Roll Call! - 2011!

Sorry to be half a year behind, it's been quite a busy six months behind the scenes at ThereminWorld.

Welcome to TW Roll Call!

This is a forum thread where new members can introduce themselves and tell us all a bit about themselves and what got you interested in the theremin.

My name is John. I am a theremin player in New York. It seems I was always aware of the theremin, but it wasn't until well into my adult years, after working in music most of my life, that I started playing seriously. I thought it was a great instrument to have at home without taking up a lot of space and now theremins and their gear have taken over a third of my apartment. I work as editor and administrator of ThereminWorld with TW founder, Jason Barile.

Whatever your theremin questions are, you'll likely find an answer here. And though the theremin can be challenging, it is not impossible to play and at times can be magical. Don't give up and
KEEP ON PLAYING!

Hey Rachel! ;)
I am so glad you are able to join us!!!
YAY!!!

Hi there!

I just picked up a Theremin this morning. Kind of ironic since it's also Leon Theremin's birthday.

I'm an amateur writer and musician from the suburbs outside of St. Louis, MO. I do concert reviews and music articles for the local independent radio station KHDX. My articles and can be found at http://kdhx.org/play/matt-champion

I'm primarily a singer but have ventured into other aspects of musical performance, mainly the guitar and keyboards (which I play badly) and more rudimentary instruments like the washboard.

Congratulations! St. Louis, MO, huh? Perhaps you know Kevin Kissinger (http://kevinkissinger.com). If not, perhaps you should.

I don't know him, but I may have to cross the state to see him and get some pointers.

Oops! My bad! I thought Kevin Kissinger was in St. Louis.

Ahhh! I must be thinking of David Vesel of Spellbound (http://spellbound.purplenote.com/index.php) fame.

Hello Everyone,

It's taken me long enough to chime in but here it goes....

My name is Brian from Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania. I have been playing Leon's creation since Dec 29th of last year when I received a B3 theremin for my birthday. Soon after that I upgraded to a used Etherwave standard and more recently I purchased a B3 Pro that I use almost exclusively now.

My musical background includes playing the trumpet in my high school band and taking some piano lessons around the same time but I never kept up the interest once I graduated. Rebuilding antique player pianos has been a hobby of mine for over 30 years but we all know that you don't need any musical talent to play these mechanical behemoths...LOL!

Because the theremin has no keys or frets I can't take a piece of sheet music and play it "cold" as an accomplished pianist can do, however my limited background in reading music does allow me to follow a score once I know the melody. After learning the mechanics of a piece the expression that starts to manifest itself is boundless and one's body begins to feel like a magical conduit between the instrument and another supernatural world. The beauty of it is that you don't have to have perfect pitch or be Clara Rockmore to experience this!

The theremin is the first and only instrument I have truly fallen in love with. I am very grateful to this website where one can share and promote the passion that we all feel for this strangely mystical and possessive instrument.

Hello Brian!
Welcome to ThereminWorld!

I share with you the "falling in love" with statement you made - The theremin has its ways to tempt us and keep us in right?

Enjoy your stay here :)

Hello, my name is Joel and I'm a thereminaholic.

A year ago I saw a flier at the local University from somebody who wanted to start a theremin ensemble, and was intrigued. I had played trumpet and baritone in concert and marching bands as a child, but put musical performance aside for several decades to pursue college, career and family matters. I had started dabbling again with bass guitar and piano, but after attending the first meeting of what would become the theremin ensemble I was hooked. My Etherwave theremin arrived in early October of last year so I've been playing for a year now, though I still have a long way to go before I would consider myself competent. The ensemble has had one public performance, and we've got another couple coming up in the next month or so. It's challenging but fun.

Other things... I have played around with electronics, and by day am a research programmer at a supercomputing center. I find the theremin, and electronic music in general, an excellent fit for my mindset.

Welcome Joel! (From another ex-trumpet/cornet, baritone, French horn player).

We find your mindset an excellent fit to the theremin as well. You can now officially be declared insane!

"I'm a thereminaholic". As Dr. Phil would say, you can't change what you won't admit. Ah hell....why change?!!! :-)