...do you even know those people, Kevin?
Considering playing...
Posted: 9/10/2007 2:47:11 PM
Eek! Better get this thread back on topic quick sharp before [i]buddy[/i] responds to that. I've seen his youTube vids - he is one handsome devil.
Shinyone wrote, "[i]I'd really like to try one out first, mostly to see if it's as neat in-person as it is in these videos and audio clips (though I'm sure it is just as cool, if not more-so), and if I'm still wow'd into wanting one.[/i]"
Which opens an interesting topic for discussion - What was your first time like?
The first few minutes for me were very odd. I had a strong feeling of dislocation - sounds were happening and my hands were moving, but there seemed to be no causal relationship - a dream sensation like floating and looking down to see yourself in a room full of strangers that you have known all your life. Slowly causality returned, but backwards - the theremin was in control, constantly edging away, trying to bolt from under me. That feeling lasted a long time.
These days we have a symbiotic relationship; the music, for want of a better term, emanates primarily from my hands and arms, but the magic only works in the presence of a theremin, and mine knows me well enough to shape its fields to my arms as I approach it. This is all quite normal and workaday - the idea of having to touch things to make sounds, to strike them or blow down them seems a bit too physical, too crass, too blunt a tool for subtle expression, and I sometimes wonder why people don't see that.
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Well, I've scanned this posting for accidental innuendo, and it passes muster. But, as the love-child of Benny Hill and Frankie Howerd (http://www.frankiehowerd.com/AUDIO/ooargladyouasked.mp3) I'm pleading heredity as a mitigating factor just in case.
Shinyone wrote, "[i]I'd really like to try one out first, mostly to see if it's as neat in-person as it is in these videos and audio clips (though I'm sure it is just as cool, if not more-so), and if I'm still wow'd into wanting one.[/i]"
Which opens an interesting topic for discussion - What was your first time like?
The first few minutes for me were very odd. I had a strong feeling of dislocation - sounds were happening and my hands were moving, but there seemed to be no causal relationship - a dream sensation like floating and looking down to see yourself in a room full of strangers that you have known all your life. Slowly causality returned, but backwards - the theremin was in control, constantly edging away, trying to bolt from under me. That feeling lasted a long time.
These days we have a symbiotic relationship; the music, for want of a better term, emanates primarily from my hands and arms, but the magic only works in the presence of a theremin, and mine knows me well enough to shape its fields to my arms as I approach it. This is all quite normal and workaday - the idea of having to touch things to make sounds, to strike them or blow down them seems a bit too physical, too crass, too blunt a tool for subtle expression, and I sometimes wonder why people don't see that.
-----
Well, I've scanned this posting for accidental innuendo, and it passes muster. But, as the love-child of Benny Hill and Frankie Howerd (http://www.frankiehowerd.com/AUDIO/ooargladyouasked.mp3) I'm pleading heredity as a mitigating factor just in case.
Posted: 9/10/2007 4:02:17 PM
First off, Gordon, my first time was at a local sicence museum.
I think I already went over the details in another post. Let's just say it was nice to actually do what I had previously only read about and seen in videos....
All kidding aside, Shinyone, my band Cellular Terror is palying tomorrow night at TSI in Jacksonville. I haven't yet decided whether I am even going to bring the theremin but if you want to try one out I can drag it along.
It's kind of a noise/experimental type of show so don't expect a whole lot of pretty music but it can be interesting stuff.
You'll be quite safe if you show up. I'm probably old enough to be your older brother and my missus won;t mind as long as it's just theremin playing.
I would probably still extend this offer even if your avatar looked like Gordon's (or mine for that matter).
I am not sure what the set-up is like at TSI these days but I am sure we could squeeze in a few minutes before or after the show for you to wave your hands in the air (like you just don't care) for a little while and get a feel for the thing.
I think I already went over the details in another post. Let's just say it was nice to actually do what I had previously only read about and seen in videos....
