AETHERPHON, global theremin family

Great, postings already! I love chatty little mailing lists. (Would  
prefer a private forum, but, like, whatever...)

I don't see a membership list on the yahoo web pages, and I'm curious  
to know who I'm talking to, so what say we have a thread where  
everyone can put a bit of a profile. If we stick to the same subject  
line it'll be easy for new members to find them in the archives.

So, as I'm a notorious early revealer, I'll set the ball rolling.  
(One or two of you may have heard this before - sorry for the  
repetition.)

First up, I'm kind of here under false pretences. David set this up  
for theremin players - I don't so much play it as play *with* it. For  
an extensive and rambling description of what I consider play, check  
out the Gordon's Progress thread on the TW forums, here ( http:// 
www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=1420&F=557 )

The short version is - I play with my theremin for therapeutic  
reasons (I have ME aka CFS - no sympathy required, I am not a victim)  
- my primary interest is carving weird little things out of bits and  
bytes on my iBook (21st century basket weaving, if you like) and  
sharing them via the web, because I can. The theremin (I have a Kees)  
is one of my data-capture devices of choice. Another is my digital  
camera. You can see some of the results on the forums of another of  
my favourite podcasts - Industrial Radio. Here. ( http:// 
industrialradio.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=24&forum=5 )

So why the theremin? After all, I am the classic description of the  
wrong person - no musical training whatsoever, can't sing in tune or  
keep a simple rhythm, no previous experience of any instrument (well  
- apart from learning the piano as a kid - apparently I had something  
of an aptitude, but then we moved house and never followed it up.)

I went for the theremin because it's the woo-woo machine from 50's  
sci-fi. And also because I had no preconceptions of how it should be  
played or what sort of music I wanted to make with it. Is it any  
good? Don't know, don't particularly care - I do it to please myself,  
and it pleases me, so that's good enough. Maybe it is OK - I take the  
same attitude with my photography, and win competitions at my local  
camera club regularly so some of the judges must quite like them.

If you're curious as to the end results, you can find them here as  
mp3s here, ( http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm? 
bandID=475314 ) or here ( with funny little videos on Veoh, here.  
( http://www.veoh.com/seriesDetails.html?s=s2683 )

Why did I sign up for the list? I'm here to learn, pure and simple.  
This music stuff is a confusing business and the opportunity to hang  
out with proper musicians can only do me good. Mind you, I have this  
idea that a good way to learn is by teaching, so if you catch me  
offering ill-informed suggestions, it is indeed because I probably  
don't know what I am talking about, and would be very grateful for  
being set straight.

My musical tastes. My car radio is tuned to either BBC Radio 1 or BBC  
Radio 3 in equal amounts (pop charts and serious classical  
respectively.) My record/CD/mp3 collection basically dates from when  
I was 15 in 1977, and is mostly stuff that didn't get radio play and  
with an amateur/DIY/no-training-required ethos to it - so it includes  
Brian Eno, The Residents, Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Pere Ubu,  
Wire, Captain Beefheart and Public Image Limited. Music podcasts -  
one whose name eludes me :-) and Industrial Radio as previously  
mentioned because I enjoy absolutely everything they play, and a  
couple of others out of respect because they used some of my music  
(and talked all over it, enthusing about theremins, which was nice in  
a humbling sort of way.)

Finally I notice a few names from my little Happy Birthday escapade.  
Hi guys!


Gordon Charlton

PS Also I occasionally write far too much!

Wow, I have a new person's music to check out! :-)  Welcome Gordon!

I think everyone knows me, or at least knows OF me.  I'm David, and like 
Gordon I do not claim to be a thereminist, yet.  (But Gordon did a 
lovely job organizing the Happy Birthday Theremin World project!)  I am 
an electropop recording musician of minor stature, however, and I've 
been involved in radio since the late '80s.  When Internet radio came on 
the rise this decade, I jumped in because, darnit, I have the radio bug.

So most of you know me for my Internet radio efforts, especially 
Spellbound, a brief program of music for theremin.  I am a happy 
promoter of the instrument, and hopefully once my electropop album is 
done, I can begin a regular practice regimen.  I own a Big Briar 
etherwave standard, and I also have an Alesis airFX, which is a gestural 
controller that uses infrared optics rather than the capacitance field 
typical of the theremin.

I live in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and in accordance with city 
ordinance, am a lifelong Cardinals baseball fan. :-)  Once Albert Pujols 
finishes his career, people worldwide will be saying, "Barry who?"  I'm 
married, my wife is Ann, and I have two children, Eric who is 6 and 
Maggie who is 2.  They occasionally make "unscheduled guest appearances" 
on my radio programs.  I teach at ITT Technical Institute here in the 
suburb of Arnold.  Mostly web development but also courses in 
multimedia, security, programming, database design, and system 
administration; on both the Associate and Bachelor degree levels.  I 
have a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Bradley 
University and a Master of Education degree in Educational Technology. 
I hope to begin pursuing a PhD in Information Technology soon.

One of my upcoming projects this fall is to assemble a charity CD 
compilation to benefit the National Association for Autism Research. 
Eric is autistic, and that condition is front and center in our daily 
lives.  Fortunately, he is a very bright boy and much more affectionate 
than most autistic children, and he can speak enough to make his wants 
and desires known.  But I know children who are far worse off than Eric, 
who are incapable of affection or speech or any sort of personal 
connection.  Nobody knows what causes it (though consipiracy theories 
abound) and so a benefit project aimed at research seems the most 
pragmatic course of action.

Oh, and I like to talk about myself, so consider yourselves warned.

