On the vein of using your own accompaniment for recording, I've attempted 4 part theremin harmony.

Be warned... not all of the notes are in tune with each other!!

Posted with sincere apologies to Austria.

http://soundcloud.com/foreversonic/austria-theremin

Coalport,

Really? People record themselves playing along the side of Clara Rockmore? Now that's ballsy. Or completely ridiculous. Wow... That baffles me,

foreversonic, your sincere apologies should be directed to Germany. Austria-Hungary is not participating in Olympics about 100 years:-)

foreversonic, your sincere apologies should be directed to Germany. Austria-Hungary is not participating in Olympics about 100 years:-)

Hehe! LOL! No problem ;-) Never mind as Jason said on the main page that you also may use anthems from countries which aren't involved in the Olympic Games ... Whatever eh? ;-)

Here's another one which I just shall post for fun 'cause I think it's actually too bad for using as I played this Israelian national anthem just 9 months after I "touched" the theremin for the first time :p

http://youtu.be/ZdHC54cSblE

"Really? People record themselves playing along the side of Clara Rockmore? Now that's ballsy. Or completely ridiculous. Wow... That baffles me" - Amey

It doesnt baffle me! ;-) At the Festival hall when I had my theremins being used by people who had never played before, there was often background music and videos..

The number of times that I saw people "playing along" (LOL) with Clara, convinced that they were in key and sounded great - well, I never counted - but it must be dozens.. Some of these "players" were varying semitones off key.

But the point is that they were enjoying themselves - There is a great deal of pleasure to be obtained by being completely deluded! ;-) People want to play, they want to play "well" - but (like with most things) only the few who have the required basic ability to determine pitch accurately, and the dedication to master the instrument, will ever play play in a way that isnt unbearable to those who can are aware of pitch, let alone well..

And here is where the human delusional mechanisms come to the rescue! - They can sing like their favorite vocalist, they can play violin or theremin like a great - They can get a buzz from their achievements and glory in their intrinsic skills and genius..

And why not !? IMO, it is only when these people go public and declare / present themselves as something which, in reality, most can see / hear that theyre not, that criticizing their performance is in any way justified - Also, of course, there are those who present for the sake of constructive criticism, who benefit and improve as a result of this..

But these people are comparatively few, IMO.

Fred.

Ps - How long are these olympics running ? When do we vote ? Who presents the golden theremin, and where? ;-)

Fred wrote: And here is where the human delusional mechanisms come to the rescue! - They can sing like their favorite vocalist, they can play violin or theremin like a great - They can get a buzz from their achievements and glory in their intrinsic skills and genius..

This is why I believe the theremin attracts people with a below average sense of pitch. As I have often pointed out, for these individuals the old RCA promise that the theremin is the easiest of all instruments to play, IS TRUE.

One RCA brochure proudly announced: "Anyone can begin to play it on the same footing with the finest cellist or pianist or other instrumentalist in the world! It is the easiest of all instruments to play. A child...an elderly lady....a skilled musician.....a blind man.....all can learn to play this incredible instrument with exactly the same facility."

I don't regard this as a bad thing. On the contrary, I think it is wonderful that an instrument exists that can bring genuine satisfaction to those who love music but are themselves unmusical. The problems arise when they go public and think everyone ought to enjoy listening to their music as much as they enjoy making it.

A fellow that worked for Polygram (before it disappeared like all the others) told me that they got this demo in and all it was was some guy singing along with a Mick Jagger record.

As for this exercise, I was going to have a crack at it but have just been through a humbling experience. In the few weeks I've had the thing I haven't had much time on it as I have other projects that I need to get finished shortly. So I've set it up in a room that I go through a lot, just left it switched on all day and occasionally when I go past I run some scales and intervals on it. I thought it would be good for a 16 bar section in this recording I am working on so I set it up in the studio. 12 takes later and some pitch correction in a couple of places I got the sort of thing that I was looking for.

So suffice to say I'm not ready to record Advance Australia Fair yet without using a considerable amount of cheating. Maybe I will get one up for the Rio Olympics?

IHS ---- Dana

I lost count Dear Dana... It's all down the sewer.. ;)