AETHERPHON, global theremin family

It might be a theremin on the current incarnation, but
I'm pretty certain the original version did not use 
a theremin-- I don't think that the BBC Radiophonic
Workshop had one, and my understanding from a book
(I don't have it at work) is that each note was individually
recorded and then edited together by Delia Derbyshire.

David Bohn

--- j.swails@... wrote:

From: Joseph Swails <j.swails@...>
To: aetherphon@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Aetherphon] Re:Hands Off 2009 - Big News
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:24:45 -0800


On Feb 25, 2009, at 2:01 AM, carvin knowles wrote:

> Whatup Joseph!
>
> Great Gig in the Sky was one of the tracks I performed at the HOB.  
> Love that song and it's perfectly suited for Theremin.
>
> Damn, you just gave away one of my secret weapons. Don't tell  
> anyone else!.

The Doctor Who theme is a real crowd pleaser too, especially since  
the new revival series. Besides "Good Vibrations" (which everyone  
thinks is a theremin but isn't.) it's the track most people identify  
with a theremin.




>
> --- On Tue, 2/24/09, Joseph Swails <j.swails@...> wrote:
> From: Joseph Swails <j.swails@...>
> Subject: Re: [Aetherphon] Re:Hands Off 2009 - Big News
> To: aetherphon@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2009, 10:03 PM
>
> Thanks for the props, folks. It's nice to know I'm not alone with
> this way of thinking.
>
> Like Gordon, I *can* play in tune - I've got a pretty good ear - but
> I take my inspiration from improvisational jazz solos and free-form
> vocal riffs like Pink Floyd's "Great Gig in the Sky", instead of
>
> Debussy nocturnes.   One of the first things I learned to play on my
> theremin was the theme from "Doctor Who."  (And as far as the violin
>
> goes, it was my first instrument - though I stopped playing when I
> was 11 years old.)
>
> Like Carvin, I jam with my DJ friends, and create my own sequenced
> ambient grooves and play melody lines over them. I've got a Burns B3
> Deluxe and it has a great low end sound - swooping down from high
> wobbles to a floor rattling bass note gets a great crowd reaction! I
> flick the pitch antenna with my finger to get "laser shots", which
> would probably make Clara Rockmore scowl at me.
>
> Jamming with DJs is great fun, especially with Trance, Ambient and
> Deep Bass grooves. That's a good way we "middle ground" theremin
>
> players can get out there and be heard by an audience.
>
>
> On Feb 24, 2009, at 6:11 PM, Gordon Charlton wrote:
>
>> Carvin - that is the perfect call to arms! Thank you. :-)
>>
>> Also great to hear your story - when people write about stuff that
>> genuinely excites them it comes through and its a bit contagious.
>>
>> Gordon
>>
>> On 25 Feb 2009, at 01:21, carvin knowles wrote:
>>
>>> Yeah, you can count me into that "Middle Field" space too.
>>>
>>> I'm glad for all you classical Thereminist, who help ad that kind
>>> of validity to our instrument. To be certain, you guys help ensure
>>> that the instrument will be studied by the "serious music"
>>> community. I started out my life as a "serious" composer,
> with a
>>> back-catalogue of dissonant orchestral works, so I get it.
>>>
>>> But when I took up the theremin, it was to use an instrument where
>>> I had no classical technique, to play something appropriate with my
>>> DJ friends, while they played Drum and Bass and House and Electro.
>>> Sure, I can play in tune, but my technique would make Clara
>>> Rockmore cringe. I play melodies. Riffs. Motifs. Fragments of
>>> suggested orchestrations that trace the chord changes in some
>>> dramatic way. I use long sweeps to carry one mix into another, I
>>> create trills that widen into several octaves, I make bleeps and
>>> noises that would make George Crumb proud.
>>>
>>> (Speaking of Crumb, some of you classical-heads should arrange a
>>> performance of "Vox Bellanae" sometime. It is sure to bring
> our art
>>> forward, if you use it in such a "modernist" ensemble)
>>>
>>> But my point is that as a Middle Field Thereminista, my style would
>>> probably be called Electronic Jazz (a few years back I even played
>>> at the House of Blues, New Orleans). I think I 'm with that part
> of
>>> the Middle Field which makes the theremin socially relevant. The
>>> way that Eric Satie performed in the Salons of Paris. The way that
>>> Jazz took root in the brothels and underground dance clubs of New
>>> Orleans and New York before it went mainstream.
>>>
>>> And yes, I also love the classical guys...and the novelties and the
>>> academics and the headbangers. I can't get enough theremin, pretty
>>> or ugly or funny. Just play the damn thing.
>>>
>>> And that is kinda the deal with a convention of this sort. The
>>> "Middle Field" needs to show up and represent. It's you
> guys who
>>> should be putting together the afterparties. The Jam sessions.
> It's
>>> a convention, so bust out your cool stuff. Besides, if you learn
>>> anything from the classical guys, you'll want to use it right
> away.
>>>
>>> Peace
>>>
>>> Carvin
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>>
>> AETHERPHON, the global thereminist community
>>
>> To contact the moderator, e-mail porphyrous@...
>>
>>
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> AETHERPHON, the global thereminist community
>
> To contact the moderator, e-mail porphyrous@...
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> AETHERPHON, the global thereminist community
>
> To contact the moderator, e-mail porphyrous@...
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>



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AETHERPHON, the global thereminist community

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