Errors-To: ecto-owner@ns1.rutgers.edu Reply-To: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu Sender: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu From: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu To: ecto-request@ns1.rutgers.edu Bcc: ecto-digest-outbound@ns1.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto #633 ecto, Number 633 Saturday, 3 July 1993 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Where can I buy Happy Rhodes stuff in Toronto? Discs Those Darn Lyrics I'm so sad Theremin the about know... ecto did's i'm back.... ======================================================================== Subject: Where can I buy Happy Rhodes stuff in Toronto? From: RODRIGUES CRAIG J Date: Fri, 2 Jul 1993 23:31:24 -0400 Hello all, I've just joined this mailing list, and have never heard of Happy Rhodes before, or any of her music. The reason why I joined this mailing list was because while on IRC, I "met" someone from Norway named Yngve, who gave me the Happy Rhodes FAQ. I found the FAQ very interesting, and found it a bit bizarre that someone from Norway was telling me about a singer from Rochester, NY, whom I had never heard of before. (I am in Toronto) I tried looking for Happy Rhodes stuff in all of the cool record shops in Toronto, but could not find anything. Does Happy have Canadian distribution? If so, where? If not, is there a store in Toronto that has her on import? I would prefer to hear a song or two before buying anything....but if I can't get it locally, I might take the plunge and order directly from Rochester....my curiousity about this singer has definitely been piqued! Does Happy's music bear any resemblance to music by the Sundays? I think that the lead singer of the Sundays, Harriet Wheeler, has an incredible voice. When I'm not reading e-mail, I pose quite convincingly as a chemical engineering undergrad at the University of Toronto. -- Craig Rodrigues | "It's a Unix system....hey I know this!!!", Chemical Engineering, 1996 | stupid kid in _Jurassic Park_ University of Toronto | rodrigc@ecf.toronto.edu | ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 03 Jul 1993 00:24:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Suspended In Duct Tape Subject: Discs Hi! I *really* should be in bed. Or cleaning the bathroom. Or something. At this moment, my Desert Island Discs are, in no particular order: Kate Bush, The Kick Inside Kate Bush, The Dreaming Kate Bush, Hounds of Love Happy Rhodes, Rhodes I Happy Rhodes, Equipoise Tori Amos, Little Earthquakes Ingrid Karklins, A Darker Passion Rainbirds, Call Me Easy... (the title is bigger than the island I'd be on) 10,000 Maniacs, Hope Chest Berry Hayward Consort, La Messe des Fous Were I to be stranded with a VCR, I would have with me: Brazil Monty Python and the Holy Grail And Now For Something Completely Different Fried Green Tomatoes Star Wars Zuckerbaby A Room With A View Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Henry and June The Whole Story (who said this was an exclusively film list? ;) Both of these lists are subject to change without notice at any time. Happy 4th, fellow Yanks... Meredith meth@delphi.com ======================================================================== Subject: Those Darn Lyrics Date: Fri, 02 Jul 93 22:44:56 -0700 From: johnz@eaglet.rain.com > > 4. Fire all of your guns at once > "...and explode into space." This is "Born To Be Wild" by... jeez I hate it when this happens...Steppenwolf! (whew!) If memory serves, this song is also famous for introducing the phrase "heavy metal" ("heavy metal thunder") and thereby giving the genre its name. My mind is truly a junkyard...:) John Zimmer johnz@eaglet.rain.com ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 3 Jul 93 5:24:10 EDT From: WretchAwry Subject: I'm so sad Baby Jessica is going to live with strangers, and Fred Gwynne died :-( :-( :-( Every day there are a hundred, a thousand, a million things to be sad about, if you know about them and let yourself be sad. These two things just hit me so hard, just now. I just now found out about them. I'm sorry, I just have to get this off my chest. Jessica DeBoer is a 2 1/2 year old child. She was given up for adoption at birth, in the state of Iowa. She was adopted by a loving, stable couple who live in Michigan. Her biological m***er (I can't type it) had named one man on the birth certificate as the father, but then she changed her mind about the adoption and said that the man she named was *not* the father. (She was not married to him, or to anyone, at the time.) She told the actual biological f***er about the child and they decided to fight for the adoption to be dissolved on the basis that *he* had not agreed for the adoption to take place. The Iowa courts judged in favor of the biological p***nts and awarded custody of Jessica to them. The DeBoers were appalled. The