Well, Tom, I would have also guessed that this album wouldn't have been
reissued, but, lo and behold:
http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Samuel-J-Hoffman-Theremin/dp/B00000IJH7
It's a veritable theremin feast!
Rod
Tom Fine wrote:
> This is one of many interesting Capitol "pop" albums that will
> probably never see the light of day. I have a great Jack Marshall
> record which has a cover of lots of pretty girls around pretty U-47
> mics that's nicely arranged and played, an early "stereo
> spectacular." They were very active early on with interesting pop
> music stuff, and it stands the test of time. Billy May also did a good
> job in the late 60's of recreating many of the great Swing Era songs,
> using top Hollywood studio musicians (some of whom were the original
> players in the swing era) for Time-Life Records. The series mostly
> used then-new Billy May recordings but some of it was recycled from
> early 1960's Glenn Gray records which were basically the same thing
> but on a lesser scale. All of that stuff is out of print right now and
> it's a pity because the playing is great and the sound is usually
> spectacular.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rod Stephens" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2006 7:09 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Clara Rockmore Theremin recordings
>
>
>> You guys really make us work sometimes, and I just had to dig into my
>> old 45s to come up with three disks from a vintage ('50s) Capitol
>> album that had a seminude girl on the cover (which I can't find right
>> now). It was entitled "Music for Peace of Mind" (aka theremin music).
>> http://www.317x.com/albums/h/samuelhoffman/card.html
>> The artists are Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman and Billy May and his
>> orchestra. These are the six selections:
>>
>> This Room is My Castle of Quiet
>> The Darkness Gives Me You Again
>> Remembering Your Lips
>> My Troubles Float Away Like Fallen Leaves
>> Your Soft Hand on My Brow
>> I Dream of a Past Love
>>
>> It was my first exposure to the theremin aside from its use in Miklos
>> Rósza's Oscar winning score of Hitchcock's "Spellbound".
>>
>> Ah, youth!
>>
>> I'm sure someone else will come up with more information on Dr.
>> Hoffman and the album.
>>
>> Rod Stephens
>>
>> Tom Fine wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Bret:
>>>
>>> Thanks for all the great information. I just ordered a copy of the
>>> Bridge CD. I definitely noted the dull sound on the Delos CD and
>>> just figured, well, that was what the budget allowed as far as
>>> recording quality. Great to know it was actually better fidelity.
>>>
>>> Also good to hear the new Moog instruments are so good. I've been
>>> considering one for years but know full well that to be a real
>>> musician on one of these things, you need to practice as hard or
>>> harder than any other instrument and the time is unlikely available
>>> to me.
>>>
>>> Happy New Year and thanks again for the good tip.
>>>
>>> -- Tom Fine
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bret" <[log in to unmask]>
>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 7:56 PM
>>> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Clara Rockmore Theremin recordings
>>>
>>>
>>>> There is a new cd release of Clara Rockmore and Nadia Reisenberg on
>>>> Bridge Records:
>>>> http://www.bridgerecords.com/pages/catalog/9208.htm
>>>>
>>>> This material that was recorded on the same days in July 1975 as the
>>>> Delos release, Art of Theremin.
>>>>
>>>> I much prefer the sound of the Bridge 'Lost' recording, it is
>>>> alive. I
>>>> always thought the Delos cd recording had a dull, flat quality,
>>>> compressed sounding. The high frequencies sound heavily filtered.
>>>> The
>>>> low end has no power. I was told by a theremin expert that the LP
>>>> release of 'Art' sounds much more natural, but I don't have an lp copy
>>>> to compare.
>>>>
>>>> Since the original multitrack recordings were only recently found in
>>>> Moog's basement, I doubt that the Delos cd (released in 1987) was made
>>>> from the original multitrack tapes.
>>>>
>>>> There are also occasional ticks and pops on the Delos cd of 'Art',
>>>> which makes me wonder if they used an LP as the source for the cd
>>>> release. I don't know.
>>>>
>>>> While there are the occasional noise reduction artifacts noticeable on
>>>> the Bridge 'Lost' recording, the performances of Clara and Nadia, and
>>>> the lively sound of the Theremin, and Piano are truly magnificent, and
>>>> this restoration presents this in a convincing and engaging manner. I
>>>> love it.
>>>>
>>>> I highly recommend the 'Lost' cd if you liked 'Art' in the slightest
>>>> amount.
>>>>
>>>> Regarding modern theremin sounds compared to Clara's theremin
>>>> sound, no
>>>> one will ever make a theremin sound like Clara Rockmore, no matter
>>>> what
>>>> theremin they play, including hers. Clara said that herself.
>>>>
>>>> The sound of a given theremin depends not only the harmonic balance of
>>>> the instrument and amplifier and loudspeaker, but who is playing it,
>>>> even more so. I collect theremins, and theremin recordings, and am
>>>> learning to play.