So who else is here? :-)


-----
DAVID VESEL -- synthetic music for humans
http://davidv.purplenote.com
porphyrous@...
-----
The Purple Note Radio Network:
Escape From Noise, vocal electronica, 10PM Sats http://efn.purplenote.com
Spellbound, music for theremin, 11PM Suns http://spellbound.purplenote.com
-----




Gordon Charlton wrote:

> Great, postings already! I love chatty little mailing lists. (Would  
> prefer a private forum, but, like, whatever...)
> 
> I don't see a membership list on the yahoo web pages, and I'm curious  
> to know who I'm talking to, so what say we have a thread where  
> everyone can put a bit of a profile. If we stick to the same subject  
> line it'll be easy for new members to find them in the archives.
> 
> So, as I'm a notorious early revealer, I'll set the ball rolling.  
> (One or two of you may have heard this before - sorry for the  
> repetition.)
> 
> First up, I'm kind of here under false pretences. David set this up  
> for theremin players - I don't so much play it as play *with* it. For  
> an extensive and rambling description of what I consider play, check  
> out the Gordon's Progress thread on the TW forums, here ( http:// 
> www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=1420&F=557 )
> 
> The short version is - I play with my theremin for therapeutic  
> reasons (I have ME aka CFS - no sympathy required, I am not a victim)  
> - my primary interest is carving weird little things out of bits and  
> bytes on my iBook (21st century basket weaving, if you like) and  
> sharing them via the web, because I can. The theremin (I have a Kees)  
> is one of my data-capture devices of choice. Another is my digital  
> camera. You can see some of the results on the forums of another of  
> my favourite podcasts - Industrial Radio. Here. ( http:// 
> industrialradio.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=24&forum=5 )
> 
> So why the theremin? After all, I am the classic description of the  
> wrong person - no musical training whatsoever, can't sing in tune or  
> keep a simple rhythm, no previous experience of any instrument (well  
> - apart from learning the piano as a kid - apparently I had something  
> of an aptitude, but then we moved house and never followed it up.)
> 
> I went for the theremin because it's the woo-woo machine from 50's  
> sci-fi. And also because I had no preconceptions of how it should be  
> played or what sort of music I wanted to make with it. Is it any  
> good? Don't know, don't particularly care - I do it to please myself,  
> and it pleases me, so that's good enough. Maybe it is OK - I take the  
> same attitude with my photography, and win competitions at my local  
> camera club regularly so some of the judges must quite like them.
> 
> If you're curious as to the end results, you can find them here as  
> mp3s here, ( http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm? 
> bandID=475314 ) or here ( with funny little videos on Veoh, here.  
> ( http://www.veoh.com/seriesDetails.html?s=s2683 )
> 
> Why did I sign up for the list? I'm here to learn, pure and simple.  
> This music stuff is a confusing business and the opportunity to hang  
> out with proper musicians can only do me good. Mind you, I have this  
> idea that a good way to learn is by teaching, so if you catch me  
> offering ill-informed suggestions, it is indeed because I probably  
> don't know what I am talking about, and would be very grateful for  
> being set straight.
> 
> My musical tastes. My car radio is tuned to either BBC Radio 1 or BBC  
> Radio 3 in equal amounts (pop charts and serious classical  
> respectively.) My record/CD/mp3 collection basically dates from when  
> I was 15 in 1977, and is mostly stuff that didn't get radio play and  
> with an amateur/DIY/no-training-required ethos to it - so it includes  
> Brian Eno, The Residents, Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Pere Ubu,  
> Wire, Captain Beefheart and Public Image Limited. Music podcasts -  
> one whose name eludes me :-) and Industrial Radio as previously  
> mentioned because I enjoy absolutely everything they play, and a  
> couple of others out of respect because they used some of my music  
> (and talked all over it, enthusing about theremins, which was nice in  
> a humbling sort of way.)
> 
> Finally I notice a few names from my little Happy Birthday escapade.  
> Hi guys!
> 
> 
> Gordon Charlton
> 
> PS Also I occasionally write far too much!
> 
> 
> 
> SPELLBOUND-L, the glocal thereminist community
> 
> To contact the moderator, e-mail porphyrous@...
> 
> 
>  
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
>

Hi!

Thank you David for creating this group and for the invitation.

I'm Kevin Kissinger from Kansas City, Mo.

I have been married for 24 years and we have four boys and two girls 
ranging in
age from 6 to 22 and a 9 month old grand-daughter.   (Note that I don't record
with a microphone -- if I did I'd never get through a take without a 
door slam,
a yell, or a bark or two from the neighbor's dog.)

I work full-time as a Technical Specialist (i.e., Systems Programmer/Analyst)
for one of the world's largest travel-industry systems.  I also have my own
seasonal weekend/evening business tuning and servicing pipe organs.  (My
teenagers hold keys for me to make extra $$, and it provides some great
one-on-one time with them.)  I play the organ professionally at a 
church in the
Westport area of Kansas City and play organ recitals -- primarily in Missouri
and surrounding states.  I have a Bachelor's degree in Performance (organ) and
the AAGO (Associate American Guild of Organists) Certificate.

I started playing the Theremin late in September, 2005. To say that I enjoy
playing the Theremin is an understatement ... I find that when I start
practicing that I don't want to stop.  Oh... can't tell you how many 
mornings I
have dragged myself into the office with only a few hours of sleep due to
Theremin playing sessions that went longer than planned the night 
before. Since
you are reading this,  bet the same thing has happened to you!

Things are going well. I am on the Spellbound artist list and enjoy composing
for and playing the Theremin.  I enjoy listening to the Theremin in its many
genres.

Last February I created a website http://kevinkissinger.com .  I am new 
to html,
don't know much about designing websites... thus is a work in progress. 
  I like
looking at the stats and seeing all the countries throughout the world 
that hit
the site.  Such fun!  Hope you will visit from time-to-time.

Look forward to learning and sharing.

Happy Theremining to all!

-- Kevin

Well, it's my turn in the "who are we" parade.

