EVENING PRAYER on THEREMIN

[Synthesized13]

The theremin has been helping my relative, and perfect pitch very much...which i hope to achieve both bery soon. Can't wait for your lessons at Christmas. Do the lessons apply to the B3 theremin, and what is included in the lessons?

[ThomasGrillo]

@Synthesized13 Hello. I'm glad to hear that the theremin is indeed helping with pitch. :)

My lessons DVD is designed to be used by anyone with a modern theremin, regardless of model, or manufacture, with the exception of those rare theremins which have volume antennas that get louder when a hand is closer, ect. Most theremins such as Burns, Moog, PAiA, Wavefront, ect, will be fine.

I wish you all the best with your endeavours with the theremin. :)

[ThomasGrillo]

@ThomasGrillo Included in the lessons are techniques for setting up, controlling, and playing the instrument. I use a unique head mounted camera for first person perspective to give students a unique vantage point for seeing exactly what things should look like when playing the theremin. I cover a couple of different techniques for areal fingering, as well as volume hand work, and a bit of how the instrument works.

[insx]

Did the mod end up in the B3?

[ThomasGrillo]

@insx No it did not. However, other little enhancements were made to the B3 Deluxe and Pro which you don't see, but certainly improved the way the instrument behaves. :)

We decided that even though the tonal charactor heard here was nice, we still liked the original tonal charactor. Kind of a tough decision really. :)

[nedak]

You should grow a beard.

[ThomasGrillo]

Been there, done that. Messed it up because of my low vision. Just had to give it up. Had a cool interconnecting mustache-goatee for a while. :)

[fluidcuriosity]

Wonderful playing, and great sound. Actually i was a little bit curious about your sound, and how you achieve such a good quality. Other theramin videos i have watched sound higher pitched and not as pleasant sounding. Does it have to do with your amp settings or what?

thanks in advance.

[ThomasGrillo]

Thanks for the kind words.

A lot has to do with the instrument used. In this case, I used the Burns B3 Pro. I did make a modification to it which affected it's tone a good bit. I did not use an amp in this video. The theremin's audio went directly to the recording device.

My playing technique, and the octave I play in (given the piece used), also play an important roll in the overall quality of the performance.

[fluidcuriosity]

ah ok. So you modded the actual theramin? if you dont mind, in what ways? The tone in your jazz performance is also really nice, and im assuming you had to use an amp in that situation, seeing it was live.

[ThomasGrillo]

The mod gave my B3 Pro a bit more of a classic RCA like tone. I can't go into details on the actual mod as it's now the proprietary property of Burns, and is being evaluated for production.

The Jazz concert did use an amp, and I used an Etherwave Standard for that performance. In that performance, I set the Etherwave so the tone would sound less harsh, more string like.

I also used the EQ on the amp to soften the tone as well.

[sputniklover1488]

Really nice. As usual. : D

[ThomasGrillo]

Thank you. :)

[michaelusry]

Excellent stuff, Thomas. You look pretty suave in that shirt, too!

:-) Keep up the great work!

[ThomasGrillo]

Thank you. I certainly shall. :)

[rayunseitig]

Very nice. You had me fooled there with the green screen thing. I just figured you did a live shoot at the beach 3 minutes before the sun dropped. I was waiting for a green flash like we sometines see on the west coast when the sun drops into the ocean. :-)

[ThomasGrillo]

Thanks. This was my first attempt at green screen techniques in a serious video.

I'd have to check the original beach sunset vid the trumpets777 sent me, but I think the green flash may have happened a little after this vid ends. :)

[BlueCougar]

Very good.

I know how difficuilt it is, but the next challenge woud be to record the second (alto) voice along it...

[ThomasGrillo]

Thanks.

That's tempting, but I'd rather do that with a real instrumentalist playing the alto2 line with me in a live performance someday. :)

[funnystuff123d3]

Nice music and nice green screen effect.

If you think about it for a while you realize that the theremin does not have a mic pickup so therefore the beach sounds were added in to the video but it is still a nice effect nonetheless.

