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Post by Zi on Jan 16, 2023 17:28:24 GMT
If anyone plays anything that could be classified as electronica it would be nice to hear from you.
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Post by pavane on Jan 20, 2023 13:13:06 GMT
I don't play anything but I'd like to have a go of a theremin. I did have a look once but I don't think you can actually buy one any more, at least not readily, it all seemed to be kits to build one and at the time I couldn't be bothered. There's a bit of Bach on theremin here (oddly, I've just started that very piece on clarinet).
I'm not really a big fan of electronica, but I quite like Autobahn (heard it on the radio the other day which reminded me). It's coming up to 50 years old - crikey. Maybe I should be posting this bit in the guilty pleasures thread...
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Post by Zi on Jan 20, 2023 15:56:13 GMT
I'd love a theremin! I was also very impressed with Kraftwerk when I was a teenager and I had some of their stuff. I'm afraid, all that electronic gizmo thingy is fascinating to me. I adore Jarre too. Got loads of that. And he plays the theremin. I keep hoping someone with a Moog will turn up! Really, Jean-Michel is more than music in any case. I see him a bit like William Blake - mixing together two art forms... If this sections stays all bare, I am willing to shove it into 'any other' though... But if Jean-Michel arrives I don't want him to be all sad and left out!  |
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Post by pavane on Jan 20, 2023 16:27:44 GMT
I bought the LP that Autobahn was on when it came out, but I found most of it fairly dull.
I've just looked up theremin and you can't even get the kits now, apart from bits and pieces on ebay. On the other hand, you can actually buy a Moog one but not at a price that makes me think I'll get one to mess about with. There's a place that's presumably in USA that has some more reasonable ones here but postage and import fees would probably also amount to more than I'd want to pay. Maybe one day! |
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Post by Zi on Jan 20, 2023 17:02:17 GMT
And I can't figure out which album I had... I think it was just Kraftwerk... but I don't recognise any of the track names.
Really, though that isn't a bad kind of price if it was something you really wanted. And the US ones are a bargain if you didn't have to pay the duties...
Mr Z has bought a load of breadboards and intends building circuits and linking them to Raspberry Pi. Since our barn was broken into he's all interested in electronics. I asked him if one day he'd build me a theremin.... I get the impression it might be a long wait...
Jean-Michel also plays a laser harp - that looks like fun as well... Jean-Michel seems to have all the fun...
edited to add a linky to Jean-Michel
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Post by pavane on Jan 21, 2023 7:30:27 GMT
I've never heard of a laser harp! Must look that one up.
Edit: looked it up, it does indeed look like fun. Odd how many strange instruments there are when you think about it, many of which would be fun to try. At the opposite end of the technological spectrum, I'd like to try a glass harmonica. I'd probably need a bigger house first though.
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Post by Zi on Jan 21, 2023 12:32:50 GMT
There's an explanation of how it works from someone who actually plays the thing on stage...
Laser
It sounds absolutely fascinating. It creates this massive instrument but actually the equipment isn't that space hungry. I've been interested in instruments like this because I wonder what will happen if the arthritis ever sets in. Mr Z has it and I always wonder if it will happen to me too. I'd miss playing the recorder (notice I haven't got to the stage where I say I'd miss playing the clarinet) so I have wondered if something like this will be doable even when I'm ancient.
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Post by keff on Jan 21, 2023 13:06:41 GMT
Fascinating. My question is how do you see the laser beams because a laser beam is so straight that there should be no scattering of light from along its length able to enter the eye? The answer could be from airborne dust in the room although I would have thought this to be insufficient creating a patchy beam or perhaps you partially fill the room using a smoke generator but this didn't seem obvious.
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Post by Zi on Jan 24, 2023 15:57:34 GMT
I've just come across this little gem from Edgar Hunt. He's talking about modifications to the recorder and similar instruments but I bet he'd have something to say about the laser harp...
"These musical toys had their day, but there were no lasting qualities to aid their survival. They were neither recorders nor flutes, and had no proper music of their own, nor any place in the scheme of musical ensembles. So today they are only antique curiosities. Let them be a lesson to the inventors of novelty instruments."
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