I'm Olivia Mattis, and I was fortunate to have the first interview  
with Leon Theremin when he first emerged from Russia in 1989 at age  
93. My interview was subsequently published in Keyboard magazine, and  
is available in several places on the internet. See, for example:

http://www.oddmusic.com/theremin/theremin_interview_1.html

I also published a "Theremin Master Class" interview with Lydia  
Kavina in Electronic Musician.

And I also Executive Produced, financed and wrote the program notes  
for Lydia's debut CD, Music From the Ether.

Plus I volunteered a year of my time to organize the First  
International Theremin Festival in Portland, Maine in 1997, which was  
the birthplace of the Levnet group as well as the launching site for  
Bob Moog's Ethervox and incidentally the starting point for many  
theremin friendships that have grown and developed since that time.

And I also brought about the reconstruction of Varèse's work  
Ecuatorial in its original instrumentation with the theremin cello.   
See the following link for the full story:

http://www.thereminvox.com/story/496/

Plus I own an RCA theremin as well as one of Floyd Engels' replica  
diamond shaped speakers.

And I've found happy homes for several other RCAs (I've had as many  
as four).

But... I'm not a performer. Even so, please don't kick me out of this  
group, because I'm happy to be here.

Kind regards,
Olivia

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Olivia,

Heh, nobody is gonna get kicked out for not playing! :-)

I can't say enough nice things about how cooperative Brian Brandt at 
Mode Records was in granting airplay permission for Lydia's first CD. 
In stark contrast to the folks in Germany who released Barbara 
Buchholz's album, which took six months of ignored e-mails and finally 
getting Barbara to thunk the label president upside the head after Ether 
Fest '05 to get permission for. :-)

Your contributions to the theremin community have been dramatic and 
historically valuable.  It's too bad those interviews were published 
while I was out of music...I'll have to go see if I can score back 
issues from somewhere.  I subscribe off and on to both Keyboard and 
Electronic Musician.

-----
DAVID VESEL -- synthetic music for humans
http://davidv.purplenote.com
porphyrous@...
-----
The Purple Note Radio Network:
Escape From Noise, vocal electronica, 10PM Sats http://efn.purplenote.com
Spellbound, music for theremin, 11PM Suns http://spellbound.purplenote.com
-----




Olivia Mattis wrote:

> Well, it's my turn in the "who are we" parade.
> 
> I'm Olivia Mattis, and I was fortunate to have the first interview  
> with Leon Theremin when he first emerged from Russia in 1989 at age  
> 93. My interview was subsequently published in Keyboard magazine, and  
> is available in several places on the internet. See, for example:
> 
> http://www.oddmusic.com/theremin/theremin_interview_1.html
> 
> I also published a "Theremin Master Class" interview with Lydia  
> Kavina in Electronic Musician.
> 
> And I also Executive Produced, financed and wrote the program notes  
> for Lydia's debut CD, Music From the Ether.
> 
> Plus I volunteered a year of my time to organize the First  
> International Theremin Festival in Portland, Maine in 1997, which was  
> the birthplace of the Levnet group as well as the launching site for  
> Bob Moog's Ethervox and incidentally the starting point for many  
> theremin friendships that have grown and developed since that time.
> 
> And I also brought about the reconstruction of Var\ufffdse's work  
> Ecuatorial in its original instrumentation with the theremin cello.   
> See the following link for the full story:
> 
> http://www.thereminvox.com/story/496/
> 
> Plus I own an RCA theremin as well as one of Floyd Engels' replica  
> diamond shaped speakers.
> 
> And I've found happy homes for several other RCAs (I've had as many  
> as four).
> 
> But... I'm not a performer. Even so, please don't kick me out of this  
> group, because I'm happy to be here.
> 
> Kind regards,
> Olivia
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SPELLBOUND-L, the glocal thereminist community
> 
> To contact the moderator, e-mail porphyrous@...
> 
> 
>  
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
>

Dear David (and group),

I have extra copies of the Theremin Master Class interview with Lydia  
Kavina if you or anyone is interested, giving great tips for  
beginning, intermediate and advanced theremin players, along with  
photographs of different fingering positions. Anyone interested  
should email me privately: oliviamattis@...

On May 14, 2006, at 12:07 AM, David V wrote:

> I'll have to go see if I can score back issues from somewhere.

In the voice of (British comedy character) Neddie Seagoon:  Hello, Folks!

Hi, I'm Ann Cantelow, happy to be here, indeed.  Here's a wordy intro for 
me- you've started a tradition, Gordon!  :)

I live with my husband Tom in Boulder, Colorado, USA.  I work as a 
computer system admin half time for an internet service provider, taking 
care of software installs and upgrades on a few mainframes.  The other 
half of my time I do database programming for 2 long-time clients, one of 
which is rather more demanding of my time than I would like.

I studied music composition in '67-70 at University of California at 
Davis, was influenced there by John Cage who taught for a semester, and 
Larry Austin and Richard Swift.  I heard what a theremin was in those 
days, but never dreamed I would ever have an opportunity to actually play 
one.

I heard Clara Rockmore on the radio one day some 3-4 years ago and was 
amazed by it, then discovered that theremins could actually be bought, and 
I soon bought one.  It's sure fun to play.

Theremin is my best and easiest instrument, believe it or not.  I have 
played piano and taken lessons on and off many years, but I can't play 
accurately for some reason.  I studied voice for a few years and that was 
a great release from having to hit all the correct notes, but I realized I 
don't have the voice to be able to ever sing recitals, so what's the good 
of that?  :)  The theremin lets me get my ideas out, which has been 
wonderful.  And when I hit wrong notes, at least they're not off by big 
whole and half tones, heh.

I've re-caught the composition bug recently, and am picking up where I 
left off as a composition student years ago.  The archives of "New Music" 
radio shows at www.kalvos.org are bringing me up to speed on where things 
have been going all these years.  I listen with fascination to these 
archived programs on the days I'm working at home.

Best!

