Showing posts with label Dr G. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr G. Show all posts

[S04E04] September 2022 - Drew Raison

 



In the September 2022 episode of the Theremin 30 podcast, host Rick Reid plays theremin music from Canada, USA, and Finland. Rick interviews Drew Raison, executive director of EMEAPP, the Electronic Music Education and Preservation Project. 

▶️ Listen to this episode on your favorite podcast platform.

FEATURED MUSIC*

*The full-length recordings featured in this show were used with the knowledge and permission of the artists and composers. Please support the artists by visiting their websites, purchasing their recordings, and attending their performances. 

ADDITIONAL MUSIC

INTERVIEW GUEST

  • Drew Raison, executive director, EMEAPP

CALENDAR OF THEREMIN EVENTS

MEDIA LINKS

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST

CONTACT

CREDITS 

Copyright 2022 Rick Reid 


--------------------------------------------

TRANSCRIPT

This transcript was created with an AI speech-to-text system. It may contain errors.

 

David Brower  00:04

This is Theremin 30, 30 minutes of Fairmined music news events and interviews with a new episode about every 30 days. Now here's your host from Denver, Colorado, USA, Rick Reid,

 

Rick Reid  00:18

a welcome to another edition of the Theremin 30 podcast. You know, last month we had an episode fall a little later in the month and that kind of threw off my schedule. So here it is the end of August and I'm just going to call this the September episode. This time around, I've got new music from Dr. G, Anna Glyph, and Kepa Lehtinen and in plus more music from the Divine Hand Ensemble's current album Aria 51. And my special guest this month is Drew Raison, the executive director of EMEAPP, the electronic music education and preservation project. It's a nonprofit organization that runs a huge musical instrument archive in Philadelphia. And you can imagine what we're going to talk about right now to kick off the music for this show. Let's get physical. I mean let's learn about physics. Here's the latest and final single from Dr. G's physics album if you don't know him Dr G is sort of a mad scientist who brings together the forces of music and physics to entertain and educate kids all over Canada this track is called motion

 

Rick Reid  09:03

we started the show with motion by Dr G check out the fun new lyric video for that song on that Theremin 30 playlist on YouTube. After that I played say I do a brand new track from Anna glyphe The recording features some Eurorack synth modules a mo grandmother and a Moke ether wave plus that actually used to belong to me. I sold it to her earlier this year and of course she makes it sound better than I ever did. Maybe I should buy it pack. Anyway there's a really clever stop motion music video for say I do on the Theremin 30 playlist on YouTube. After this break I'll take a look at the Theremin 30 calendar and I have new music from compilation so stay tuned

 

Rick Reid  09:58

It's time now for a look at the Theremin 30 calendar of Theremin events. Since this episode's coming out a little early let's start with August 27. It's the 126 the birthday of Professor Leon Theremin or is it since he was born in 1896 when Russia used a different calendar format. His birthday really depends on which calendar you're looking at. August 27 Does also play music on the porch day, so get out there on September 2, Schramm performs at the nCn festival in Dutson, Germany. Also on September 2 fishbone, featuring thereminist Angelou more will perform at the mercury cafe here in Denver, and on September 3, Dr. G performs at the Orleans library in Ottawa. The 10th edition of the knob con synthesizer convention is set for September 9 through the 11th in the Chicago area, and the RCA Theremin evening is back streaming live on YouTube on the final weekend of September. For details about these events and more, check out the interactive calendar on Theremin thirty.com. And I can't keep up with all that Theremin events myself. So if you have an event you'd like me to put on the calendar, give me a little nudge. Send me all the details through the website to Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Helsinki based Film and Television composer Kip Weston recently sent me a copy of his latest single it's a lovely and haunting track called it gets dark Let's listen.

 

Rick Reid  13:48

That was it gets dark by Kepa Lehtinen and if you want to hear what he does when he isn't playing Theremin, check out his recent TV soundtrack album made in Finland mobile 101 Season One it's available to stream and download in all the usual places. Up next on Theremin 30 I'll visit with Drew res on from the electronic music education and preservation project. So stick around

 

Rick Reid  14:34

if you frequent that Theremin 30 website and I hope you do you've probably seen links and banners for me app the electronic music education and preservation project. It's one of the music nonprofits I promote because they help spread the word about Theremin music. A couple of weeks ago I got to visit with Drew Raison the executive director of me app to find out what it's all about. Drew Raison thank you so much for being on the Theremin 30 Podcast.

 

Drew Raison  15:02

I'm very happy to be here I am honored and looking forward to discussing pheromones because it's one of my favorite things to do.

 

Rick Reid  15:08

I saw your streaming live tour of EMEAPP where you work when I was just blown away with the assortment of instruments that you have and the historic, famous instruments that you have. And I wanted to share a little bit of my experience with my listeners. So to start with, can you tell me what is EMEAPP?

 

Drew Raison  15:27

Yeah, I can try. We are the steward of a massive collection of historically significant musical instruments and gear. Then it started off as a private collection, our curator started off, he was in a band back in the 70s, a rock band and when disco hit his rock band couldn't get a gig because everybody wanted disco, okay, so he got out of the business, sold off most of his instruments and stepped into the food production world and had great success there. And he decided to then turn back and say, you know, I want to get back into this thing. So he finds his original instruments, and he buys a couple of them back. And then he says, You know, I've, I've always wanted one of these. And I've always wanted one of these. And he got out of that. But that's what happens in a perfect world, right. So ultimately, the private collection started to grow at a very, very fast rate. And he kind of stopped and look back at it and realize that this is not a collection of stuff. In fact, this is a very fine tuned, curated collection. And he started to exercise his license as a curator. So as opposed to I've always wanted one of these things, he starts to look into the history of that given object and who created it. And what did the early ones look like? And what about before they actually were produced? Did they create any prototypes of that given item, and then he would go after the prototypes. Now that little story is wonderful. But what you get when you come into me app is you get this dose of 30,000 square feet of this curatorial skill. So yes, we have a massive collection of synthesizers. It's a ridiculous collection. And we've got some rarities beyond belief, but we also have a lot of the prototypes, and we're tied in with the pioneers that created the concepts of these instruments, and then created the actual instruments. And then beyond the synthesizers we have a lot of electromechanical instruments that is electric pianos, clavinets that goes very deep at a massive collection of combo organs so before synthesizers really took grasp the combo organ was in fact the main means for keyboardists to convey their musical ideas in a band. We have untold sums of those and then we have a massive collection of tonewheel Oregon's made by Hammond, you might have heard of the A series, the B Series and the C series, the B three being the doll of all

 

Rick Reid  17:46

Yeah, one of my highlights of watching the or tour you did online, was to see John Lord's B3.

