The musical saw

hi fred,

so sad to read about your, i don't know the correct expression, business "free fall" maybe? not to mention the rest i could read in this forum. since i know by reading all these posts, well almost, you have also a good 'passion' to 1v/oct related stuff. so why didn't ever came someone up with a good theremin-module? {or have i missed something? yes, doepfer did, but hey...! its too...what shall i say? i expected more.} i would have ordered one for shure. i could go with a pot or two for range arrangements of the field size and it's compression and 2-3 cv outputs. (for the toy departement with ashtray holder and a hello kitty sticker on it.)  i always thought (mfos) ray wilson will show up with something theremin sometime, available by soundtronics as part kit.,etc. but it's not my business anyway. (i haven't spotted the theremillionaire anyway.) but beeing able to order parts kits is cool and i'm the ideal target for the synth-diy market. and i'm probably not the only one. 

dani

"I think Dewsters ideas hold huge promise for the theremin front-end and processing - I see it as opening the door to linearity and low latency and adjustable span which will revolutionize the instrument..."  - FredM

I wish I could take credit for the ideas, but the lion's share is from the UNO, with livio prodding me towards FET oscillators and higher frequencies.  The only thing I have any claim to is nailing some things down experimentally and sticking them in spreadsheets, and the FPGA implementation angle which I think high speed / high resolution capacitive sensing is rather well suited to.

"Levitator (R)(C)(TM)"

Fred, you are a genius at both analog design and at naming projects!  Not to trivialize the design side, but somewhat like how 90% of life is just showing up, 90% of making a project a "thing" happens with the attachment of a snazzy moniker.

"..with the attachment of a snazzy moniker." - Dewster

Yeah, I was really levitated when I thought up that name! ;-) .. Its one of the few names I have ever bothered to take steps to 'protect' by filing applications - Copyright is automatic, but as the word "levitator" is already in use, it could be difficult to assert as "property" applied to theremin products, TM is real difficult because it usually comes in the form of a logo or whatever.

.. And the process will cost real money when / if it gets to the examination / granting stage - so its all probably been another exercise in time wasting wasting.. I have a year, so if I get a levitator built in this year I may continue the registration.

As for analogue design, I am no genius - I think I am more an "analogue system" designer than a true analogue whiz kid, to be a genius at analogue you really need great mathematical comprehension - I am "great" with simple stuff, and have some clever ideas about implementation - But my area is really narrow, as I found out when applying for analogue designer job to advise engineers crafting CMOS IC's - I was in a foreign world, the language was maths, and I couldn't understand the 'schematics'.. By their standards I was a hobbyist..

I can just about manage the analogue required for pedals and synths and theremins and PLLs running up to 16MHz - and just about cope with the maths and simple filters required for these - but my designs aren't elegant, I use more components than needed and over-complicate things, and am paranoid about all sorts of 'possible' problems which I "engineer out" but which, If I did the maths and calculated realistic  MTBF, I probably wouldn't have worried about at all..

Fred.

"so why didn't ever came someone up with a good theremin-module? {or have i missed something? yes, doepfer did, but hey...! its too...what shall i say? i expected more.} "

The Doepfer "theremin" module is the crudest most disgusting piece of junk to ever have appeared on the "theremin" / Synth market IMO - completely useless (its just a volume circuit shoving its voltage out without any linearization or anything).

A true voltage controlled heterodyning theremin (A theremin one could play from any 1V/Octave control signal) is a real challenge to design - And I think I may be the only person who has bothered to prototype such a thing.. Its (or at least mine is) really complex and expensive.. Its a complete theremin like the EW+ but has even more electronics - the only thing it doesn't need is antenna equalization etc.

I am not going into details here - I might post more on technical Hijack - But I do understand why nobody else has bothered.

see Technical Hijack

Fred.