BUILDING A THEREMIN

Dennie, I made you another sound sample to compare against. I make up the tune because I do not know any tunes.  

If you have soldering skills on tiny pads this sound might just visit you. Get out the glasses!

The only kit that ever bothered me was the Theremax, all those Pots should have been pcb mounted to cut down on wiring and it should have been done in a more modular form so someone could avoid the CV section if wanted. I think the designers name was John Simonton, wish we could have hung out together at the local coffee shop.

Sample of the Day wav

Using the 3 6 9 pattern, view it how you view harmonics. Volume control noise, cicada bug noise it is all in there, just maybe this is supposed to bug people. humm... A sense of humor from the other side.

I am afraid to change any knob setting as I had never seen this harmonic pattern before last week.

Christopher

Thanks nor the new recording, I like it. To me, the tone of your Theremin is almost between a violin and a viola, is it a Moog?

I did buy the Theremax. I also emailed Scott at Paia to ask him if I could eliminate all those 1/4 inch jacks without 'disturbing the force'. I just want a basic Theremin, like the original RCA. I also understand I can make a modification the 9505K sound like the RCA 1284. Christopher, I really appreciate your knowledge. Good thing I don't live near you, I'd be pestering you constantly. ("Out, you amateur moron, I have real people to advise!")

Best, Dennie

Dennie said: "To me, the tone of your Theremin is almost between a violin and a viola, is it a Moog?"

That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said but it can be better if a musician played with the knobs.

I do my sound with an EtherWave Standard and a $35 add-on which completely re-creates the voice from the RF to the line level audio out. I think it can work with any LC oscillator combo as I used the same add-on boards with vacuum tube oscillators.

You will be in for a surprise when you fire up your Theremax. 

dewster says there is no magic in theremin design and I say it is all magic.

Dennie I have never met a thereminist or even a musician, you would be welcomed, my journey was done without influence. At the end of each day my theremin just purrr's away and I have a scotch/whiskey on the rocks while she lectures me about our day. Maybe I married her but don't remember? 

Christopher

I'm glad you answered my forum. Very cool! Whatever you do with your Theremin sounds good to me. As for the whiskey on the rocks, I may be more inclined to have a dry Rob-roy. Then I may breath hard. I like what you do with your instrument. As for the surprise, are you referring to the screaming tone? A 10K resistor placed into the circuit instead of the wire gimmick is supposed to make it sound like an RCA. But we'll see. After years of playing in bars, my mind has always been on a Theremin since I had a man-crush on Dr. Samuel Hoffman playing it on the Mickey Mouse Club. Now, in retirement, I want something that will drive my two cats up the wall. I believe the Theremin may just do that. (Not really, I love my cats.) Please stay in touch.

As always, your faithful servant,

Dennie

"I did buy the Theremax. I also emailed Scott at Paia to ask him if I could eliminate all those 1/4 inch jacks without 'disturbing the force'. I just want a basic Theremin, like the original RCA."  - Dennie

Hmm.  No experience with the Theremax beyond looking at the schematic, but I hope that works out for you.  There may be too much tank capacitance, and that 5pF in series with the antenna is something of a head scratcher.  Re. the jacks, before I did sufficient research I too was worried about a lot of stuff that ended up not amounting to much, if anything, in terms of "disturbance."  That said, there are AC fields, poor grounding, bad circuits, etc. - lots of real issues out there that can be difficult to sort out.

"At the end of each day my theremin just purrr's away and I have a scotch/whiskey on the rocks while she lectures me about our day."  - Christopher

Ya, I'm jonesing for the day when my prototype is cooing in the background during martini time.  Balancing that yen with my current mild allergy to the real work which could make it so! ;-)

Hmm.  No experience with the Theremax beyond looking at the schematic, but I hope that works out for you.  There may be too much tank capacitance, and that 5pF in series with the antenna is something of a head scratcher.  Re. the jacks, before I did sufficient research I too was worried about a lot of stuff that ended up not amounting to much, if anything, in terms of "disturbance." 

It's obvious to me, comparing myself to both you guys, that I am the real amateur here when it comes to anything Theremin. That said, I welcome any, and all suggestions. I blew way too much money on my youth without considering my old age. So, here I am, looking at the end of my life, not destitute, but not where I should have been financially. So cost is always a factor. At the end of this particular journey, I'd love to have a device that looks and sounds like an RCA Theremin. When I created my pitch only Theremin out of that old Zenith radio, I became somewhat proficient with it, but that was 1956. Who knows, now at 76, this thing might send me into dementia (some people are hoping).

Anyways, I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate your input. It means more than you can know.

Best always,

Dennie

Dennie said: "I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate your input."

I am going to email you later a theremin surprise, the most beautiful theremin piece ever recorded, with weeping passion, that only a few here know about. You won't find it on YouTube.

Christopher

Incidentally, for my pitch only (Zenith radio) Theremin, I connected half a t.v. rabbit ears antenna to the variable tuning cap. I rotated the tuning cap and happened on the Theremin tone.  I don't remember if I played with the IF transformers or not, I think I didn't. One interesting thing, when I stretched the antenna by pulling it open, it changed how it all reacted. At one point it worked in reverse, pulling my hand away the tone went down in pitch. At another point it went down, hit a null and then went back up. But I found the length where it worked as a regular Theremin. When I found that, I never did anything more with the antenna. My dad was completely unimpressed. He tried to play it for a moment, but then walked away and said nothing.

Thanks, Christopher.