AETHERPHON, global theremin family

Hi Susi

Just to follow Gordon's message with my perspective on his idea...

> ... I probably know about 10 active theremin people in UK. BUT - we
> really DON'T need another theremin portal!!  There's no need to re-invent
> the wheel. Richard's www.theremin.info is already a portal for theremins
> coming out of the UK - you can post your gigs & news stories and it's REALLY
> GOOD so use it!

I really like .info too - it has a lot of good content, with a totally 
different feel to ThereminWorld.com or Thereminvox.com, however it is 
not updated as regularly as TW, and still has a Worldwide remit.  I 
would still recommend anyone using the new site to put their details on 
the big portals as well.  What Gordon has been working on (with me in 
support) is definitely NOT another portal, but a focused resource for UK 
thereminists and those who enjoy the sound of the theremin.  It has only 
2 functions.

1. It will be a place to find out about thereminists based in the UK. 
Yes, such profile pages do exist on the various portals, but they cover 
the whole World, are not always easy to navigate, and most are 
incomplete (people have profiles on .info, but not TW and vice-versa). 
The profiles will be fully editable by the artists, so they can include 
links to music samples, their websites, etc. and are ideal for those who 
have no website of their own.

2. It will be a place to locate theremin performances (or meetings, 
workshops, etc.) within the UK.  Again - this can be done on existing 
portals, but the same issues apply - you have to search through gigs 
Worldwide to find anything, and many simply are not posted.  While it is 
great that several artists are currently touring with theremins, most of 
us simply cannot afford to fly to the US or Japan to attend gigs.  I 
know that the chances of me seeing a theremin performance of any kind in 
NE Scotland are remote in the extreme (the Edinburgh Fringe being the 
most likely exception to this), but if I have a list of gigs in the UK, 
then there is a chance I can pick one up elsewhere on a work or holiday 
trip.

This will hopefully end up as a useful, localised resource which will 
complement the existing portals, and our welcome message aims to make 
that clear, linking to the main portals for more general information 
about theremin playing.  It has news feeds and e-mail updates so that 
people can be automatically informed of new gigs without even having to 
visit the site regularly.


> Oscar in Spain has set up a 'theremin meet up' which is interesting - I
> would suggest the best place to meet up is just to go to one anothers gigs
> and meet there!  There were 7 thereminists at Lydia Kavina's last London
> gig, and 5 at Masami Takeuchi's.  Pamelia Kurstin is coming to London in
> September - let's meet up there!
> http://www.myspace.com/pameliakurstin

Absolutely right - a great opportunity to meet others AND listen to live 
theremin.  Also an example of the benefits of this idea - I was not 
aware of the Takeuchi performance until a couple of days before, by 
which time it was too late for me to re-schedule things to be able to 
attend.  Similarly, I don't tend to visit individual thereminists' 
websites on a regular basis, so was unaware Pamelia was visiting these 
shores.  Thank you for the advance warning - I don't want to miss this!

It may well amount to nothing, but it feels right and we've got to at 
least give it a try.  I do hope you'll join us!


Slainte


Jonathan (J_D)