All kidding aside, Shinyone, my band Cellular Terror is palying tomorrow night at TSI in Jacksonville. I haven't yet decided whether I am even going to bring the theremin but if you want to try one out I can drag it along.
It's kind of a noise/experimental type of show so don't expect a whole lot of pretty music but it can be interesting stuff.
You'll be quite safe if you show up. I'm probably old enough to be your older brother and my missus won;t mind as long as it's just theremin playing.
I would probably still extend this offer even if your avatar looked like Gordon's (or mine for that matter).
I am not sure what the set-up is like at TSI these days but I am sure we could squeeze in a few minutes before or after the show for you to wave your hands in the air (like you just don't care) for a little while and get a feel for the thing.
Posted: 9/10/2007 7:30:19 PM
I seen no reason to suppose that one's avatar necessarily bears any relationship to one's physical appearance, although it might.
Posted: 9/10/2007 9:02:11 PM
Haha! Didn't scare me off y'all, no worries. I was just away last night, and the computer was being evil today...
Also, unfortunately the avatar's not a picture of me at all. Wish it were! I just found it, thought it was pretty, and as I wasn't entirely sure if I wanted to put my own image up just now, used that. ^_^;
DiggyDog - unfortunately there's no way for me to get there tomorrow night. I'm in central Florida (middle of nowhere, yay), it's a few hours out from here to Jacksonville, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to get a ride this short notice (if I could convince my parents at all, ack). But thanks for the offer!<3
Also, unfortunately the avatar's not a picture of me at all. Wish it were! I just found it, thought it was pretty, and as I wasn't entirely sure if I wanted to put my own image up just now, used that. ^_^;
DiggyDog - unfortunately there's no way for me to get there tomorrow night. I'm in central Florida (middle of nowhere, yay), it's a few hours out from here to Jacksonville, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to get a ride this short notice (if I could convince my parents at all, ack). But thanks for the offer!<3
Posted: 9/10/2007 11:34:45 PM
My first time was ca. 1995, in Rumble Seat Music in Ithaca, NY (in their original, smaller, less glitzy space, closer to the Commons).
It was a Big Briar Etherwave, and I couldn't for the life of me produce any recognizable series of pitches. It was not only humbling, but downright baffling. I gave up in scarcely a minute. Clearly, La Rockmore was supernaturally gifted.
So, about a decade later, when a student more or less dared me to try to learn to play, I bought an Etherwave kit strictly as a lark, assuming that I would never get beyond spooky vintage sound effects. It was a pleasant shock, then, when the accompanying DVD of Frau Kavina made it possible for me to produce genuinely recognizable series of pitches.
It was a Big Briar Etherwave, and I couldn't for the life of me produce any recognizable series of pitches. It was not only humbling, but downright baffling. I gave up in scarcely a minute. Clearly, La Rockmore was supernaturally gifted.
So, about a decade later, when a student more or less dared me to try to learn to play, I bought an Etherwave kit strictly as a lark, assuming that I would never get beyond spooky vintage sound effects. It was a pleasant shock, then, when the accompanying DVD of Frau Kavina made it possible for me to produce genuinely recognizable series of pitches.
Posted: 9/11/2007 4:54:15 AM
DiggyDog wrote, "extend this offer even if your avatar looked like Gordon's"
That's very kind of you, and I will gladly accept if I am ever in your neck of the woods. But, to avoid any comic misunderstanding, please don't make any assumptions based on my avatar. I may well be wearing my best black silk evening gown with the silver and diamanté trim and my strappy going-out shoes, but as we have learned recently, one should not necessarily infer anything from a photo.
That's very kind of you, and I will gladly accept if I am ever in your neck of the woods. But, to avoid any comic misunderstanding, please don't make any assumptions based on my avatar. I may well be wearing my best black silk evening gown with the silver and diamanté trim and my strappy going-out shoes, but as we have learned recently, one should not necessarily infer anything from a photo.
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