Ann Cantelow
http://www.cantelow.com

On Sat, 13 May 2006 kkissinger@... wrote:

> Hi!
>
> Thank you David for creating this group and for the invitation.
>
> I'm Kevin Kissinger from Kansas City, Mo.
>
> I have been married for 24 years and we have four boys and two girls
> ranging in
> age from 6 to 22 and a 9 month old grand-daughter.   (Note that I don't record
> with a microphone -- if I did I'd never get through a take without a
> door slam,
> a yell, or a bark or two from the neighbor's dog.)
>
> I work full-time as a Technical Specialist (i.e., Systems Programmer/Analyst)
> for one of the world's largest travel-industry systems.  I also have my own
> seasonal weekend/evening business tuning and servicing pipe organs.  (My
> teenagers hold keys for me to make extra $$, and it provides some great
> one-on-one time with them.)  I play the organ professionally at a
> church in the
> Westport area of Kansas City and play organ recitals -- primarily in Missouri
> and surrounding states.  I have a Bachelor's degree in Performance (organ) and
> the AAGO (Associate American Guild of Organists) Certificate.
>
> I started playing the Theremin late in September, 2005. To say that I enjoy
> playing the Theremin is an understatement ... I find that when I start
> practicing that I don't want to stop.  Oh... can't tell you how many
> mornings I
> have dragged myself into the office with only a few hours of sleep due to
> Theremin playing sessions that went longer than planned the night
> before. Since
> you are reading this,  bet the same thing has happened to you!
>
> Things are going well. I am on the Spellbound artist list and enjoy composing
> for and playing the Theremin.  I enjoy listening to the Theremin in its many
> genres.
>
> Last February I created a website http://kevinkissinger.com .  I am new
> to html,
> don't know much about designing websites... thus is a work in progress.
>  I like
> looking at the stats and seeing all the countries throughout the world
> that hit
> the site.  Such fun!  Hope you will visit from time-to-time.
>
> Look forward to learning and sharing.
>
> Happy Theremining to all!
>
> -- Kevin
>
>
>
>
> SPELLBOUND-L, the glocal thereminist community
>
> To contact the moderator, e-mail porphyrous@...
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I know Ann Cantelow! I've seen her in person! We were at Etherfest 2005 together. And 
thanks for coming to Aurora to see us. 

I'm Victoria Lundy in Denver, CO. (OK, I live in Wheat Ridge, a close suburb, but it sounds like 
the middle of nowhere to the uninitiated). 

I  bought my first theremin in about 1997 (It might have been late 96). I also wanted to make 
giant insect/alien/monster music from 50s science fiction movies, but had vague 
recollections of having heard Samuel Hoffman who I truly love. I spent some years woo 
wooing, playing with the experimental Carbon Dioxide Orchestra, then buckled down these 
last couple years to try and become a precision player. 

I play with the Inactivists. (www.inactivists.com)

Hey Spellbound-L,
 
Who are we today?  Guess I'll take a turn, here's my best guess:
I'm John Hoge I live in NYC.  Now I work full time at computer poo, up to
six years ago most of my time was spent in music.  I'd always known about
the theremin it seems and had wanted one for a long time, luckily seeing
Moog had released the EWPro I ordered one.
 
So, been playing my EWPro for about a year and a half.  Learning a few
classical pieces and some of my own old electronic stuff adding theremin;
lately am focused on developing a healthy technique inspired by Kenny
Werner's writings.  Still working through making my own accompaniments and
recordings.  
 
It's also brought welcome contact with other theremin folk and I'm happy to
be included here.  Besides spending way too much time on Theremin World,
I've also been attending the New York Theremin Society events which have
been a sold out SRO scenes in Brooklyn.  
 
Right now I'm messing with the tiny hypersensitive side screw on the side of
EWPro to try and get a touch more space around the volume loop.
 
Thanks for all of it David V.
carpe diem 
- John
 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

John Hoge wrote:

 > It's also brought welcome contact with other theremin folk and I'm
 > happy to be included here.  Besides spending way too much time on
 > Theremin World, I've also been attending the New York Theremin Society
 > events which have been a sold out SRO scenes in Brooklyn.

Wasn't there just recently an event?  I seem to recall that Jon 
Bernhardt made the trip east to play with them last time out.

-----
DAVID VESEL -- synthetic music for humans
http://davidv.purplenote.com
porphyrous@...
-----
The Purple Note Radio Network:
Escape From Noise, vocal electronica, 10PM Sats http://efn.purplenote.com
Spellbound, music for theremin, 11PM Suns http://spellbound.purplenote.com
-----

>  
> Right now I'm messing with the tiny hypersensitive side screw on the side of
> EWPro to try and get a touch more space around the volume loop.
>  
> Thanks for all of it David V.
> carpe diem 
> - John
>  
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SPELLBOUND-L, the glocal thereminist community
> 
> To contact the moderator, e-mail porphyrous@...
> 
> 
>  
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
>

I'm a 43 year old electrical engineer and ham radio operator. I've 
been playing since last September and really enjoying it. I have two 
children, Sarah and Jordan, ages 13 and 7 respectively. 

David, here is the correct pronunciation----

http://home.comcast.net/~ka4koe/neidlinger.wav

I remember you had trouble with it on Spellbound. Everyone does!!!

My wife plays keyboard. We do try to play together, but the demands of 
family/career for both of us limits our time. 

I'll be posting a satire piece of music soon David for your 
consideration.

PHILIP
KA4KOE

hi

i don't know quite where i caught the theremin bug. one day i just
ordered the kit from big briar and away i went. anne cantelow pointed
me toward a composition competition where i needed to write a bio. so
i did.

bio
---
what to say about myself?
awesome
idiot
mindful [sometimes]

kids, programming, divorce
school was so long ago- it hardly matters now

peace



and here's some music including theremin:
http://or8.net/misc/zenLikeMinute.mp3

it's not what's termed 'precision playing', but it sounds precisely
like i want it to. i welcome comments, but please don't publicise this
work or the URL. one of the stipulations of the contest is that the
works aren't released ...

