Hello Everyone, I'm The New Guy

I wouldn't say that what Peter posted is a "shellacking".  His comments about Vietnam referred to the attitudes of WWII veterans to vietnam vets, not his own. 

When Peter talks about the theremin, my advice is to sit up and take notice.  He is one of the best players in the world today.  Hearing his CD's gave me an idea of how beautifully the instrument could be played and have given me a target to aim at.  You should know that Peter does not grade on a curve - if you are not very good he will call you on it.  I have chuckled for years about something he once said: "A higher than average number of thereminists have a lower than average sense of pitch."  I guess I'm in the majority!

@Peter - you should make your CD's available again!

Kerry, you didn't seem to be asking a question in your initial post so I took it more as a "hi y'all" kind of thing.  And I probably post too much here as it is (and here I go again...).

Re. pets: We got our last cat Maggie from a local shelter.  Kittens tend to get adopted out quickly, so we feel rather duty-bound to adopt the forgotten older cats left behind.  Maggie was clearly heavily teased with hands and feet, it took a long time to get her to trust those parts of our anatomy, which she seemed to think were independent creatures put on this earth to torment her.  There's something exceedingly rewarding about helping an animal open up to affection after it has been mistreated - it's a long-term project but with endless payback of simple, selfless affection. My family has always had cats, and I've always bonded with them, but I've never been so emotionally close to a cat (or perhaps any living thing) as Maggie.  She stroked out a couple of years ago and it took months before I could see my way out of heavy depression.  Makes me fearful to get another, even though too many are in desperate need of a good home.

A very thoughtful Indian friend in grad school once wondered aloud if having pets was such a natural or good thing to do (particularly from the pet's perspective).  I'd never given it a second thought, but I certainly have ever since he mentioned it.  I wish the pet "industry" weren't such a problem with breeders and such.  And, even though children are naturally attracted to and fascinated with animals, adults shouldn't indulge them until they are old enough to be long-term truly responsible for, and deeply caring of, another life.

I know it's all too easy to anthropomorphise animals, but intelligent highly social animals seem to have many of the same social abilities and skills - a comparable social IQ as it were - that humans possess.

Well for me it was a shellacking. First to go technical about the war or police action, personally I have interchanged these terms for years and in fact right or wrong Vietnam War is much more common. One thing that both expressions share is WIA and KIA and that's what's important. Second he refers to good times in Saigon with not much content or context. Was he actually in Vietnam and if so how so? I joined the USMC at 17( Didn't want to be drafted and my parents co-signed) and was in bootcamp a few months later in June 1967. I joined for the same reason as most of WWII vets, to be a patriot and fight for my country and to risk life and limb same as they, whether calling it war or police action, I'm young and naive what did I know. I spent most of 1968 in the Mts and jungles of Vietnam, first just under the DMZ at places like Quang-Tri, Dong Ha, The Rockpile, Con Thien(A-3) and Camp Carrol. The second half of my tour was south of DaNang, An Hoa, Hoi An, "Leatherneck Square", "Dodge City" and "Arizona Territory". 1968 was the bloodiest year in Vietnam and I was almost killed 7 times and I was no hero, I was just doing the best I could and trying not to be stupid. I lost my squad leader and several others while in Vietnam. I was one of the lucky ones to get back home in one piece. I am so lucky to be here at all. 1967 off the coast of Monterey almost drown in riptide. 1968: Walking thru rice paddy spread out and zig-zag formation when the Marine sloshing ahead of me(and I am inline with) steps on a "Bouncing Betty" which blows right up his flac jacket, he died on the chopper. I was out on LP(Listening Post) with 2 other Marines and a radio, we were hit by one enemy and the Marine lying next to me was shot in the leg, the spray of fire had missed myself and the other Marine. Just one more example in the 7, we were high in the mts and myself and another Marine were digging a fighting-hole(Foxhole) when we were hit with artillery fire. I was knocked on my butt, ears ringing and mild concussion and so were 22 others. Unfortunately my squad leader and another Marine were killed. 1970s, 2 car wrecks(I was passenger in both) one of which the brand new Z-28 hit 2 trees, the first tree knocked us both out of the vehicle(We were not wearing seatbelts) and the second tree made the Z-28 almost unrecognizable as a vehicle, police officer said that if we hadn't been thrown from the vehicle we would be dead. My last luck was around 1981 where I was at a party with the "OR" people from work up from the beach near Santa Cruz, Ca. We arrived at the campfire late and it was already dark so no real orientation of surroundings. We listened to music and drank beer, lots of it. I had to pee so I left the campfire area and wandered aways in the dark....ahhhh! I had fallen off a cliff about 2 stories worth. I landed on jagged rocks and nary a scratch. As I checked my body for breaks(I hadn't experienced pain) first my neck and my back, I started to laugh hysterically as I found no breaks or blood. For that moment I was the luckiest person on earth.