 

Drew Raison  17:52

the collection of tonewheel Oregon's here makes my knees knock it's a nobody really does because there's nothing more exciting to me and of course I might have different standards than most than to walk up to the Hammond Oregon that rift that insane solo on the yes a song roundabout on the album fragile and and it goes deeper than that because we have multiples of Keith Emerson's Hammond Oregon's and it goes deeper and deeper and deeper. And, you know, you think you know a lot about a Hammond, Oregon until you start working here and you realize you kind of don't know anything. And then also recording gear we have, as our recording studio is up and operating now we have a massive collection of vintage audio gear, and probably no fewer than 2500 to 3000 effects pedals, you know, guitar keyboard, bass effects pedals. And then we also have one of the world's finest collections of Mogae equipment. Dr. Robert Moog was one of the main pioneers of synthesizer design. And we have a I don't know you want to call it a shrine? Maybe, you know,

 

Rick Reid  18:57

I think that would be appropriate. Yeah.

 

Drew Raison  18:59

Yeah, it kinda is. And it's funny because we built the mug exhibit for a specific Keith Emerson related event that we were having here. And we're never taken that setup down. It's a very special room and it's loaded with prototypes. Bob mugs mug is in that room. It's a freakishly delicious collection and I am one of the luckiest human beings on earth to stand among these items on a daily basis and I don't take it lightly. It's a very special opportunity.

 

Rick Reid  19:26

You have some historical Theremins on display there

 

Drew Raison  19:30

we do. The curator got into Thurman's very early on in the collection, we have a number of advisors, I refer to them as our eyes on the world. They're the folks that look out for us, and when a rare instrument hits the market, and it ought to be preserved, as opposed to ending up in a private collection that a generation is going to miss it and it could end up in the dumpster. Sometimes we have to jump in there and really save it. And a couple of our advisors, one in particular a gentleman named Brian key who helped steer us into the history of the Theramin. And, again, from the position of a curator, he wants to tell the story of the Theramin and show the development of it. So we have I consider this to be a flagship object. It's a 1929 RCA Theramin. That's the large wooden one that is just so beautiful looking. And we see in pictures of many early Thurmond players, and it also has its matching speaker cabinet. And that Theramin sat in our lobby for the longest time and it was a highlight when mono Divina who I'm sure you know, and have spoken with. He's been on the show. He also lives five minutes from here, ironically, and he was playing on that Theramin, which is a finicky instrument. The tone of that instrument was shockingly delicious. I kind of almost can't describe it beyond it was almost like a imagine a Theramin that kind of had a little bit of a warm blanket feeling to it. But I mean, that's old school technology there at its finest. I will also say the inside of the 1929 Fairman is possibly one of my favorite electronic images. When we're looking at electronic components, the stuff that the user doesn't get to see. While you will swing open the back of that Theramin it's just it's exciting to me the big tubes in the coil, just beautiful. I mean, I wouldn't be sticking my hand in there if it was plugged. tell you guys a lot of voltage in there, but really a beautiful looking machine. And then we also have a 1954 Mogae Theramin. That was one of Bob mugs earlier projects and was actually built by Bob and his father and both of them signed it. And that's probably my favorite, most impactful Theremin. And then we also have a series of other Moog, Theremin instruments the troubadour, the Melodia, which are both very common Moog instruments. One of those was a kit was it? Yes, it was, because Bob was doing that, you know, the instruments were available pre made or as a kit. And I don't know which one it was, and I wasn't involved in me at the time that they arrived. I was here when we took delivery of a maestro Theramin that has a pair of square plates on an angle, a compound angle, oh, to actuate it and I was of the understanding that Bob Moog was involved in the design of the instrument. But Brian key who the gentleman I mentioned earlier, pointed out to Bob wasn't, but I think it's one of the coolest looking instruments on the more modern tip, it's not very forgiving, because the plates are right smack next to each other. So as you have with a standard Theramin you know, you can you can separate your arms a bit. This one is a little tighter, but I don't I kind of sense that it wasn't really meant to be as flexible and instrument as a lot of the Bob Moog instruments are 

 

Rick Reid  22:39

Yeah, that was made when Gibson owned the Moog name, I believe.

 

Drew Raison  22:43

So yeah, that would probably be a norlane era instrument. And it sounds good. Yeah. And then on top of that, we have to Mogae ether wave pro pheromones, which are, you know, very desirable precision instruments, we have one that is left handed, and one that is right handed, and taking delivery of the Left Handed either way, throw is kind of a trip because I'm thinking I'm a lefty, I'm a deep left, I'm not right handed in any way, shape, and form. So if I care to play a theorem, and I'll just stand behind it, and all of a sudden it becomes a left handed instrument. So we actually have a pair of them left and right handed, and our collection of Theremin 's will be increasing over time. I'm hoping that we have the opportunity to look back at a few of the other Moog instruments from the 60s and continue to expand on that. And then we don't really focus on the newer instruments. I mean, the ether wave probes are actually two of the newest instruments that we have in the building. But I'm also interested in seeing some of the more modern instruments that will quantize and kind of allow the performer to have an easier time. Because you know, the theorem is easy to play and not easy to play. Well. Am I right?

 

Rick Reid  23:52

Yeah, exactly. Can someone arrange to go to your studio and use the instruments from your collection? If Mano Divina wants to do a new album that features your historical Theremin.