Yes he played a very fun set.
Here's the thread at ThereminWorld
http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?F=715
<http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?F=715&T=1790&cmd=p> &T=1790&cmd=p
 
Also of note Elizabeth Brown has a show coming up "Rural Electrification",
Wed. May 24 - Sat. May 27, Brooklyn, NY
http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p
<http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=1876&F=4> &T=1876&F=4

-----Original Message-----
From: spellbound-l@yahoogroups.com [mailto:spellbound-l@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of David V
Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 9:36 AM
To: spellbound-l@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [SPELLBOUND-L] New Yawk thereminists


John Hoge wrote:

> It's also brought welcome contact with other theremin folk and I'm
> happy to be included here.  Besides spending way too much time on
> Theremin World, I've also been attending the New York Theremin Society
> events which have been a sold out SRO scenes in Brooklyn.

Wasn't there just recently an event?  I seem to recall that Jon 
Bernhardt made the trip east to play with them last time out.

-----
DAVID VESEL -- synthetic music for humans
http://davidv.purplenote.com
porphyrous@...
-----
The Purple Note Radio Network:
Escape From Noise, vocal electronica, 10PM Sats http://efn.purplenote.com
Spellbound, music for theremin, 11PM Suns http://spellbound.purplenote.com
-----





>  
> Right now I'm messing with the tiny hypersensitive side screw on the side
of
> EWPro to try and get a touch more space around the volume loop.
>  
> Thanks for all of it David V.
> carpe diem 
> - John
>  
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SPELLBOUND-L, the glocal thereminist community
> 
> To contact the moderator, e-mail porphyrous@...
> 
> 
>  
> Yahoo! Groups Links
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> 
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> 
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>"\\js" <js0000@...> said:

> it's not what's termed 'precision playing', but it sounds precisely
> like i want it to.

That's one of the best phrases I've ever heard in reference to the
instrument. 

That's one of the things that to me sets the theremin apart. The most
transparent instrument -- it can sing, scream, holler, chant, have a
psychotic episode, sound like a cello, buzz, bellow, have hysterics -- react
to what you do in the most elemental way. There's nothing like it for pure
expression, except the human voice.

At 12:39 PM 5/14/2006, you wrote:
> > It's also brought welcome contact with other theremin folk and I'm
> > happy to be included here.  Besides spending way too much time on
> > Theremin World, I've also been attending the New York Theremin Society
> > events which have been a sold out SRO scenes in Brooklyn.
>
>Wasn't there just recently an event?  I seem to recall that Jon
>Bernhardt made the trip east to play with them last time out.

South actually. I live in Boston. ;)

Might as well use this as an excuse to introduce myself:

Jon Bernhardt. Been playing since 1996, when I saw TaEO and purchased 
an early Etherwave kit. I didn't start practicing regularly until 
forming the Lothars in early 1997, a band that continues today. Since 
then, I've also played with several other bands, most notably The Pee 
Wee Fist who broke up a year or two ago when the principal 
singer/songwriter moved Brooklyn. We keep in touch, in fact I stayed 
him when I played at the NYTS event last month, but the distance 
makes the band a bit difficult. I occasionally play solo, using 
prerecorded backing tracks to perform punk/new wave tunes. I also 
play traditional stuff like "Over the Rainbow", but for some reason 
it's my interpretations of Ramones & Buggles songs that get the best 
response. ;)

That's enough yakking for now. Thanks to Dave for setting this up.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(  ~Jon      |   )
)     _______|  (
(  <=|_@_@_@_|   )
)        |      (
(        |       )
)        |      (
(       -^-      )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For those of you interested in unusual treatments of the theremin, you 
should go over and visit Michael Evans's page.  He has a couple of songs 
on his web site featuring theremin in non traditional settings.  One has 
it processed so that it sounds to me almost like a trumpet, and another 
where he uses it with such rock-solid drones without vibrato that I'm 
impressed anyone could hold their hand that steady.

http://www.michaelevanssounds.com/index.html



-----
DAVID VESEL -- synthetic music for humans
http://davidv.purplenote.com
porphyrous@...
-----
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-----




Victoria Lundy wrote:

>>"\\js" <js0000@...> said:
> 
> 
>>it's not what's termed 'precision playing', but it sounds precisely
>>like i want it to.
> 
> 
> That's one of the best phrases I've ever heard in reference to the
> instrument. 
> 
> That's one of the things that to me sets the theremin apart. The most
> transparent instrument -- it can sing, scream, holler, chant, have a
> psychotic episode, sound like a cello, buzz, bellow, have hysterics -- react
> to what you do in the most elemental way. There's nothing like it for pure
> expression, except the human voice.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SPELLBOUND-L, the glocal thereminist community
> 
> To contact the moderator, e-mail porphyrous@...
> 
> 
>  
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 
>

On 15 May 2006, at 01:51, David V wrote:

> For those of you interested in unusual treatments of the theremin, you
> should go over and visit Michael Evans's page.  He has a couple of  
> songs
> on his web site featuring theremin in non traditional settings.   
> One has
> it processed so that it sounds to me almost like a trumpet,
>
> http://www.michaelevanssounds.com/index.html

Thanks for the link David.

Yours Truly put a bit smile on my face. I see what you mean about the  
trumpet sound - it's a bit like my Kees with half-wave rectification  
turned on - that's somewhat brassy.

Mind you, to me it sounded like something else too. Er, let's just  
say that I hope the piece isn't as auto-biographical as the title  
suggests; with the alarm clocks and everything I thought a more  
descriptive title would be "Morning Flatulence."

Gordon

Hello all,

I am Oscar from Madrid, Spain (well, a new little city 22km at N from it, but who cares? ;) )

I first saw the Theremin years ago when I saw the guitar player from a local post-rock band
making strange noises waving his hands in the air... Finally in July 2004 I saw Victor Wooten's
keyboardist (in fact his brother) playing it again, and this time I explored the internet deeply.

