Theremin / Theremin Kit

Posted: 2/10/2009 5:54:02 AM
FredM

From: Eastleigh, Hampshire, U.K. ................................... Fred Mundell. ................................... Electronics Engineer. (Primarily Analogue) .. CV Synths 1974-1980 .. Theremin developer 2007 to present .. soon to be Developing / Trading as WaveCrafter.com . ...................................

Joined: 12/7/2007

"And if my name was Geraldine and if I had long red hair"..

LOL! - Possibly more about the fact that I have a daughter named Lucy..

I would love to be able to supply kits at <£50 to everyone, but I would soon be even more bankrupt than I already am! :(
Posted: 2/10/2009 6:38:22 AM
GordonC

From: Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, UK

Joined: 10/5/2005

[i]And if my name was Geraldine and if I had long red hair[/i]

What you choose to wear and how you like to be addressed in the privacy of your own home is none of our business. :-)

Fred - this one - external view (http://www.epemag3.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=171&Itemid=53) - internal view (http://www.epemag3.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=172&Itemid=53) - I have a vague memory that Jaycar offered it as a kit for a short time. [edit] Ah, yes, I see it was a reprint from Silicon Chip magazine. That makes sense. [/edit] I was most impressed by the seven knobs, and a little dubious of its claims to linearity. (Lucy - if you go for this option, tell your boyfriend that it will benefit immensely from greater separation between the antennas - about 50cm is good.)
Posted: 2/10/2009 7:30:44 AM
FredM

From: Eastleigh, Hampshire, U.K. ................................... Fred Mundell. ................................... Electronics Engineer. (Primarily Analogue) .. CV Synths 1974-1980 .. Theremin developer 2007 to present .. soon to be Developing / Trading as WaveCrafter.com . ...................................

Joined: 12/7/2007

Gordon - Yes, that is the one!

I have now found a source for the opto isolators, and ordered 10 (MOQ)[anyone needing one of these, can have them at £2.50 each].. After supplying the kit to Lucy, I will have one spare set of components, and will make one of these Theremins (I am sure that only playing prototypes which I continually modify does not do my playing technique much good!)

The 3 knobs affecting tone (Waveform, Symmetry and skew) do not (in my opinion) alter the tonal quality as much as 3 knobs should! .. One of my main original reasons for buying these boards was to explore the tone possibilities, and perhaps copy the idea of using biasing of the mixer for tone control - but I was not greatly impressed - I can get far wider tone variation with my design using 2 potentiometers.

.. But it is still quite a nice Theremin.

.. The linearity is achieved through the standard equalisation method, and the claims are, I believe, greatly hyped. I think linearity is better if a different EQ coil is used - But I never tried the specified coil so cannot say for sure.. I found that air coils were far better than those with any kind of core..
Posted: 2/10/2009 7:45:54 AM
Thierry

From: Colmar, France

Joined: 12/31/2007

[i]"What you choose to wear and how you like to be addressed in the privacy of your own home is none of our business. :-)"[/i]

Merci, Chérie! ;-)
Posted: 2/10/2009 10:55:21 AM
Luckiluce

Joined: 1/21/2009

Thank you Fred!!
You're wonderful!
I will have to take your word for it, as I am not familiar with all the components and what makes it sounds great, which is why I wanted to ask professionals such as yourselves! So thank you very much, I trust what you think is good : D
Are there any other components I should buy? Or casings or anything?
I have already emailed you to the address in your avatar, so you can email me back there if you would like.
Please let me know.
Thanks again everybody!
It is very much appreciated.

Lucy
Posted: 2/10/2009 10:59:11 AM
Luckiluce

Joined: 1/21/2009

Also thank you Gordon... 50cm... I will remember that!
: D

Lucy
Posted: 2/10/2009 4:33:21 PM
GordonC

From: Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, UK

Joined: 10/5/2005

You're welcome.

Part of the fun of building your own is devising your own enclosure. Maybe you could take care of the box and your boyfriend could fill it? A shared interest...

Enclosures come in all forms, from cardboard boxes to works of amazing craftsmanship. Here's one of my personal favourites.

[img]http://kulturserver-berlin.de/home/sudmann/there1.JPG[/img]
- view larger (http://kulturserver-berlin.de/home/sudmann/there.html) -

Posted: 2/10/2009 4:56:40 PM
Luckiluce

Joined: 1/21/2009

Hahaha!!
They are brilliant!!!
Love it!
: D
They're so exciting!
This is where my artistic skills will come in handy! : )
Thanks Gordon!
Lucy
Posted: 2/11/2009 3:28:55 AM
FredM

From: Eastleigh, Hampshire, U.K. ................................... Fred Mundell. ................................... Electronics Engineer. (Primarily Analogue) .. CV Synths 1974-1980 .. Theremin developer 2007 to present .. soon to be Developing / Trading as WaveCrafter.com . ...................................

Joined: 12/7/2007

Gordon,

How did you manage to embed that picture into the thread? - I want to be able to do that!!!
Posted: 2/11/2009 4:20:05 AM
GordonC

From: Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, UK

Joined: 10/5/2005

[b][img]insert image url here[/img][/b]

Images are automatically resized to the same width as above (100 pixels.) It helps to put a link to a full sized copy as I did.

:-)

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