Concert in Thursday

Last thursday, July 22nd 2010, Susie and I went for a concert in Brookline public library. It was an amazing concert-- there were solo piano performance, singing with cello, and other electronic music performance. We appreciated and learnt a new instrument called theremin, interviewed with the theremin player who is a university professor named Bryan and even tried to play the theremin by ourselves.
Playing the theremin is different from other instruments for musicians, player don’t need to contact with this electronic musical instrument in order to control it. Musicians just need to move their hands near the theremin and the music will change with the distance between hands and theremin change. Left hand control the volume and right hand control the pitch.So when we see Bryan performed in the instrument , it looked like he is waving his hands and conducting an orchestra. The voice make my theremin can be very interesting, Bryan even imitated the crying of babies after a baby cried during the concert.
The atmosphere of this concert was very relaxing, full of harmony. From the first person singing like telling a humorous story, to latter asking the audiences title a piece of electronic music, we can found that the musicians use music as a way to express their emotion. Most of the best titles they prized are like description of a scene with fantastic imagination. From the interview with Bryan, we can see that he really found of music. He started learning music from his childhood and chose it as his major when he grow up, he can play many instruments, have wide interest in music field. This couldn’t be done just for career, the sprites and love to higher level of music is really worth learning.


Interview Copy:
Interviewer (I): Where is your inspiration come from in writing that kind of music?
Answer (A): I think it is really just a willingness to make music starting from any sound. Any sounds can be made into music.
I: But I think it is really hard to play other kinds of music, like jazz and blues.
A: Yeah, well you can play jazz or blues on it but it’s very very difficult.
I: It’s very hard to control.
A: Exactly, because there is no physical feedback. You just have to find notes in the air and constantly checking and adjusting. Lots of little corrections all the time.
I: When did you start to write that kind of music, since college?
A: Yeah, since college.
I: When did you learn to, en…I mean when you fell in love with music?
A: Oh, I think when I was just a small child, but when I was 17 I decided to do it professionally. Right, become a professional.
I: Have you learned to play some other kinds of instruments?
A: Yeah. Piano, guitar, clarinets and lots of others, because as a composer, you should know how each instrument work, what does the player have to do.
I: Did you invent that instrument?
A: No.
I: What is that called?
A: Theremin. It was invented in 1920 but this one is a newer design. You don’t see them a lot because they are very difficult to play. There are actually hundreds of videos on Youtube. A lot of people get them. You know people will buy them and enjoy them.
I: Is it expensive?
A: This one is expensive. But you can get a good one for only or less than four hundred dollars.
I: Is it the older the better or you should get a new one when it’s old?
A: It’s electronic, so the age doesn’t affect.
I: Could you please to tell me what is your favorite genre?
A: Eh…That’s a tough one because I like a lot of genres.
I: Okay. Thank you for your time!
A: Oh yeah, and thank you for your interest.