[ThomasGrillo]

Thanks. :)

Theremins use line out to an amp. If played in the real world, this is allmost what it would hve sounded like.

I did indeed have to record the theremin, and accomp to a digital recorder and bring the music into the production, otherwise, you'd have heard a roaring fan, and the music quality would've been very poor.

This was just like shooting a movie. :)

[JoesCheapThrills]

Great sounds and good job on the keying. lol

[ThomasGrillo]

Thank you. :)

[trumpets777]

That was put together very well!

The first time I saw one of your videos (a couple days ago) I thought you might be making the music with your voice because I have never seen a theremin. I play several instruments but some how never heard of a theremin so I looked it up online and realized that it wasn't your voice but you playing an instrument! It is a very interesting instrument :)

[ThomasGrillo]

Thank you. I hear this quite often, as it does indeed take on a vibrato, and tonal charactor like a voice at times depending on how I play. :)

Thanks again for letting me include Beach Sunset in this video. :)

[benshki]

That is beyond epic.

[ThomasGrillo]

Thank you. :)

[joukoq]

Certainly a more picturesque environment than in my version... great playing too :)

[ThomasGrillo]

Thank you for the kind words. :)

[bmobaggins]

Thomas!

I'm not a religious person, but you made that evening prayer sound heavenly!

[ThomasGrillo]

Thank you. :)

[Thereminstrel]

Wonderful! The sound effects and green screen really make this one special. I laughed out loud when you turned to watch the boat go by ... that's real attention to detail!

Great playing as always, of course.

I do have a question ...

I know the B3 Pro has an adjustable aerial - but why have you chosen to play with it so low down? Does it help with the note-field or something? Just curious.

[ThomasGrillo]

Thanks for the kind words.

Yeh, I just had to do a bit of acting to complete the illusion of being influenced by the surrounding environment. :)

The antenna hight did not affect linearity, but was a function of the internal modification I made which affected the tonal charactor, but also required the lowering of the antenna to restore the field to proper playing charactoristics.

[YourAccompanist]

Lovely stuff, Thomas!

We sound great together! Maybe we should send Michael to visit you and do one together live some day!?

You must have had fun with the green screen putting that together. Love the extra sound effects! You make the instrument look so effortless, which we know isnt the case!

Were growing to love the theremin for its similarity to the human voice and its ability to reinvent songs we thought we knew! Wonderful!

Best wishes from the team at YourAccompanist :0)

[ThomasGrillo]

Hi, Thanks for the kind words. That would be an interesting performance to get Michael here to perform with me. :)

You must be a mind reader, because I'd just sent an email to you regarding this video. :)

Yes, it was a lot of fun to shoot the green screen video. Challenging to. :)

Cheers.

[ThomasGrillo]

Hello all. I am seeing your comments in my e-mail, but it's taking a long time for them to show up here in the video. Please continue to comment. Eventually, your comments will show up here fo rme to handle as they become available.

Thanks,

Thomas Grillo

[ThomasGrillo]

Comments appear to be flowing in now. Thanks for your patience. :)

[ananagram]

I really like how you admire the pretend atmosphere and take it all in. Look out ukulele players, theremin is the new beach instrument! It's a nice change of scenery.

[ThomasGrillo]

Thanks. LOL, yeh, the hardest bit was "acting" as if I really saw, and reacted to stuff going on in the video, especially since all I could see was a green screen, and bright stage lights. :)

[keytoothed]

Pretty amazing.

[ThomasGrillo]

Thank you. :)

[Doubledig]

Nice one Thomas. Hope you didn't get any sand in your wiring LOL!

[ThomasGrillo]

Thanks. Nope, no sand in the circuitry, LOL :)

[Communistsynthist]

Wonderful.

[ThomasGrillo]

Thanks. ;)

[thegreatsubscriber]

awesome, beautiful

[ThomasGrillo]

Thank you. :)

[JannaKulasa]

That's an awesome vid man!

[ThomasGrillo]

Thank you. It was a lot of fun. :)

[savetheboobies]

your very talented.

[ThomasGrillo]

Thank you. :)