AETHERPHON, global theremin family

On 4 Dec 2009, at 03:22, Mary Jones wrote:

> Do you (or anyone) have any thoughts about the possibility of this  
> happening to a new person, non-musician, who's 19? I do think he  
> could do it and enjoy it. He does have the interest and he does  
> have musical ability. His ability is just not developed.
>

Is it that the stumbling block is that as a melodic instrument it  
takes a deal of time and dedication to achieve the basic requirement  
of playing in tune, and that this conflicts with the requirement for  
relatively instant gratification that goes with being 19?

You may like to consider an alternative approach - thinking of the  
theremin not as a melodic instrument but as an ur-synthesizer and an  
instrument of electronic and experimental music.

This is the way I approached the theremin - not concerning myself  
with praying precise pitches, but by feeding the output through a  
simple delay pedal - this adds pseudo-polyphony, a rhythmic base and  
a way of enriching the tonal qualities of a held note. Plus it sounds  
neat right from the get-go and is (at least for me) just a ton of fun.

Whether this approach is something that might appeal to you or your  
son is a matter of personal preference. To help you decide I invite  
you to visit my youtube account and listen to a few recordings I have  
made using just a moog etherwave theremin and a marshall echohead  
delay pedal.

Account http://www.youtube.com/user/GordonCharlton

Recordings with just one delay (and some reverb and/or faux stereo in  
post-production) - Moths Are Made Of Dust, Bouncing Blumfeld, Chikhai  
Bardo.

Gordon Charlton
recording/performing as Beat Frequency