Shinier Etherwave knobs

It's funny ... When I came to the theremin I read by so many that it is the most difficult instrument to play. I kinda giggled internally and told myself "How difficult can it be?"

I am being honest here, but I didn't think it was THAT difficult to play. I don't consider myself a master, but in less than 6 months, I was able to play in tune and with dynamics several pieces suited to the theremin. I think the problem arise when newbies take on the theremin and try to play things that is just not playable on this instrument. I do dedicate a fair amount of my free time (about 60 to 90 mins a day) to it and I am enjoying the journey. I have had people asking me if I practice 10 hours a day to "get this good this fast". The "this good this fast" is debatable, but to me, my own perception is that I feel that I am slow as a slug, but to other, I "mastered" the instrument in a record amount of time ( I am not even there yet! ). I think one thing thathas helped me to get "it" quicker is that it seems that I have a good 3D visuals in my mind. It is hard to explain, but when I play and i am in the zone, I can "see" myself playing the theremin's invisible strings!

"I am being honest here, but I didn't think it was THAT difficult to play" - Amey

Some people just take to it like a wooden duck to water ;-) .. Your "Quack" was typical of these type of people! I noticed at the Royal Festival Hall that most people who played recognisable tunes gave an occasional "Quack"! !

(only joking.. ;-)

Now - To get back on topic.. Shinier Knobs.. On the first posting in this thread, Jason said: "and discovered the scratch was actually in a thin protective plastic film covering the chrome. ... With the plastic gone, the knobs shone like new and the instrument looks like it has a new life!"

When I was looking for data to repair my oscilloscope, I found this photo of the same model 'scope - 2 years old and out of warranty, which was non-functional - The instrument had been stripped down and photographed internally and externally in the hope that someone could see the problem..

This is the picture which made me laugh (and relates to the subject of this thread):

For two years this scope has been used without the protective plastic being removed! - I imagine that in order to see the traces through that blur (let alone the data readouts and menus) the brightness would need to be cranked right up to maximum...

This gets me wondering - How many watches, game consoles, mobile phones, TV's etc etc are being used with the protective films still in place?

Is there a marketing opertunity here.. "Our protective film lasts twice as long as our closest competitors film, and suffers less discoloration" or "Our protective film is bonded with strong cyanide adhesive, so you cannot accidentally peel it off.."

"Keep your knobs dull - When your theremin has sung its last, you can then peel the film off, and get a higher price for it  when selling it on Ebay as untested, because it will look new"..

Fred.

"I am being honest here, but I didn't think it was THAT difficult to play." - Amey

For me, it's very difficult, but not the most difficult.  

OK, I'm not really a good theremin player, but... I have a dan bau, and I haven't even managed to consistently get clean notes from it. I'm not talking about a melody, just getting a note that sounds good. This was much easier on the theremin.

I also have a keyboard and have never been able to play anything more than simple accompaniments. With the theremin, I may play somewhat off key, but at least I can play the whole main part of a piece. However, I confess that this is just because the theremin held my interest much more than the keyboard. After 15 minutes fiddling with the keyboard, I tend to put it away and get the theremin :) So I guess it isn't more difficult, it's just that I don't give it enough time.

But with the dan bau, I was genuinely interested (I love how it sounds when it's played well), and I did find it more difficult than the theremin.

I guess maybe the theremin is the most difficult when it comes to getting to a really professional level, but not when it comes to getting to a "at least the neighbors no longer think I'm torturing some cat" level.

The great classical violinist, Itzhak Perlman, once said in an interview that the difficulty of any musical instrument can be judged by how long it takes the average person to be able to play a melody on it accurately and consistently.

Please note he said the "average person", not someone who is already skilled as a professional singer or instrumentalist. 

I found the theremin relatively easy, and the Vietnamese "dan bau" fairly simple and straightforward but was stymied by the Armenian "duduk".

Go figga.....

"I guess maybe the theremin is the most difficult when it comes to getting to a really professional level, but not when it comes to getting to a "at least the neighbors no longer think I'm torturing some cat" level." - AlKhwarizmi

I am happy to say that I was never at the "torturing some cat" level" - I always found it possible (perhaps even easy)  to "play" the theremin - But almost impossible to improve my playing ability to any noticable degree -  particularly if I try to use the volume hand.

Some instruments dont do anything until one masters the most difficult first step - The digeridoo stumped me for a while, just couldnt get the damn thing to resonate - then I tried a "real" bloodwood? digeridoo and it was easy, and after that I was able to get my cheap one to resonate.. Then mastering circular breathing was the next big deal.. I can do it (or could - doubt I could do it now without passing out.. ;-) but would not say I have "mastered" it - However, I can "play" almost any piece of tubing I lay my hands on! - Have a pack of plastic pipes tuned to different lengths - a sort of multi-pitched digeridoo.. (and one wonderful instrument - a long piece of plastic electrical trunking which has a clip-on covering - This can be played in a manner similar to the digeridoo, but sliding ones hand along the length changes the resonance of the vibrating cover - one gets 3 tones, all inharmonious with each other, and it is truly raucous! ;-)

To me the most difficult instrument I have ever tried to play is certainly the guitar! The simplest is any keyboard, followed by Djembi, digeridoo, then theremin, then penny whistles and recorders, then steel drums.. But the only ones I have got above level 0 on are keyboards, Djembi and digeridoo.. Probably most "pro" on the Djembi - I had a years lessons from the master drummer Kanyinda Coco Makala, and played with Megoma on one concert.. I played Digeridoo with Kangaroo Moon on one concert, but they were stoned and just being nice to me.. ;-)

Fred.

