What theremin models give a throatier or human vocal sound, not a whistle?

Jeff S said:
[i]"...it sounded like a mouse getting its nuts squeezed off..." (in regards to the Wavefront Classic)[/i]

Would you have respect! They may have baseball bats, Wavefront is a fine company, and they are less than an hour from me. Thereminstral in the Wavefront video did give me a more positive light to my first dark impression. The lower range was pleasant.

I will put that video link in my save file.

I would need to pay an engineer from Northrop Grumman to put that other theremin together. Are there more samples from other builders, I saw Mark talking in the videos but did not find the one he actually demonstrates his sound. The hardware is awesome but this takes us back to street racing, just what can she do? One kid’s video of the Keppinger had a sound that was a flat tone scream, the other sounded like a muffled horn or tuba.

I think I have access to an Etherwave but I need to get over to my brother-in-laws and see if I can find it. This would fill my wife’s time until I better understand what is available, what I am looking for and how I am going to get there.

Thanks for all the input.

One other thing, don't forget all the timbre variations that are possible with peripheral processors. You are not necessarily stuck with only what is built into the instrument. No, you can't take a Russian doll theremin and make it sound like an RCA, but you're not necessarily limited to the sound of a bee buzzing under a beer mug either.

Sound is not the only consideration when choosing a theremin. Linearity, configuration, range, etc., are also very important. Unfortunately, these are things that a newcomer to the instrument is not likely to know anything about.

Sound, since it is a matter of personal taste, is the one thing in which everyone is an expert. The theremin that had a sound that reminded you of "a mouse getting its nuts squeezed off next to a guitar player" is undoubtedly the acoustic gold standard for some people.

Coalport said:
[i]Sound is not the only consideration when choosing a theremin.[/i]

If I cannot be sure of the sound, everything else is futile. Maybe people have different taste in theremin sound because as Scotty would say: “That’s all she’s got captain”. I am not familiar with all the aftermarket add-ons but that is someplace I don’t want to go quite yet.

I ask the techs around my company this morning about the theremin and most thought it was a device used by bored married couples. (Hum… I wonder?) Then I ran into George, in his late sixties, I have known him for years, he still wears white shirts with a pocket protector full of pens. He is the classic engineer, who wears his clearance badge on his sleeve instead of on a neck strap, the type who prefers his huge collection of vinyl records over CD’s.

I started talking sound, if we get a chance at the end of the day he wants to borrow from our company’s lab equipment museum this old time instrument once used for testing. He said it generates that monotonous whistle tone that I do not like; it is maybe from the early fifties. He wants me to try and hear the difference of a sound from the past using a closely related version of the same modern day instrument. He will add a make shift morse code key. If I can hear the difference then I am on my way. Then he called me “grasshopper”.

I did add a little color to the story.

Yes, Jeff, that was not an idea recording of me playing Auld Lang Syne. I had only played it 4 or 5 time from memory prior to punching "RECORD".

The tune "twilight time" is a recording that is over two years old.

Overall, I am not satisfied with Gabby's sound. I still have to attempt to shift the bias point to the original design. The theremin actually sounded much better when it was only working intermittently, believe it or not.

Mark Kepppinger has a newer, simpler tube PC board based design in the works (vid on Youtube). I believe it will still use "big honking coils" as I term them, same as the original. The Keppinger design has a very large and very linear playing field. A linear field is paramount for precision playing.

Philip

OH, one more thing. The kid is Kyle Owen. He built his Keppinger in record time and it worked the first time. I don't know if he had time to tweak and fiddle with the tuning of it to get it working properly. These instruments will not sound properly if mistuned. Right now Kyle is in college, so his time is limited. He is an accomplished accordian player.

http://www.youtube.com/user/antiquekid3#p/f/14/UBscKrvOOP0

Philip

From what I have seen, Kyle's theremin is nowhere near ready to play! Even when it is, I doubt he has the skill to demonstrate it adequately. Among several other things, the volume antenna seems to be extremely "snappy" which will interfere seriously with expression.

