Dan Stiles shared a post on Instagram: "I am insanely pumped to announce my recent collaboration with @officialjackwhite and @thirdmanrecords. We’ve been secretly working away at this for months. Tonight’s poster for the show at Rabbit Rabbit in Asheville, NC will also be released as an electric...
Professor Lev Sergeyvich Termen (whose name was later anglicized to Leon Theremin)
Moog Etherwave Plus (DIY!) [Yyyyeahhh right… $500 and all you do is solder the pots and shove it in the box, PCB is already populated. For +$20, Moog will solder the pots for you and you get it fully assembled. ]
Since its introduction during the 1920’s the instrument which bears Leon Theremin’s name has been evocative in image and tone. PAiA’s Theremax theremin captures this spirit in an instrument based on the same heterodyne principles as the original but with embellishments made possible by the...
www.paia.com
Theremax mods can be found here (as well as other theremin info):
The Kommander is a handheld dual infrared X-Y motion controller that makes controlling your electronic instruments intuitive and fun. The device measures the distance to other objects and sends out corresponding CV signals between 0 and 8 volts and a trigger with adjustable threshold. This will...
koma-elektronik.com
The KOMMANDER is a handheld dual infrared X-Y motion controller, it measures the distance to your hand or any other surface and sends out corresponding CV signals between 0 and 8 volts. The closer you have your hand to the KOMMANDER, the higher the output voltage. This will allow you to control your effect pedals or any other instrument that is capable of receiving CV / Gate signals.
Attenuators on the back-panel are connected to the CV outputs to allow the user to attenuate the maximum voltage output, so you can e.g. set the range from 0V to 5V instead of 0V to 8V.
This Kommander has 2x3-blobules arranged thusly:
∴
∴
But I'd rather arrange them like so:
∴
∵
So what are they? It measures distance by triangulation so it would have to be ONE IR EMITTER / TWO RECEIVERS for each control.
Outputs: CV I and II, Gate I and II
Controls: 2x Sensors, CV/Gate Rear Trimmers
POWER 9V DC IN Boss Style power supply (500mA); polarity of the tip is negative.
Having a dedicated proximity pedal would free up a board from having a buiky VOLUME pedal
THEREMANIACS’ STANDALONE VOL CONTROL:
Supercompact loop antenna add on for many pitch only Theremins such as the Burns line of pitch only Theremins to include the Burns 'Zep' and Burns 'Great Sounding'. Can be used with Harris Instruments 'Minimum Theremin' and the Theremaniacs pitch only unit. Works well with other photo-theremins to give them volume control ability by connecting two guitar cords to the quality REAN 1/4 inch jacks. The antenna is an 18 inch piece of copper plated steel rounded to a 6 inch loop. Professional photo etched circuit board made by Theremaniacs housed in a small size battery operated unit that measures 1 inch by 1.5 inches by 5.5 inches. Battery will last over 200 hours and can be connected to a 9-12 volt power supply. (Not included) Easy access battery door. Battery consumes only 1 milliamp. This is about 1/15 of one LED. Theremin sound will start to quiet about 1/2 foot above the antenna slowly diminishing to nothing just above the antenna. No chirps or pops when touching the antenna itself. Connect this to a Theremaniacs Analog Pitch Theremin and you will rival a much higher priced Moog unit. The Theremaniacs Volume Unit sits on a microphone stand (not included) with mounting adapter that can be set to operate horizontally or vertically. The adapter can be removed for table top use. The unit turns on when a cord is inserted into the input jack. The Theremaniacs Volume Unit also attenuates the harsh signal that many if not all of these pitch Theremins produce that can overdrive your amplifier. An added bonus is an external volume control. We really think you will like it!
Christopher, not to derail the thread, but I want to thank you for the sharing of your endeavors. I don’t know if you’ve considered uploading your PCB designs to oshpark, but that might be a great way to germinate the theremin world with your efforts. These uploads are freely “shared” projects...
www.thereminworld.com
Old Temecula, the dude behind the standalone vol design, generously having given freely the schematic and other info on how to do this vol thingy.
