AETHERPHON, global theremin family

Hello all,
I agree with the broad points about Etherfest.  My understanding is last
year's festival had 35 participants - but given the location is in Carolina,
it needs to be a compelling offering to attract people year on year, and it
seems Moog Music will have difficulties generally now Dr. Bob is no longer
with us steering the helm.  When I met Bob 18 months ago, he said he was
slowly making plans for his retirement and takeover, but much control was
still with him at that time.  I'm talking with the theremin scene in Japan
about a festival over there - there are 1000s of very commited theremin
players so I think this could be a better space for an international
festival.  And you get Sushi.

Re: supporting others performances, CDs and activities - I agree we should
support one another - see all the silly bitching that goes on at Levnet to
see how pointless it is to be united under a common interest but then
continually attacking one another!  BUT - I personally don't see there as
being such a thing as 'theremin music' - I like certain music, and others I
don't.  I don't enjoy hearing easy listening music from operas etc. peformed
on theremin, so I don't see why I should buy a CD of music that - if it
didn't have a theremin - I would quite clearly not like!  We all have our
own tastes! Theremin music has evolved and covers many qualities, genre,
styles and ideas as broad as the definition of rock, classical, or pop
themselves.  It's not wrong to say 'I don't like THAT particularly theremin
music'. Spellbound radio show is a great space for the 'anything goes'
multi-genre theremin music to give people a chance to find out what they
like.  Having said that - I would usually go out there to support a gig
where I know the theremin is used creatively/inventively just out of
personal interest - and I generally have found that theremin players are
usually really interesting and inspiring people generally - although some
are 4 cans short of a 6 pack!!

Theremin UK - Gordon - mail me privately and I can send you over some
contacts, 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!

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
I've also been in discussions for many years with Eric Ross who would like
to do a multiple theremin event in London - tour and travel permitting - so
there are plenty of opportunities to meet up and do music.

Keep vibrating,

Cheerio

Susi
www.hypnotique.net
www.myspace.com/misshypnotique
www.switchedonradio.co.uk


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On 14 Jun 2006, at 10:36, Lunette Records wrote:
> BUT - we
> really DON'T need another theremin portal!!

I agree, inasmuch as we don't need another global one-stop portal.  
That's not what we're doing...

> the theremin scene in Japan
[...]
> there are 1000s of very commited theremin players

And a strong Japan-specific web presence.

[...]

> There were 7 thereminists at Lydia Kavina's last London
> gig, and 5 at Masami Takeuchi's.

There's a UK scene too, that I think could be muchly expanded. A UK- 
specific web presence will (hopefully) provide a cohesive centre to  
that. Hoping you'll support my efforts even if you have a few  
reservations. :-)


> 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!

Thanks for the reminder. I didn't really take to his site - no good  
reason, just personal taste - but we'll be putting a link to it.

>
> Oscar in Spain has set up a 'theremin meet up' which is interesting

Indeed. Thank you for mentioning that.


> would suggest the best place to meet up is just to go to one  
> anothers gigs
> and meet there!   Pamelia Kurstin is coming to London in
> September - let's meet up there!

That is excellent news and a brilliant idea. Again thank you for  
mentioning.


> I've also been in discussions for many years with Eric Ross who  
> would like
> to do a multiple theremin event in London

Yet again, good news. Hope it comes together!


Gordon

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)

On 14 Jun 2006, at 12:50, Jonathan Bisset wrote:

> I
> would still recommend anyone using the new site to put their  
> details on
> the big portals as well.

We will be contacting all the big portals and inviting them to  
subscribe to our newsfeed and/or email notification, so posting a  
news item to theremin UK will automatically pass your announcement on  
to them.

Ha! I just thought of that. Jon, add it to the to-do list!


Gordon

>>"buy a CD of music that - if it didn't have a theremin - I would quite
clearly not like"

Ah, well, I always buy at live performances and make sure I get them
autographed.
That way I'm very supportive and if I don't really like the CD later it's
worth more on EBay :~)
[joking!]

You're giving me serious theremin comunity envy, maybe I need to move to
Japan.
I'm *so* excited to see bridges forming to that active community.

Keep us posted on the UK and International advenures, hope all of you play
in NYC soon.

-- 
Skål - jh


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