How I got here

Yesterday (Tue.) I was playing recorder with my recorder, violin, cello group when I commented that a DVD Music class I was revewing hadn't included the Theremin as a unique instrument type. They both knew what a Theremin was.

Later, when I got home, I decided to do a Google search for "Concert Grand Autoharp" in my continuing search to try to find out where my 49-string AH came from. One of the hits was a comment about someone wanting to write music for Concert Grand Autoharp and Theremin.

All this was too much of a coincidence, I figured someone was trying to tell me something,so here I am.

DonW

It was probably me wondering "So! Who's Writing for Concert Grand Autoharp and Theremin"?
Please tell more, those are my mainstays:
Moog Etherwave Pro Theremin, OS Re-Issue acoustic and OS closed body electric autoharps.

Welcome!!!
The aether has a funny way of bringing folks together.

So... are you going to get a theremin?

Actually, it was me (http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=2359&F=808).

So DonW, you actually own a 49 string AH? You might want to compare it to the picture on the bottom of this page (http://www.fretlesszithers.com/autoharp.html). Is that what you have? If so, you understand that you have the rarest of rare autoharps, right?

You're welcome to contact me to chat if you like - you can use the contact page on my web site (http://www.tomfarrell.org/contact/) to reach me by a variety of methods.

omhoge: I'm actually most fond of my 21 chord chromaharp (much more comfortable for me and nicer tone than my os21c), but I have a variety of others. (About a dozen all told, not counting those I bought for parts.) My latest addition is an electric chromaharp that I haven't had an opportunity to try yet. I also really want to get my guitaro re-felted so I can play with that again, it was wonderful when I got it but a week later all the felts spontaneously fell off, and I just haven't had time to deal with it.

As I said in that posting I linked to above, I learned to play the autoharp a little so I could make practice backing tracks for learning the theremin, but I ended up having so much fun with the autoharp I got sidetracked from the theremin for a while.

>>"I ended up having so much fun with the autoharp I got sidetracked from the theremin for a while"That happens to me a lot, and I find each one helps my playing technique on the others.
I firmly believe every house should have a 'harp...
and a chromatic tuner and a good tuning wrench too,
it's so fun and feels good to play with that big box of strings vibrating against your chest.

I have a 15 ChromaHarp, but the 21 Oscar Schmidts, especially the acoustic, are my main stays. I keep the 15'er around in hopes of finding other harpers to jam with.

I do have a Theremin. I put together a Big Briar Etherwave several years ago. I played around with it a bit, and did manage to play Valse Triste with piano accompanyment for a music group a few years ago. The main problem I had was coming in on pitch after the piano intro.
The trick I used was to capture my opening note from the piano and then hold that position until I came in. (I suspect I looked rather strange standing there.)

I didn't know any other players, so I was rather amaze to find this group. Does anyone know of any activity in the San Francisco/San Jose area?

I still don't know where my Autoharp came from. It definetely doesn't match any pictures I have seen of one this large.

Thanks for all the posts. I have even gotten some AH/Theremin music.

DonW

"Does anyone know of any activity in the San Francisco/San Jose area?"

Not sure, but I will be looking into it, as well. After being in Maryland for a few years after living in the Bay Area, I am moving back to the Bay (Napa, to be precise)

I'm a relative novice at theremin, but hope to get into it fairly steady once the moving settles down. I haven't tried an autoharp since it was introduced to me in a middle school music class, however.

The instruments I really love to play, and hope to really stick with and master as much as possible, are my mandolin, theremin, and concertina. The method of playing them (although different in each case) just feels so natural and intuitive.