[UK] Hands Off 2007 - Activities

This thread is a breakout from "UK Thereminisation! (Brits - do you fancy a get-together?)"

I spoke with Rachel (Ninki V) about participating in Hands Off. I think we might have trouble [i]stopping[/i] her from performing!

I reassured her that not having Ninki V perform was certainly [i]not[/i] part of the plan.

Great to hear! Now that we have one performer set (thank you Nikki), more will come.

Post your ideas here of things that you want to see/do whilst @ Hands Off. Some ideas that I've had are:

[b]Workshops[/b] - technique/repertoire/general playing/theremin construction/etc. workshops could work well. It depends on who we know is attending and is willing to do one. Simply put, you have a workshop 'leader' who has set out what people are to do/achieve, and all those who attend either take part or learn from it. Similar to these are...

[b]Masterclasses[/b] - here a well established performer will tutor the victi...err...student ( ;-) ), who has prepared a specific work for performance. Generally the tutor will work on specific aspects of playing that they think are weaker than the other aspects. This is done in-front of an audience. Being a classical music student, I'm used to these, but I'm not sure if they'd be too 'scary' for the majority.

[b]Concerts/Performance[/b] - goes without saying really! There are two main formats for these that I can think of off the top of my head:

[i]Showcases[/i] - all performers are announced, and each does 1 piece/short routine (5-10 minutes as an example). These are great fun, and allow a wide variety of performers to perform.

another type is [i]Concerts/Gigs[/i] - Concerts are generally programmed (if only loosely!), and consists of set performers (x will follow y etc.), and gigs are the same, but much more informal (no announcer/introductions etc.).

And my last idea is [b]Lectures[/b] - Masterclasses for an audience. Generally assumes a basic knowledge, and are geared towards giving very specific ideas/knowledge across to the audience, based on the lecturer's expertise (e.g. vibrato, fingering, volume ariel technique, practise technique, scales/exersizes, programming performances, all of the above and more!).

Well, I hope I haven't been 'teaching you all to suck eggs' too much, but it was mainly just to be clear on what I mean ;-)

All ideas welcome!

Have fun,

MC

To your performance types I would add (though not necessarily recommend):-

[i]Open Mic (Thereoke?)[/i] - following a scheduled gig, allow attendees to take the stage to play. This may be unnecessary as we should know in advance who will be there, so people can say in advance if they want to perform, but if things go particularly well then less confident people might come out of their shells given the chance.

[i]Ensemble / Jam Session[/i] - could be anything from a single piece of music rehearsed in advance and tackled en-masse to an improvised piece for anyone interested. Probably a recipe for disaster due to the nature of getting theremins into close proximity with each other, not to mention the potential for sheer cacophony!

In both these cases we'd need to have a back-up in case of insufficient interest.


Another thing I think would be worthwhile would be a demo area. This could cover instrument demos, e.g. by Moog/No1derland/etc., but could also feature a number of different models for people to try out. For example, to let Etherwave Standard owners try out an E-Pro, or to get a feel for the difference between real and optical theremins, etc.

Thereoke. Jam Session. JD, those sound like evening events to me i.e. better with horizontal lubricant. I shall have to check if the venue has a license.

I'm thinking of a soiree, with wine and cheesy comestibles and a group providing an improvised ambient soundscape, say four theremins and delay boxes, with one player stepping down every few minutes to be replaced by another.

And for a party game... Maim That Tune. (i.e. Charades with a theremin and tunes and sound effects instead of films and books.)

I have news following my meeting with Bruce Woolley, Hypnotique et al. (Details in the thread "Gordon's Progress, page 22 (http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=1420&F=557&p=22).)

1. They are all very positive and keen to be involved.

2. A concert at the end is an absolute must. We have people here who want to play.

This, and the notes over in the Venue topic (http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=1981&F=801) suggests to me an overall structure for the conference.

Start with the theremin itself, then classical and conventional thereminery, then avant garde and effects thereminery, then concert.

[b]Friday Evening[/b]

Register. Set up equipment in readiness. Cheese and wine soiree.

[b]Saturday Morning[/b]

Keynote. Talks from our hardware people. Coffee break. Try out different theremins. Hardware workshops.

[b]Saturday Afternoon[/b]

Demonstrations of classical/conventional theremin playing. Technique lectures. Master Classes, workshops.

[b]Saturday Evening[/b]

Jam session. Open Theremin session.

[b]Sunday Morning[/b]

As with Classical/Conventional but Avant Garde/Unconventional. See Sunday Afternoon.

[b]Sunday Afternoon[/b]

Concert. Each player and/or group gets up to half an hour to strut their stuff, ending with an ensemble piece for anyone that cares to join in, consisting of one or more directed improvisations that were practised/devised as part of the Sunday morning workshops.

You are making time for [b]capable non-headliner performers[/b] to play prepared sets. This will attract many people and will give everyone a chance to see and hear more performers. To give such people the option of presenting prepared sets properly acknowledges their dedication and accomplishments.

MM didn't really "get" this: to offer non-headliner yet accomplished Thereminists [i]nothing more than[/i] an open mic/Thereoke session smacks of patronization -- much of the negativity surrounding Ethermusic revolved around this topic.

Forgive me for [i]grinding an axe[/i] here... I am sure that MM was sincere about including an "open mic" hour in the Ethermusic schedule. However, had they announced auditions for performance slots I and others would have auditioned. To have played a polished set there would have been fulfilling and I would have told them as much if they had asked me.

To be sure, a wild 'n crazy open-mic/Thereoke party would be fun however is no substitute for a polished performance.

In other words: Good going! I believe you are on the right track. :)

Thank you Kevin.

There certainly have been a lot of thoughts posted to the TW forums as to why Ether Music 2006 did not come together. I don't see them as criticisms, but as well meant suggestions borne out of frustration.

Nonetheless, as they say, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. So I should acknowledge that all of these points have helped guide Hands Off 2007.

While we are on the subject of inclusiveness, and given that over on the Venue thread we are considering an Easter date, I might just mention that the UK makes a pretty good holiday destination, and flights are cheaper around Eastertide than in the height of the summer season. :-)

Gordon, I think your proposed agenda is ideal - something for everyone, I would say. To bring a little more theremin into the mix on the Friday, I'd suggest a background video running which might help act as an ice-breaker or conversation point - I'm thinking of Electronic Odyssey, Pringle DVD, etc.

Great news that people are keen to join us - your theremin day out sounds like it was a great success and plenty of fun. I've been off on holiday for the last 2 weeks, so it was nice to come back to all this news!

This all sounds great to me. I'm in.

I look forward to meeting you.

Hmm. I have the good Mr Pringle's DVD. Don't have a copy of Electronic Odyssey, and as far as I can see it's currently only available for Region 1. So we would need either a Region 2 copy if there ever was such a beast and someone owns one, or a multi-region player. Also a projector. Something to ask about when I talk to the school.