I am reminded of the old illustrated cartoon: in the first picture we see a man entering through the Pearly Gates where he is welcomed into Paradise by Saint Peter who says, "Welcome to heaven, and here is your harp."

In the next picture we see a man who has just crossed a river of fire, whereupon he is greeted by the devil who says, "Welcome to hell! Here's your accordion!"

[i]Coalport said:
"Sound is not the only consideration when choosing a theremin".

Touchless said:
"If I cannot be sure of the sound, everything else is futile".[/i]

I am sure that both of the above are true - A wonderful sound from an unplayable instrument is futile, and a horrible sound from a playable instrument is also futile.

This, to me, is what makes theremin design so challenging and absorbing - everything must be right, and there are many reasons why getting everything right is difficult!

If I was forced to choose between sound and playability, and had no external sound processing available, I would probably opt for sound (but it is a lot easier to turn a crappy sound into a reasonable sound using external processing, than it is to turn an unplayable theremin into a playable one)

I find that for me theremin playability is extremely important - but I am starting to think that there is more to "playability" than just linearity. - it is strange, but there are some theremins I simply cannot play - in fact, the only theremins I feel completely comfortable with are my own, the Tvox, and the Evox - I do not get on at all with the EW standard, but like the E-Pro in the low register.. And I am not sure how much the sound is influencing what I percieve as playability.. all the theremins I find playable have (IMO) a lovely sound - I do not like the EW sound much, and find it more difficult to play than an Enkelaar (whos sound I prefer) - but I know that the EW linearity is far superior to that of the Enkelaar ..

(the above and some EPE and SC theremins are the only ones I have tried)

Funny thing, the brain! ;-)

Fred.

ps.. when I talk about me playing the theremin, please note that "playing" is a gross inflation of what I can actually do! I am not, and doubt that I ever will be a "real" thereminist - I hope to get better, but am on level 0-1 right now.

Philip - Please do not read things I did not say into my remarks. I merely said it was not an ideal "recording". I was making no commentary on the skill or execution of the player.

The originator of this posting has commented on the lack of good, clean, uneffected sound samples of various theremin models. Philip just happens to be the only one to have posted any audio examples of the Keppinger tube theremin in action. It's just unfortunate that he is only able to record through the camcorder microphone as opposed to "direct to tape" (so to speak).

While the poster doesn't seem to feel the Keppinger TT is a practical solution, he needs to remember what the premise of his posting is...

"Topic: What theremin models give a throatier or human vocal sound, not a whistle?"

If he wanted to limited the options to solid-state units only, he should have said so at the beginning.

Kyle Owen, 18 yrs old of Alabama, antiquekid3, did impress me. The company I work with has a stealth method of observing the development of young talent through the cooperation of most universities. This is good for everyone.

I was unable to do a sound analysis with my friend George; I had a meeting that ran into overtime.

Fred said:
[i]I find that for me theremin playability is extremely important - but I am starting to think that there is more to "playability" than just linearity.[/i]

Can you define "more" or are we talking sixth sense? Clara had more than Dalit? The video comparison of the two ladies on the same instrument does have intrigue. I went back with an open mind and listened to "Song of Grusia" again. Her skill to perform seemed effortless though it is not, I might think of Clara and her tailor made theremin as inseparable, as if they gave life to one another.

I am becoming monotonous, but I have my reasons. I need to step back and research the science of her sound; it is far removed from this age of the silicon wafer, it is refreshing. The sound was even better this time, maybe it was my anticipation or Fred’s something more.

In street race talk it is time to park-em, knowing somebody walked away a winner and for a brief moment that person met perfection.

I’m all ears

No offense taken, Jeff.

I was on a short deadline and had to get something recorded prior to New Years. The recording setup was suboptimal, as I was a using a Canon SD900 compact camera. I really had to turn the amp up to get the volume to a tolerable level on the recording. The Canon has no external mic provisions.

I upgraded my Canon 20D to a T2i, which DOES have an external mic jack. When I have time (oh, when might that be, these days?) I'll post something new and of higher quality.

FEELEEP