adoption was legal and the process had been completed. Jessica was their child. They took their case to the Michigan courts, where it was agreed that the DeBoers were the legal parents. (Somewhere along the line here, the biological p***nts got married.) The DeBoers thought that the issue was closed, but the bps continued to fight for their "right" to take custody of Jessica. A higher Michigan court ruled in favor of the bps. The DeBoers asked that the case be heard by the Michigan Supreme Court, which happened. Today, the Michigan Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling, and ordered that Jessica be "returned" to Iowa (where she'd only lived for the first 3 days of her life) to live with her bps, within 31 days. The DeBoers vow to take the case all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Unless the USSC takes the case on an emergency basis and rules in favor of the DeBoers within 31 days, Jessica will be sent to live in Iowa. Jessica has never spent a night away from the DeBoers. The DeBoers are the only parents this child has known. Oh, and the bps say her name is "Anna" and that's what she'll be called. Jessica has never met these people. (Obviously, the first 3 days don't count, since she wouldn't remember them.) That's the story so far. The facts are dry, but the emotional aspect of this story is enormous... I can't even begin to express how sad I feel for the little girl and her parents, the DeBoers. I realize that there are many points-of-view to this story, and that some people will side with the bps, but I can only see it, feel it, through Jessica. "In the best interests of the child" is a phrase that is fairly meaningless in this country. It's tossed around a lot, but is disregarded in *so* many instances. Who cares about Jessica? Who cares that her life is going to be completely turned upside-down? Who cares that, no matter *how* much she's told in the next month, no matter *how* "careful" the bps are in their treatment of her at the beginning, no matter *how* "resiliant" and "adaptable" children are, this will scar Jessica psychologically. She will be forever altered. She'll think it was her fault, that she was "bad" and she will never completely trust her world again. She won't be able to trust happiness, she won't be able to trust that the adults around her won't change her life again. She very probably won't be able to see the DeBoers again. :-( :-( :-( poor poor poor Jessica, what will become of her? :-( :-( :-( The bio m***er just had (within the last week, I believe) another baby. She won't even be able to give Jessica..."Anna" her full attention in trying to help Jessica heal from and understand this upheaval. The bio f***er has two other children from ex-wives, though according to court testimony, he's hardly ever seen them and had to be taken to court to be made to pay child support. He doesn't know how to be a father, even though he's had plenty of chances to learn. "Father's rights"???????? My heart aches for the psychological pain and turmoil that this child will have to endure. My heart aches for the DeBoers. My heart aches for all the adoptive parents and children who might have to suffer the same fate because of this ruling. :-( Thanks for listening, *hug* Vickie ps, and yes, I'm also very sad about Fred Gwynne. As a child I loved him in "The Munsters" and as an adult I loved him in _My Cousin Vinny_ and, especially, _The Cotton Club_. Rest In Peace, gentle giant. ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 3 Jul 93 5:26:06 EDT From: WretchAwry Subject: Theremin the about know... ...to wanted you Everything This is a bit late wrt the theremin thread, but I just didn't have a chance to type this in earlier. Jeffy mentioned a video he got from me of a woman playing a theremin, and brni asked what a theremin was. This is about both things. The video was an excerpt of a Clara Rockmore concert, and I got it from the late, great, lamented music show "Night Music" hosted by David Sanborn. So many great performers appeared on that show, performing live. Mary Margaret O'Hara, Diamanda Galas, Julee Cruise, Kronos Quartet, Aster Aweke and so many others...I taped it whenever possible. They very rarely showed video of any kind. Actually, Clara's performance was one of the few. They only showed a few minutes of it, but those few minutes are mesmerising! The theremin is probably best known for the spooky sounds in many 1950s science fiction movies (heard a *lot* in Mystery Science Theater 3000 features), and in the Beach Boys' song "Good Vibrations." (Chris says it's used quite a bit in the film _Forbidden Planet_.) Shortly after I saw the Clara Rockmore video I found a CD by her called "The Art of the Theremin" and bought it immediately. The booklet included is a very good one, and includes lots of information and photos of the theremin, Clara