Thermins

One of the reasons I am so attracted to Marc is that he always has some odd interest on the go. One of his odd interests is playing odd musical instruments. The theremin is one of his favorite odd instruments. What is a theremin you ask? I'll let the guys at Theremin World explain:

The theremin was invented in 1919 by a Russian physicist named Lev Termen (in the United States his name was Leon Theremin). Today, this marvelous instrument is once again in the musical spotlight.
Besides looking like no other instrument, the theremin is unique in that it is played without being touched.

Two antennas protrude from the theremin - one controlling pitch, and the other controlling volume. As a hand approaches the vertical antenna, the pitch gets higher. Approaching the horizontal antenna makes the volume softer. Because there is no physical contact with the instrument, playing the theremin in a precise melodic way requires practiced skill and keen attention to pitch.

Originally, the theremin was intended to play classical music and even replace entire orchestras with its "music from the aether." While that never quite happened, it has been used in many recordings over the years. Several big band conductors featured the theremin in numerous specialty ablums. During the 60's and 70's, bands such as Lothar and the Hand People, the Bonzo Doo Dah Dog Band, and Led Zeppelin brought the theremin into the public eye for a short time. (However a theremin did not play in the song "Good Vibrations", but the instrument used was based on it.) Then, the theremin slipped back into obscurity until the recent revival of the 1990s. Today, lots of bands use theremins, though few in a musical context.
The spooky sound of the theremin was used in several movie soundtracks during the 1950's and 1960's. It provided background mood music for such sci-fi classics as The Day the Earth Stood Still, where it played a serious musical role, and It Came From Outer Space, as well in classic, well composed, thriller soundtracks such as Spellbound and The Lost Weekend.

Here is a theremin master, Clara Rockmore playing The Swan (Saint-Saëns)



One of my equally odd friends, Shell sent me a link today to a Make video on how to make an optical theremin in a petrie dish.

Might be a fun project for a teen.


Beep-it from Michael Una on Vimeo.

We've had some fun with the theremin. One Halloween Marc played spooky music but we had to stop that after we ended up scaring the daylights out of some of the littlies.

Virginia International Tattoo

I'm loving watching the unfolding of my children's very different personalities, likes and dislikes. I know that as fraternal twins, they are just siblings who shared a womb, but I still find the revealing off their differences so fascinating.

I try to take them to as many cultural events as I can. Luckily Norfolk has a very active arts community that regularly does educational outreach. This means that we have access to heavily discounted and even free arts programs.

We love attending the Norfolk Arts Within Reach programs. We attended a performance of "Peter and the Wolf" by The Virginia Symphony Orchestra in conjunction with Norfolk Arts Within Reach a few months back. It was so much more than a performance, the musicians showed the children how their instruments became the animals. After the performance, they invited the children to come up and ask them questions.

The differences between Ben and Shira became very apparent. Shira immediately went to the flautist. Ben, on the other hand, was entranced by the bass and the bassoon. She loves the high notes and Ben is drawn to the low notes.

I again saw their differences when we went to see The Virginia Opera's performance of "The Pirates of Penzance". Ben was bored stiff (as was I) and Shira was sitting on the edge of her seat, drinking it all in. I must admit to understanding Ben on this one. I too find musicals and operas stultifyingly boring. I can't stand how they take 10 min to say something as simple as "how are you?". I just want to get to the point.

On Thursday, when we saw the Virginia International Tattoo, I again saw the differences between my twins. Shira became bored very quickly and Ben couldn't get enough of it. He loved the booming, the marching, the drums, the bagpipes and the motorcycles. He loved the military pomp and precision marching.




I did find it amusing to see genetics at work. Both kids are drawn to anything and everything Scots. Their great grandfather George would be very chuffed to know his love of Scotland has survived in another generation. He emigrated from Scotland at 18 and when he died 60 years later, he was as unintelligible as he was the day he arrived. His accent was the thickest you've ever heard. He was a fiercely proud Scots nationalist, who hated the English with a passion.

Both Ben and Shira want to learn to play the bagpipes. A friend of mine told me that I should discourage Shira from playing ht pipes as it over develops the chest region and that's not something we would want in a young girl. I'm not running to find them a bagpipes teacher as I think they have enough on their plates with piano and recorder lessons (and choir for Shira). Ben wants to join Shira in the Virginia Children's Chorus. He's going to do their summer camp (as is Shira) and then in August he'll audition. Our Tuesdays are chock full of music lessons. Recorder lessons before lunch, piano lessons from 3-4pm and then choir from 4:30pm. I hope Ben passes the audition as I will enjoy having that hour to myself. Shira starts piano lessons this Tuesday. In order to surprise her piano teacher, she's been practicing the piano book A. I think her unstated goal is to start her piano lessons in book B as part of her one upmanship contest with her brother (he started in book A, but then skipped book B).

I'm thrilled that Shira has decided to finally start playing the piano. She has a good ear and is naturally musical.

I made a startling discovery about myself at the tattoo. I think I am the most unsentimental person I know. I make my no nonsense, unsentimental husband look positively maudlin sometimes. The South African Defence Force Joint Service Military Band performed at the tattoo and as they played the music of my childhood, I was surprised to realize that my face was wet with tears.

I left South Africa in 2000 without a backward glance. The day I arrived in the US, I decided that I was an American and I set about fully integrating myself into American society. There was very little I missed about South Africa. I was stunned to realize that this South African music could evoke as much emotion in me as it did.

While I was watching the marching bands from the US, the Netherlands and South Africa I was struck by how their marching styles reflected the respective countries. The Dutch and American bands had an organization and rigidity about them that the South African one lacked. The South African soldiers entire bodies moved with their music. That to me is the essence of Africa, fluidity. Fluidity and Africa are the fodder for another post at another time.