{"id":301,"date":"2013-08-08T06:52:12","date_gmt":"2013-08-08T03:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/studio.theremintimes.ru\/kaster\/"},"modified":"2018-02-19T14:54:27","modified_gmt":"2018-02-19T11:54:27","slug":"kaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theremin.today\/?p=301&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Lawrence Kaster"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nOfficial site:\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>http:\/\/lpkaster.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

What prompted you to\u00a0play theremin?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u00a0wanted to\u00a0have a\u00a0sense of\u00a0direct connection to\u00a0the act of\u00a0making music. I\u00a0sensed that the physicality of\u00a0movement was a\u00a0very special way to\u00a0do\u00a0this before\u00a0I ever knew\u00a0I was musical. Practicing Tai Chi Chuan and Reiki for several years had something to\u00a0do\u00a0with a\u00a0developed sense of\u00a0bodymind. Consciously coltrolled hand placement is\u00a0very much a\u00a0part of\u00a0these practices, too. I\u00a0thought this might be\u00a0a\u00a0rich source for music.<\/p>\n

What were your first feelings when you heard the sounds of\u00a0theremin and where did it\u00a0happen?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u00a0heard my\u00a0first heterodyning sounds through the accident of\u00a0placing a\u00a0radio near an\u00a0oscillator\u00a0I was working with. I\u00a0played with my\u00a0dad\u2019s electronic gear. This was in\u00a0about 1967. As\u00a0a\u00a0young boy my\u00a0dad showed me\u00a0some obsolete airline gear that included tube circuitry. I\u00a0was hooked on\u00a0the whole idea of\u00a0soldering and reconnecting circuits just to\u00a0see what was happening. At\u00a0that time\u00a0I was listening to\u00a0local\u00a0AM radio, and the oscillators interacted, moderated by\u00a0my\u00a0movements. My\u00a0dad said \u00abThey\u2019re heterodyning- it\u2019s an\u00a0old-fashioned way to\u00a0amplify radio circuits.\u00bb I\u00a0thought the heterodyning sound was very like a\u00a0human voice, and very interesting because\u00a0I could also interact with\u00a0it. But my\u00a0dad\u2019s opinion was that it\u00a0was too difficult to\u00a0control, \u00abYou need to\u00a0build a\u00a0keyboard,\u00bb He\u00a0said, \u00abNo\u00a0one can play music without a\u00a0keyboard.\u00bb I\u00a0took him at\u00a0his word and in\u00a0a\u00a0year or\u00a0so\u00a0I moved on\u00a0to\u00a0pottery, painting and sculpture. Someone mentioned to\u00a0me\u00a0that this had been already been invented anyway in\u00a0the 1920s by\u00a0Leon Termen, and that Brian Wilson of\u00a0the Beach Boys was fascinated with the sound. I\u00a0heard this in\u00a0\u00abPet Sounds\u00bb but\u00a0I put it\u00a0all on\u00a0a\u00a0back shelf for the next quarter century or\u00a0so. Then I\u00a0happened to\u00a0find the Steve Martin \u00abElectronic Odyssey\u00bb film in\u00a0a\u00a0store.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0my\u00a0younger days there was barely any information available on\u00a0how to\u00a0build synthesizers of\u00a0any sort. There was the fascinating \u00abSwitched-on Bach\u00bb by\u00a0Wendy (then Walter) Carlos who was playing the early Moog synthesizer. I\u00a0listened to\u00a0this and thought one day\u00a0I would get back to\u00a0making music, using electronics. If\u00a0I\u00a0had known anything about VCAs or\u00a0LFOs in\u00a0those days, I\u00a0would have gone further. But until the Internet became available as\u00a0the rich source of\u00a0information it\u00a0has now become, it\u00a0was not possible for one solitary individual to\u00a0get so\u00a0far. Now it\u00a0is\u00a0possible to\u00a0\u00abconnect the dots\u00bb and put together nearly anything one can dream\u00a0up, drawing from the direct experience of\u00a0others on\u00a0nearly any subject. This is\u00a0primarily why it\u00a0is\u00a0even useful to\u00a0look at\u00a0all the bad video recordings, because it\u00a0is\u00a0just as\u00a0helpful to\u00a0know what _not_ to\u00a0do! For all the misleading inaccuracies and romance in\u00a0the now famous \u00abElectronic Odyssey\u00bb film, too, it\u00a0was a\u00a0bridge for many of\u00a0us to\u00a0take a\u00a0newly inspired look at\u00a0heterodyning.<\/p>\n

What is\u00a0your musical philosophy and what place it\u00a0occupies a\u00a0theremin?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u00a0will never master the theremin. No\u00a0one ever will, I\u00a0think- but it\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0rich source of\u00a0vocality. It\u00a0is\u00a0unique.<\/p>\n