So now here I am, owning my 3rd theremin (a Pro) and being crazy about the instrument.
I had the good luck of having the chance of knowing  personally some people from this list and created a modest webpage in spanish about the theremin because there was no such idea before. 


I don't usually play too much out from home,  (when you are over 30 you don't believe too much in being in a band - such a time-consumming thing! ;) ) But I have my little projects: playing for a short-footage film score and collaborating with a pair of bands' recordings.

Lately I was interested in looping devices like Pamelia Kurstin / Robert Fripp used. SO I have just purchased a looping device I hope to have ths very week from U.S.A. :) I hope you can help me too to get the best of it.

And...that's all by the moment!

Oscar


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On 15 May 2006, at 01:51, David V wrote:

> For those of you interested in unusual treatments of the theremin,
[...]
> processed so that it sounds to me almost like a trumpet
[...]
> rock-solid drones without vibrato

I'm interested in unusual treatments and playing styles, and would  
love to hear about any and all offbeat ideas!


(The rest of this post is a summary of a few of my own ideas. If  
you're daft enough to have been following Gordon's Progress over on  
TW there's no need to read on...)

Seems to me the unique selling point of the theremin is that it  
glisses brilliantly, and the major disadvantage is that it is tricky  
to play precise notes. So I am trying to develop techniques that  
focus on it's strength - movement - rather than on position relative  
to the pitch antenna.

In short, a  form of precision playing that is the exact opposite of  
aerial fingering, which is a technique for playing precise notes and  
minimising glisses, and focusses solely on the distance of the pitch  
hand and fingers from the antenna.

My first thought was to use horizontal as well as vertical movements  
to precisely control the velocity and acceleration of pitch hand  
motion by the application of a little geometry.

Here is a very trivial example. The pitch of a police siren varies  
sinusoidally (at least UK sirens do.) By drawing a circle at a  
constant speed with the pitch hand the horizontal component varies in  
the same manner - sinusoidally, yielding a very passable imitation of  
a police siren.

My second thought was that I already do something that involves  
precise control of the moving hand, namely handwriting. So I  
experimented for a time with holding a pen whilst playing. This  
encourages a different style of playing.

One development from that was the idea of drawing not just circles,  
but the continued loops and swirls that children practise (or did  
when I was young) as a precursor to learning to write. This, coupled  
with controlling the volume in rhythm with the loops, can yield, for  
instance, an evenly spaced, ascending sequence of short, overlapping,  
descending glisses. Or a descending sequence of alternating short  
ascending and descending glisses. And so on.

The other development was from the idea of holding something whilst  
playing. My idea was to use a hand-held electrical device that could  
produce a vibrato faster than I could manage by hand. I tried various  
things (yes, including the device you just thought of) that produced  
at best a very slight fattening of the tone. Recently I found that a  
"coffee-frother" (picture here - http://fantes.com/images/ 
8120milk_frothers.jpg ) with a length of wire tangled into the whisk  
and sticking out like a propellor blade gives a very pleasing tremolo  
which does not alter the tone of the instrument at all, unlike my  
(admittedly limited) experiences with vibrato stomp boxes. The amount  
of tremolo can be varied by pushing it forwards and backwards in the  
field, so that either the propellor or the hand is closer to the  
pitch antenna. I am currently looking for a similar device with  
variable rotation speed.

(If you happen to have, or see, a cordless, penholder hobby drill  
with variable speed that includes 1000 rpm (estimated speed of the  
coffee-frother) please could you let me know the make and model.  
Thank you.)

I do not currently have any sound clips to illustrate these ideas,  
but am working (very slowly!) on a piece which will incorporate them.  
I'll let you know when it is finished.


Gordon

The other day I got into trying to sound like an old generator sound that
lurks in my memory.  I found that the most important part of the sound was
actually in the volume hand motion.  Have you tried any of those devices
with the volume antennae, a rapid tremolo of the amplitude might be cool
too?

-----Original Message-----
From: spellbound-l@yahoogroups.com [mailto:spellbound-l@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Gordon Charlton
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 5:17 PM
To: spellbound-l@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [SPELLBOUND-L] Unusual Treaments and Styles (Was: Re: Who are we?) 
 
 I'm interested in unusual treatments and playing styles, and would  
love to hear about any and all offbeat ideas!

 ... 
(If you happen to have, or see, a cordless, penholder hobby drill  
with variable speed that includes 1000 rpm (estimated speed of the  
coffee-frother) please could you let me know the make and model.  
Thank you.)

I do not currently have any sound clips to illustrate these ideas,  
but am working (very slowly!) on a piece which will incorporate them.  
I'll let you know when it is finished.


Gordon











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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On 16 May 2006, at 11:58, John Hoge wrote:

> The other day I got into trying to sound like an old generator  
> sound that
> lurks in my memory.  I found that the most important part of the  
> sound was
> actually in the volume hand motion.  Have you tried any of those  
> devices
> with the volume antennae, a rapid tremolo of the amplitude might be  
> cool
> too?
>

I didn't get an perceptible effect with the volume antenna. I imagine  
that's down to the shorter field and the thin wires I'm using as  
antenna. My thinking is that something with a piston action that can  
move a conductor with greater mass in and out of the field might work.

Couple of ideas I've had whilst typing...

Maybe something could be constructed out of Mecanno with gears and a  
hand crank. I used to have a set as a kid.

Did you ever clamp one end of a school ruler against a desk with the  
heel of your hand and twang the free end to hear it go thrubba-dubba- 
dubb-dubb-dubb? Perhaps you could arrange something with a vice and a  
steel rule so that the free end moves in and out of the volume field.  
The speed of the oscillations could be controlled by attaching a  
weight to the ruler at the right height. (higher up = slower) This  
would also increase the momentum of the ruler and hence the amplitude  
and duration of the oscillations. (Or so my dim memory of school  
physics suggests.)

