Looking for a home :-( Uk - near Hampshire ideally

"if the theremin became easy to play with a redesign of a few aspects?"  - Christopher

My inclination has always been that linearity is the key to easier theremin playing, particularly for beginners..

But I have not found "technically correct" linearity (as in, note intervals as equally spaced as possible) helped me a lot.

I found that different theremins have, for me, some charactaristic which either makes them playable or difficult / unplayable - and this 'quality' is not directly related to "good linearity" - but I do think it is related to the 'curve' of the playing field.

The instrument (apart from my own prototypes) which I found by far the easiest to play was the Tvox Tour.. I do not know the field profile on this, but I am told it is far from linear - To me, it is beautifull, and feels "linear" - or, what I should say is that to me the note intervals feel instinctive.

My 2nd favorite is probably the E-Pro .. I know this reportedly has good linearity. Then there is the EW (and I have "played" several, some feel better than others, but, to me, all are extremely difficult) - I have no idea why I have difficulty with the EW, it has a reasonably good linearity when well tuned.. But I find it as hard to play as some theremins which do not have equalization at all, and are really non-linear (SC EPE and the Australian variant - I forget its name)

The above observations cause me a problem - I do not know exactly what it is that makes a particular theremin easier for me than any other theremin, let alone whether this is "universal" or whether each individual would have an optimum curve best suited to them.

My H1 theremins highlighted this - I had 4 different EQ schemes employed on these, with the aim of seeing which of these theremins people found easiest to play - Alas, the nature of the event made accurate recording of and derivation of useful data nearly impossible, but the 4 theremins fitted with severely modified front-end (lower operating frequency, larger tank capacitance, larger EQ inductor) giving the most linear response, did SEEM to be the most popular.

This 'result' was probably biased because I found these to be the most playable of the 16, so I tended to use these most, and tended to give people "lessons" on these most... But, in general, people who managed (without my help, often after having visited the show repeatedly and played the theremins - usually at lunch break time or early evening when there were crowds wanting to play the theremins) to play a tune, did so even on the most non-linear instruments.

Fred.

"I promised Fred I would think “happy thoughts”. . . Freedom!" - Christopher

LOL - Do you really think you have the freedom to make a promise like that ? - Best to rephrase it as "I promise Fred I would try to think “happy thoughts”. That way, you are not obliged to put yourself down if you fail!  

I hope you find some good reasons to think happy thoughts, as that is the only reliable and meaningfull way of thinking them! .. I think ;-)

Fred.

Just a reminder about my reason for starting this thread !    

Home (and space)  near Eastleigh, Hampshire, Uk Needed by mad old theremin developer !

You got the space?

(room for fully equipped electronic music studio, which you will have unrestricted access to use, and room for electronics lab - or large room / garage / outbuilding for studio and lab, which you could use if you know what you are doing, and bedroom for me - any size / condition .. as long as I have access to shower and basics and somewhere to prepare food )

Less than 2 hours travel to Eastleigh?

I come broke, but can give:

My time and electronic skills. I am a good cook, reasonably tidy, not a lazy oaf - not much into TV, and probably wouldnt suit a household where a few db's  occassionally, upsets people.

I also tend to be biased to functioning best from the afternoon to early morning - mornings are not a time I function.. but I keep myself 'out of the way' in the evening / night, so, although awake, do not bother people or keep them awake!

Fred, I so wish you lived here in the colony's (USA).

We could have so much fun!

Half of the second floor of my home is dedicated to electronics and music, and my bride and I are both musicians and ham radio operators.

On linearity, I've noticed that my old Kustom is easiest for me to play when the scale is roughly the same as on my guitar, notes getting gradually closer together as I move up the neck.

That's probably just me, though. I've been playing guitar far longer than I have the theremin.

A quality instrument can certainly help one learn. My first guitar was a no name Japanese electric that was, well, less than ideal and I struggled with it for quite a while until fate sent me an old Gibson.

That changed everything.

Now, 40 years later, I find myself able to play any guitar as well as I do my Les Paul and Stratocaster.

BTW, I also have an ex.

Mine was a mixed marriage.

I'm human, and she was a Klingon ;)

You are in our prayers...Rob.

"I found that different theremins have, for me, some charactaristic which either makes them playable or difficult / unplayable - and this 'quality' is not directly related to "good linearity" - but I do think it is related to the 'curve' of the playing field." -FredM

My gut feeling is that "playability" is a combination of linearity, note / hand spacing, and frequency offset (absolute positioning of the pitch in the field, e.g. "100mm = 1kHz" or similar).  My initial aim is for ~ a perfect 5th open/closed hand throughout 300mm or so, with the female vocal range some comfortable distance from the antenna.  (But right now I'm implementing fine grained multi-threading in my FPGA processor - please alert the authorities if you don't hear from me for several days.)

Godspeed on finding new digs Fred!  So sorry to hijack your thread so much, but you have too many good ideas!

"

BTW, I also have an ex.

Mine was a mixed marriage.