My\u00a0music comes from a\u00a0deep need to\u00a0make music. It\u00a0starts from listening to\u00a0all the ways music has been made through history. Especially from simple people expressing themselves musically in\u00a0a\u00a0very non-selfconscious way. At\u00a0present, people like Hoagy Carmichael, Django Reinhardt and Stefan Grapelli are my\u00a0source of\u00a0language. Jazz. Blues. Medieval music. Now the World Music genre has been with\u00a0us for years, but it\u00a0started out with Ravi Shankar and Classical Indian music introduced at\u00a0the Monterey Pop Festival in\u00a01967 and Hamza El\u00a0Din\u2019s Oud music recorded in\u00a01971. Since then \u00abWorld Music\u00bb has become a\u00a0genre of\u00a0its own. Besides the \u00abClassical Music\u00bb recordings\u00a0I have always heard, these styles of\u00a0\u00abfolk\u00bb musicians are more accessible and fascinating to\u00a0me.<\/p>\n

For myself, music begins with mindful observation of\u00a0my\u00a0sound environment. I\u00a0like to\u00a0imitate the way animals and birds express themselves, even include them in\u00a0some of\u00a0my\u00a0recordings, even structure my\u00a0work in\u00a0a\u00a0similar fashion. My\u00a0sound environment also includes some unpleasant, discordant sounds. I\u00a0live next to\u00a0a\u00a0trainyard that operates mostly after midnight. My\u00a0CD\u00a0\u00abCicada\u00bb is\u00a0dedicated to\u00a0this idea of\u00a0inclusion. When I\u00a0present my\u00a0work as\u00a0\u00abpainting with sound\u00bb it\u00a0seems to\u00a0make more sense to\u00a0some people.<\/p>\n

It\u00a0is\u00a0more important that my\u00a0recordings are interesting than if\u00a0they somehow prove musical prowess. In\u00a0painting it\u00a0has never been enough to\u00a0make pretty brushstrokes! I\u00a0do not present myself as\u00a0a\u00a0\u00abperformer\u00bb of\u00a0music. I\u00a0create recordings that involve layers of\u00a0sound that\u00a0I could never present on\u00a0a\u00a0stage. At\u00a0best, a\u00a0musical performance is\u00a0a\u00a0snapshot of\u00a0a\u00a0much bigger process. Still, I\u00a0think it\u00a0might be\u00a0interesting to\u00a0play with others on\u00a0a\u00a0stage someday- but it\u00a0is\u00a0not what\u00a0I currently\u00a0do.<\/p>\n

Prospects for theremin and its place in\u00a0modern music space\u00a0\u2014 how you see them? For what qualities you value this tool?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Theremin is\u00a0indeed a\u00a0Modern musical invention. But the Modern Era began to\u00a0unravel as\u00a0soon as\u00a0it\u00a0developed, and gradually Postmodernism has replaced\u00a0it. To\u00a0the degree we\u00a0can actually identify Modern elements in\u00a0art, they are already Kitsch. In\u00a0our own era, theremin, the gesturally controlled heterodyne instrument, has a\u00a0wide application that might never be\u00a0under any kind of\u00a0control. Which is\u00a0why we\u00a0will be\u00a0drawn to\u00a0it\u00a0again, and this well of\u00a0sound will never run dry.<\/p>\n

Which manufacturer of\u00a0theremin do\u00a0you prefer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My\u00a0\u00abtoy theremin\u00bb (as\u00a0it\u00a0has been called), the PAiA \u00abTmax,\u00bb is\u00a0a\u00a0great introduction to\u00a0a\u00a0heterodyne instrument without blasting yourself with high voltage. As\u00a0a\u00a0kid, under my\u00a0father\u2019s supervision, I\u00a0played with tube amplifiers and oscillators and kind of\u00a0miss the mysterious glow. But I\u00a0felt it\u00a0was important to\u00a0know my\u00a0instrument well enough to\u00a0repair and tune\u00a0it. There are no\u00a0tube theremin kits, (and\u00a0I need a\u00a0lot of\u00a0help with things that might be\u00a0obvious to\u00a0others.) The PAiA kit was perfect for\u00a0me. I\u00a0haven\u2019t really played anything else, considering there are no\u00a0places here to\u00a0go\u00a0and try other instruments, so\u00a0who knows which\u00a0I might like better? So\u00a0for now\u00a0I will just play with my\u00a0\u00abtoy\u00bb instrument and keep making music. I\u00a0prefer to\u00a0just make music.<\/p>\n

What you can recommend for beginners thereminists, or\u00a0those who are just going to\u00a0start their way of\u00a0thereminist?<\/p>\n

I\u00a0agree with Clara Rockmore and those who quote her. It\u00a0is\u00a0better to\u00a0learn music on\u00a0some other instrument first, because the theremin will let you do\u00a0anything at\u00a0all. It\u2019s a\u00a0lot like clay, a\u00a0medium that has no\u00a0apparent internal structure to\u00a0help discipline you. You have to\u00a0already have a\u00a0musical discipline or\u00a0you will just make mudpies. Any keyboard instrument is\u00a0good, because all you have to\u00a0do\u00a0is\u00a0press the keys. After that, knowing musical notation is\u00a0certainly a\u00a0great crutch. You can follow along and make convincing notes and rhythm structures. But more than that, you have to\u00a0have music in\u00a0you, music that _has_ to\u00a0come out. If\u00a0your are not driven to\u00a0make music, it\u00a0will just be\u00a0tedious. If\u00a0you are like Django Rinehart, losing two fingers and being left with damaged thumb, index and ring finger, nothing can stop you from making your music. It\u00a0will be\u00a0brilliant.<\/p>\n