The Wanderin' Mom: Stay Weird! Part 1

The Wanderin' Mom: Stay Weird! Part 1: Not exactly the Biltmore House I needed to get away....and so I did. Guilt?  Nah!   Based on past travels, I have learned that whe...

Stay Weird! Part 1

Not exactly the Biltmore House

I needed to get away....and so I did. Guilt?
 Nah!

  Based on past travels, I have learned that when you visit another city away from home, you may spot something there that will leave some kind of impression. For whatever reason, you didn't pursue a potential opportunity for adventure from this memory and maybe regretted that once you returned home.


 Through the rolling Blue Ridge hills at an altitude of about 2100 feet, a very humble but raging fire exists within a trendy urban neighborhood in Asheville North Carolina. I noticed it previously from my last visit on New Years Eve in 2016. Here I am again two years later and my mom and I had discussed and planned what we might want to do along the way during our 3-day stay. But now with  a second chance, I knew I just could not leave until I found out what this powerhouse was all about.

 It is known by most that the city of Asheville is home to the renowned Biltmore Estates which was the residence of business tycoon George Washington Vanderbilt II. People come from all over the world to this attraction for hospitality, wine tasting and architectural amazement.  As for me, anyone who has ever known me knows I'm a little quirky. My travels certainly reflect this. Now I'm sure the Biltmore House is all it's hyped up to be but even the times I visited London, the castles were not necessarily the first places I visited. In fact I really did nothing more than walk to Buckingham palace, shot a photo or two and then made my way to a museum for a David Bowie exhibit and never really though another thing more about the palace. My quirkiness was now about to reach a new level.


The Lab


   It was 10:00am when we walked in just in time to open up for business. A very friendly employee covered in ink greeted me and mom and asked us if we were there for the tour at 10:30 tour. Tour?! What was even better? I had 30 minutes to mess around!

  Now I haven't been overt about this but I come from the first generation of Sesame Street (pre-Elmo days) where the art of Jim Henson was often accompanied by unusual and, at the time, very sophisticated technology with regards to music and effects that were incorporated into his work. I confess, as an adult I am still entertained by this via youtube. However, this fascination followed
me through life as I was introduced to the music of Emerson Lake and Palmer, the Beatles and Yes.

 It was all in front of me in this laboratory waiting for me and looking very happy to see me. There were many different models of instruments all equip with headphones! It would be kind of like a form of wine tasting but rather with different analogue sounds on synthesizers. I wasted no time!

Sirin is not the keyboard but the modual from behind.

 The name is Moog (pronounced "Mogue" rhymes with "rogue"). I have highlighted four of my favorite instruments from this experience: The Grandmother, the Mellotron, the Etherwave (Moog's model of The Theremin) and Sirin Analogue Messenger of Joy. I know all this music lingo is a bit daunting but I promise I will keep everything very simple.

  I chose the Sirin Analogue Messenger of Joy as one of my favorites because it was the very first model I experienced that day. Having already been familiar with Moog models, what I heard was completely as expected. The setting of the instrument was a cross between adorable pitched electronic conga drums and popping bubbles. I started them out soft and mysterious and began to grow in intensity. It sounded like a scene in an action film where the assassin was in hiding and being hunted. I quietly giggled for a moment after that. However, the Sirin is actually a bass synthesizer that is programmed to produce many different effects and can exceed the lower range of the typical bass.  It can also be used effectively when connected to a pitch finder such as a keyboard as well.

  It was a sunny beautiful morning and while the birdies were singing outside, I had moved on to the next model and created my own monster music fit for my someday killer thriller! In fact, many sequences in the music of Michael Jackson was produced from the behavior of the Grandmother model. The nice thing about this place is that you are allowed mess around with any settings you want without anyone complaining. With this, I was able to diffuse the sound and create arppegiated effects to add diversity. However, the instruments are monophonic (meaning only one tone can be produced at a time) and that creepy tritone could be played holding down two fingers and releasing one while still sustaining the other and doing this repeatedly.

    It's nice if you don't  have any actual talent but still sound like you are creating legitimate music. The Mellotron originated in the 1960's and preceded the synthesizer. The initial model was a keyboard instrument connected to prerecorded tapeloops which would sound simultaneously when keys were played. I got to play around on an electronic version of this with no tapeloop. One key creates the entire band and hiring additional musicians for me was not necessary which was the initial purpose of the instrument.

  Since I only had 30 minutes, I wanted to be sure I spaced my time accordingly before my tour. Just before time was up, I made my way towards a structure that was not that of a keyboard. It was a free standing console with controls and sensory rods. It looked somewhat familiar like maybe something I may have seen on Mr. Rogers when I was a kid but not something I had seen too often and did not remember what it was known as. I knew it had to be a wave sensor of some sort. It was early in the day and it had not yet been powered up as I was the first to play it that day. Once I figured that out it did not take long to know what to do to produce sound. Then I realized this instrument had a name.

  The Etherwave is Moog's version of the an instrument known as the Theremin which is the only instrument played without being touched. The pitch is determined by the distances of hand placement towards the antenna. Volume is controlled by an additional rod on the left side of the instrument. If you are familiar with the song "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys, the sound of the Theremin can be heard at the end of the song (the whistle-like effect).

   Since music is one of the easier topics for me to write about, and on this particular subject, I have way more to say, I have decided to divide my story into two separate posts. Please enjoy this funny video of Paul McCartney while he performs a demonstration of the Mellotron.

To Be Continued :).......