Therelympics ~ post submissions here :)

@ Thomas

Whew!!

Thanks for posting for the USA.

Now I don't need to abuse everyone's ears with my version.

One of the most melodic national anthems is "KIMI GA YO" - the Japanese national anthem. Unlike many others, it does not have a military or marching band feel, and it would adapt beautifully to the theremin. It is also one of the shortest anthems in the world. 

Since western harmonies were not part of the traditional Japanese musical tradition, the German composer Franz Eckert who was head of the Japanese Imperial Navy Band (1879 - 1880) was given the task of orchestrating the theme.

The melody, for those of you who are interested in such things, is written on the "diatonic hexachord" - C D E G A B (a simple C scale minus the 'F'). There are no large interval jumps which makes it ideal for theremin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29FFHC2D12Q

Curiously, I have never experienced even the slightest glimmer of feelings of patriotism or nationalism. I honestly don't even know what these emotions are, although I see others apparently experiencing them all the time.

The notion that "we", as a nation (whatever nation that may be) are somehow better or superior to others, or that our country is more blessed, or more righteous, or more pure, or more loved by some particular deity or other, seems dangerously absurd.

Why is America the greatest country in the world?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55SEO9Cn9rs

German Anthem sent from Germany..:-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5FBxiD2l20&feature=plcp

All artistic considerations aside, personal likes or dislikes of loopers, Talking Machines, technical skill, etc. etc., Ravazul's anthem is totally original. It is all HER! And perhaps more importantly, it's all THEREMIN. 

....oh yeah.....let's not forget Joseph Haydn!

Personally, I would prefer to hear this than listen to someone play along over top of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

People who choose to play the more popular national anthems, like The Star Spangled Banner, have the advantage of being able to choose from a variety of commercially available karaoke tracks you can purchase on line, such as the spiritrax.com accompaniment used by Thomas Grillo. 

If you want to play the national anthem of Cameroon "CHANT DE RALLIEMENT" you're going to have to get creative!

For some reason, i suddenly feel that fingers are pointed at me. Sorry I used a crappy background track to record my anthem entry...

I guess I'll just get back to play the theremin and not bother with this forum... It is just a little too hostile for me. So you all won, I am finally bowing out. I am tired of feeling not accepted as a serious thereminist and being pushed back. So now there will be no one to go against the grain and mainly, no annoying female presence here on this board. Good riddance right?

It was nice to meet all of you guys, even on my short stay.

Wishing you all the best!

Amethyste

"For some reason, i suddenly feel that fingers are pointed at me. Sorry I used a crappy background track to record my anthem entry..." Amey

Amey - You are a potentially great artist, and I think that everyone here, without exception, feels this. For me, your leaving would be a great loss - I do not see any fingers pointing at you, except those pointing out the next theremin great.. To me, your submission is the only one so far worth listening to - not a criticism of the others, but yours, IMO, turned an anthem into an enjoyable piece of music.

Personally, I completely identify with Coalports " I have never experienced even the slightest glimmer of feelings of patriotism or nationalism. I honestly don't even know what these emotions are, although I see others apparently experiencing them all the time " - Its the kind of thing I could have said without any criticism at all pointed at those who do feel these things.

This "contest" actually did more for me musically than any other thread on TW - I actually dug out one of my prototype theremins and my Korg Karma, and was hoping to submit an entry -

My entry would be more controvertial probably than anything Coalport said - I was going to submit (if I managed to make it reasonably listenable ;-) an anti-national (or inter-national) anthem if you like - John Lennons "Imagine" -

Please dont leave!

IMO, there are some people who are absolutely essential to keep TW "Alive" - and YOU are one of them!

Fred.

 << Ps .. I think a reason there are so few submissions yet, may be due to the time it takes to prepare a submission - Those who "regularly" submit tracks to you-tube or other sites have an advantage of being ready and used to this process - others who dont do this often, and who play without recording what they play, have quite a lot of work to do to enter this "contest" -

Also, anthems are probably something people do not commonly play on the theremin - Some (most?) of us need a lot of time to practice a piece before we can post it without shame! There are those (like you) who have a gift and can play superbly a piece which would take someone like me months of daily practice before our (greatly inferior) rendition was at a level we felt we were able to submit..

Amey isn't going anywhere. She is addicted to the theremin and for theremin addicts there are only two places to be. THERE IS NO ESCAPE! (LOL)

She does tend to take things personally. She is incredibly sensitive...I dare say SUPERsensitive....but that is part of her personality and a winning part of her artistic style as well. She is a fine singer and a wonderful new and budding thereminist. Personally, I have been amazed at her progress and I have told her so (not that I am the arbiter of fine theremin playing....)

No fingers have been pointed at Amey, but I'm sure she feels terrible thinking that they have.

Curiously, this whole thread has not been about theremin playing at all. It has been about the choice of background tracks. Something that has been discussed many times in the past, both here in TW and on the Levnet.

...somebody needs a hug.......

"And perhaps more importantly, it's all THEREMIN" - Coalport

Here, I completely disagree with you - Even Clara was not "all theremin" - much of what she did had backing piano which enhanced her performance..

Personally, I like to have a lot going on in the music I listen to - There needs to be space for solo instruments at times, but I cannot think of a single piece of music which jumps up to my "top 100" which only uses one MONOPHONIC instrument to perform all parts (the Synthesiser excluded, because this effectively emulates multiple different instruments - For example Tomitas 'Pictures at an exhibition', which might just scrape into my top 100 list)

But, we all have our particular (and peculiar) tastes...

Fred.

Amethyste is a valuable asset to this community. It is my fervent hope that she does not leave Thereminworld. As her instructor, I can tell you that she has come a long way, in an even shorter time than it took for me to get where she is now.

This thread was started by her to serve as a placeholder for submissions to what was to have been bit of "just for fun" participation in honor of the Olympics. Not so much as an open invitation to discuss the merits of using melody free accompaniment, which has already been discussed in other threads repeatedly. That said, such tracks cost money which is pretty hard to come by these days, and we have to make do with what's available.

Also, I don't think it helped matters that I was touted by Thereminworld on FB as having submitted first when she had posted her submission the night before.

Fred wrote: Even Clara was not "all theremin" - much of what she did had backing piano which enhanced her performance..

Fred, you're absolutely right about what you said (above).

From a musical point of view, overdubbing multiple theremins in order to provide an accompaniment for another solo theremin is definitely not the way to go. It is, however, original and different. It was never my intention to pass judgment, or even comment, on the technical and musical aspects of people's anthem submissions.

The whole question as far as I was concerned, had to do with the choice of background tracks. 

One of the elements that makes Clara Rockmore's performances so unique and refreshing is that they were not only played to an accompaniment exquisitely crafted specifically for her style and interpretation, they were also LIVE. 

When Clara was asked point blank what it was that made her theremin playing unique she mentioned practice and "attention to detail", and then she added, ".....I also had the luck to be born the sister of the great Nadia Reisenberg."

Accompaniment is not just an annoying necessity that we must have in order to show the world what fabulous thereminists we are. Your accompaniment is half of the listening experience. Great artists are extremely picky about who accompanies them in concert and the accompanist, even though he or she is more or less in the background, must be as great an artist as the soloist.

If you haven't heard the late Gerald Moore's classic THE UNASHAMED ACCOMPANIST, it is on YouTube and it's definitely worth a listen. Moore was by far the most celebrated and sought-after accompanist of the 20th century concert stage. He refers to accompaniment as a "duet" between the soloist and the piano. (This is the first of six parts)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_U7R-iFbZQ