Another weblog

The theremin is an instrument that you don’t touch. Really.

It’s an electic instrument, invented in 1920 by the Russian inventor Léon Theremin (born Лев Сергеевич Термен Lev Sergeyevich Termen) when he was twenty-four. He was a scientist, working on proximity sensors, when he got the idea for a musical instrument. A vertical antenna affects pitch—the closer an object is to it, the higher the pitch. A looped antenna affects volume—the closer an object is to it, the softer the volume. The only time you touch it is when you don’t want it to make a sound. […]

Posted in Films, Humour, Music | 2 comments »

The uilleann pipes are traditional bagpipes from Ireland. Most people know about the Great Highland Bagpipes, the instrument used in the Scottish military and now in marching bands (the Irish equivalent of these are the Great Irish Warpipes). But the uilleann pipes are quite unlike the GHBs. The latter were used outdoors, with the player standing up or marching, and for martial purposes; the uilleann pipes are a social instrument—they are softer and are played indoors (such as in public houses) with the player sitting down. One can actually hear talking and other instruments when the uilleann pipes are being played! […]

Posted in Films, Music | 1 comment »

Here’s another musical piece I love, this time an arrangement of Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance No. 8 in E minor. I have Kreisler’s arrangement of this for violin and piano, but I think that the dialogue between the violoncello and violin is beautiful in this arrangement. […]

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One of the best film score composers is the Italian musician Ennio Morricone. Here is one of his compositions, written for The Mission, performed in 2007 at the UN headquarters: […]

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From The Rebelution blog I saw a video of Emily Bear, who is a little pianist and composer. She is around eight years old now, but at age seven she had already won the ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award. […]

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This is an interesting video I first saw yesterday of Seattle-born actress Amy Walker speaking in twenty-one different accents. Part of what her aim is is to replicate not only the consonant and vowel sounds of the people who live in the region, but also the tone and mannerisms. […]

Posted in Films, Humour, Language | 4 comments »