THEREMIN REVIEW SERIES

@roguewave. Yeh, I wanted the theremin to be louder too, but any louder, and there would have been massive peaking, which would have been worse. At least one can turn the volume up to compensate. I am talking with an audio engineer I know about enhancing the audio quality in the future.  I also did not want to falsely ramp up the theremin's volume too much, but yeh, I wanted it louder to represent the studio. Unfortunately, none of my old amps work well. All have rotted cones, and distorted badly across the frequency ranges. That's what I get for buying used amps. NEVER-AGAIN. LOL. I really should be using a Rolland Sound Cube.

Hello Thomas,

I as a none musician appreciate more than most what the audio layout is of all the equipment that was used to produce the sound you present. I always use direct to a cheap sound card hoping most recognize how much better my sound byte could be using knowledge. The rawer the better as background music and effects muffle the sound so I can't get a true analysis.

Christopher

@RS Theremin. Yeh, that's how I first started out. Now I have mixers all over the place, a dar, mics, and still, there are technical challenges that yank one back if enough care isn't given to producing audio tracks for video. Some of the audio software won't work with my screen magnification software, so I often have to do it more along the lines of old-school recording methods. I've learned a lot about filmmaking over the years, but still have a ways to go in the area of audio production. By the way, I had a lav mic, but it picked up total distortion from mic stands, light stands, ect, so I had to fall back to a corded lav I used in Theremin Lessons DVD. Had to hide the mic cable, and wing it. Was hoping not to have to be teathered, but such is technical life. ;)

Wow! Isn't the world full of surprises. A theremin maker less than 40 miles from me! And a nice looking instrument too. I am a bit worried by the size - the pitch field seems rather small - the concentration on your face as you found the notes was intense, Thomas.

From what I could tell it's a good sound too. (There are more demos on the manufacturer's website. The end of the video demo on the site is funny! I laughed.)

The distortion is interesting. (Presumably down to the germanium diode?) I would love to hear how it sounds with Wah and Talking Machine - I suspect it would get more "human" as it gets louder. Also I'd like to hear how it sounds through a flanger. I think that would work rather well.

Less than £100 is an attractive price, but I would pay extra for a larger pitch field and better linearity.

@GordonC Yeh, that camera angle was the lecture cam, and the angle prevented the proper view of the hand's passage through the field. The field was a good bit wider than the main cam made it look. The field can be spread at least 14 inches from the rod. The cabinet measures 9 inches long, but there's a good 14 inches of space between the rod, and the area of the volume loop where your volume hand works, so it's quite playable. As to my intense looking concentration, I was having to work with two massive LED lights on either side of me which lit the Union flag, and a very bright CFL key light. I was dealing with a lot of glare. LOL

I have word from Lost Volts that they are working on a professional model, as well as some other ones. When available, I'll be reviewing these as well.

By the way, there's a one inch extension that holds the pitch rod out from the case. The volume loop is rather long, so that's what allows the instrument to have more playability.

As to linearity, I still have to get inside this instrument to adjust the preset posts and explore the tonal and linearity adjustments. I wanted to present the instrument in an "out of box" condition prior to muckin' about with internal controls. There are 2 posts that control tone and linearity, and a couple more that adjust the volume sense, as well as the effect activation distance from the volume loop. There are still 2 or 3 more tiny pots that do other things I don't know about. On my model, I had custom holes drilled in the bottom plate to allow easy access to these adjustment pots. Once I've explored that aspect of the instrument, ther may be either a follow-on video, or I'll simply state my findings in the original vid's descriptive text. Fingers crossed.

"I have word from Lost Volts that they are working on a professional model, as well as some other ones. When available, I'll be reviewing these as well."

Looks promising! If they come with a nice, wooden casing that would make it look less "gadgety" and more attractive, even if the circuitry is the same. The current case looks like a modem... 

To be called a real "pro" theremin, I think their theremins would need to be dressed with pitch preview capabilities.

Looks promising! If they come with a nice, wooden casing that would make it look less "gadgetry" and more attractive, even if the circuitry is the same. The current case looks like a modem... - Roguewave

I can not tell if the case is metal but if-it-is this will increase the jamming of the musical notes near the antenna. Also the antenna starts at the circuit board by nature so the pitch antenna stand-off from the case must have another practical application. (-'

For the sound and cost I still like it as it could be the foundation for expanding into other ideas.

Christopher

@roguewave, @Amethyste It is important to keep in mind that a lovely wooden case increases the time needed to produce, and the cost of a theremin. Yeh, I like a nice wooden cabinet too, but sometimes, in order to afford a gerat sound, you have to be ready to trade off great looks for great performance. I will mentiontion the desire for an attractive wooden cabinet to Lost Volts, and indeed all manufacturers' products I review. I have forwarded the need for preview to Lost Volts as well.

@RS Theremin, In the video, I mention the case is made of aluminum. However, the notiion that the metal case would cram the notes closer to the rod is, imho not quite accurate. The Subscope has quite a wide field, and it's rod is directly through the metal case. However, I would gather that the way circuits, and antenna leads are placed within metal enclosures would certainly affect the field if one does not design "for" a metal enclosure from the start, but moves a circuit from a wooden enclosure to a metal one..