Hi, i'm new on this forum and i'd like to build the SimpleTheremin:http://www.thereminworld.com/pics/schematics/simple.jpgMy question is:Can i use a copper plate coming from a PCB-making blank plate to make an antenna, are there some resistance values to respect for the antennas?I know that...
www.thereminworld.com
copper-plate-as-antenna
And I found this Theremin info on a blog somewhere:
Principle of Operation:
There are two identical oscillators around J11 and J41 working around 410kHz. One will be connected to the pitch antenna (see below), the other has a small variable capacitor which allows to adjust its frequency and thus do the coarse pitch tuning. While the 2N5484 FET transistors are now out of production, they can still be found almost everywhere, but any other N-JFET with a pinch-off voltage of 1.5V will do. The oscillators work in a grounded gate configuration which provides best independence of the internal junction capacitances. That makes them fairly stable in this simple circuit. The inductances L11 and L41 are simple 1mH fixed inductors which are not critical, as long as their self resonant frequency is above 800kHz. R11/C11 and R41/C41 decouple both oscillators which gives the circuit a nice low audio frequency response, together with the small coupling capacitors C14 and C44.
The mixer around Q21 is works as an active rectifier due to the high source bias resistor R22, so that only the positive halves of the sum signal at the gate will pass through. The advantage compared to a simple diode mixer is a better decoupling between output and input, so that the output load (the connected audio cable and amplifier) will not affect the mixer's response. C22 filters the remaining RF component from the audio output signal.
V31 is a simple 6V voltage regulator which allows the circuit to be operated from either a 9V block battery or any DC power supply between 9 and 12V. As a pitch antenna, a telescopic antenna with a diameter of 6mm (1/4") and a length of 50cm (20") works best. After building the circuit and installing it together with the pitch antenna in whatever non-metallic housing, pull the segments of the telescopic antenna fully out, but not the last (thinnest) one, which should be pulled out only at the half of its length. Now adjust the variable capacitor for a decent pitch field with the zero point at about 50cm (20") from the antenna. That was the coarse pitch tuning. Fine tuning can now be done by pulling out or pushing in the last antenna segment by a few millimeters until you get a pleasant field geometry and tone spacing.
Below you'll find the schematic and a circuit board layout. Everything is with a 0.1" spacing, so that the circuit can also be built on a Veroboard, but it should be one with round copper dots. The classic Veroboard with stripes or square copper dots will give too much parasitic capacitance and thus degrade the circuit's performance."
Can't find the schematic, must be on my old computer still, or I never did have it
Hmmm reached the word limit, more Theremin insanity to come...
Theremins have been used for various purposes in films throughout the past century. This page catalogs all the films we know of where a theremin either appeared on screen or in the soundtrack. The Day The Earth Stood Still Klaatu, Barada, Niktu!
An incredible score with heavy theremin use accompanies this 1951 film about an alien and his robot who come to warn the people of Earth to change their ways, or else! One of the best examples of theremin music in the sci-fi genre, and a great story to boot!
Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey This amazing documentary by Steven M. Martin is a must-see for anyone interested in the theremin. See rare footage of Leon Theremin, Clara Rockmore, Samuel Hoffman, and more. Hear from Lydia Kavina, Bob Moog, and Brian Wilson about how the theremin influenced their lives. It's part love story/part spy story, and part historic record. Filmsdocumentary
For a clip that includes Theremin see the following Youtube page
Hobson's Choice (1954)
Henry Hobson runs a successful bootmaker's shop in nineteenth-century Salford. A widower with a weakness for the pub opposite, he tries forcefully to rule the lives of his three unruly daughters. When he decrees 'no marriages' to avoid the expensive matter of settlements, eldest daughter Maggie rebels and sets her sights on Will Mossop, Hobson's star bootmaker. Maggie and Will leave to start up in competition, and she then turns her mind to helping her sisters marry their chosen partners.
See YouTube segment including scene with theremin
Alien Trespass
It's 1957 all over again. Made by R. W. Goodwin of X-Files fame, this 2009 homage to the genre looks great, stars Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) and has a very nice score by Louis Febre. Theremin played by Rob Schwimmer
The Lost Weekend In this classic, Miklos Rozsa's theremin-laden score accompanies scenes of alcohol-fueled dazes as the main character struggles with his affliction. FilmsMiklos Rozsa
The Machinist The Machinist is the story of Trevor Reznik, a lathe-operator who is dying of insomnia. In a machine shop, occupational hazards are bad enough under normal circumstances; yet for Trevor the risks are compounded by fatigue. Trevor has lost the ability to sleep. A theremin provides mood-setting music throughout the score.