 

Drew Raison  24:06

I would do that in a heartbeat. And we're not going to let you come in and use Jimi Hendrix is Woodstock wah wah pedal for your guitar solo and your rock band project. That wouldn't happen but a great example would be the tribute band Manta core that does Emerson Lake and Palmer songs approached us about doing a 50 year celebration of their album trilogy. And of course, we jumped on that. So we brought the entire band in we use Keith Emerson's gear, we use some of Greg lakes gear, and we put together a piece which you can see at me app.org We have a series called Live at me app and you can actually see what the band did. So in cases like that, we say yes, we also bring artists and residents through it. It has to be set up appropriately. But we have Robin hatch coming in Robin is a synthesis that has done quite a bit of work on historically significant instruments, and she'll be here for about a week just exploring what we have and and putting together compositions on certain pieces of gear. And so we do that as well. So basically what I say is approach us, tell us your idea. And if our mission and your mission match, then let's do it. Tell us what it is. Let's compare notes. And if it's a good fit, then we'll be working together in no time.

 

Rick Reid  25:19

I really want to get an in-person tour there soon.

 

Drew Raison  25:22

I would love to show you around. And then if your listeners as well keep your eyes open, I'm structuring a Theremin project right now I was waiting for mono Divina to finish up his current record that just came out called Aria 51. And then we also work with Rob Schwimmer, who is another amazing therapist from New York. Yeah, we know Rob, we enjoy it when he comes down here because he is so good on so many instruments. And he knows every single piece of music ever written. And then of course, Pamela Stickney is another therapist that we work with, we've done some stuff with and, and so I'm looking to put together a, you know, a nice Theremin series. So when it happens, I'll reach out to you and let you know and you can let your your listeners know we're constantly outputting product and we have so many people that request Theramin projects, but it's it's hard to find capable and available feminists, but luckily monto lives literally five minutes away.

 

Rick Reid  26:14

Thank you so much for taking the time to tell us about your organization.

 

Drew Raison  26:18

Well, listen, I really appreciate this. It's been a wonderful conversation. I encourage any of your listeners to reach out directly if you got any questions, EMEAPP.org. That's e m e a p p dot org. And we keep things on Facebook and Instagram very fresh. So if you want to see what we're doing, we encourage you to if you feel like donating, we encourage you to do that as well. And if you have any questions, please hit us up we'd love to talk.

 

Rick Reid  26:42

To learn more about me app and to sign up for a free membership. Follow the link to the mem website and this month's show notes at Theremin thirty.com. You know with all that talk about mono Divina, of course, I need to finish the episode with his music from the Aria 51 album by the Divine Hand Ensemble. Here's his interpretation of Nightingale and the Rose by Rimsy-Korsakov.

 

Rick Reid  29:05

Thank you to Dr. G, Anna Glyph, Kepa Lehtinen,  and the Divine Hand Ensemble for allowing me to play their music. Also, thanks to my special guest drew Reyes on the executive director of EMEAPP, the electronic music education and preservation project and to the listeners who support this show with small one time and monthly donations. If you're new to the podcast, be sure to check out the website and listen to any of the episodes you may have missed. Also, take a look at the merch store for T shirts, bumper stickers and other fun things that help support the show. Until next time, I'm your host, Rick Reid. I'll see you somewhere in the ether.

 

David Brower  29:49

you've been listening to the Theremin 30 podcast. visit Theremin 30 on the web at Theremin 30 dot com

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[S03E06] October 2021 - Veronik

 



In the October 2021 episode of the Theremin 30 podcast, host Rick Reid plays music from the USA, Canada, and Peru. Rick's interview guest is Veronik, host and producer of Magica Escuela de Theremin on YouTube. 

▶️ Listen to this episode on your favorite podcast platform.

FEATURED MUSIC*

*The full-length recordings featured in this show were used with the knowledge and permission of the artists and composers. Please support the artists by visiting their websites, purchasing their recordings, and attending their performances. 

ADDITIONAL MUSIC

INTERVIEW GUEST

CALENDAR OF THEREMIN EVENTS

MEDIA LINKS

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST

CONTACT

CREDITS 

Copyright 2021 Rick Reid 


--------------------------------------------

TRANSCRIPT

David Brower  0:04  
This is Theremin 30, thirty minutes of theremin music, news, events, and interviews, with a new episode about every 30 days. Now here's your host from Denver, Colorado, USA, Rick Reid.

Rick Reid  0:19  
Hey there, welcome to the 29th episode of the Theremin 30 podcast. If you're new to this show, I hope you'll go back and listen to the previous episodes to hear interviews and music from all over the theremin world. This month I've got four new music tracks to play for you. And my special guest is Veronik, a singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Peru. She recently launched a series of Spanish language shortform theremin lessons on YouTube. Now let's get this show on the road with music from Portland, Maine band Supernormal. Here is an edit of a track they released in 2020 called "The Meanderer." 

Rick Reid  9:25  
We started the show with the psychedelic stylings of Supernormal featuring Eric Eaton on theremin. That track is called "The Meanderer," and it's available on the band's 2020 maxi-single release Short Wave. After that we heard it "Just Yesterday" recorded just last month by Bay area artist Anna Glyph. There is a very cool stop-motion video for "Just Yesterday" on the Theremin 30 YouTube playlist. To learn more about Supernormal and Anna Glyph click on their names in this month's show notes at Theremin30.com. Coming up after the break, I'll take a look at the calendar of events and play a new single from Canadian singing scientist, Dr. G. So stick around.

Rick Reid  10:16  
It's time now for the Theremin 30 calendar. Look at theremin-related concerts, workshops, and other events happening around the world in the weeks ahead. On October 21st, Bob Moog will be posthumously inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Also on the 21st, Rob Schwimmer will perform in the backing band of The Beatles-themed modern dance show Pepperland in Tucson, Arizona. The Octopus Project takes the stage in Austin, Texas on October 28th, and Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel will perform in Atlanta, Georgia on October 30. For details about these events and more, check out the interactive calendar on Theremin30.com. If you have an event you'd like me to put on the calendar, send me the details through the website, Twitter, or Facebook. Nova Scotia-based recording artist Dr. G turns scientific concepts into catchy pop tunes for kids. His latest single is for the youngest of kids. Here's his new lullaby called "Matter."

