Theremin Project for the Newbie

This Optermen Link was the first theremin project I designed nine years ago. I was trying to learn basic electronics. The most important thing I learned was how to make a PDF file to etch a circuit board. How remarkable that was, now I could pass my little discoveries onto others that wanted to listen.

Too often I might miss the significance of the simple things and where it might lead. That first sound byte (sample1) on the link even today, still makes people proud when they generate it.

When I first visited the theremin community I recognized that some people were really big personalities. From the chatter, sometimes not very pleasant, I was convinced the giants lived on Levnet. I totally avoided Levnet for ten years because it was the place at the top of the bean stock. I was just little Jack afraid of being stomped on. Recently I climbed that bean stock and peeked into Levnet, it surprised me as I climbed above the clouds, I found musicians making beautiful music.

We all start somewhere and at the end of the journey if we have learned anything, we should give knowledge back & encourage creativity without scolding or expecting a bag of beans. In the end all knowledge will pass.

Christopher

I go on Levnet at times, and most of the time, I avoid it. There are a few people that seem to be very rigid in the way that the theremin is used in today's times and have narrow views of "How the theremin should be used" now. That we should respect Lev's desired legacy of the theremin and play it classically. I find this very narrow minded and by it, it even secludes the theremin to an even more desolate ending. I think that the theremin is so versatile. It needs to be taken in every genre possible. Then again, there are pretty lame players playing classical repertoire that do not do justification to the theremin at all and on the same token, experimental ones (or different genres) that do a beautiful job of playing it with grace and endearment but do not get much recognition or "praises". I am not even talking about me here. I don't really care, I'll play as many Enya songs as I am able to, annoy the crap of everyone with it, and will take my theremin journey on the path that "I" like. I don't need people's endorsements to know if I am doing a decent job at playing the theremin or not. Why should I worry if Clara or Lev would approve of what I am doing with the theremin? I am paying respect by playing it, the best that I can ~ classically or not, by being interested in it and talk about it eagerly when I am able to, to interested people.

Levnet is interesting overall ~ but I find myself not fitting much there. I guess I need to stop exposing my inferiority complex, as I was reminded today by a joyful man on there :) So I lurk mostly and only participate rarely; I don't want to be rude to people of the Levnet, that would be so tactless...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

RS THEREMIN WROTE: When I first visited the theremin community I recognized that some people were really big personalities. From the chatter, sometimes not very pleasant, I was convinced the giants lived on Levnet. I totally avoided Levnet for ten years because it was the place at the top of the bean stock. I was just little Jack afraid of being stomped on. Recently I climbed that bean stock and peeked into Levnet, it surprised me as I climbed above the clouds, I found musicians making beautiful music.

We all start somewhere and at the end of the journey if we have learned anything, we should give knowledge back & encourage creativity without scolding or expecting a bag of beans. In the end all knowledge will pass.

Christopher

Amey, this is not a good forum to "dis" the LevNet. The place for that is the LevNet itself.

May I remind you that just last week someone right here on TW departed in a flurry of ruffled feathers because, in his opinion, the people here were narrow-minded, guilty of holding the instrument back and preventing it from evolving into whatever it was he thought the instrument should be.

Many of the people here on TW are the same ones who are on the LevNet but our behavior tends to be slightly different. This is a more of a public square and there are a lot of "noobs", so people are usually a little more reserved and less outspoken. 

Telling someone their theremin playing sucks is one thing, but telling them that they should not be playing the kind of music they love on the theremin because it does not reflect Lev Termen's vision of the instrument, or a musical genre he approved of, seems....well....how can I say this diplomatically......FUCKING CRAZY!

As that old "dharma bum" Christopher pointed out, in the end all knowledge will pass. He is right, but the Music will remain even if there's no one around to hear it.

I can't remember that it had been said on levnet that people should not play the one or the other style of music for whatever reason. But I remember well that it has recently been said that it were a big advantage for the Theremin's reputation and for the player's success when people went through a thorough musical education, preferably the classical way (theory, practice, history) first before choosing an individual music and playing style, as it is usual for every instrument, not only the theremin.

It had further been pointed out that it is still more important for the theremin than for other instruments because the theremin has already a bad image in a certain way thanks to too much woooo-eeeee-oooo and cat videos on the internet so that people start already associating electronic sounds which were triggered by brain waves of seizure-patients with a theremin. The latter should motivate every thereminist with respect for its inventor to do their best to put the theremin in a better light.

