a lurker surfaces

Greetings. I am a new theremin player... well... sorta. I had a couple cheap kit theremins that I got off of ebay years ago... pitch antenna only.... I installed one in a cigar box and used it on some cartoon scores... I'm a trombone player by trade and thought I would have some basic instincts on the theremin, as I'm used to fine tuning with my arm and wrist. So far, I've been right and wrong there. Similar but not. (it's backwards for one...with a trombone, the pitch goes down as your arm goes out... not so much on a theremin..)

I finally picked out an Etherwave Plus in February, and have been fairly inconsistant in my practice, but am making very slow progress. Very slow. This s*it is HARD. My body has to stay so still to keep a pitch. I've been battling the whole "being still" thing since pre-school for crissake! I'm pretty happy with the Etherwave, though I wish I would have saved for a higher end one where the pitches are spaced the same (what the heck is that called again?) like the now unavailable Etherwave Pro. I've watched some videos (I'm especially diggin' P Pringle, he cracks me up) and have had the fortune of playing trombone with a couple of amazing theremin players (Pamelia Kurstin & Rob Schwimmer) at different times who both were incredibly inspirational to me.

My goals on the theremin seem pretty humble, I just want to be able to play melodic parts with some verve and vibe. No concertos for this guy! Yet. I'm finding that the simple matter of playing a melody is an extreme uphill climb, even for an old music pro like myself. So, I've gotta say that I've also been inspired by y'all, and I've been enjoying reading what everyone has to say.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm trying to accomplish with this post. Perhaps I'm just introducing myself. Perhaps I just like to hear myself talk. (oh, the many times I've been accused there...) Perhaps I'm just procrastinating when I should be practicing. Methinks it's a combination of all the above, you dig.

Ok. I'm signing out. Thanks again!

w

Welcome aboard Blatboy,

You know the theremin is making music the old fashioned way: By playing it. (-‘

This board has been a bit slow recently but there is always a gathering of individuals that participate. You bring up pitch field linearity which is a fun subject to discuss from a technical perspective as there are limited methods to achieve it, and being perfect…it is possible. I am designing my latest theremin from total scratch which is not for the faint hearted. I do have a late model EtherWave Standard and you are correct, the linearity is abysmal. I enjoy listening to the theremin classical players old and new and admire those who seem to play so effortlessly.
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aha. someone peeked at me website methinks!

Thanks for the reply. I did actually get back to practicing, believe it or not. I hardly do myself.

Been practicing with me sequencer/drum machine whatever. I let it play long chords (using cheezy stereo-phonic synth sounds I never get to use "at work") and work on me scales/intervals/simple melodies. Mostly doing right hand work. Leaning towards P Pringle-ish technique (the stance for sure) and this knuckle-riffic technique I've been experimenting with. I'm mostly trying to stay relaxed and focused. I get mentally tired more than physically at this point, so hopefully that means I'm not doing anything too wrong.....

When I get a little more comfortable with my RH technique I'll start concentrating more on the LH. IMHO, LH is what separates the joey from the kangaroo, you dig.

That's pretty dern awesome that you're full-on designing a theremin. I dabble in electronics...and if I had more time I would have gotten my Etherwave as a kit... But, the idea of actually designing one is pretty fascinating!

oh and a newbie question...

did I read somewhere that these things take a little bit of time to "warm up?" before the pitch field "settles?'

Blatboy said:

[i]did I read somewhere that these things take a little bit of time to "warm up?" before the pitch field "settles?'[/i]

Yes all theremins need a warm up (stabilizing period) besides Tube theremins. Theremins are extremely sensitive to environmental changes. Interestingly the tube theremin has less drift issues after warm up over solid state.

Did I peak through the window into your experiences, yes but I could not get my IExplorer 8 to fire up your sound files?

And that Thereminist you mention is one of the finest classical players in the world today; oh…he visits and posts to Theremin World under his moniker daily.
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