Rick Reid  15:11  
That was Dr. G's new song called "Matter." It's part of Physics, a five-track EP available now on Bandcamp. Coming up after the break, I'll visit with Veronik. So stay tuned.

Rick Reid  15:35  
Veronik is a recording artists based in Lima, Peru. We've featured music from her solo work and from her Cosmic Cafe project in past episodes. I spoke with Veronik recently to learn about her new theremin lesson videos on YouTube and her latest recording. Veronik, thank you for being on Theremin 30.

Veronik  15:52  
Hi, Rick, thank you for inviting me.

Rick Reid  15:55  
You were one of the very first musicians to offer your music to play in the show two years ago when I first started this podcast, so I really appreciate the support you gave me. 

Veronik  16:05  
Oh, yeah, I remember that.

Rick Reid  16:07  
And I love your music. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing it right - Anomala? 

Veronik  16:11  
Anomola.

Rick Reid  16:11  
Anomala album is really cool. And I enjoy listening to that. 

Veronik  16:15  
Thank you. 

Rick Reid  16:16  
I invited you on this show because I wanted to find out your history with the theorem. And first of all, how did you get involved with the Theremin?

Veronik  16:24  
I discovered music when I was a child. And I used to listen to a lot of classical music, you know, and I first begin playing music with the flute when I was 11-12 year old and I became very passionate about music. And then I got bored because I went for two years in conservatory, Conservatoire Maurice Ravel. I used to live in France during my teenage years. And then I found conservatory very boring. And I discovered rock and roll music. And that was a whole new thing for me. And my dream was founding my own band. You know, that was my dream. And I did it finally when I was 18 and back to Peru. So I began making music, writing my own songs, performing with my own band. And when I was about 10 years doing this, I discovered the theremin and that was a whole new thing for me. I just came across that documentary Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey from Steve Martin. And what a wonderful movie. You know, it's so emotional. The whole thing is amazing, but I never saw a theremin before. I already knew about the sound, you know, that spooky creepy sound. And that was a like a cliche. You know that theremin sound. And that spooky thing, that crazy sound effect, but I didn't know that it was actually a real music instrument. And when I saw Clara rockmore performing on the movie, I was like, Oh my god, I need this in my life just right now. I want it now and I'm gonna learn how to perform it. And I don't know how but I will do this. And I want this now. And then about one week finding out anything I could about the theremin and taking my first lessons with Thomas Grillo YouTube series, we're talking about 2008. My first theremin was an Etherwave Standard. I ordered it via eBay. I started doing what I could and learning bit by bit. It wasn't easy at all. It was nearly impossible to perform properly a song but it was cool for doing effects and stuff. So by this time, I was working on my first solo album and people already knew me so I got very soon my first job as a theremin player. I was about like a month playing around with my theremin and stuff but I was asked to record some theremin lines for a surf rock band. Were friends of mine and that was my beginning as a theremin player.

Rick Reid  19:19  
The next thing I wanted to ask you about is your current project that I think is really fun. You're doing a series of lesson videos on YouTube.

Veronik  19:27  
Yeah, Magica Escuela de Theremin, Magic Theremin School and the name was very influenced by the Magical Mystery Tour. The Beatles. That name you know. I'm a rock and roll performer so that's rock part was quite important to me. It's a project that looks for making the theremin known as music instrument in Spanish of course because I'm Peruvian and I speak Spanish mostly, also French is my main language. I came across many theremin content, but not many things in Spanish spoken, you know. And I tried to do something about teaching people and not only theremin geeks, but also people who could be interested by the theremin, if you tell what's this thing about and what you can do with the thermin. I really find it's a very, very versatile instrument. But we need to forget those theremin cliches about spooky things about effect sounds and that sort of thing. Really it's, it's a whole universe that we can rediscover and build. So that's my intention. Also, my interest is about building a network between people interested and theremin players that we don't know yet because of the language issue. Also, my mission is to make it fun in some way, not very complicated stuff to understand, and I want it to be easy for anyone.

Rick Reid  20:09  
I like how the videos are poquito.

Veronik  21:15  
It's important to make them short, so you can make sure people are gonna watch the most part of the content. This is my intention to do short videos, and explain some basic tips to understand theremin psychology, you know. That's a very special instrument because it's similar to violin, but at the same time, it's similar to a voice, but it's electronic. But it's not a synth. It's a weird animal. You know, theremin. It's a very organic instrument. There is no one way of playing it. You can build your own playing technique by learning lots of different styles, approaches. So that makes it very, very interesting.

Rick Reid  22:08  
You have a new single out or you're the guest artist on someone else's recording. The track is called by "Ballena," which I learned means "whale." Tell me about "Whale."

Veronik  22:17  
That's a nice project. Oliver Castillo is a wonderful bass player, longtime friend, and he asked me to participate in his new solo album. He decided to design his album project as laboratory with other artists, friends who would build up each song along with him, like a laboratory project, in which collaboration would be the main ingredient to build up new sounds and each tune personality. He sent me two ideas, and I chose this one who had this aquatic sound. And I feel like a whale or something to do like in this way with my theremin, of course. And I wanted to try something with my voice, too. Unfortunately, it was a mess with the pandemic, and actually the sound engineer who passed away with the virus and it was really, really a very hard moment. It was a hard journey, actually. But maybe we take it as like a part of history. We finally got it done, and we liked the result. But there were some hard times, too.

Rick Reid  23:38  
You are working on a new album. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Veronik  23:42  
I have actually two album projects. The first one is a rock album. That's my third solo album. It's a bunch of love songs, let's say. An album about being immersed in toxic relationships in several aspects. The theremin is not the protagonist in this album. I'm really also working on theremin stuff. And my next project is another theremin album. But that new album I'm working on now is a rock album. And the theremin maybe fits on some of the tracks but not in every song because I feel that each song has his own sound, his own personality. And I'm trying to get back to the guitar playing but it's very hard to me because I actually work daily with my theremin because I'm doing lessons and stuff. So making this album for me it's like a challenge to do stuff with my voice, with guitar, and also with theremin and work on music production again. But I know I can do it. So the album should be released maybe the next year. Also we have another reissue of Anomala this year. So that's my, my main projects.

