Midnight Oil

Subject: RE: [powderworks] 'Break-fest' in America (well, Miami at least) - Part 2
From: "Terry Johnson" <tenacious@cyberback.com>
Date: 3/07/2010, 7:29 am
To:

Woo-hoo!  I learned to play a Theremin just a few weeks ago.  And by “learn”, I mean “I got to play one for about 2 minutes.”  Heh.

 

I played along with some opera-esque music.  What was really difficult was hearing myself whenever I was on key – which unfortunately wasn’t very often.  :P

 

--Terry

 

 

From: powderworks@yahoogroups.com.au [mailto:powderworks@yahoogroups.com.au] On Behalf Of Chris
Sent: Friday, July 02, 2010 3:48 AM
Cc: powderworks@yahoogroups.com.au
Subject: Re: [powderworks] 'Break-fest' in America (well, Miami at least) - Part 2

 



On Fri, Jul 2, 2010 at 6:15 PM, Tom <tomspencer@eml.cc> wrote: 

As at The Globe, Jim was very entertaining with his electronic `saw'; an antenna-like device standing up on his keyboard.  He casts spells with it, he plays it with his hat, and then he gets similar noises using his guitar neck on the keyboard.


That'd be a Theremin - they actually have two antennas. Typically the horizontal one you can't see from the audience manipulates the volume, whilst the obvious upright one handles the pitch.

Used more conventionally, it's the instrument in the intro to the Beach Boy's 'Good Vibrations', but Jim tends to use it more as an effect than a melodic instrument. Makes for good showmanship, though, the most lively Jim's ever been on stage...

- Chris