Rockmore, and Professor Theremin. I've typed in quite a bit of it, but I did have to edit it here and there. For one thing, I left out and entire section on exactly *how* the theremin works. If you'd like to know...if you're *that* interested, I'd recommend buying the CD :-). Still, this is pretty long. It's kind of dry, but I think it's fascinating information. The theremin itself is interesting, and Clara's mastery of it is nothing short of amazing. She single-handedly brought respect to an instrument that has been used in some fairly dubious ways. Professor Theremin was the father of electronic instruments, so he's interesting *and* important! (Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin wrote a song about him. It appears on the album "Spin" and you'll hear the instrument in the song.) Enjoy! (I hope...) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The theremin itself is housed in a wooden cabinet approximately eighteen inches wide and a foot deep. With its legs, it stands about three and a half feet high. The front is slanted to form a convenient music stand. A vertical pitch antenna rod is located in the upper right hand corner of the cabinet. A tubular loop for controlling volume emerges from the cabinet's left hand side. Tuning knobs and control switches are located on the lower part of the front of the cabinet. | (pitch) | | ___________|_ ____ | | (volume) (____)---| (slanted) | | | |------------| | ooo (knobs)| |____________| To play the theremin, the performer stands in front of the instrument, a little left of center. The feet are spread slightly to keep the body as motionless as possible. To determine the pitch of the instrument's tone, the player varies the distance between her right hand and the pitch antenna. When the instrument is properly tuned, the pitch goes from lower than two octaves below middle C when the player's right hand is back at her shoulder, to approximately 2 1/2 octaves above middle C when the player's hand barely touches the pitch antenna. To determine the loudness of the instrument's tone, the player varies the distance between her left hand and the middle of the volume antenna. Maximum loudness occurs when the hand is removed from the antenna; complete silence occurs when the hand is an inch or so from the loop. The two antennas actually respond to all body movements. Therefore, it is necessary for the player to exert firm control over her body and head motions as well as her hand motions. The ability to stand motionless is absolutely essential. Concert-goers have remarked on Ms. Rockmore's controlled stance. One reviewer even wrote: "Miss Rockmore's seance-like management of this slightly supernatural instrument is quite amazing. Of course, the purpose of remaining still is not theatrical or hypnotic at all, but strictly musical." The thereminist must move her hands with incredible precision as well as speed if she wishes to play distinct notes with corrent intonation. Ms. Rockmore actually uses fingering patterns to play the most rapid passages. (...) No other theremin player has ever mastered this difficult and intricate technique for playing rapid successions of precise pitches - "aerial fingering" as one reviewer termed it. The theremin performer plays without the benefit of any tactile reference whatever. Unlike the violinist, who is in constant contact with the instrument's fingerboard, (...) the thereminist feels no shape or force as she moves from one pitch to another. She is constantly moving her hands, listening to the resulting pitch changes, then "trimming" the precise position of her hands to home in on the desired pitch and volume. The process is one of continous aural feedback. For this reason, placement of the theremin loudspeaker is extremely important. Ms. Rockmore uses a large open-backed speaker which she places behind and slightly above her head, pointing out toward her audience. With such an arrangement, she is able to hear the effect of her hand motions soon enough so that her audience is rarely, if ever, aware of the aural feedback corrections that she intuitively applies. In 1927, two remarkable people arrived in the United States after lengthy and successful tours of Europe: Lev Sergeivitch Termen (anglicized to Leon Theremin) and Clara Reisenberg Rockmore. Theremin was a young Russian physicist who was demonstrating a new musical instrument that he invented (...the aetherphon, aka thereminvox, later known as the theremin). Clara Rockmore, a professional violinist from the age of 9, became aware of the musical potential of Theremin's invention. She spent several years collaborating with Theremin during which time he developed his invention into a sensitive, wide-range musical instrument. Clara subsequently embarked on a performance career that encompassed well over a hundred concerts, including appearances with major symphony