Aliens land on earth and take over the bodies of unsuspecting citizens of a sleepy town while they buy time to fix their craft. Theremin music throughout! Films
Queen of Blood
"Queen of Blood"-66
I would like to draw you folks attention to this films hauntingly beautiful opening music and artwork. Composed by one Leonard Morand it can best be described as a "two-and-a-half-minute full orchestra nightmare de luxe", and combined wtih the eerie beauty of John Cline?s (aquarelle?) art it makes for a wonderful kick, as far as theremin related experiences go. As for you out there who oppose to the theremin being used for "spooki" effects... just be musical about it and appreciate the piece for its sheer... competence! The film features a young Dennis Hopper (pre-Easy Rider), and famous Sherlock Holmes interpreter Basil Rathbone, and is in its own right an "A-OK" B-sci-fi film with footage stolen from the soviet space-opera classic "Planet of Storms", green vampire women and all! When you have checked it out, I am sure you will come to the same conclusion I have: It just GOTTA be the good dr. Hoffman playing! Or Is It!!?
To me , it sound a bit like they?ve taken the theremin track out of "The Day the World Ended", you know the scene where the girl awakens and you only see the shadow of the monster..., and put it over the orchestra track... but I want to think that it is an original composition...
Listen to it, and enjoy!
La Nina Santa (The Holy Girl)
In Amalia's mind and body, spiritual and sexual impulses seem to mingle like molecules forming a volatile compound. The object of her own vocation, which is implied more than articulated, is Dr. Jano (Carlos Belloso), a participant in the conference. One day, in the midst of a crowd watching a demonstration of the theremin (an instrument known for its eerie, otherworldly sounds), the doctor rubs up against her, a creepy violation made more so by his morose flirtation with Helena (Mercedes Mor?n), Amalia's mother, who wears her loneliness like a backless dress."
Long relegated to the world of sci-fi movie soundtracks, the world's first electronic instrument, the Theremin, is making a comeback, appearing on tracks by artists like Sufjan Stevens, the Decemberists, Wolf Parade, Devotchka, The Polyphonic Spree, and the All-American Rejects. What is it about Leon Theremin's almost-century-old instrument that is suddenly so appealing?
Theremin invented the instrument in 1919. He was working on a device to measure the density of gases under pressure and realized that by passing his hands over it, he could create fluctuations that sounded like musical tones. Played by waving your hands in front of what looks like a black box with one vertical and one horizontal antenna, the Theremin produces a warbling, eerie sound created by the difference in frequency between the two antennas. The story goes that Lenin, after hearing the instrument, was so impressed that he ordered 600 of them made and sent Theremin on a tour of the globe to demonstrate Soviet superiority in the field of electronic music. Unfortunately for Lenin, Theremin quickly defected to the United States and patented the instrument. Theremin was eventually forced to return to the USSR under mysterious circumstances , and the instrument was largely forgotten as other electronic instruments—the electric guitar among them—became more popular.
The Theremin briefly reappeared on the pop culture radar in the late '60s when Robert Moog (pioneer of that other electronic classic, the synthesizer) built a better sounding, easier to play instrument. Beach Boy Brian Wilson included it in the song "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" and Led Zeppelin jammed to it in "Whole Lotta Love." But the sound never really caught on, and the Theremin again receded into the background, until now. (Elsewhere in Brow Beat, Dana Stevens discusses the Theremin's various uses in the movies .)
The reasons for the current resurgence of the Theremin are a bit hard to figure. John Hoge of ThereminWorld.com says the 1995 documentary Theremin: An Electric Odyssey , helped to spark interest in the instrument as something other than a spooky sound generator. Others, like The Octopus Project's Yvonne Lambert, say that better-quality Theremins by Robert Moog have helped make it easier to learn and incorporate the instrument into more mainstream songs. Another factor could be a larger reliance by musicians on electronics of all sorts, from the blips and beeps on a Garage Band mixer to auto-tune. Lastly, the Theremin's stage-show value ("Look Ma, no hands!") as well as its otherworldly sound fit with the geek-chic aesthetic currently popular among independent bands.
To get you caught up to speed, here's a Theremin greatest hits playlist—add songs we forgot in the Fray:
Ningen Isu here's a guy not only playing it but actually getting close to melodic. And funny enough, these guys are an almost vision IF Cobain had lived long enough for Novoselic had started singing...
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