Gordon

I'm enjoying this new list.  Thanks David for starting it and inviting
me.

I'm a 49yr old, husband, father of 2 teenagers (18,19), living in
Boulder, Colorado (hey Ann, Victoria).  Grew up in LA (lower alabama)
in the Peanut Capital of the world.

By day I'm a self educated electrical engineer developing test
equipment for high volume manufacturing test of hard disk drives (now
microdrives) for 20 years.

My love of electronic music began in 1968.  Been an avid science
experimenter, guitar and electric bass player since childhood.

I learned about theremins through an SWTPC catalog as a kid.  Moved
from chemistry interest to electronics after burning myself badly in a
small explosion in my bedroom lab in 1972 (I blowed up real good).  

My first electronic instrument was an AM walkie talking going through a
shortwave receiver that had a tunable beat frequency oscillator (SSB/CW
mode).

Got my first moog in 1976 (micromoog), my first theremin (rca) as a
pile of scrap in 2001, which was restored in 2005, second and third
theremins in 2005 (wavefront classic, wavefront suitcase).  I was a
touring bass/synth/guitar musician from 1974-1983.  Got my musical
education at church, on the road, and in the studio.  

I like thinking and reading about eastern religion, philosophy, art and
music, life extension, alternative medicine, lucid dreaming, the
enneagram, enzymes, light and sound perception, and electromagetic
radiation. 

I want to know how things work. I want to understand.

Decided I prefered music as a hobby rather than a vocation.  I have no
desire to perform anymore.  I never want to belong to a band again.  My
music is for me (as it started with my homemade bazookaphone).  I don't
play covers.

I spend a fair amount of time in mainland China at the factory, lived
in Singapore 1987-1990 because of that factory.  I collect (accumulate)
too many things, marbles, boomerangs, tube amps, loudspeakers, toys,
yoyos, vintage pocket watches, vintage keyboards (1955 hammond C2,
small moog synths), collect and restore electromechanical and
electronic pinball machines, panama canal memorabilia.  Learning ebay
selling in order to thin out my studio and make some room.

By night I play studio owner, engineer, producer, musician for big
thirsty towels, my music company.  I enjoy field recording with
binaural mics, contact mics, and stereo parabolic microphones with
which I collect sounds of anything I think is interesting.  Mostly play
and record improvised music with my fellow thirsty towels (loose bunch
of local musical nuts).  I'm a founding member of the Pinballic Temple
(small private pinball club with the towels and others).  

I aspire to play/record/compose theremin music my own way.  I'm not
gonna learn the swan, but don't want to woowoo either.  

It will probably be years before I let you hear me play, if I ever do.

I have a special electronic design project that I am working on for the
rca theremin (sshhh, don't tell anyone) that may or may not have to do
with the volume valve, UX-120.  I am totally facinated with the AR-1264
design, aim to spend the rest of my life understanding everything I can
about how it works, how to tweak it to my liking.  

So few parts, so much magic.  Lev was a genius.

I've rambled enough, need to get back to work.
bret

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com

Hello Everyone

First of all - I'll add my thanks to David for starting this off -
this group already seems to have quite a different feel to the LevNet,
which is no bad thing.

I'm a father of 2, working in the location planning / GIS field, and
living near Perth in Scotland.  I mainly play guitar and bass, but
about 2 years ago developed a rapidly growing interest in the theremin
after hearing the Bill Bailey radio special.  I started looking around
for a good starter instrument, and had settled on the Kees when
Turnkey started selling off their stock of E-Pros. It was just too
good an offer to refuse, so here I am with a beautiful instrument
which I'm desperately trying to live up to.

Progress is slow - I try to do at least 30 minutes of practice a day,
and am at the stage of being able to play recognisable tunes, keeping
mostly in-tune with only the occasional wobble or swoop.  I'm not yet
ready for releasing any of my attempts into the wild yet, nor for
public performance, but these are targets I'm working towards.  I'm
thoroughly enjoying the journey so far!


Slainte


Jonathan


-- 
=====================================================
Atari MIDI Software - http://variegated.atari.org
Lee Bisset - Opera Soprano - http://www.leebisset.com
=====================================================

Bret wrote:

> Decided I prefered music as a hobby rather than a vocation.  I have no
> desire to perform anymore.  I never want to belong to a band again.  My
> music is for me (as it started with my homemade bazookaphone).  I don't
> play covers.

Bazookaphone?  Do tell!

I understand about the not wanting to belong to a band again. 
Technology is wonderful -- I've done the one-man-band thing since 1989, 
when it became practical to do so.  Armed with a multitimbral 
synthesizer with (bad) drum samples (the Kawai K1) and a Fostex 4-track 
recorder, I set to work.  Every few years I upgrade.  Now everything is 
computerized.  I'm amazed at how well it all works.

> I spend a fair amount of time in mainland China at the factory, lived
> in Singapore 1987-1990 because of that factory.  I collect (accumulate)
> too many things, marbles, boomerangs, tube amps, loudspeakers, toys,
> yoyos, vintage pocket watches, vintage keyboards (1955 hammond C2,
> small moog synths), collect and restore electromechanical and
> electronic pinball machines, panama canal memorabilia.  Learning ebay
> selling in order to thin out my studio and make some room.

That is a tall order for collecting!  I had a boyhood friend whose 
father restored and collected pinball machines.  A good pinball machine 
is still as good as any video game.  If you need a good home for any of 
your surplus Moog synths, let me know first! :-)  Moog is not 
represented in my all-American studio yet.  (Well, Big Briar but kinda 
different.)

> By night I play studio owner, engineer, producer, musician for big
> thirsty towels, my music company.  