orchestras, and set the definitive standard for theremin performance technique. Clara Reisenberg was born in Russia, the youngest of three musically gifted sisters. (...) Clara was a true child prodigy, with absolute pitch and an uncanny sense of music. At the age of two, she could pick out on the piano or sing any melody she heard. (...) Her career as a violinist began when her uncle gave her a quarter-size violin for her fourth birthday. At the age of 5 she was admitted as an exceptional student to the Imperial Conservatory of Music in St. Petersburg (now Leningrad). She was the youngest student ever to have received this honor. Later she became one of Professor Leopold Auer's most prom- ising pupils and, at the age of nine, received permission from the Russian government to leave her native land in order to concertize. Clara and her sister Nadia (a well-known concert pianist in her own right) embarked on an extensive tour of Europe. (...) Finally, their recital circuit led them to New York City, where Clara met Leon Theremin for the first time. Leon Theremin developed his aetherphon in Russia while he was a student at the University of Petrograd. In 1920, he demostrated a working instrument at a convention of engineers and psysicists. At that time, the vacuum tube had been in existence for only a few years; Theremin himself was only 21 years old. During the following years Theremin imporved his instrument and staged a number of concert demonstrations. The first composer to use this new instrument was A. F. Paschtschenko. His composition, "A Symphonic Mystery" for theremin and orchestra, was premiered in May, 1924 by the Leningrad Philharmonic. In 1927, Theremin embarked on a European tour. His performances in Frankfurt, Berlin, London, and Paris were met with unrestrained enthusiasm. Listeners were amazed that the seemingly inaccessible technology of electronics had been harnessed to enable a musician to make music by simply waving his hands. At the Paris Opera, police were called to keep order among the crowds that thronged Theremin's concert-demonstration. For the first time in history, standing room was sold in the boxes. By the time Theremin arrived in New York in Decemberr 1927, news of his fame had reached the rich and fashionable. His first "by invitation only" presentation included such notables as Edsel Ford, the Vincent Astors, the Fritz Kreislers, Rachmaninoff, and Toscanini. (...) Theremin set up a laboratory and studio...to build new instruments and train performers. He and his new students joined the New York Philharmonic Sympohony Orchestra on August 27, 1928, for a concert performance with four theremins and orchestra. (...) On September, 1929, Theremin licensed the Radio Corporation of America to manufacture the thereminvox. (...) The RCA Theremin was not a commer- cial success. (...) (...) ...Theremin trained many musicians to perform slow simple music on his instruments. However, the development of technique to perform pieces from the standard instrumental repertoire would require the dedication and effort of an unusually sensitive and talented performer. Clara Rockmore was this person. Clara worked intensively with Theremin's instruments, developing means for greater control and more precise articulation. At one of Theremin's concerts in 1932, Clara performed on an experimental dance plarform called the terpsitone. The platform was equipped with thereminvox-like antennas, enabling the dancer to play a melody while dancing - the perfect synchronization of sound and motion. Clara recalls that Prof. Theremin asked her to perform on the platform, "because none of the dancers who tried it could carry a tune." Ms. Rockmore gave her first solo theremin concert and New York's Town Hall, on October 30, 1934. (...) During the twenty years or so following her theremin debut, Clara Rockmore toured widely, performing as guest soloist with major symphony orchestras, and made three coast-to-coast tours, sharing the program with the famous singer Paul Robeson. On several occasions she performed under the baton of Leopold Stokowski, one of her most enthusiastic supporters. (...) During the past few years, Ms. Rockmore has retired from active concertizing. Her appearances have been limited to a few radio interviews and private recitals. However, Clara maintains her enthusiasm for the theremin, and her masterful playing. She frequently points out that today's "space-concious" listeners are interested in electronic music, "and what is more natural to electronic music than a space-controlled instrument?" She hopes that this disc, the first commerical recording of her playing, will acquaint today's listeners with the musical resources of the theremin, and with her own approach to the theremin as a musician interested in making music rather thatn just new sound effects. (...) Theremin remained in