PWO Theremin - Kickstarter

If all goes to present plans, this will be my next project.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pwo/the-post-war-orchestra

Wanted is a Pro theremin with remote access (adjustments can be made by someone other than the thereminist) and for this to be built on a WW2 Maxim machine gun. I have proposed using my shielding technology to reduce the ground 'bulk' or make the gun less of a capacitive influence, and to facilitate placement of the electronics a distance from the antennas. 

I must just state that I have not confirmed acceptance of the project nor has the project formally been assigned to me - A lot will depend on Kickstarter and the tight deadline.

A press release from the U.K. Independent newspaper can be found here.

Fred.

Good luck!

Thanks Thierry -

This is a bit like HO-2010 .. Something I would never have done - and almost something I dont want to do. The one mistake I cannot afford to repeat is what I did at HO-2010.. Lost a lot of money!

I also personally (despite, or perhaps because of my loathing of all military hardware) dont understand why people are facinated by weapons - To me, musical instruments built from weapons is incongrous - But perhaps this is what makes it an "artistic statement" - Perhaps this is why I dont "get" most art.

In my view, if we ever get to a world where the "need" for weapons disapeared, we would not be retaining their "image" in whatever we used these redundant items for - we would melt them down and bash them until there was no reseblence which could remind us of their original function.

Alas, there will not be a time when my hypothesis will be "proved" or "disproved" - Its a hopeless dream.

I had a real concience battle about accepting this job - My daughter won me over.. Her argument was that even if people did "love" the weapons more than the idea of peace, at least this was a "positive" channel for such "love". That made some sense.

Fred

Fred, as the thereminist for the PWO at their first performance last year (*), I am delighted that you have accepted the job.

The instrument they had at the time, a rocket launcher on top of a box concealing an etherwave, with the weapon as the pitch rod and the volume loop sticking out of the side certainly looked the part, but it was not a good instrument to play. The pitch field was unstable and showed no signs of settling down over time, and all of the upper register was missing. 

It seems from the article that they are moving towards more popular forms of music, so it is possible that they may well be looking for more melodic theremin playing than that which I supplied, with the exacting requirements for the instrument that that implies. I think the combination of your theremin expertise and geographical proximity to them makes you the ideal choice. 

I hope it works out well. :-)

(*) In the video on the kickstarter page, one minute in, wearing a green headband.

"The instrument they had at the time, a rocket launcher on top of a box concealing an etherwave, with the weapon as the pitch rod and the volume loop sticking out of the side certainly looked the part, but it was not a good instrument to play. " - Gordon

LOL ;-) .. When you made that telephone call to me, oh, a little over a year ago (?), with these really strange questions about adapting a theremin to a rocket launcher - well, up until then I had regarded you as one of the saner thereminists! ;-)

I had no idea what you were up to  -  "rocket launchers" and "theremin" - not words that really "clicked together" for me ;-) .. I thought perhaps it was some kind of firework festival, and perhaps whe whistling rockets were duds, so you were trying to improvise.. "it was not a good instrument to play" must be an understatement!

As a musical instrument, I believe that the theremin is right on the edge of absurdity anyway - even when one has complete control over its physical form -

At least with the Maxim there is plenty of distance available to space the antennas a good distance apart.. The irony of what I intend to do is that most of the effort will be making the Maxim "dissapear" from an electronic perspective.. But, to be honest, I think it will be easier to make the Maxim into a good theremin than to make the launcher into one! - Even without "shielding" or "invisibility" it should be possible to build a reasonably good conventional theremin into the gun if care is taken in the design.. But I do think that for a really good / Pro theremin, somewhat more radical schemes / topologies will be needed..

"I am delighted that you have accepted the job"

At this time neither party has confirmed anything, and I need to be absolutely clear about this.. I turned down their offer to deliver the gun to my home - simply nowhere to put it, couldnt even get it into my back yard! - Having a machine gun on my front lawn is not something I would tolerate - As divorce proceedings have started, it might also have conveyed an undesirable message, LOL ;-) - Also, I could be quite wealthy by now if I had not been vehemently opposed all my life to the arms industry, not going to advertise that bloody industry now!  ...  it might have been useful with the recent election though ..

Fred

ps - I really do have a big problem with machines like the Maxim.. I cannot see it without seeing the ghosts of those it cut down.. Young people with their lives ahead of the, their grieving children and families - they quite literally pop into my brain - images of people I dont know. Oh, I understand that it had to be done, that Hitler and his thugs had to be stopped - But the majority of those on both sides were just sheep IMO, it was not those who financed Hitlers war machine who were taking the bullets.. It is this aspect - the impact of the machines used by the PWO on ME, which will be my biggest challenge.. I hate war films, but somehow these dont stirr the feelings in me that the sight of the Maxim does.. 

"one of the saner thereminists"

LOL - that's a fairly low bar you set there, Fred. Well, yes, a sane thereminist would have stuck a Condemned sign on it and flounced off in an artistic strop, but I'm in the nutty "this is what we have, let's see what we can do with it" brigade.

"war films" 

I'm not a fan of those either, but if the PWO was a film, it would be an anti-war film - they use the same props as war films, but to a different end. This was the theme of the music we played - one twenty minute concept piece, charting the build up to war, the horrors of the reality of war and resolving itself into a post-apocalyptic pastoral utopia.

I played the "horrors of war" part, which suited me fine, not because I am pro-war, far from it, but because I tap into the darker side of my psyche when I play (it's a positive channel for the negative emotions that come with M.E.) It didn't make me a soldier, it made me an actor in military garb, singing "Give Peace A Chance" at the top of his voice.

P.S. I appreciate that it is not yet certain that you will be building this instrument. If it is someone else, then I wish them the best of luck - if it happens at all - the success of the kickstarter is by no means guaranteed.

"one twenty minute concept piece, charting the build up to war, the horrors of the reality of war and resolving itself into a post-apocalyptic pastoral utopia." - GordonC

Is there a recording or video of this piece anywhere? I would love to listen to it.

Fred.

I would love to hear it too.

There was a raw rehearsal recording that I was to receive prior to the performance, but the person responsible forgot to send me a copy, and there was footage taken of the whole performance - some tiny snippets were used in the promotional video. I suspect they used the best bits and discarded the rest. 

Given that they are moving in a more commercial direction I wouldn't be surprised if these recordings are quietly forgotten. 

Was listening to Pedro Reyes today who makes new musical instruments out of weapons.

BBC I Player Radio Four. Midweek with Libby Purves.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qrpf

31:15 minutes onwards.

Has a soundtrack too. 34:50.

Sounds like a sort of "Hawkwind" type of soundtrack to me. Great!

Interesting project!!!!!

"Wanted is a Pro theremin with remote access (adjustments can be made by someone other than the thereminist) and for this to be built on a WW2 Maxim machine gun. I have proposed using my shielding technology to reduce the ground 'bulk' or make the gun less of a capacitive influence, and to facilitate placement of the electronics a distance from the antennas. "  - FredM

Fred, with your deep knowledge of Theremins, your intense desire to improve them through modern innovation, your strong background in capacitance sensing and shielding, your engineering and prototyping skills, and your strong anti-war stance (which I very much applaud as there is an exceedingly dark and self-serving side to the EE profession which too few of us confront head-on) - I'd be quite surprised if there is anyone else in the world better suited to this endeavor than yourself.  I hope only good comes of it and that you make a well deserved chunk of change in the process.