Rick Reid  25:09  
Veronik, it's been so much fun visiting with you today. Thank you for being on Theremin 30.

Veronik  25:14  
Oh, thank you, Rick. It's been a pleasure for me.

Rick Reid  25:18  
Let's finish the show now with new music from Veronica. She's a featured thereminist and vocalist on this new track from Oliver Castillo called "Ballena."

Rick Reid  29:20  
We're running out of time for this 30 minutes of theremin music. So I will quickly thank Supernormal, Anna Glyph, Dr. G, and Veronik for sharing their talents with us. And thank you for the listeners who make small monthly donations to support this show. Every little bit helps. I've already got some interesting theremin music and interview guests lined up for the next episode. So subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app. Until next time, I'm your host, Rick Reid. See you again soon.

David Brower  29:49  
You've been listening to the Theremin 30 podcast. Visit Theremin 30 on the web at Theremin30.com.



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[S02E11] March 2021 - Yoko Onishi

 

Yuko Horinokita and Yoko Onishi in the Theremin Museum, Zushi, Japan
Yuko Horinokita (left) and Yoko Onishi (right)

The March 2021 episode of the Theremin 30 podcast features music from Canada, England, Japan and the USA. Rick Reid interviews Yoko Onishi, the host of the monthly RCA Theremin Evening live-streaming theremin recital series on YouTube.

▶️ Listen to this episode on your favorite podcast platform.


FEATURED MUSIC*

  • "Particle (single edit)" - Dr G (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada)
  • "Burning Witches" - Kevin Sinnott (Liverpool, England, UK)
  • "Prayer Flower" - Torine & Takanori Maehara (Japan)
  • "Somewhere on a Snowy Desert" -  The Banter Experience (Santa Fe, NM, USA)

    *The full-length recordings featured in this show were used with the knowledge and permission of the artists and composers. Please support the artists by visiting their websites, purchasing their recordings, and attending their performances. 

ADDITIONAL MUSIC

INTERVIEW GUEST

CALENDAR OF THEREMIN EVENTS

MEDIA LINKS

SUPPORT THIS PODCAST

CONTACT

CREDITS 

Copyright 2021 Rick Reid 


--------------------------------------------

TRANSCRIPT

Please note: This is a machine-generated transcript that has not been manually edited. There will be numerous errors. Check back soon for a corrected version.

David Brower  0:04  
This is Theremin 30. Thirty minutes of theremin music, news, events and interviews, with a new episode about every 30 days. Now here's your host from Denver, Colorado, USA, Rick Reid.

Rick Reid  0:18  
Hey, thanks for tuning into Theremin 30, the monthly Theremin music podcast. This is the march 2021 episode and number 23 in the series. This month I've got music from Canada, England, Japan, and the USA. And my interview guest is Yoko Onishi. She is curator of a private theremin museum and the host of a theremin recital that live-streams once a month on YouTube. Let's get the show started. Now with new educational music from Nova Scotia, Canada's singing scientists, Dr. G. Here's an edit of his new single called "Particle."

Rick Reid  7:18  
We started that set with Halifax, thereminist and science educator Dr. G with a track from his new Particle/Wave double-sided single. You can see the music video for "Particle" on the Theremin 30 YouTube playlist. After that I played a track called "Burning Witches" by Liverpool UK recording artist Kevin Sinnott. It's from his brand new EP release "Pray to the Theremin." You can listen to all seven tracks from the album on his Bandcamp page. To get there, just click on Kevin's name in this month show notes. Let's take a quick look now at the calendar of theremin events. On March 21st Andmo' performs at the Kobe Big Apple. There's another Bandcamp Friday on April 2nd. And on April 15, Robert Meyer will be a guest soloist with the Brandenburg State Orchestra of Frankfurt in a live performance of the Spellbound Concerto. Check out links to all of these events and more at calendar.theremin30.com.com. Later in the show, I've got electronic music from The Banter Experience that will send you for a loop, and after the break I'll visit with Yoko Onishi so stick around.

Rick Reid  8:39  
Yoko Onishi is a wonderfully talented thereminist based in Zushi City in the Kanagawa prefecture about 30 miles south of Tokyo, Japan. When I invited Yoko to be a guest on the podcast, there was a bit of a language barrier. I only know about 20 words in Japanese, and she didn't feel she could speak off-the-cuff in English. So she had me write down my questions and email them to her. Then with the help of her sister Yuko Horinokita, she wrote her answers in English so she could read them out loud. You won't hear Yoko's sister speaking in the recording, but she was standing by to help us with additional translation. Yoko Onishi thank you so much for being on the Theremin 30 podcast.

Yoko Onishi  9:20  
Thank you very much for invitation.

Rick Reid  9:22  
I wanted to talk to you because I've been seeing your photographs on Facebook over the last few months from your Theremin Museum. How did you become interested in playing theremins and then collecting them?

Yoko Onishi  9:32  
I found out about theremins on the internet. As you know, Dr. Theremin's documentary film was completed in 1993 and was released in Japan in the summer of 2001. At that time theremin boom occurred in Japan and class lessons in the culture school became a little popular. As I didn't watch the movie then, I didn't know what theremin was. But anyway, I registered in culture course just with the information that there seems to be a mysterious instrument to play without touching. I thought this kind of boom must be transient, but to try it at least was good experience to me. Then "I slipped on the banana peel." Oh, this is Dr. Moog's word when he started making electronic musical instruments and entered the world of theremin. In Japanese, we say "hamaru" for this condition.

Rick Reid  10:29  
So, tell me what is the Theremin Museum?