And that was if I remember well the starting point of the discussion on levnet. Nobody argued (at least this time) against whatever music style, at least if it is performed on the fundament of a solid musical education.

Gosh, giants from WestWorld have joined me on this humble newbie thread, is it possible I have also become a giant or is it that we are all part of what's left? I really don't study the history of the theremin but it seems the theremin peaked in the late 90's and this was mostly due to the Vision and Skills in the marketing by Robert Moog. The sales of the EWS were also enhanced by the awareness made possible by the theremin documentary. Today interest rides on those coat tails and I am afraid everyone with an active website knows theremin interest is dwindling. Some one here mentioned Google trends recently and that also reveals the death spiral. I use to average 20 builders a month and now maybe one. There are probably many more EWS theremins in the closet than there are Thereminist. I consider the EWS the finest commercial design ever made. (I didn't always when I first got mine)

The question this raises, can there be something in the future that raises awareness that just might shake the dust off those old coat tails? Otherwise there is no theremin market outside of home brew, I will take a sip!

PS: If the Tvox really has excellent linearity, I will bet my first born child it does not use inline chokes. No…. you can have my first born anyway. 0-:

Christopher

The tVox has in fact no inline coils. And in fact it has no excellent linearity. The pitch knob allows to tune it in a way that 5 of its 7 octaves are linear and have at the same time a comfortable tone spacing. But the two top octaves are compressed in a progressive way as are the higher tones on a violin or guitar string (remember the decreasing fret distances) which makes the unlinearity feel "organic". That allows (at least to me) to deal with that without problems simply by moving my body somewhat towards the antenna when I play in the high register which then stretches the field locally.

The "ultra-linear" theremin seems to be an issue rather for engineers than for musicians... ;-)

" If the Tvox really has excellent linearity, I will bet my first born child it does not use inline chokes" - RS

No gamble in taking such a "bet" when you know damn well that the Tvox has no "inline chokes" - because this fact has often been stated here - recently by me!

But I dont see you saying " If the E-Pro really has excellent linearity, I will bet my first born child it does not use inline chokes"  - I WONDER WHY ?????  ;-)

"As that old "dharma bum" Christopher pointed out, in the end all knowledge will pass. He is right, but the Music will remain even if there's no one around to hear it." - Coalport

Thats a lovely idea - but I cannot see any way it could be true! - (isnt perhaps music a special kind of knowledge?) - Anyway, kind of comes back to the whole debate about the role of the observer - Would the universe be here if there was nothing / no-one to observe it, even if it was 'here' ?

LOL - Must admit I never really got my head 'round that stuff.. I personally think that the idea of anything "actually being" is completely crazy!  ;-) - And I wonder if the idea that anything really "passes away" is equally crazy..

Fred.

ps - had a really strange dream a few nights ago Peter .. I was communicating with with people (including you) through some mind linkup (details were vague*) and we were playing our music to each other and with each other into our minds, and all I remember is that it was great - I desperately tried to get back to sleep to continue the dream when I woke up..

*was something along the lines of being in a telephone conference call, talking to each other - then it got into "yeah - ive got that playing in my head right now - wanna hear it... " - LOL  ;-)

My comment about my first born was humor, some people just don't laugh anymore.

Fred's comment: "Would the universe be here if there was nothing / no-one to observe it, even if it was 'here' ?"

is like saying Jumbo Shrimp.

This is a great time to ask a question: I bought this cheap $3 flash light (battery included) with a super bright LED but it only used one size D cell at 1.5v  Next to (10cm) an AM Radio it emits a clean AM RF carrier creating a clean blank spot on the AM dial. It would seem to me they have made it more cost effective to put a switching power chip inside the LED bulb than use an extra 1.5v cell. I removed the bulb for a second test and the same results. The RF also seemed to be found at various other frequencies across the AM dial. Heterodyning against background noise the LED frequency had drift issues.

It is these types of experiments that remind me of a young Lev Sergeyevich.

