As it happened, this week I came across an old blog post I made on a different platform, back in 2006. Here is what I wrote about music 15 years ago on 5/7/2006 (beware of dead links, this content is 15+ years old):
I played Tuba in high school and even for a year in college (UNM marching band). I was not the most dedicated or talented musician in band (or even my section) but I had a good time and enjoyed playing. Now fast-forward many years and I am thinking about picking up an instrument again. I am leaning towards starting again where I left off, with the tuba. But there are a few downsides. First of all, I would need to buy an instrument and tubas are not cheap. Then I need to find a teacher, at least to get me started again. Lastly, I need to find space and time to practice. Not easy when Orion and the bird need about 12 hours of sleep per night.
On the other hand, I could try to learn a completely new instrument, but I am intrigued by odd instruments such as the theremin, the (electric) harp, and monophonic synthesizers. In this context, the tuba actually seems the most mainstream and given that I played it in the past, the most likely candidate for short-term success.
FListers, I know there are a few band geeks out there. What do you think? How much will I remember from the past? How hard will it be to find a tutor?
https://qaggaz.livejournal.com/29980.html
So, after 15 years, those of you who follow me on social media know that I made a decision! Last year I ordered a Moog Claravox Theremin from Sweetwater, and after a year long wait, it finally arrived at the end of April! Now, don’t worry, I am not yet going to expose you to the (not so) dulcet sounds of my novice playing, at least until I have improved somewhat. While the world really does need more YouTube videos of virtuoso performers, like Carolina Eyck, no one needs to hear my out-of-tune theremin practice. As one of my musician friends says, “Boy, those are hard to play well!”
One thing that has changed over the past 15 years is that internet tutoring has become more mainstream. As much as I wish I could find a local teacher, that would be very unlikely, even if I lived in a major city. Now I have a choice of several potential teachers. I look forward to starting online lessons this fall! Thus far I have been mainly exploring the complexities of the instrument and attempting to learn to play scales.
In the meantime, my kids have also expressed an interest in learning to play the weird instrument in the living room. They are also taking piano lessons, so they have a bit more recent music theory than I do and they can even read the treble clef! (I was a tuba player, so anything above middle C always seemed like “those difficult high notes!”)
In addition to piano lessons, in the past, Orion was learning the banjo and Rigel was taking violin lessons. Their music teacher was injured in an accident, then other life events overcame us including the pandemic, put plans find new music teachers on hold. But now that things have more or less returned to normal, we can begin the search for a new banjo and violin teacher for the two oldest kids, and help the others choose what, if any, other instruments they may want to learn to play other than the piano.
I still may someday buy a tuba, but what I said 15 years ago is still true. Tubas are not cheap. I also suspect that I will find playing it somewhat frustrating since I do not rettian the skills to play pieces such as John William’s Tuba Concerto!
As far as other musical instruments go, I still think that harps are cool. I also am intrigued by this demo of the Soma Terra, And I remained fascinated by the Buchla 200e and the more affordable and approachable Music Easel. Still a bit beyond my budget, both in terms of money AND time. The ID 700, a software emulation of the super-rare and baroque 700 is affordable but seems intimidating. And as far as weird and wonderful, this Ondes Martenot reproduction / evolution is hard to beat, but how does one learn how to play one?
Who knows, check back in 15 years to see if I ever mastered the Theremin and what other instruments members of the family have learned how to play! Maybe we will have formed an eclectic band by then: perhaps somewhere between The Sound of Music and Dueling Banjos.