I'm human, and she was a Klingon ;)

" - Rob

;-)

My biggest problem is that I am "mixed" - half human, half Vulcan (no - my name is not Spock! - I have been told that I am a lot more like Data than Spock ;-).

Fred.

"So sorry to hijack your thread so much.." - Dewster

LOL ;-)

I manage to hijack my own thread quite well without anyones help, so please, dont feel guilty!

Fred.

" I always figured China would come out with a kids version operating at the same level we are today or better" - Christopher

I dont believe this is likely -

If this does happen, I think it likely that such an instrument would not be designed in China, but be designed by someone who has spent years of 'painful' R+D on theremins (probably in Russia, Europe or America) and then had the theremins built in China, or sold the design to a Chinese company.

I have designed quite a lot of equipment which is sold as "Chinese" (mostly "white goods" - Items sold by outlets like Argos - things like food mixers, microwave ovens etc).

I have encountered some innovative Chinese engineers, but their big problem is that they do not have the kind of liberty that engineers in Europe or the USA seem to have - We all have unrealistic expectations on our output, and all are given too little time to optimise designs - but Chinese engineers have (from what I have seen) even more unrealistic demands on them than most.

Also, the mentality of cost-cutting is so paramount in Chinese manufacture (and here I am talking about component cost far more than labour cost - Here, we are happy to add a few components if it saves some extra time in manufacture - there, they will happily spend 15 minutes more on manufacture if it saves 30p on components) That it is difficult to design within their constraints.

The above comments relate to my expierience about 10 years ago, things change.. But I certainly dont think it likely that a Chinese engineer will be allowed the time to develop a good theremin - Nothing to stop one from developing a theremin in their own time, and (if they are senior enough) having this manufactured... But I think it unlikely.

Japan, however, is a completely different matter - If any of the big Japanese players (Yamaha or Roland, for example) ever thought producing a high-end theremin was commercially worthwhile, they would go for it with all the needed funding and resources, and have an excellent reasonably priced theremin on the market in a year.

Fred.

Hi,

About the main topic of the thread - Being in the bankrupt Spain I'm afraid I can't help you, Fred, but at least I'd like to wish you the best of luck. I'm sure you'll be able to sail past the hard waters: I don't know you much, but from your efforts to design, build and promote theremins it's obvious that you have a strong spirit!

About linearity/playability, just throwing a wild guess because I have only been able to try a couple of different theremins, but maybe playability has a lot to do with the playing field not being "evenly nonlinear", but instead having more than one kind of change? Sorry, my English falls short of explaining this properly. But what I mean is that, for example, in the EW standard note spacing is narrow near the pitch row, then wider, and then narrower again. I get used to the nonlinearity of the field in the mid-high range pretty well, it feels rather natural that the mid tones have wider spacing that the high tones. But when it gets narrow again in the lower range it gets me all the time. In contrast, e.g. the B3 is more nonlinear than the EW standard in the absolute sense, but the "kind" of nonlinearity it has is always the same, e.g. the higher tones are narrower and the lower tones are wider, so it feels more predictable. Does this make sense?

Thierry wrote: "The day when the first thereminist will obtain his diploma from the Juilliard School of Music we will see an important increasing of durable and relevant interest. Then, there will also be a market for professional instruments."

It is highly unlikely that the theremin will ever be taught as a "major" in any established conservatory or school of music.

As a musical instrument it is impractical. Maurice Martenot, after consultation with some of the finest composers and virtuosos of his day, came to this realization in 1930 and promptly abandoned his "ondes à distance". 

Thierry, your suggestion is a "Catch-22". You say that we will see durable and relevant interest in the theremin when Juilliard has produced graduates with degrees in theremin playing. I say the opposite. Juilliard will offer diplomas in theremin playing when there is durable and relevant interest in the theremin!

How many thereminists, when they approach a composition or transcription, ask themselves if the theremin is the best instrument on which to perform that particular piece? 

I have never heard a theremin rendition of any composition that has surpassed the original version on which the transcription was based. As exquisite as it is, Clara Rockmore's THE SWAN, one of the theremin signature pieces, does not surpass the composer's original cello version. 

Familiar melodies from operas cannot come close to the vocal versions because the all-important text is missing. Even if you don't understand the words, they color the melody and lend drama and cadence to the notes.

What the theremin does offer people is a means to perform, mostly by ear and perhaps not too accurately, music they love but are unable to play at all on any other instrument. 

We talk grandly about "world thereminization" and the importance of raising the theremin to the level of acceptance and recognition enjoyed by traditional instruments, but why do we insist on thinking that this would necessarily be a good thing? 

If there were a theremin in every home and everybody played, why would this be such a wonderful thing? What is it about "world thereminization" that makes it desirable? I do understand the need of the "true believer", especially the recently converted, to go out and evangelize the world and spread the good news but it generally leads to catastrophe.

I believe in the Starfleet PRIME DIRECTIVE which dictates that there can be no interference with the natural development of alien civilizations. 

We have little to fear from Vulcans and Klingons. It is the Ferengi we must beware of! They impose the death penalty for the crime of engaging in an unprofitable enterprise!