopia, where one is regularly assured in the comments that no serious musician would want to use any of the "toy instruments" often paraded there. I have met enough serious musicians (by your definition) to know that not to be the case. What I suspect they mean is "I do not consider the sounds this device makes to be musical and hence the people who use them are not musicians", which is a matter of opinion.)

@thomas/coalport:  LOVE the decorated truck/elephants...People go over the top decorating things they love...so in that sense, tacky decor can be a metric for how much someone loves something...Even tacky expression of love is a good thing, in my mind.

@coalport: I am totally about tolerance for others' beliefs. I like the saying "I will fight to the death for your right to your WRONG opinion", though I'm not sure who I stole it from.  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.  They live for conformity, and are uneasy with anyone who steps outside of what they view as "normal".  I'm saying that people who take up the theremin are by nature a bit non-conformist, and therefore automatically somewhat suspect with those who are uneasy with anything that strays from prevailing shared views of proper conservative behavior.

This being said, I think I will not personally decorate my rig much at this time, because I don't want to create any visual barriers that might keep me from getting to play with as diverse a group of musicians a possible.  It's already hard enough trying to get my friends to let me sit in with them....

@mollydad: That's why I designed my speaker so I can change it's appearance as needed. The frilly corners are removable, and the big holo-film and sequen cloth covered soundboard can be overlayed with any one of several genre approriate cover plates. However, I am desinging less grandiose, and more portable speakers that will also use swapable covers over the soundboards. Check out Amazon for 20" PVC ceiling tiles to see what I mean. They also have 24" versions,  few of which I have, but can't use until I build the portable speakers.

I love Indian style flamboyancy and excess is necessary for Christmas trees. :-)