Well now y'all know why I have such an intense appreciation of life. Still I never would have made it through 35 years without my Hero and Soulmate, Rockie. It has not been easy the last 14 months but I have survived. Since I am alone I needed something besides TV and the Internet, so after watching a 2007 video of Tim Blake(Hawkwind) playing the Theremin quite extensively thu out the video, I was hooked. 2 days of investigation and I bought a Moog Plus Theremin(Bundle) and a MoogerFooger 101 LF. Yes I want to learn the Theremin and like gee maybe even get a little skilled down the road, but my main thing is to be excited and passionate again and most importantly, have a lot of fun along the way. I guess you might call it "Theremin Therapy". Sayonara. Kerry.

Dewster: Well I thank you for taking your time to post once again, I do appreciate it most certainly. I am sorry for your loss of your beloved cat "Maggie" unfortunately you too have had to deal with a great loss and a broken heart. However you are a hero because you rescued that animal.

Well you are correct in the fact I had asked no questions when I posted this particular thread, and you are also correct that my post prior to this thread was just one of introduction, a "Hi y'all" per say. After seeing 60 views and no reply I decided to post the post that started most of this discussion. I just found it hard to believe that no one had even said "Hi". It was never my purpose to *iss people off and I was posting in general, heck I didn't even know anyone yet so how could it be personal? "Strangers In A Strange Land"( Robert Heinlen).

Finally, as for a question pertaining to Theremin. I will receive my Moog Etherwave Plus Bundle(Moog15, Bag, 2 cables, stand) and my MoogerFooger 101 LF this coming Monday April 3rd 2017 so in reality I'm just doing a "Scouting Mission". I already have a MicroKorg(Totally unskilled with it but fun) and I was wondering what options I might have with it. Please note that I will not try either the MF101 or the MicroKorg until I have learned the basic set-up and play of the Theremin. Just like in the USMC, "One hill at a time".

Well thanks Dewster for taking your time to say "Hi". Sayonara. Kerry. PS: How does one post a picture to a post?  I tried but with no luck, course I tried with iPad, but hey my iPad worked with the Avatar. Thanks.

“Shellacking”! Now there’s a word I haven’t heard in years. Kerry, it was not my intention to give you a shellacking - only a light coat of varnish.

I lived for a time in India in the mid 1960’s (studying classical Indian music with the late sitar virtuoso, Ravi Shankar) and visited Saigon several times during that period. I was not involved in the conflict (I am not an American citizen) but I knew many who were. For me, the decade of the 60’s was party time and I quickly discovered that I could easily subsidize my travels and activities by writing cheap pop songs.

“Extraordinary how potent cheap music is.”  Noel Coward, PRIVATE LIVES

As far as the theremin is concerned, it is quite a challenge. As a general rule, those who find the instrument to be most rewarding are those who love music but who have little aptitude for it, and who possess a poor sense of pitch. This shouldn’t be surprising since, for this particular group, the instrument is everything that RCA promised back in 1929:

“Anyone can begin to play it on the same footing with the finest cellist, pianist, or other instrumentalist in the world. It is destined to be the universal musical instrument; people will play it as easily and naturally as they now write or walk.”

Success with an instrument - any instrument - can only be judged by the subjective satisfaction one gets from it and not by the quality of one’s playing. Music is a rewarding and wonderfully healing activity for anyone suffering from depression or, in your case, mild PTSD (which has probably been exacerbated by the loss of your buddy, Rockie).

