Gordon - First post- interest in theremin
2009-12-08 by Mary Jones
Dear Gordon, I hope everyone realizes that although I am putting a person's name in the subject line, my post is not just directed towards them. It is for all of you. I am merely putting the person's name up so I can try to keep track of the various threads these posts are taking. Now I'm going to answer within this e-mail as there as several things I'd like to say at different points. >>>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. >> >> I have to say that you're moving out of my turf. I am going to have >> to sit with this concept a while to assimalate it, I think. I'm >> conditioned totally into pitch and tone quality in producing on an >> instrument. My forte is classical piano and harp. Outside of being >> a amateur radio operator (my son is, too) we have no electrical >> experience. I'm willing to explore this area. It's just foreign to me. >I know what you mean. I bought my first theremin on a whim without >giving much consideration to my lack of musical training, and it felt >very daring and radical to go against all the advice available from >classical theremin players, but at the same time the logic of using >an electronic instrument to make electronic music was undeniable. That took a lot of nerve to blindly go to a musical instrument without any background in music. When I went into ham radio I was pretty blind. I still think I am. I haven't been able to explore it even though I've had interest in it. I remember at the time thinking that I might be trying to express an interest in electronic music, but that's as far as I got. I simply didn't know enough to say any more. When I was at the conservatory I was somewhat interested in this, but the opportunities of exploring electronic music (for me) just weren't there. I was at the top of my class, so coupling that with a total emersion into the harp from just sheer love for it, I really didn't have time to move in any other direction. As time has gone on, I've felt a bit freer, but still, the harp is quite strong for me. An interesting thing happened for me tonight though. I went to our library where they have cable connection for their computers. As you know, this allows for a high speed connection. They had headphones, so I immediately went to Peter's site where I could listen to him for the first time and watch him on the videos. I got so engaged while listening that my hands began to respond. I began to push for certain things. I began to feel the instrument in my hands. I finally stopped myself and turned the headphones over to my son who became entranced with it. He just froze in one spot and listened. He's hooked even more now, I believe. He said he was surprised I liked it. Peter plays really well. I particularly liked his piece for Clara Rockmore. Now I remember that that is who I heard on the movie about the theremin. She really impressed me in that movie. >Now, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight I think of it as "the music >I didn't notice" - during my formative years the BBC Radiophonic >Workshop was in its heyday, producing soundtracks not just for family >favourites like Doctor Who, Bleep And Booster and The Tomorrow People >but also the majority of educational programming that we watched at >school in the 60's and 70's. (I'm 47.) Your experiences may vary >depending on your taste in TV programmes, but it is still to be found >in the atmospheric soundtracks of certain sci-fi, surreal and horror >movies, and some pop-science documentaries. (This, incidentally is >why I produce little videos to go with my recordings - it places the >sounds in a context where the listener might be more familiar with >them. And for me the process of creating them is a way of thinking >about and making sense of what I have recorded.) I can see that. The films make for an interesting aspect. I very much enjoyed listening to your work. It was very compelling. I thought the sounds and the pictures coupled nicely together. I'm one of these people that often try to mentally figure things out. My mind just wants to do that. lol! So, when I see my music having a certain effect, I try to analize it--why is it happening, what am I doing, can I verbally express it to another human being, etc. Who knows if I ever figure it out correctly or not. I still try. Yesterday when I was playing, I got some very unusual responses, so I tried to immediately figure it out. I was also trying to see if I could give it to someone else. I have an adult student, so if she continues long enough, I will see if I can pass it on to her. I feel like I can. She's already told me that it's very exciting. In any case, when I saw your pictures, I felt the same thing. I felt that you were passing on to us your experience with the theremin by communicating through pictures. It's very effective, probably much more so than words. >For a "jumping in at the deep end" introduction to the early days of >electronic music you could do far worse than renting a copy of >Forbidden Planet. I hadn't thought about that, but I think you're right. Sometimes when I watch pictures I get so involved that even though I'm a musician, the music just passes me right on by especially if the music is taking a supportive role versus a highlighted solo song sung. Now that you've mentioned it, I should listen to "Forbidden Planet" just listening to the music. I'll see if I can get it. It'll probably have to be after the holidays though. My son should hear it, too. >This is what Wikipedia says about the soundtrack: >"The movie's innovative electronic music score (credited as >"electronic tonalities", partly to avoid having to pay movie industry >music guild fees) was composed by Louis and Bebe Barron. MGM producer >Dore Schary discovered the couple quite by chance at a beatnik >nightclub in Greenwich Village while on a family Christmas visit to >New York City. Schary hired them on the spot to compose the film >music score. The theremin (which was not used in Forbidden Planet) >had been used as early as 1945, in Spellbound, but their score is >widely credited with being the first completely electronic film >score. The soundtrack preceded the Moog synthesizer of 1964 by almost >a decade. >"Using equations from the 1948 book, Cybernetics: Or, Control and >Communication in the Animal and the Machine by mathematician Norbert >Wiener, Louis Barron constructed the electronic circuits which he >used to generate the "bleeps, blurps, whirs, whines, throbs, hums and >screeches". Most of the tonalities were generated using a circuit >called a ring modulator. After recording the base sounds, the Barrons >further manipulated the material by adding effects, such as >reverberation and delay, and reversing or changing the speed of >certain sounds." Thank you for this. I'm very interested. This week I've got several more parties to play for and then Christmas Eve is always popular. After that I might have a wedding or two and then things should slow down a bit. >(On a side note - if you know how a ham radio works you are a good >step towards understanding how a theremin works - at the core it >heterodynes two RF waveforms to produce an audible beat frequency. >"Ring modulators" - as mentioned above - are essentially the same, >but processing waveforms in the audio range rather than at radio >frequencies.) I'm hoping I'm a bit more prepared just because of that education. At least I've heard a few electronic terms. >One final suggestion - ear training for this sort of music - I >practice something called "deep listening" - listening to the sounds >that fill our everyday lives with the same attention that one would >give to a classical concert. The world has become an increasingly >noisy place since the Industrial Revolution, and mostly we filter >them out - but the sounds we ignore are the basis of the music we >didn't notice. :-) >Gordon Charlton You are right about this. One of the things I listen to is the sounds within the body. I listen to pulse and blood flow. That's just me, though. Merrie