Yoko Onishi  10:31  
Oh, it's a little museum where you can see or experience several types of theremins. It's located in Zushi City, the town next to Kamakura, Japan. It opened on August 28th last year. Now 19 theremins are in the museum.

Rick Reid  10:47  
What's the mission of the Theremin museum?

Yoko Onishi  10:50  
I hope it will be a place to let people know about theremins and the various theremin players. In September of the year before last, my musical performance was introduced at Theremin 30 here. Thank you. And after that I often listened to the program of Theremin 30. I'm not good at English so I can't understand, I can't understand most of what they say. But I can hear the sound of theremins. It was very exciting for me to know that there are so many players around the world playing theremin, many many theremin players with different styles. It was exciting. That's, we say, "waku waku" in Japanese.

Rick Reid  11:31  
Waku waku?

Yoko Onishi  11:31  
Waku waku. On the other hand in Japan, I was often surprised to find that my friends were unaware that there are many attractive theremin prayers in Japan. I thought this was a waste. And I wanted to live-stream using YouTube and introduce various styles of theremin players. Also, two years ago, the RCA theremin came to me. Needless to say, RCA theremin is a theremin sold by RCA in the United States from 1929 to 1930. It was the first theremin on the market, and above all, it was a theremin produced by Dr. Theremin himself. I got the RCA theremin from a private French owner. It's an old instrument. So when I got it, there were some problems and it was difficult to play. I asked MB Labo, the company in Nagoya, Japan, to repair it for me. Of course, I also asked him to restore it to the original condition as close as possible. When apparently after it was returned to me, the weak vacuum tube gradually rolled and started to make a powerful sound. I felt as if I felt the time of Dr. Sarah mean directory on my skin and was greatly moved back. Now serum is right in front of us as a pray every musical instrument. We don't have any doubt about it. But we think that about 100 years ago, when nobody knew it could be a musical instrument Dr. Sami mais a musical instrument from electronic circuit and all the vacuum tube. It's amazing. This was the beginning of the old techtronic musical instrument. The name of serum is also commonly used nowadays. No one doubted, but Dr. Theremin created many inventions besides Sammy. Among the many inventions only this musical instrument has its inventors name, when to rebuild our csme was done perfect three RCA cerami.com posted it on the web registry. As you may know there's a big vacuum tube inside which they don't fabricate anymore. If you use a vacuum tube too much it weighs exhaust but if you don't use it, it will fold or three take those channels apart him too which should be postponed as long as possible. So I decided to spray the seremi once in a month to keep its original tone created by Dr. Sarah mean that this arrived stream called RCA cerami evening and on this day we also dairy budding alive that introduced this barrier second graders.

Rick Reid  14:23  
They're streamed from your Theremin museum. Are there any events scheduled in the near future

Yoko Onishi  14:29  
in Tokyo time from 1400 to 1500. On the fall Saturday only every month, the sound of our fear and the performance of the guest prayer ceremi live streamed on YouTube. On March the 27th. We invite Jin Tae Jin Kaku one of the Japanese prayers against you can see all the before Ava stream on archive presearch for our csme Evening on YouTube,

Rick Reid  15:01  
considering the covid 19 pandemic, Can people visit the museum right now? Or do they need to make an appointment? Or are the regular business hours when people can come by? Because it is your home?

Yoko Onishi  15:11  
Oh, my Sammy museum takes guests with a reservation, the peacemaker reservation by email or phone.

Rick Reid  15:19  
How did this all get started? How did you decide to start the museum? Is this all your own work? Or Didn't you have people help you?

Yoko Onishi  15:26  
Oh, I remodeled a part of my home and released it as a car museum

Rick Reid  15:31  
all by yourself.

Yoko Onishi  15:33  
Oh, yes.

Rick Reid  15:33  
How did you find all the different Theremin models you have?

Yoko Onishi  15:37  
By the internet? And by word of mouth from my friend,

Rick Reid  15:41  
where the instruments donated to your museum? Are they unknown or did you buy them all?

Yoko Onishi  15:45  
Oh, as a mentor my partner property to one of them was donated by my friend he donated to me when I told him that I had opened the ceremi Museum. It's a theorem he made in Australia

Rick Reid  15:58  
you have a lot of the same instruments that I have mo ugh and lost volt. You have a few that I don't have and one of them is the world globe Theremin. Tell me about that one.

Yoko Onishi  16:09  
It's a tsunami which I owe that to MLB Robert in Nagoya, Japan, the outside was originally a wind rock, the seremi with an ultra compact VCO inside which is made by MTB Rubble, you can change the system from a three by three sawtooth wave down to a sine wave down with a single knob. By switching the range. The plane range can change too high or too low. I can say it's a little nice trick the color of the air Ed ramp on top of a peach antenna change according to its volume.

Rick Reid  16:45  
What's your own personal favorite instrument in the museum?

Yoko Onishi  16:48  
Oh, now it's our see is coming? I would think so. You're ever distribution we also trying to pick up the seremi waveform with a microphone and see the waveform with a spectrum analyzer. sermon these days are all fundamental overtones or buttons and or buttons to wait for waveform is easy to understand. But the waveform of rc cerami is complicated. Or I must say it's quite distorted. The sound is mixed with noise to create a nice sound. Well that reason I think the tone is attractive. So it's difficult to say. Huh. When playing Theremin we often suffer from an identified noise. Before I consulted with a person familiar with the cables and trade barriers cables. As I change the cable with the one that don't have always noise and ways clearer and clearer the sound became, but also it became I noticed at that time that the noise itself, it's a sound. My favorite phrases are all these flowers blooming in the swamp of noise. My friend pointed gave me this wonderful phrase. I'd like to aim for this flower that blooms in the swamp or noise

Rick Reid  18:18  
to do all of the other instruments work and can visitors play them when they visit your museum.

Yoko Onishi  18:23  
Now one unit does not work well. So I think to me, robbing Nagoya for maintenance, I think we will be back soon with a big tech upgrade or not depends on the visitor. If the visitor knows how to handle Salman he'll be welcome to pray any but if the visitor has widow experience with how to handle Theremin, the instrument he can pray will be remitted.