Cool name. :-)



-----
DAVID VESEL -- synthetic music for humans
http://davidv.purplenote.com
porphyrous@...
-----
The Purple Note Radio Network:
Escape From Noise, vocal electronica, 10PM Sats http://efn.purplenote.com
Spellbound, music for theremin, 11PM Suns http://spellbound.purplenote.com
-----

Jonathan Bisset wrote:
 > Hello Everyone
 >
 > First of all - I'll add my thanks to David for starting this off -
 > this group already seems to have quite a different feel to the LevNet,
 > which is no bad thing.

That was my intention.  I do wish to state that this list is not 
moderated, but neither does that suggest that I am asleep at the wheel. 
  I'm not content to let my e-mail lists be "self-cleaning".  What is 
unstated in that analogy is that in the "washing process", you lose a 
lot of good people, and someone causing an issue may or may not "wash 
out" at the end of the day.  A little structure; and the knowledge that 
if someone gets abusive, you don't just have to endure it or quit; I 
think is something people want.  I hope that no one ever feels that this 
constitutes "censorship" in some way.


-----
DAVID VESEL -- synthetic music for humans
http://davidv.purplenote.com
porphyrous@...
-----
The Purple Note Radio Network:
Escape From Noise, vocal electronica, 10PM Sats http://efn.purplenote.com
Spellbound, music for theremin, 11PM Suns http://spellbound.purplenote.com
-----

> 
> I'm a father of 2, working in the location planning / GIS field, and
> living near Perth in Scotland.  I mainly play guitar and bass, but
> about 2 years ago developed a rapidly growing interest in the theremin
> after hearing the Bill Bailey radio special.  I started looking around
> for a good starter instrument, and had settled on the Kees when
> Turnkey started selling off their stock of E-Pros. It was just too
> good an offer to refuse, so here I am with a beautiful instrument
> which I'm desperately trying to live up to.
> 
> Progress is slow - I try to do at least 30 minutes of practice a day,
> and am at the stage of being able to play recognisable tunes, keeping
> mostly in-tune with only the occasional wobble or swoop.  I'm not yet
> ready for releasing any of my attempts into the wild yet, nor for
> public performance, but these are targets I'm working towards.  I'm
> thoroughly enjoying the journey so far!
> 
> 
> Slainte
> 
> 
> Jonathan
> 
>

hi

On 5/17/06, David V <porphyrous@...> wrote:
> A little structure; and the knowledge that
> if someone gets abusive, you don't just have to endure it or quit; I
> think is something people want.  I hope that no one ever feels that this
> constitutes "censorship" in some way.

of course, it depends.
- what constitutes abuse?
- who decides the cut-off point?
- is it you or someone else who is being blocked?

i don't really want to debate these issues here, they're all abstract
anyway at this point [no one has been found abusive to my knowledge].
i just bring it up because i don't think there is a line between
moderation and censorship- it's a slope ...

as uncle ben said to peter parker, 'with great power comes great
responsibility'. [although moderating an email list is not exactly
'great power' ...]

-- 
\js  [ http://or8.net/~johns/ ]

>
> of course, it depends.
> - what constitutes abuse?
> - who decides the cut-off point?
> - is it you or someone else who is being blocked?

Speaking as a retired list admin/moderator the situation is simple.

David decides. He is our benevolent dictator on these matters. What  
keeps him benevolent is that without the support of the list  
membership there is no list.

I don't foresee any problems in the near future - I appreciate that  
we are a collection of individuals, but we are linked by a common  
interest, and my experiences of thereminists online suggest that they  
are an uncommonly polite and thoughtful bunch of people.

My only concern in the long term is that it might become so popular  
that it keeps David from altogether more important duties, like  
putting out podcasts on a regular basis. (Hint!)

Gordon

On 16 May 2006, at 15:35, I wrote:

Re: the frothatrill (I'm fed up of writing coffee-frother trill);

> I didn't get an perceptible effect with the volume antenna. I imagine
> that's down to the shorter field and the thin wires I'm using as
> antenna.

Correction - it was down to the presence of my hand in the volume  
field. Holding the coffee-frother at the very end  and letting the  
propellor go right into the centre of the loop half the time (or a  
little less for some reduction of the effect) gives a very pleasing  
rapid throbbing to the sound.

Also:

>  Perhaps you could arrange something with a vice and a
> steel rule so that the free end moves in and out of the volume field.

That works too. The twangulator is an 50 cm (18 inch) steel rule,  
extending horizontally from the top of a dining chair, to which it is  
lashed by the last 8 cm (3 inches). The free end goes under the  
volume loop, and the volume field adjusted so that it ruler is only  
just beneath it so that whilst stationary it does not affect the  
maximum volume, so does not interfere with regular playing. Twanging  
the end gives a slower throb, about five times a second. The  
vibration can be maintained by tapping rhythmically about half-way  
down the ruler, or closer to reduce the maximum volume. The frequency  
of the throb can be fine tuned by sticking a fridge magnet to the ruler.

omhoge - thank you very much for pointing me at the pitch antenna - I  
am delighted with the outcome. I'm just off to listen to the next  
episode of Infection (it's a cracking good sci-fi podcast novel by  
Scott Sigler - highly recommended if you have a taste for the  
gruesome and can resist the urge to scratch!) and then I think the  
frothatrill and twangulator deserve an entry in Gordon's Progress.

:-)

Gordon

On 17 May 2006, at 21:38, I wrote:

> frothatrill

[and I also wrote]

> twangulator

...and if you are curious as to what they sound like check out The  
Plummeting Man, either here, on the podsafe music network, or here,  
at soundclick.

Gordon

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On 22 May 2006, at 17:03, Gordon Charlton wrote:
>
> ...and if you are curious as to what they sound like check out The
> Plummeting Man, either here, on the podsafe music network, or here,
> at soundclick.

Oops. Forgot the links...

http://music.podshow.com/music/listeners/artistdetails.php? 
BandHash=284e09ee377733c6c309832ee6bcc804

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=475314

Silly me.

Gordon