So is there a clean 1.5v switching chip or do some Super Brite LED's by themselves generate this phenomenon. I ask this because it seems a good project experiment is hidden here. In my world of design the Motto is besides "Be Prepared" is also "try everything", once in a while something else might show up. If I thought water could make a linear antenna I would also try that. (-'

Christopher

"I bought this cheap $3 flash light with a super bright LED but it only uses one size D cell at 1.5v  Next to (10cm) an AM Radio it emits a clean AM RF carrier creating a clean blank spot on the AM dial. It would seem to me they have made it more cost effective to put a switching power chip inside the LED bulb than use an extra 1.5v cell. I removed the bulb for a second test and the same results. The RF also seemed to be found at various other frequencies across the AM dial." Christopher

Elementary, my dear Watson! ;-)

You produced a rational experiment (removing the LED) and showed that it was something other than the LED producing the RF signal..

But then you go and lose the plot - You WANT the LED to be producing RF! So despite showing that the LED isnt producing RF, you continue..

The LED is an important new technology - its being studied, analysed, re-engineered daily, look in academic places and you will find extensive research relating to every aspect, at a depth you or I couldnt begin to comprehend without spending years catching up - I get a journal of Optoelectronics / LED technology every month - most of the papers presented in it are utterly incomprehensible to me..

Christopher - this IS the SAD thing about life today.. Back, even in our lifetimes, there was a time that one had a SLIGHT possibility of discovering something "new" without being an expert or having studied some narrow field extensively..

But these days, particularly in fields like electronics, the chances of discovering some new  phenomena are virtually zero.. Oh, once in a blue moon, during some drunken party of experts may make a 'random' breakthrough.. But in the main, progress is made through science and the scientific method.

The chances of some LED user finding something as important as that blue Leds generate RF which nobody in the field has discovered, are probably slimmer than discovering a new continent that hasnt been found yet.

New applications, new ways to use things - thats still open to us all.. And with an obscure field like theremins, new "discoveries" are still possible - But new discoveries at the level of fundamental science.. well, its the (mostly hopeless) dream of everyone in the field - the best any of us can hope for is to be part of a team who makes such a discovery - And I have had that buzz only once in my life, and am far luckier than most.

Fred.

ps. (Posted after my last posting on this thread)

"It is these types of experiments that remind me of a young Lev Sergeyevich." - Christopher

The last person I am reminded of by such infantile "experiments", is Lev ! .. Frankly, I find your continous use of his name to promote yourself (Lev antenna for example) highly offensive - you have never even bothered to understand anything Lev designed, never even knew the large coils in Levs theremins were series antenna inductors - How DARE you attempt to use a phony "familiarity" with "Lev" to elevate your "status" ?? 

RS wrote: "I really don't study the history of the theremin but it seems the theremin peaked in the late 90's.....The sales of the EWS were also enhanced by the awareness made possible by the theremin documentary. Today interest rides on those coat tails and I am afraid everyone with an active website knows theremin interest is dwindling. "

I think you're right RS. The theremin was "HOT" in the mid-1990's. Etherwave standards were selling like hotcakes, awareness of the documentary ELECTRONIC ODYSSEY was on the rise, and pop/rock groups were adding theremins to their acts. No one knows for sure, but I would bet my firstborn puppy dog that 90% of the Etherwaves sold in that period were bought by white males between the ages of 18 and 25.

By the end of the 90's interest in the instrument began to cool off, and that great bastion of popular culture, WIRED MAGAZINE, which had started out as a big supporter of the instrument, openly declared in its list of WHAT'S HOT AND WHAT'S NOT, that the theremin was definitely finished. Yesterday's novelty!

This should not come as a surprise because popular interest in EVERYTHING, clothes, films, music, art, etc., hangs on the fashion of the moment and whatever is "in" today, must necessarily be "out" tomorrow. A new generation rises and the first thing they do is reject whatever came before them. Waddaya know! The theremin is as "old hat" as Connie Francis!

The theremin in popular music has been used mainly as an effect, not as a "melodic" instrument and as such, it has probably been far more susceptible to the rapidly changing musical taste of the moment. Once its characteristic wobble-and-squeal has been used by enough groups, new groups will avoid it in order not to be perceived as followers.

In classical and semi-classical music the theremin has never found a place because it is far too difficult to play. Part of my morning ritual is to check out new theremin videos that have been posted to public access internet sites (mainly Vimeo & YouTube). Here is something that was posted today that is fairly typical of the kind of "precision" playing we hear from theremin enthusiasts. As this gentleman points out, "I'm never perfect, just happy to border on excellence". I think that says it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwD6SRJD_Xw