the United States for about ten years. During his stay he developed several musical instruments based on the beat frequency oscillator principle. (...) He also experimented with visual displays, including rotating discs illuminated with stroboscopic lights. Theremin's experiments laid much of the groundwork for subsequent developments which led to many of the electronic musical instruments which are in use today. Unfortunately, the economic climate of the 1930's was not conducive to commercially profitable introduction of new musical instruments. Theremin returned to his native Russia around 1938. He continues to do research in electronic musical instruments and acoustics at the University of Moscow. Robert Moog ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Clara Rockmore The Art of the Theremin (Delos D/CD 1014) Clara Rockmore, theremin Nadia Reisenberg, piano 1) Rachmaninoff: Vocalise 2) Song of Grusia 3) Saint-Saens: The Swan 4) De Falla: Pantomime 5) Achron: Hebrew Melody 6) Wieniawski: Romance 7) Stravinsky: Berceuse 8) Ravel: Piece en forme de Habanera 9) Tchaikovsky: Berceuse 10) Tchaikovsky: Valse sentimentale 11) Tchaikovsky: Serenade melancolique 12) Glazunov: Chant du menestrel 1987 Delos International, Inc. 2210 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 664, Santa Monica, CA 90403 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vickie ps, I'm not absolutely sure, but I think that Clara Rockmore and Prof. Theremin are both dead now. Nadia Reisenberg definitely is. ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 3 Jul 1993 10:55 EST From: Guyver-One Subject: ecto did's hey all...just thought I'd add my list of Desert Island Discs... ...and of course - I'm going to cheat. >:) In place of 10 discs, I would take ten 100 minute, metal tapes and compile as many of my favorite songs as I could on to them. :) I know that 10 discs were what was asked for, but given the situation of living on a desert island, this is probably the route that I would choose. I just can't pick only 10 (or even 11 by sneaking one in the player) ...guess I lack the kind of discipline required for this. I didn't realize until this morning when people listed movies that that was part of the whole thing too....I'd have to give that more thought, and besides, there's still of *lot* of stuff that I want to see before making that kind of decision. :) Vickie- Thank you for posting the story about Jessica. I had heard about that a while ago but never heard anymore of it and was left wondering what would happen. The end result looks to be truly sad...with Jessica receiving the worst of it. I pray that this will not affect her too greatly.... (re: the theremin....I was watching MST3K when I read your message that's used in lots of the films(?!) shown on MST3K......:) ) I think there was something else I was going to respond to, but I can't remember what it is now...... later on everyone.... Kevin _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_\ // \\ \\ / \/ \/ \ // // "What is the reason / / >< \ \ * * * \\ \\ for having roses ! ! ! \ \ \ ! ! ! // // when your blood is * * * \ \ >< / / \\ \\ shed carelessly?" \ /\ /\ / // // \\ \\_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _// \_-_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_-_/ "...loneliness is not a phase..." ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 3 Jul 1993 11:25 EST From: Guyver-One Subject: i'm back.... ....I never did figure out what else it was that I was going to respond to, but I did remember something else that I was going to say.....I'll be gone for the next couple of days. I'm having my bday party on the fourth this year because I'll be at Lollapalooza on the fifth. What a bday present to myself....the funny thing is that when I got my ticket I thought the show was in June sometime so I didn't even know that it was on my bday until I read the ticket. :) The point of this post? Now's the time to flood the list with messages so that when I come back after work on tuesday I can have tons o' mail to read. :) ps - I'm hoping that HR5 will get here on the fifth......but I doubt it will...I'm not that lucky. bye for a couple of days... Kevin _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_\ // \\ \\ / \/ \/ \ // // "What is the reason / / >< \ \ * * * \\ \\ for having roses ! ! ! \ \ \ ! ! ! // // when your blood is * * * \ \ >< / / \\ \\ shed carelessly?" \ /\ /\ / // // \\ \\_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _// \_-_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_- -_-_/ "...loneliness is not a phase..." ======================================================================== The ecto archives are on hardees.rutgers.edu in ~ftp/pub/hr. There is an INDEX file explaining what is where. Feel free to send me things you'd like to have added. -- jessica (jessica@ns1.rutgers.edu)