It's been a big week for theremin exposure on national TV. If Millhouse playing a theremin wasn't enough, last night Ke$ha demonstrated how she "plays" her theremin on the Conan O'Brien show.
Unfortunately, Conan also perpetuated the myth that a theremin was used in Good Vibrations, but we'll forgive him that and just blame his fact-checkers instead.
This isn't, of course, the first time a theremin has been seen on a late night TV talk show. That honor probably goes to Dr. Samuel Hoffman for his appearence on The Johnny Carson Show on Feb 16, 1956. Anyone know of an earlier instance?
Historical in-significance aside, you might still find the clip entertaining. You can watch the Ke$ha interview here. The theremin bit lasts about a minute and starts around the 5 minute mark.
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I don't care for her music much, but If she plays it, then kudos to her. :)
Don't get me wrong, I am glad that the theremin is put out there for people to appreciate. But it would be even nicer when a theremin is brought up to the public eye, that there is a competent musician behind it to show its full potential.
Some may even have found the theremin world forums as a result...
... Hi Ke$ha fans! ...
... and in case any of you are wondering what the sanctimonious clucking is about, pop over to youTube and search for Clara Rockmore or Peter Pringle or Randy George or Lydia Kavina or Carolina Eyck ... well I could continue but probably five examples is more than enough.
Done that now? Good, weren't they! But not what Ke$ha's about. OK, try searching youtube for "experimental theremin music" - that'll give you a taste of the other end of the spectrum... and it'll give me some shameless publicity. Heh, heh, heh.
My take on it: Waaaaaay too many effects pedals, Ke$ha. Strip it down to the minimum.
I agree with you... Too many pedals and effects on it. But hey, it's the same principle as when a bad singer use a lot of reverb to sound better.
I was chuckling when Conin said "I am amazed at all the different instrument that you play". Well, if she plays all the other instruments like she "plays" the Theremin ...
Anyhow. It's just plain and simple. To use the Theremin to add effects and go the avant garde route, you can be proficient at it almost instantly. To really feel the theremin and create beautiful tones and have it sing for you what you feel deep inside... That takes YEARS to achieve that - There is no short cuts really. Just patience and dedication.
I wish!
OK, there is a pretty strong element of instant gratification to it - it's fun from the get-go. There's no denying it. OTOH I've been exploring that territory for about five and a half years now and pretty much the further I go the further away the horizon seems to be. There is definitely scope for acquiring skills and developing techniques, which is where the serious fun is for me. Yes, the instant gratification of spacey, spooky woowoos is an easy way to start, but it doesn't take long before you get to thinking that there must be more to it than that.
That Ke$ha is throwing pedals at the problem suggests to me that she's feeling the dissatisfaction, and my opinion is that she's not taking the time to squeeze all the juicy goodness out of each new piece of tech - which would be a better way to go than racking up the effects willy-nilly. (And yes, this is as much a necessity for me as a virtue, but that don't mean I ain't right.)
[i]But hey, it's the same principle as when a bad singer use a lot of reverb to sound better.[/i]
Depends what you call a lot of reverb. :-)
(When it comes to Indian pickles and curries in the UK, there are two standards, mild medium and hot on the Indian scale, (i.e. on products made by and for Indian people) and mild medium and hot on the wussy white folk scale, which ends where the Indian scale starts. I have a couple of jars of "extra very hot" on the Indian scale in my pantry. They are not subtle but they are good.)
By my standards a lot of reverb means sounds that go way beyond "sounding better" and into "mushing the living heck out of it".
(For example: the backing of this http://youtu.be/oEEE..., which is actually a post-processed copy of the lead (theremin w/ kill switch staccato and what I consider to be fairly restrained echo) - the post-processing consisting of offsetting it by a few beats and [i]really[/i] a lot of reverb. More than you can shake a click at.)
I've seen equally non-lyric lessons for other instruments with TV hosts. It makes me appreciate more Miss Hypnotic's demonstration on British TV a couple years ago, she had to face host goofiness too.
And it is popular TV after all. I wonder what happens when Yo-Yo Ma does promotional appearances?
I'm not Ke$ha and my youngest 3 1/2 years old daughter is not a TV moderator.
But we happen sometimes to play some Russian, French or German lullabies together (me behind her, guiding her tiny hands) on my Etherwave and she manages still to sing along.
I think we'll refrain from showing this on TV since I fear the risk of overstraining intellectually what French people call "le grand public"...
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Yay to the Clock Work Orange inspired look!
*roll eyes*
What kind of THeremin you think this one is (above in the picture)?
Too bad it's not a Tvox! It would have given Thierry a heart attack ;)