I have been reading so much here about re-creating those vintage theremins from a long time ago. So far, however, I have not seen anyone express interest in trying to knock-up a doppelganger of an Etherwave Pro. Please corect me if I am wrong...I would dearly love to make one!! Anyone want to jump in??
Etherwave Pro??
Posted: 6/23/2010 4:20:39 AM
Welcome to Theremin World, Luker.
There's a chap on Facebook who goes by the moniker Lev Termen (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000042090937) who has made one.
There are some pictures of it here (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15214&id=100000042090937) on his Facebook profile.
There's a chap on Facebook who goes by the moniker Lev Termen (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000042090937) who has made one.
There are some pictures of it here (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15214&id=100000042090937) on his Facebook profile.
Posted: 6/23/2010 10:19:05 AM
Is there even a schematic "out there" for the Epro? How about the Ethervox or the Big Briar 91?
I casually looked around the net before, but dont remember finding anything substantial.
Not sure if I would try to clone any of these guys, but I would be interested in seeing what makes 'em tick.
I casually looked around the net before, but dont remember finding anything substantial.
Not sure if I would try to clone any of these guys, but I would be interested in seeing what makes 'em tick.
Posted: 6/23/2010 11:27:38 AM
"As this is all fine and dandy, am I to believe that NO ONE has ever opened up an EP to see what lurks beyond and try to raise it up again??" - luker
Yes...and no.
Many people have opened up their E-Pro to have a look and see what makes it tick. This has mostly been done to address a perceived flaw in its volume response (too "snappy").
Thierry has also done this and created an add-on module (http://theremin.tfrenkel.com/chaudron/epvm1345) to correct this shortcoming, with the gratitude and joy of many E-Pro owners.
No one, to my knowledge, has attempted to "recreate" the E-Pro. I believe this would be very difficult as it used multi-layered circuit boards, which would be next to impossible to trace and expensive to recreate.
There are NO schematics available for the E-Pro, Ethervox, or the 91A.
Yes...and no.
Many people have opened up their E-Pro to have a look and see what makes it tick. This has mostly been done to address a perceived flaw in its volume response (too "snappy").
Thierry has also done this and created an add-on module (http://theremin.tfrenkel.com/chaudron/epvm1345) to correct this shortcoming, with the gratitude and joy of many E-Pro owners.
No one, to my knowledge, has attempted to "recreate" the E-Pro. I believe this would be very difficult as it used multi-layered circuit boards, which would be next to impossible to trace and expensive to recreate.
There are NO schematics available for the E-Pro, Ethervox, or the 91A.
Posted: 6/23/2010 3:04:21 PM
Those who understand how the EPro works despite the lack of schematics (there should be a handful of them, including myself) could all explain why it makes no sense to clone this instrument because there are lots of reasons. But they never would do so "coram publicum" as the Romans say. You should rather contact one of these "experts" by other means than a forum.
Posted: 6/24/2010 12:12:33 AM
From: Eastleigh, Hampshire, U.K. ................................... Fred Mundell. ................................... Electronics Engineer. (Primarily Analogue) .. CV Synths 1974-1980 .. Theremin developer 2007 to present .. soon to be Developing / Trading as WaveCrafter.com . ...................................
Joined: 12/7/2007
[i]"am I to believe that NO ONE has ever opened up an EP to see what lurks beyond and try to raise it up again?? Very strange, no?" - Luker [/i]
I know of two other engineers who know the 'pro's "secrets" - One could call it a conspiracy if one wanted, but there are good reasons why those who know do not disclose the "secret" to the world - and it has nothing to do with self interest.
Bob Moog alledgedly requested that Epro details were not released.. Without Bob, it is most likely that the Theremin would now be a historic relic - It is out of respect for Bob's wishes, and ONLY for this reason, that those of us "in the know" do not disclose the details - I probably came closest to disclosing them, but thankfully a French Theremin engineer got me to understand that doing this could be wrong.. Oh, sometimes this "secrecy" annoys me - I passionately believe in disclosure of information - But I do not think disclosing the Epro 'secret' would advance science, engineering,Theremin development, or the interests of Epro owners at all.
As for 'cloning' this instrument, what Thierry says [i]("it makes no sense to clone this instrument")[/i] is true - but if you are genuinely interested in doing this for your personal use, contact one of the engineers who know its secret, and (if they have time, and percieve that you are capable of understanding it, and you are willing to be party to a non-disclosure agreement) they may give you the advice you need.
( I doubt that anyone will have a full set of schematics - Once one discovers the 'secret' I think the motivation to continue exploring the instrument quickly evaporates )
I had plans to produce a technical reference manual for the Epro - Had an Epro to examine, and have sets of high resolution photographs from which I could derive the layout.. but when one learns the truth, you realize that the task simply isnt worth doing.. I will be repairing (and examining! ;) an Ether Vox (MIDI) in a few weeks, and believe that this Theremin is far superior to the Epro (and uses completely different technology) - this one probably would be worth cloning! - but somehow I dont think its owner would be happy about me hanging onto it for a few months while I measure all the signals and draw out the schematic!
I know of two other engineers who know the 'pro's "secrets" - One could call it a conspiracy if one wanted, but there are good reasons why those who know do not disclose the "secret" to the world - and it has nothing to do with self interest.
Bob Moog alledgedly requested that Epro details were not released.. Without Bob, it is most likely that the Theremin would now be a historic relic - It is out of respect for Bob's wishes, and ONLY for this reason, that those of us "in the know" do not disclose the details - I probably came closest to disclosing them, but thankfully a French Theremin engineer got me to understand that doing this could be wrong.. Oh, sometimes this "secrecy" annoys me - I passionately believe in disclosure of information - But I do not think disclosing the Epro 'secret' would advance science, engineering,Theremin development, or the interests of Epro owners at all.
As for 'cloning' this instrument, what Thierry says [i]("it makes no sense to clone this instrument")[/i] is true - but if you are genuinely interested in doing this for your personal use, contact one of the engineers who know its secret, and (if they have time, and percieve that you are capable of understanding it, and you are willing to be party to a non-disclosure agreement) they may give you the advice you need.
( I doubt that anyone will have a full set of schematics - Once one discovers the 'secret' I think the motivation to continue exploring the instrument quickly evaporates )
I had plans to produce a technical reference manual for the Epro - Had an Epro to examine, and have sets of high resolution photographs from which I could derive the layout.. but when one learns the truth, you realize that the task simply isnt worth doing.. I will be repairing (and examining! ;) an Ether Vox (MIDI) in a few weeks, and believe that this Theremin is far superior to the Epro (and uses completely different technology) - this one probably would be worth cloning! - but somehow I dont think its owner would be happy about me hanging onto it for a few months while I measure all the signals and draw out the schematic!
Posted: 6/24/2010 2:09:19 PM
Perhaps the most difficult aspects of reproducing an EW Pro, are the steam-bent control panel, and the sample chips which hold the digitized tones which the EW Pro used produce those wonderful tones. That's why it had a 3 octave register switch.
The EW Pro had two circuit boards in it, and connecting the knobs to those boards was extremely difficult.
The EW Pro had two circuit boards in it, and connecting the knobs to those boards was extremely difficult.
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