Rick Reid  18:46  
How can people find out more information about the Theremini newseum and contact you about possibly arranging to go there.

Yoko Onishi  18:53  
Search for RC is Theremin evening on YouTube on Facebook. And you can reach us

Rick Reid  19:00  
thanks to Yoko ohnishi I now know 22 words in Japanese and if you are honmaru about Theremin music, you should find Yoko Ono she's RCA Theremin evening live stream on YouTube to be very Walker Walker. The next event is scheduled for Saturday March 27. It starts at 2pm Tokyo time so in other parts of the world that could be Saturday morning or maybe even Friday night. If you look at the event on the Theremin 30 calendar you can see it adjusted for your local timezone. Let's listen now to a performance from the fourth episode of the RCA Theremin evening. Here are the Theremin and guitar duo taurine and Maki hora with a lovely song called prayer flower

Rick Reid  23:21  
There's more Theremin music coming up there are many music to be precise so stay tuned

Rick Reid  23:45  
we're almost out of time for this month's edition of the Theremin 30 podcast to send us out here is a track from New Mexico recording artists the banter experience. This is called somewhere on a snowy desert

Rick Reid  28:59  
you can watch a performance and a discussion about how the banter experience used the Thera mini and mini looping techniques to create the track I just played. You'll find that video on the Theremin 30 YouTube playlist. Many thanks to Dr. g. Kevin Senate, Joe Renae and my era and the banter experience for sharing their music. Also Domo arigato to Yoko ohnishi. For being this month's interview guest, I must say having her on the show was wakawaka. As always, I encourage you to support all of the artists that appear on these podcasts with your ears, your eyes, and with your wallet if you're able. And if you'd like to support this show, there's a tip jar on the website. Until next time, I'm your host, Rick Reid. The pandemic isn't over yet. So be careful out there, and we'll see you soon.

David Brower  29:51  
You've been listening to the Theremin 30 podcast visit Theremin 30 on the web at Theremin three zero.com

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[S02E01] April 2020 - Lydia Kavina


The April 2020 episode of the Theremin 30 podcast features music from the USA, Canada, Romania, and the UK. Rick Reid's interview guest is professional thereminist and theremin teacher Lydia Kavina. 



FEATURED MUSIC*

 "Keep Washing With Soap" - The Inactivists (Denver, CO, USA)
"The Inner Net" - Mad Dog Friedman (Denver, CO, USA)
"Electromagnetism" - Dr G (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada)
"Waves of the Danube" - Benedict Popescu ( Calinesti, Arges, Romania)
"Fata Morgana" - Lydia Kavina (Oxford, England, UK) and Sviatoslov Belonogov (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain)

*The full-length recordings featured in this show were used with the knowledge and permission of the artists and composers. Please support the artists by visiting their websites, purchasing their recordings, and attending their performances.

 ADDITIONAL MUSIC

 "Opera Glasses" - Phlogiston Theory (Denver, CO, USA) and Ron Allen (Seattle, WA, USA)
"Time Shadows" - Phlogiston Theory (Denver, CO, USA)
"No Static at All" - Phlogiston Theory (Denver, CO, USA)

 INTERVIEW

Lydia Kavina, who is teaching online theremin workshops during the COVID-19 quarantine/lock down period.  To register for a workshop, contact her by email: info@lydiakavina.com.

 CALENDAR OF THEREMIN EVENTS

Visit the Theremin 30 Calendar of Theremin Events for links and details of events mentioned in this episode.

 ON YOUTUBE

Theremin 30 Playlist

CONTACT

CREDITS 

Copyright 2020 Rick Reid

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TRANSCRIPT

Please note: This is a machine-generated transcript that has not been manually edited. There will be numerous errors. Check back soon for a corrected version.

David Brower  0:04  
This is Theremin 30, 30 minutes of Theremin music news events and interviews with a new episode about every 30 days. Now here's your host from Denver, Colorado, USA, Rick Reid.

Rick Reid  0:20  
Hey, welcome to a sort of special edition of Theremin 30. It's the first anniversary of the show the lucky 13th episode. And the first episode since most of the world has been under social distancing restrictions in the wake of the covid 19 pandemic. So my thanks to all of you who have been listening since the beginning, and to those of you that are newer listeners, I highly recommend you use some of your newly abundant free time at home to listen to all of the previous episodes you've missed. This month I've got music from artists in the USA, Canada, the UK and Romania. And my interview guest is world renowned professional thereminist and Theremin teacher, Lydia Kavina. Let's get the music going with the track that seems appropriate right now. Here are the end activists and a song called keep washing with soap.


Rick Reid  7:24  
from Denver, Colorado that was recording artists Mad Dog Friedman with mug there are many improvisation called the inner net. It's from his brand new album called viral. And before that Victoria Lundy played Theremin in the in activists hygenic tune keep washing with soap. Normally this is the time the show where I mentioned some of the concerts and workshops happening around the world this month. Unfortunately, nearly every event involving a crowd has been canceled or postponed. So I'm populating the calendar with online workshops and streaming or broadcast performances. Most notably Lydia cabin is conducting a series of online workshops. She'll be giving us all the details later in the show. Coming up after the break, I've got some homeschooling music from Dr. g. So stay tuned.

Rick Reid  8:25  
Musical science educator Dr. g was supposed to go on a mini concert tour of public libraries across Nova Scotia, Canada this spring, but all of his scheduled performances had to be canceled due to the pandemic. Watch for new dates on our calendar as soon as I have updated information. For now though, here's a brand new track from Dr. g. It's called electromagnetism Science, Science, Science, Science science

Rick Reid  16:33  
That was waves of the Danube classical waltz performed by Romanian thereminist Benedict Popescu. That recording is available as a bonus track when you purchase the Theremin 100 compilation album that was recently released by the New York Theremin society. Benedict designs and builds his own therapists, you've got to take a look at the instrument he plays in his music video for waves of the Danube. It's on the Theremin 30 YouTube playlist. To find it just go to YouTube and search for Theremin three zero. After the break, I'll visit with my special guest Lydia Kavina to find out about her new series of online workshops, so stay tuned.

