Theremin driven audio freakout?

Dear all. I teach a module at my uni called "Audio Application Development" where students on a "Music Technology" degree learn to program. Because the students tend to be more interested in the "music" side of things than the "technology" side, it's very helpful if I can enthuse them about the musical possibilities of programming before they get bored with the learning curve and lose interest.

So I've been thinking "‘What can I possibly do that will amaze everyone?" in a Ruth Underwood sort of way. And I keep thinking of Theremins.

My plan would be to use a Theremin, preferably with a volume aerial. I'd plug this into my computer. In software I'd apply an envelope follower to extract volume and a pitch follower to extract pitch from the theremin sound. These signals would then be used to do "weird stuff", in a variety of ways. So, I'd be able to wave my arms around and have all sorts of weird sounds come out of the speakers.

I'm fully confident of my ability to make very weird sounds. I have never played a Theremin, but I wouldn't be playing melodies on it. Just waving my arms around and having it controlling a "synthesised soundscape" would be sufficient for my purposes.

Any comments about the advisability of these plans?

Also, I'd need to buy a Theremin. It looks like my employer is prepared to buy me a "No1derland Theremin 008" (http://www.no1derland.com/web05/008.htm#008-Theremin). Would this be a good option for my purposes?

Thanks for reading this,

Ross Clement.

Hi Ross, and greetings from Bristol,

Your first obstacle is obtaining a Midi compatible Theremin that will provide adequate playability to carry out this task, and as far as I know, one does not exist. Some rubbish ones do. The Etherwave Pro Theremin (a fair few hundred out of the No1derland's price range) has pitch and volume CV outs which you could use with a CV->Midi converter to achieve what you want.

I've been experimenting with modular synthesis and gestural control using the Theremin for a while now. I tend to find that one cheapens the other... a Theremin is an instrument, not necessarily a controller. I don't believe it quite fits in with the world of sound design and electroacoustic composition in the same way that Max patches and modulars do. I guess what Theremins and synths do have in common is that they're something physical and real that respond to you, they [i]feel[/i] like toys in the way that all instruments do and are therefore fun and engaging. Perhaps you could grab the attention of your class by showing off a bit of old-school hardware and explaining how that leads in to what they're doing using the digital stuff? You may find that just showing them a decent Theremin outputting a sine wave that responds to their movements is enough to get them going!

Oh, and sorry if this post seems condescending - I'm just going on what my own experiments in what you suggest have taught me.

Hi. I wasn't planning on converting the output of the Theremin to MIDI. I was going to analyse the audio signal directly. So a plain audio Theremin would be all I need.

I once did something similar with the output of a ultrasonic movement detector. So that people moving in a corridor controlled synthetic sound. It worked quite well, so I'd think that analysing the audio output of a Theremin would work as well. Particularly since Theremins can produce relatively simple waveforms.

Aye - well they produce sines and saws and squares sometimes.

In that case, the No1derland would probably let you down. You'd want a decent pitch range and decent control over what you were doing (even if it wasn't particularly melodious)... Etherwave and Kees both have 5 octave ranges and good linearity. Bit costly but a lot more worth it (gawd I should think about who reads this stuff).

I think the No1nderland is £180 + p&p in the UK, but the Big Briar Etherwave is £249.99, presumably + p&p. That's a bit more expensive, but not a great deal more expensive. If the Etherwave will be much better for my purposes, then I'm sure I can ask my employer to buy the Etherwave.

This is the Etherwave I was looking at, and the price is £249.99 (US$$508).

http://www.turnkey.co.uk/web/productAction.do?dispatch=showProduct&SKU=MOOG-ETHERSTD&context=WEB

I'll pass on your comments to our technical staff. Thanks.

Yeah, I'd personally call the No1derland overpriced. The Etherwave Standard is what I (and most people on here, I should imagine) learned on and ultimately you'll get a LOT more out of it.

Hi Ross,

Three suggestions:

1. The simplest, cheapest and most efective effect I have found for the theremin is a delay box. Check out my mySpace page (including the video page) for ample demonstration.

http://myspace.com/beatfrequencyuk

2. Try thinking of the theremin as a manually operated synthesiser. Instead of pitch rod and pitch hand think "frequency modulator," instead of volume loop and volume hand think "envelope shaper" and let your hands be LFOs.

3. The essence of playing the theremin, whether melodically or experimentally, is control. Small movements are more impressive than big ones. :-)

Have fun!

Gordon

I dunno. My favourite effect for the Theremin is to stick a harmonizer behind a fuzzbox. Then I can pretend it's a chainsaw. I've been using it to make loads of distortobeat loops. Delays are great though. Phasers, flangers suck. Chorus behind delay = string ensemble.

Another fun thing is to introduce moving conductors into the fields. For instance a hand-held electric milk whisk (coffee frother) with a bit of fuse wire tangled into the whisk and sticking out five centimetres like a single propellor blade will make the pitch warble like Gadget, the mogwai in Gremlins. This is called a frothatrill.

Or try a twangulator - a long steel rule, fixed at one end to the back of a dining chair, with the other end under the volume loop, so that when plucked or tapped rhythmically it moves up into the volume field. Whummwhummwhummwhummwhumm.

As long as you are not too concerned with ultra quicl response times what you want to do will work just fine.

It's not like you are gonig to be playing arias on the thing so have fun with it.

Keep in mind, though, that most theremins put out a really loud signal so be prepared to compensate for that with a trim control or maybe even some compression on the audio input.