That's interesting!

I'm exactly the opposite.

For me, guitar is as easy as breathing, but I sound like a misfiring Harley when I try to play drums.

I am profoundly suspicious of people's self-appraisals (including my own) when it comes to singing, or how good they are on a particular musical instrument.

I'm not pointing the finger at any specific person, it's just a general thing. We tend to hear ourselves as we would LIKE to be, rather than as we are. This is hardly surprising given the profound differences in musical perception (rhythm, pitch, etc.) between individuals. 

We have all seen those talent show "worst audition ever" videos where people get up and perform unbelievably badly for judges who sit there and try not to laugh. Those are extreme cases, but there's a little of those people in all of us (and a lot of those people in some of us).

This is why I have always warned theremin newbies NEVER to take any advice on how to play the instrument from anyone whose playing they have never heard. The internet is the great leveler, and has made experts of everybody. Someone who knows nothing at all about a particular subject can post his or her thoughts right next to the comments of a genuine expert with years of experience. It's all nameless and faceless and everyone's equal. That is what is both wonderful and dangerous about the internet.

I am reminded of the high school student several years ago who innocently submitted an essay to her history teacher proving that the Nazi holocaust never happened. And where did she get her "historical" information? It wasn't from the Encyclopedia Britannica!

When it comes to the theremin, people do not even agree on precisely what constitutes a theremin. My old THOMPSON CYCLOPEDIA OF MUSIC AND MUSICIANS (to which Nicolas Slonimsky, of ELECTRONIC ODYSSEY, was a major contributor) defines a theremin as "an electronic, heterodyne instrument in which volume and pitch are controlled by the proximity of the hands of the player to two antennas."

That would seem like a pretty simple and straightforward definition of the instrument but the more modern definition is "any device capable of producing the spooky sounds associated with horror, suspense and science fiction films of the 1950's."

In other words, it's a theremin if you think it's a theremin. We can't get much more egalitarian than that now can we?

"For me, guitar is as easy as breathing, but I sound like a misfiring Harley when I try to play drums." - w0ttm

And thats interesting to me!

To me, the skills required to play a guitar are far greater than those required for a drum like the Djembi (which is played by the hands) - With the Djembi, rythm is the first requirement, followed by control of strike velocity and location on the drum which one strikes - then one gets to coordinating the hands so that dampings occur to impart more variations (decay, harmonics etc) - But its still not like one is playing a tune (although the masters can impart accurate pitch variations which at time sound like they are playing tuned percussion).

With a guitar, one requires the same degree of rythm coordination, there are 6 strings each of which require the correct fingering to play the required chord, there is requirement for dynamics and dampings etc to be controlled.. Nah - Give me a Djembi any day! ;-)  (I would love to play the guitar - Its one of the best instruments to be profficient in when one goes to festivals etc - portable and sociable.. My little reed keyboard aint nearly so much fun, you cannot sing or hold a conversation while blowing the darn things wind pipe.. Another reason I prefer the Djembi)

The instrument I really want to try is the Hang, but I need to win a lottery to do that (and even then there is no guarantee I could get one - They are produced by two individuals in a workshop in Germany, I think.. And one needs to submit a begging letter to them via paper post, explaining why you need one and should get one - I understand that for every hundered  requests, only about one Hang is supplied!) - One has a contract with the supplier that you will not sell your Hang, they will buy it back from you at its original price minus expenses if you decide you dont want it.. Some people do sell their Hangs, $17000 is a price one went for on Ebay!

(I have thought about buying a couple of steel satelite dishes or woks and trying to bash one together myself - but that thought only lasted a few minutes.. ;-)

Fred

Fred, make your own hang drum. I did it and it's EASY. The drum has a clear, bright sound and when it's amplified you can't tell it from the $17,000.00 model. One word of caution should you decide to try this. Get a NEW propane tank that has never had propane in it. Do not try to recycle an old tank because propane residue is explosive and that could be dangerous.

I love my hang drum and you can build as many as you want and tune them all differently.

Here's the webpage that shows you exactly how to do it.

 http://dennishavlena.com/for-webpage-lp-hang.htm

And here's a sample of what it sounds like (there are plenty of vids of these on YT but few people actually know what to do with it).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LYgxb5J9SI

......or just get yourself an old typewriter and play that.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2LJ1i7222c