- I have had a long career in the media and entertainment industries, with a primary focus on creative marketing for movies and TV shows. My professional experience includes TV promo writing and producing, interviewing celebrities at press junkets and red carpet premieres, graphic design, document design, audio production, public relations, website management, voice acting, radio broadcasting, and more. I hold a bachelor's degree in communication (broadcasting emphasis with an advertising minor), and a master's degree in communication management.
I am currently on the adjunct faculty of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, where I occasionally teach a home studio technology workshop for voice acting students. As a voice actor, myself, I have been heard in both local and national radio and TV commercials and on-air promos. I have served as a sound designer on more than 100 community theater productions. I also work as the marketing communication manager for a manufacturing company in the Denver suburbs.
My first exposure to the theremin was with a photo theremin circuit I assembled as a child. I also watched a lot of vintage sci-fi movies that featured theremin music. In 1994, I attended a world premiere screening of Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. I bought my first real theremin in 2009 to create sound effects for a stage production of The Rocky Horror Show. (My bio photo above was taken at a rehearsal.) Since then, I have acquired about two dozen theremins and related instruments. In 2011, I attended the Hands Off theremin conference in Scarborough, England, where I met several of the thereminists whose music has been featured in the podcast.I don't consider myself an expert thereminist, but I play well enough to amuse myself and some of my friends. I have performed in public a few times. I record experimental theremin and synthesizer music under my own name and the pseudonym Phlogiston Theory. I am co-creator of the Theremin 30 podcast theme song, "Opera Glasses." Some of my original electronic music has been used in theater productions, TV commercials, and a sci-fi comedy YouTube series. My Moog Theremini recording "Time Shadows" is among the bonus tracks that accompany the NY Theremin Society's Theremin 100 album. I also use the recording as background music in the podcast's calendar segment.
I started working on the premiere episode of the Theremin 30 podcast in March of 2019 because I wanted to learn about podcasting and reawaken dormant skills from my radio days. I also wanted to create a new outlet for thereminists around the world to share their music with other musicians and fans. I had enjoyed listening to the late David Vesel's streaming radio show called Spellbound: A Brief Program of Music for Theremin. I wanted to pick up where he left off, but without making a carbon copy of his show.Each monthly episode takes me about 12 to 15 hours to produce. It can be frustrating and challenging, but I really enjoy meeting my interview guests and hearing from the many artists, instrument designers, and others who participate in or listen to the show. I hope you enjoy the podcast at least as much as I enjoy making it for you.
Rick Reid Host, writer, and producer of Theremin 30
