Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of songs featuring a theremin


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.  

The result was no consensus. Jaranda wat's sup 19:50, 19 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Jaranda reversed his own closure to delete at the DRV. Xoloz 20:18, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

List of songs featuring a theremin

 * – (View AfD) (View log)

Delete - this is a directory of loosely associated topics. The songs are not related to each other in any way beyond the use of a particular instrument. That the songs include theremin tells us nothing about the song, the theremin, the artists who recorded the song, how any of these things relate to each other or music in general. Otto4711 17:15, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Why do you expect a list of songs to tell you how the artists relate to anything? --Romanski 18:11, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Kkissinger 16:01, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete This article is a link farm. There are thousands of recordings that feature the theremin and such an open-ended topic invites everyone that makes a theremin noise on a track to post a link here.
 * Delete per nom. Propaniac 17:29, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * WP:PERNOM. Ten Pound Hammer  • (((Broken clamshells • Otter chirps))) 17:45, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * "That means that if several people already have showed support for the nominator..." But point taken. Propaniac 19:13, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete - loosely associated list, probably woefully incomplete too. Ten Pound Hammer  • (((Broken clamshells • Otter chirps))) 17:45, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * It won't get any more complete if it gets deleted. --Romanski 18:03, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Keep - The criterion is not that arbitrary since theremin is a relatively rare instrument. Is properly sourced. --Romanski 18:03, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Keep because, according to the same page the nominator is linking to,"there is nothing wrong with having lists if their entries are famous because they are associated with or significantly contributed to the list topic."Owing to the fact that the Theremin is such a rare instrument, its use in a (notable) song contributes to the significance of the Theremin, which is the list topic. The list therefore qualifies under the quoted criterion. &mdash; Timwi 18:38, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Can you provide references that these recordings (not songs, as Deor notes below) are famous for including a theremin? (That is, that they have been noted in multiple published sources for that fact, and are not included because someone looked through the liner notes of their CDs until they found one which included a theremin?) Propaniac 19:13, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Why should the songs have to be "famous for including a theremin"? Neil   ╦  16:58, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Because that's what Timwi is claiming gives justification to the existence of the list, as he wrote above. Doctormatt 18:26, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete as nonnotable intersection of topics. And it isn't even a list of songs featuring a theremin; it's a list of recordings featuring a theremin (since any song can be performed in a vast number of arrangements, with a variety of different instrumentations). Deor 18:44, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete an encyclopedia is not the place to categorize songs by the instruments used in the production Corpx 19:27, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Why not? Neil   ╦  16:58, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Keep or better still Merge. A theramin is a rare-ish instrument to use, so it is noteworthy and useful for readers to know which songs contain it.  But perhaps merge with Theramin ?Merkinsmum 19:38, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete. "The theramin is a relatively rare instrument" is a subjective judgement call, and categorizing songs by what instruments they feature is a violation of WP:NOT, regardless of a percieved rarity of said instrument. ɑʀкʏɑɴ 19:49, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete. It seems to me that the theremin used to be rare, but they are very easy to get nowadays, with a number of companies selling them, either ready-to-play or in kit form, and so there are many, many musicians experimenting with them and incorporating them into their music.  This list would eventually grow unmanageable, and at the same time it is not a very useful resource. Should we list every song by The Lothars, for instance? A number of artists who have used theremins are listed at theremin, so, together with the external links there, a reader interested in finding theremin music has some good information here at WP to help them.  Doctormatt 20:26, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Merge to Theremin. The information could be useful to a reader and the article already has great places to put the info in. -- omtay 38  20:33, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * It seems to be that being a separate article is a better place for an article like this, since one might argue that this is redundant info for the Theremin article, but being separate it does not add any clutter etc, i.e. it's no harm to anyone but useful to some. While I prefer merge to delete, staying separate seems most appropriate to me. --Romanski 22:20, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Keep or merge per omtay. Not "loosely associated list" as the theremin is a highly unusual instrument.Circeus 21:28, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Comment. I don't see how the theremin's being unusual affects whether or not the list is loosely associated - can you explain?  In any case, while the theremin is arguably unusual, it is not rare anymore.  See the list of bands who have used them in the "popular music" section of theremin: it is quite a long list, and yet it contains only bands whose WP articles mention theremin use.  If this article was properly done, it would include hundreds of songs/recordings.  How do we address that, would the list then be useful, and how does this all relate to the existence/non-existence of a "List of songs featuring a guitar"? Doctormatt 21:47, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Comment Thus my proposition to merge. There are seven songs on the list, nine if you include the other two. The article theremin would not be so overwhelmed if we add in these few songs, right? -- omtay 38  22:19, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I can find no evidence that the first item in the list (Star Trek  theme), featured a theremin in the versions used on the show (the link in the article's footnote is to some guy's performance of it on a theremin). The soundtrack of The Day the Earth Stood Still, which is not a song by any definition, is already mentioned in Theremin, as are the Pixies and Good Vibrations. The Lothars thing seems to be a cover recorded by a nonnotable group, and Mysterons explicitly does not feature a theremin. That leaves the Third Eye Blind, Tripping Daisy, and All-American Rejects recordings. What exactly do you think would be the use of adding these to the series of representative examples already included in Theremin? Deor 00:09, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I guess i would merge them more on principal. Some editor took the time to find this information. Some of it may be useful to a reader in the future (and I do know that this point is arguable). I'm just always for salvaging whatever possible from an article while still striving to keep the masses of information manageable. Plus, (and i know this is just a personal thing) if I had started the article, I would be much happier to see my information merged than deleted. What's 30 or so more words to an article? -- omtay 38  02:14, 13 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Delete as per above, possibly merge with parent; it contains real listcruft -- incl. a list of songs that don't contain the instrument! Bearian 23:15, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Keep. There are not many decent lists on Wikipedia; this is one of the few.  Referenced, defined, non-arbitrary scope, small enough to be manageable, topic of both note and interest.  Neil   ╦  16:56, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete We wouldn't have an entry for "List of songs featuring slide whistles" or bongo drums or any musical instrument for that matter. But since this list is small, notable songs can be merged into the theremin article. Spellcast 18:43, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Why shouldn't we have a list of songs featuring slide whistles? If it's rare for a song to include slide whistles, a list of such songs (referenced and accurate) would be a good list to have.   Neil   ╦  23:11, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Precisely! --Romanski 13:23, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * The theremin is no longer a rare instrument, and it is no longer rare for a song to be recorded using one. Take a look at the (extremely, and happily, incomplete) list of bands who use them on the theremin page: it is already quite long.  Doctormatt 00:23, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * The idea was not to include songs by bands who specialize in using a theremin. Such recordings are still rare (and seems like they're actually becoming rarer with time). --Romanski 13:23, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't understand what you mean by "the idea". Where is this idea stated?  How are editors to know that this is "the idea"?  How does one know if a band "specializes" in using a theremin, or simply uses one?  Lots of artitst listed at theremin as having used theremins seem like artists who just happen to have used a theremin on some of their songs.  Certainly The Pixies, Phish, The Flaming Lips, Jean Michel Jarre and The Damned (for instance) do not "specialize" in using a theremin, do they?  Can you elaborate on this notion of "the idea"? Thanks. Doctormatt 18:20, 15 July 2007 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.