Hello FredM... :)

So gald you re-joined us :)

Missed you!!!

Thanks Amey,

Not happy - I cant kick this damn habit... I managed to kick smoking by switching to E-Cigs, but theres no TW replacement therepy available that I can find..

:-(

Fred.

(I think I caved in because I had an ice skating accident on Sunday, and have been stuck with a painful left shoulder / arm limiting what I can do - so Ive been browsing the web mostly, and everything I look for throws TW up in the search results.. Then Dewster has been in continuous contact feeding me snippets - I just cant resist jumping back into this turbulant stagnant pond! LOL ;-)

As I recall, two who had departed...now back...

Good to see you still here :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KYsPtuBgCQ

"Then Dewster has been in continuous contact feeding me snippets..." - FredM

Very sorry Fred!  Not my intention to drag you back (but TW isn't the same without you).

"Very sorry Fred!  Not my intention to drag you back (but TW isn't the same without you)."

Oh, you know what I think - It was scripted at the big bang! ;-) I dont blame you, LOL ;-) I blame this damn matrix of causal determinants!

And yeah - I suspect ol Jason will need to do some recalculation with regard to storage capacity if I left.. Me going would probably save him a packet on HDD space, I probably hog about 20% of total number of words posted ;-) ... Randy did damn well to make up for my absence with his magnificent posting!

Thats what I like to see! Really meaty postings, with lots of detail and all angles covered.

I am, however, not sure I will be here in the same way that I have been before - TW had become too big a part of my life, and I really have lost my enthusiasm for the instrument - the technology is still interesting, but the motivation to develop a great theremin has gone.. I want an instrument thats like a theremin but which I can play, and there was a time I believed the theremin was this instrument.. I now know that it isnt - I am physically unable to play for long enough that I have any chance of mastery of this instrument, and this has highlighted (to me) what I believe are fundamental flaws in the whole theremin concept.

My new direction is theremin related, but not a theremin -

And unless I spend less time here, I wont even get that into production.

But thanks for the welcome, and thanks to everyone who emailed me - Truth is that I was wrong, I shouldnt have said what I did, I have no right to demand technical explanations for whats said here, and I should just be dealing with my own stuff and not go wading in when I believe someone or this community is being wronged..

Some fights just arent worth having - this is all just a game anyway, a tiny insignificant bubble in the cosmic froth...

'My new direction is theremin related, but not a theremin -' Fred

(Pointing a finger on an out-streched hand, crying out in an incredulous voice)

"It's you, you are the one behind the Theremini..!"

Only teasing :-)

LOL ! ;-)

No, thats not the way im going! ... My instrument will have a true analogue heterodyning 'engine' as its primary voice, and some other adjustable voices loosely based on additive, formant, and subtractive analogue synthesis.. The sound is IMO the most important aspect of any musical instrument.

Where I depart from the theremin concept is on the non-tactile, "dont touch" concept - its the distance sensing long range aspect of the theremin that I have rejected - my instrument operates in the near field (<1cm) on a capacitive "ribbon", and you can touch the ribbon and allow your hand to rest on it, so the energy required to play it is hugely reduced - no need for unsupported outstretched arms..

In all other respects its a theremin - in fact my proof-of-concept prototype is a modified Jaycar theremin, all the real stuff happens in a passive linear capacitive sensor ("antenna" or sensor "ribbon")  which I have filed a patent application on.. There is still a lot of work to be done - the sensor was hand constructed and it took me a week to make one and tune it to be just usable - I need to get this to a production ready form.

My idea is to produce something of a "hybrid" instrument - sort of mix between a theremin, tannerin, odes and monophonic continuum (although the continuum resolves X Y and Z - my sensor is deliberately insensitive to the Y axis) pitch being controlled on the "ribbon", volume / dynamics being controlled either by a loop or by a sensor under the thumb for single handed playing, or by a breath pipe for an EWI version.

The major difference between this and other ribbons is that no force is needed - you dont even need to touch the ribbon to play it, it will respond to close proximity... but you can touch it, and its intended that playing will be done by lightly touching the ribbon with ones fingers with the hand sliding on a brass (or perhaps gold plated or solid gold if some Saudi prince wants one, or aluminium for the European market ;-) plate to support it if one wants.

(my preference is brass because this metal has great anti bacterial properties)

Fred.