Marielle Vaassen (Netherlands)

Marielle Vaassen (Netherlands)

Welcome overhere 😉 My name is Marielle, I’m a Lghtworker, Musician & Allround Artist. I love my pets & I’ve got way too lots of hobbies LOL 😀

Lightworker, Musician, Allround Artist, Shih Tzu lover, Computer nerd, Rebellian, Lefty, Sending Positivity for WorldPeace … Well … See the rest on http://www.yeapsystar.nl/aboutmyself.htm 😉

I play keys since my 5th year, but since December 31 2008 I started to play the theremin … One of the most difficultest musical instruments to learn! I don’t follow any lessons in a way much persons do, but I learn 50 pr cent by autodidactique and musical hearing and 50 per cent I learn via the Total Guidance System which is related to my Spiritual Self Study with help from Guides & Spiritual Masters 😉 So in fact, I DO have a theremin teacher, but she only gives me lessons via telepathy & meditations & dreams 😉


Allthough I still mainly play theremin covers, besides that I compose & arrange my very own music on keys or with Cakewalk Pro 😉

For the rest: I’m a Shih Tzu-holic! Wish I would have a gabilion of them! <:o)


What prompted you to play theremin?

Hahahaha! I LOVE that question!
… Well … I think that this is one of the nicest stories to tell 

… When I was 18, I was in my last year of secundary school and I had to do examens for 7 branches … Netherlands, English, French, History, Biology, Math and Music … ALL on D (so the highest!) level and everything in one year, but okay … I finally succeeded to do all things and I passed the examens 

For Music, I had to write some scription about a music related subject, and as I always had been (and still am) a quite synthesizer and electronic music lover, I decided to write some scription about synthesizers, how they exist, how they work and so on … Than you have to do some research like reading books and so, to find more information … And this is how I read in one book about the synthesizer’s history, wherewith the ondes martenot AS the theremin were involved … When I read the theremin section, I also saw this famous black and white picture of Leon Theremin playing his own invention, the theremin … And I thought:
“WHOAAH! THAT’s magic!”
… Than, I read, read and read … I read about how Leon Theremin went to Lenin to promote and demonstrate his thereminvox … I read about how they tried to describe the theremin’s sound … And I read about how the theremin works … And I thought:
“Hmmm … I hope there will be some ocasion I can try one, one day …”

You know … I was 18, and it was 1993, so, the internet still wasn’t that common yet like it’s nowadays, so for me it was quite difficult to do some more research about theremins as most libraries didn’t have CDs or LPs with theremin music on it … For THAT … I had to wait another 2 years

What were your first feelings when you heard the sounds of theremin and where did it happen?

Well … It was 1995 when I was 20 and when I was in some bookstore together with my mom. I found overthere some book about the history of electronical music and when I browsed to that book, I found information about synthesizers and different styles of music and groups, but, I also found some basic information about theremins! But the most nicest thing of all was, that there also was a CD which belongs to that book and which contains several examples of music, so, ALSO an example of the theremin! THAT even got some more curiosity as I still remembered that scription I had to write 2 years therefore and I told my mom I wanted to have that book, while my mom was asking myself what was the sense to buy such a book, but you know, parents eh?

… I went home with this book and couldn’t wait to listen to the track with the theremin, so I went to my bedroom, I put the CD in the CD player and I skipped the other tracks and immediately went to the track with the theremin …
I thought: “WOOOOWYYYYY !!! It HAS a lovely warm sound with a lovely warm timbre! How COOL! I want one!”

… But still … We hadn’t internet at home in that time and it was even harder to find a theremin in that time, so, my next thought was:
“Well … Maybe I can’t have or find any within a short time … But one day … ONE day … I will have a theremin and play it!”

… NOT knowing I had to wait another 14 years before I have one … BEFORE December 31 2008, I NEVER ever “touched” any theremin …

 What is your musical philosophy and what place it occupies a theremin? 
Theremins fit in every style of music but they don’t fit in every song.

As a Lightworker and Universal Spiritualist, I think that music is VERY Universal … With music, you make friends, but with music you also can underline wars if you use it in a wrong way, but EVEN if there are 2 enemy parties in 1 concert room, music can give us the VERY same expierence to EVERY individual – enemy or not, right or wrong, black or white, yellow or red – AS it can give us different experiences, as music can work like art in generally in another way, so people can give their own interpretations to art AS they can give to music.