Rick Reid  17:22  
I had the pleasure of visiting with Lydia Kavina. Recently, as a child in the Soviet Union, Lydia took Theremin lessons from Leon Theremin himself. Since then she's become an indemand concert performer and has taught Theremin workshops all over the world with her concert schedule in pause mode right now due to the global pandemic. She's still teaching all over the world, but she's doing it online from her home in Oxford, England. Hello, Lydia. Hello, Rick. First of all, how are you doing? How's your family?

Lydia Kavina  17:53  
Well, thank you very much. Fine. Obviously, it's time like the day they're stood still, for a short while, hopefully not for too long. But it's time to get your work done. And then everything that was waiting for longer time, there's a chance to sort and prepare for the next projects.

Rick Reid  18:14  
There's an old saying, When life gives you lemons make lemonade and it sounds like you made some lemonade with your new online Theremin workshops.

Lydia Kavina  18:24  
Yes, actually. And I asked myself how that I didn't come to this idea before. Because online workshops give something that you never can do in real workshops where people have to come to one place. Online workshops, let people communicate wherever they are separated in the world. They can come together and discuss online even if they are in different time zones in different countries not involving them to travel.

Rick Reid  18:58  
I haven't participated in one of your workshops yet. Can each student see the other students participating at the same time?

Lydia Kavina  19:05  
Yes, we do see how everyone plays. So we normally let's one by one people playing and we discussed their technique, I give advices to depth techniques. And then they ask questions, and I invite a special guest. So last time the special guest was Terry Frankel, who is the best expert for any technical problems. And of course, people had questions to him and that was great opportunity for them.

Rick Reid  19:35  
You do private lessons over Skype as well is this a similar thing just with a bigger group all at once.

Lydia Kavina  19:43  
Actually, it is not the similar thing. There's a little bit of flavor of instruction. Of course, that's if there's a one to one Skype lesson much more closer work and it is much more effective, obviously for develop. The technique, but in the workshop, the main idea is communication exchanging ideas exchanging experience within the bigger group which is completely different the workshop even if it is not online, so the workshop when we meet in real life, it is very important for people to see the variety of different people, different testimonies, different Theremin approach and interest and style of playing, and so on. So the workshops bring the feeling of the big community and variety that Theremin involves different musicians, different styles, you know,

Rick Reid  20:46  
how many students can participate in a workshop at the same time,

Lydia Kavina  20:49  
the comfortable number is up to 10. Because if this is bigger number, then it is difficult to bring everyone involved. So it's not quite easy to keep the workshop interesting and intensive for everyone at the same time. So let's say from three to 10 people,

Rick Reid  21:11  
do students need a certain app or software or equipment to be able to connect to you.

Lydia Kavina  21:17  
Yes, of course, people need a web camera, which is actually used in each smartphone. And by many computers, redo the conferences in zoom. So I sent invitation and everyone get logged in, in zoom meeting. And then we have this conversation when everyone has got several small pictures of all the participants. And it is good if they set up their Theremin in front of the camera so that they can play. But it is not necessary. Some participants can participate just in the discussion without playing. It's up to them. It's absolutely not compulsory to play if they don't wish. But even if they just see how others play, it is already educational. So this is very convenient. Actually.

Rick Reid  22:13  
What's your schedule for the workshops coming up? Is it every Friday or now? Are you doing it twice a week?

Lydia Kavina  22:19  
Yes, I definitely do. Every Friday, I decided to pick up this particular day and particularly 6pm time as that was the time when I got my lessons from Leon Theremin when I was told by him. So that's sort of tradition. So it is suitable for Europe and for the United States. But I understood that half of the world cannot use this time. So also another time Sunday's are at 10 o'clock of London time, which would be comfortable for the eastern countries like Japan, China, Australia.

Rick Reid  23:02  
So let's see how it goes. What's the cost to participate?

Lydia Kavina  23:05  
The cost is 10 pounds per participation?

Rick Reid  23:09  
And how long does each session last? Is it one hour, two hours? It runs? about two hours? And how do people find out more information and sign up for the next workshop coming up?

Lydia Kavina  23:21  
People normally sign in via an email. And I asked them about their background so that I can be prepared for discussion and how I will run the workshop?

Rick Reid  23:32  
What email address do they need to use to contact you?

Lydia Kavina  23:36  
It is info at Lydia karina.com

Rick Reid  23:39  
is this going to be for the next several weeks and then stop or keep going indefinitely?

Lydia Kavina  23:45  
I think I run it during the current period. And then the schedule might be not that regional because in usual life, the concert schedule might break these original stations. But we'll see. Right habits get better soon.

Rick Reid  24:03  
Thank you very much for taking the time to visit with me. I think I'll probably sign up for one of the workshops coming up soon.

Lydia Kavina  24:09  
Great looking forward to you and take him in your country.

Rick Reid  24:15  
Now let's wrap up this first anniversary episode of Theremin 30. With music from the new album waves in strings. There have been 100 project. It features Lydia cabina on Theremin and piano and sviatoslav Bella no golf on Viola and viola d'amore. Here's the first drac it's called Fata Morgana. It's named after a type of Mirage that can appear above the horizon over bodies of water.

Rick Reid  29:02  
We're almost out of time for this month my thanks to the artists who allowed me to play their music in the show, please click on their names in the show notes on the Theremin 30 website to learn more about them and to find out how to purchase their downloads and CDs. A lot of musicians have lost income opportunities because of COVID-19. So please do what you can to show your support. Also, my thanks to my special interview guests, Lydia cabina. If you want to sign up for one of our online workshops, there's an email link in the show notes coming up in the May episode of the Theremin 30 podcast. My interview guests will be Andy Barron and Mike Buffington cofounders of the RCA Theremin registry at RCA theremin.com. Until then, I'm your host, Rick Reid. Thank you for tuning in.

David Brower  29:51  
You've been listening to the Theremin 30 podcast visit Theremin 30 on the web at Theremin three zero.com

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