I think the theremin will allow you to grow some feathers and FLY! ✈️😀

coalport: Well I want to thank you sir for your response post, believe me when I say, "Make my day"(Clint Eastwood) you have done this for this "Grasshopper". I must say you had a far different experience in South-East Asia than I. I must tell you that my reasons for joining the USMC in 1967 were a few. First I was 17 and soon would be elgible for the draft, you know ya get that letter from Uncle Sam. I did not want to be drafted and be forced to join one of the military branches, I thought if I had to go, I wanted it to be my decision and at least be able to join the USMC like my brother had just two years prior. I also was a bit of a wild child, had my hair too long, did a fair amount of minor drinking, and came home late far too many times. I really felt I needed more structure and discipline in my young life and I had seen my mom cry one too many times. My dad was a factory worker and while I have an above average IQ, I certainly wasn't scholarship material and was in great health, so was prime time for draft. College education would be possible as one of the perks in joining the USMC, so if I survived Vietnam I could go to college. Finally, I loved adventure and I loved nature, the jungle, mountains(Northern Illinois had neither) and exotic animals, and Vietnam had them all. "Ain't life grand"(Bonnie and Clyde).

    Now for the music and my appreciation thereof. I grew up with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and I loved both groups(I was 12) these were my first groups that I was serious about. It wasn't until my return from Vietnam(1969) that I heard a synthesizer for the first time. The group was Uriah Heep, especially the songs "Gypsy" and "July Morning". I also started liking Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, and Hawkwind shortly thereafter. My first major concert experience was after I had returned from Vietnam and in the summer of 1969 some friends invited me to go to Chicago(90 miles away) to see a concert, it was Santana who played just before Led Zepplin, each playing from their first albums. I was also invited by friends to go to "Woodstock" but I turned down because I had just gotten my Honorable Discharge from the USMC and I just wanted to stay at my parents house, eat steak, drink beer and watch TV, and hey, no "Booby-Traps", "Incoming", or people shooting at you. 

My appreciation of music is a very wide spectrum. I mostly like ROCK, specifically, Hard Rock, Space Rock, Electric Blues Rock, and Country Rock. However I also like classical(Bach, Shostakovich, Beethoven) and yes I like Ravi Shankar(2 albums). I also have 2 albums and 2 concerts(Full and DVD) by a group from China the "Twelve Girls Band". They play a very unique form of music blending both modern with ancient and play mostly ancient Chinese instruments, but there are modern instruments as well, like electric guitar and bass. One of their concerts takes place on a very large barge on some River with the nightscape of the city of Shang-Hi as the group's background. What a fantastic concert. I also have the DVD concert where the group performs at Budokan.

  Well I guess that's enough about where I'm coming from. I am glad that I hadn't made an enemy before I even started here, especially one whose peers have spoken so highly of. So, great to meet you coalport and I hope that you might give this "Grasshopper" further enlightenment down the road. Sayonara. Kerry.

Grasshopper, the secret of leaving no footprint on the rice paper scroll is the same as the secret of playing the theremin. SPACE CONTROL. No physical contact.

Well a lot has happened in the last 24 hours. I tried my Theremin and I liked it but... I had a change of mind for a couple of reasons. Standing a whole lot and useing both my hands and arms, and having to learn something so very strange. I also had to deal with the MF 101 and hook-up etc. I was checking out the Moog 37 and it has a whole bunch of magic in one package. I don't have to stand up to play at all and my left hand(index and mid-finger only 50% movement/use) can handle switches, knobs, and buttons(especially sitting down) in a more relaxed fashion. I had to act before April 28th to send my stuff back for full re-embursement. I bought the 37 and am excited. I usually never return anything especially expensive stuff, but I sincerely feel it will be better for me in the short and the long run, I mean hey, I'm sixty-seven and not getting any younger. Kerry.

Hi cyberghost, it is not necessary to stand while playing the theremin and many very good players prefer to sit (usually on a drummer’s stool), but standing or sitting the theremin is still the most difficult instrument ever invented. You really have to be fully committed to learning it if you want to get anywhere. You are not the only person who has had second thoughts after spending a couple of days with the instrument.

The Moog 37 is a great little synth. Good luck with it - and HAVE FUN!

Well thanks a lot Coalport you are a "Stand-Up Guy". I hope that you and others here that have responded don't mind if I hang around this site even tho I am "Thereminless" as you all are very, very smart about all things music and electronic and I really value and respect your knowledge and insight into the "Crazy World Of Moog". Thank you all so very much. Kerry.