Music = Sound = Energy, ESPECIALLY the theremin is, as it works on etherwave frequencies we can’t see NOR feel those etherwaves, but, they ARE there!
Energy can work out in different ways … It can heal, but it can cause frictions, but that’s based on what we do with this specific energy! On which emotions AND intentions we put into the music we play, arrange and/or compose …

Music is known everywhere, EVEN far beyond the Universe among alien tribes too … That is, WHY music is THAT special, to me, but also to others … Even to those who live FAR beyond places we don’t know yet, ’cause we don’t have expired nor explored yet!

BECAUSE music is energy, it lives around us, but also it lives WITHIN us, from the most biggest Space till the most tiniest Atom …

… THAT’s what music is …

Theremins can be great for solo instruments, for effect instruments, but EVEN for background and/or choral tings … And I all have tried them out sofar 

But on the question what kinda place theremins REALLY do have in my musical exploring journey? Well … I think a theremin can even be MORE than “just” a solo instrument!
… I shouldn’t hang on ONE style, on ONE technique, but I keep on exploring and I guess I never will stop learning new things which I one day shall use in my works to ease, please and heal those who need it, people, animals, whatever, whoever … And a theremin will make a great part of the whole of it …

… I guess that’s something different than ONLY use a theremin as a kinda Horror/SciFi “effect machine” eh?

 Prospects for theremin and its place in modern music space – how you see them? For what qualities you value this tool?

Well … I think it’s still ashame that a lot of – mostly low thinking not open minded – people (who hace a narrow horizon) still see the theremin like some weird instrument which just has been walking out of the Curiosity Cabinet and only can produce a “WOOOHEEHOOH” sound and they DON’T wanna see the TRUE extraordinarity and speciality of the theremin and they REALLY DON’T REALIZE HOW HARD it is to master a theremin anyway … I guess this group of people NEVER WILL learn more, as they simply are dogmatic people, which is a shame, AS theremins can do MORE than only be some “misshaped” piece of instrument trying to have some kinda solo in some Horror or Science Fiction music track!

… Happily after all, there’s some slightly movement, a slightly change seeable as SOME pop musicians wanna give it some try to use some theremin in their music, wether it’s used as a solo instrument or it’s used as a kinda 2nd voice background party, though I really appriciate this!

THOUGH, I think – like I said before that theremins are suitable for every genre or style of music – it won’t be wrong if more bands and musicians give it some try to use some theremin in their genre of music (it also can be reggae too!), but I still think this also depends on what song, as I don’t think a theremin will suit in every song 

Still I see that theremins MOSTLY are used for some classical music, a little bit of Jazz, some pop music, but mostly for experimental music …

… I also think that WE, being thereminists, DO have this task to “help” the theremin a bit by showing the world that we CAN use theremins for more genres/styles of music, but to reach this goal, it never hurts to do first some field work first – together with theremin – what average people do know about theremins! A lot of us already do, every thereminist in his or her very own way …

So well … I see a lot of qualities within the still underestimated theremin … I see theremins like perfect and whole in the way they are and in that way, they got my high value … But now the rest of the outside world …

Nevertheless I still AM aware that my taste is not everyone else’s taste … You like the theremin’s sound, or you don’t like it, we can’t change this and I think it’s good in the way it is, but if we can reach that people won’t judge anymore, won’t think like the theremin just has been walking out of the Curiosity Cabinet … ONLY than I think we AT LEAST reached our goal of the theremin’s total acceptation!

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Which manufacturer of theremin do you prefer? 

… Well … I’m not a quite brand hanging person, CERTAINLY not in the way like I chose for a brand ’cause everyone has this brand 

Sofar, I prefer my Moog Etherwave Plus the most, as I simply don’t quite like the sinus like timbre of the Moog Etherwave Pro … Though, I think it’s the most important thing that a theremin should sound most like a theremin, so that’s why I’ve chosen for the Moog Etherwave Plus (and I can be a quite picky person with it too!) … But, if there would be an RCA tube theremin with the as close as to the real theremin’s warm sound, well, I could have buy that one too IF I would have the money for it, hehe! (Alas I don’t have that money)

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