The Performer Case is a combination protective case and performance harness for the highly portable expressive synthesizer from Haken Audio. It is a custom design built with untethered live performance in mind.
Visit the Performer Case page for more information.
Friends of MIDI, Realtime Pitch Tracking, Resynthesis, Theremin, Educators, Sound Designers, Performers,
Very soon, the software I have been working on for the past six years will finally be made commercially available. I will be making the announcement on all social media channels and Music Technology forums and Theremin related locations on the web. Stay Tuned!
Many people may still be wondering what MIDI Merlin is exactly. It’s a good question and one that I spent years trying to answer as consicely as possible. MIDI Merlin is a tool kit built around real-time high-resolution monophonic audio analysis. It is like a Swiss army knife for technically inclined musicians who want more from their single voice musical instruments.
Soon after the release I will be posting Introduction Videos, Tutorials, Getting Started Guides, Application Tips. Support will most likely be hosted on KVR Forums when the user base gets big enough.
Huge Thanks go to everyone I know who has been supporting me on the sidelines as I complete this monstrous solo project. While it started out as a labor of love, reality struck hard as I realized that producing a commercial product requires a turn key zero-hassle customer experience. With great power comes great responsibility.
MIDI Merlin is finally coming out of the magical realm of Sorcerers, Wizards and Warriors and into the hands of creative electronic musicians.
Learning to play the theremin can be a very fun and rewarding experience. Everyone begins in the same place, whether they realize it or not. We stumble upon the idea that by moving our hands in the air we can create something musically satisfying. I’ve learned the hard way that the journey toward proficiency on this amazing instrument is full of pit falls. I have literally started from scratch several times, building a new approach each time, in an effort to not repeat things that were inefficient or impractical. Because I was willing to make mistakes, after many years I was able to build a technique that was efficient, precise, and consistent. These are qualities that have always applied to developing proficiency other instruments, but the theremin is unique because quite often people begin playing it without any fundamental understanding of its operating principles. Furthermore, many people fail to realize that a majority of theremin playing involves developing control over their own body.
Technical proficiency on a theremin is something that is not well defined. For decades since its inception, very few people could see the need for it to be used beyond its stereotype of eerie oscillating sound effect. It all depends on the music and the context. Well, it’s the end of 2015 and we have definitely moved beyond old age thinking. An increasing number of people are now demonstrating that the theremin can be used to play not only melodies, but full scale modern compositions with orchestras and bands. The future looks bright thanks to composers that are taking notice of the technical potential that is present in a proficient thereminist.
In my teaching method, I outline key components as the most essential building blocks to make theremin playing easier. My goal is to empower a new generation of theremin players with these fundamental building blocks so that each person can develop a playing facility that suits their musical context. The method is based on problem solving and building a key set of memorized muscle behaviors. Every theory I introduce can be applied toward producing a desired result. I do not introduce concepts that are based on conventions simply because they have been repeated by the majority of theremin players in the world. There have been a number of ideas that have circulated for decades because they had been passed around by musicians that were not fully aware of the mechanics of the interface.
Many people who have played the theremin have given up on advancing beyond a certain point for one reason or another. It’s very easy to just quit and blame the difficulty on the “crazy instrument”. Everything in theremin playing can be built upon fundamental building blocks and an understanding of the playing interface. The plateau that many people find they can not move beyond is quite plainly a result of poor foundation, misunderstanding of basic operating principles, and self-created barriers. To gain proficiency on the theremin it is imperative to know the difference between player error and machine error. This can only happen when a complete foundation has been established. I believe there is enormous potential that can be unlocked in theremin players and the main obstacle to overcome is poorly laid foundation.
Fundamental blocks:
Advanced blocks:
Welcome to my new website at Randy George Music dot com! It has been a long time since I have had an open home on the internet. For a couple of years it remained a static page with only a few links. Here’s the full story.
Well, this version is actually the site’s fourth iteration. I originally launched randygeorgemusic [dot] com in September of 2008. Since then I attempted two redesigns, and both of these never saw more than 50 percent completion. I was not willing to pay someone for the task. High quality web design costs a small fortune. After having done my fair share of web design I know exactly why it can be so expensive. So much can go wrong in a modern design. This is why many websites come in pre-packaged themes integrated into content management system frameworks. Many web developers are in the business of creating themes so that less experienced designers can build website’s quickly. The trade off is that it takes a lot of work to customize a website to exacting preferences.
My goal was always to do something different so that the website visit would not only be informative, but memorable as well. There is so much on the internet that lacks personality. I think the main reason is that the primary web programming languages were built with box-like styling in mind. The really creative stuff in web design required a web developer to know how to manipulate screen elements in the browser to make them interactive or animated. It would otherwise just be a cold block of text or square image… flash back to the 90’s when browser based internet was born.
The challenges in rebuilding my site the last two times was compounded with a bevy of distraction from a lot of things going on in my life including travel and work. The main challenge, I suppose, was that I wanted to build everything myself. If I were to hire someone else, I would not be able to put my personal stamp on the design. Fast forward to today, I have finished finally, and not only have I imbued personality into the site, but I know it inside and out in case I want to update some core functionality down the road.
My main goal was to make the user experience simple, while at the same time creating a layout that inspired visitors to explore the site. I have three areas of work where I divide my time now: theremin playing, teaching, and software development. As these three branches get populated with a ton of leaves soon, I didn’t want the user experience to change. In my opinion, it’s a good design when visitors can find exactly what they are looking for, but also find themselves unexpectedly stumbling upon something pleasant along the way.
The design that I settled on was built using a WordPress theme from a professional designer. It was however very broken, somewhat limited and needed some tender loving care if it was going to work out for me. If anyone is interested in seeing the starting point, google: wordpress theme Travel by UIUEUX Studio.
One of the things I brought back from my original site was the guestbook. If you are arriving to my website for the first time (and if you feel like it) please sign! I decided to import all the guestbook entries from 2008 to 2010. If any of you have signed it previously your signature will still be there, but you may sign again if you like.
I would like to take a moment to send out a huge thank you to one particular group of people. About two years ago, I had a fund raiser to help me pay my web hosting fees to keep my website running. That was a time when I was down on luck, work was slow, and I really needed help. Only because of the generosity of these friends (you know who you are) could this new version of the website be made possible. THANK YOU!
The website will evolve from this point forward. I’m not going to totally redesign it for a few years. This is officially the first update on this site. Thanks for reading!