>>>> I have 2 vacuum tube theremins (one is an RCA AR1264), and 2 solid
>>>> state theremins. They all sound different, but with a bit of
>>>> adjustment (eq, waveshape, compression, distortion, etc) can sound
>>>> very
>>>> similar.
>>>>
>>>> A modern Moog Etherwave Pro is a tremendous instrument, and if Bob
>>>> Moog
>>>> was alive today he would tell you it is far better instrument than any
>>>> of this tube theremins that he built and sold since the 1950's. In
>>>> fact he told me that years ago when I asked him about one of his
>>>> vintage vacuum tube moog theremins I was considering purchasing. The
>>>> EPro can make many different sounds with adjustable waveshape and
>>>> filtering controls.
>>>>
>>>> The discontinued Moog Ethervox is also a marvelous instrument. More
>>>> linear in play than the RCA, and the tone can be made to sound much
>>>> like the RCA and other sounds.
>>>>
>>>> The original RCA had only 1 sound. But that one sound will change as
>>>> vacuum tubes are swapped in, or certain resistor values are changed in
>>>> the circuit.
>>>>
>>>> Clara's custom Termen theremin had the ability to adjust the timbre,
>>>> but she always had it set only 1 way. 'That' magical sound. Her
>>>> theremin had been silent for years when Bob Moog and Mike Jason helped
>>>> by bringing it back to life, and getting 'that' sound for Clara.
>>>>
>>>> Bob Moog from the liner notes of 'lost'
>>>> "The high point of my experience with Clara came when she called me
>>>> because her instrument had become completely unreliable. Building
>>>> theremins had been a hobby of mine for thirty or forty years, then it
>>>> became a business, so naturally I was very curious to see what was
>>>> inside hers that could produce such a beautiful sound. Electronics age
>>>> faster than people do, and Clara's theremin, which must have been
>>>> fifty
>>>>
>>>> years old by then, was filled with broken connections, parts that were
>>>> beginning to fail, others that had shorted out. I replaced various
>>>> solders and connectors, and then, with Mike Jason, Clara's own
>>>> technician, tried to overhaul the instrument to make it work as much
>>>> like the original as possible. We started Friday night, worked all day
>>>> Saturday, and then put everything back together Sunday morning. Clara
>>>> tried it out, said "No, it doesn't sound just right." The trouble was
>>>> we didn't know exactly what 'just right' meant, but we fiddled with
>>>> the
>>>>
>>>> adjustments for half an hour or so. Clara tried it once again and
>>>> said,
>>>>
>>>> "No. Closer, but not close enough." So once again Mike and I worked
>>>> and
>>>>
>>>> when she tried it again she didn't stop. She started playing
>>>> SUMMERTIME
>>>>
>>>> and went right through to the end, and when she turned around she had
>>>> tears in her eyes. And through her tears she said, 'I thought I would
>>>> never play this instrument again.' "
>>>>
>>>> Bob Moog did more than anyone else to make theremin a popular
>>>> instrument today, a precise instrument and not just a toy sound maker.
>>>> He commissioned the recordings that we have now on Delos and Bridge,
>>>> and he never made a penny on them. Without them, we would only have
>>>> the Fuleihan recording of Clara. We also have the DVD of Clara and
>>>> Nadia, 'The Greatest Theremin Virtuoso' thanks to Moog, so we actually
>>>> get to see how she performs her magic.
>>>>
>>>> I think the sounds that most people associate with the theremin are
>>>> either the scifi and scary Hollywood sound of Dr. Hoffman, due to his
>>>> nervous vibrato and chicken pecking playing style, with much
>>>> glissando,
>>>> and the singing lady sound associated with Clara Rockmore and her
>>>> aerial fingering, and articulated notes that sing and breathe.
>>>>
>>>> She was a violin virtuoso since she was 4 years old, so her
>>>> intonation,
>>>> and ability to make an instrument sing and breathe were already there
>>>> before she ever came near a theremin. She had music in her soul.
>>>> Clara and Nadia had played together since they were small children,
>>>> Clara learned to read music at age 3. Nadia is one of the finest
>>>> pianist that has ever lived, and teacher to many of the finest living
>>>> pianists. Clara and Nadia played as ONE.
>>>>
>>>> Sorry I rambled. Theremin recordings are actually what brought me to
>>>> audio restoration many years ago.
>>>>
>>>> I happen to know that there is a precision thereminist on this list.
>>>> He is the one who introduced me to ARSC. I'll leave it to him to
>>>> speak
>>>> up if he wants.
>>>>
>>>> best,
>>>> Bret Moreland
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> __________________________________________________
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>>>
>>
>
