theremin amp: take two

Hijacked? Well I'd rather think of it as inspiration and the reason why I moved my posts over to "construction".

Like Jul, I can't afford to buy expensive amps either ... but I have the advantage of being able to build them :)

Sorry for the distraction.

Don

$59 for a Behringer 15-watt keyboard amp, shipping free, ("Ultratone HT108") at www.abesofmaine.com

This is a perfectly good theremin practice amp.

--Oops $55. abesofmaine knocked it down $5 while I wasn't looking!

[i]go ahead, call me a traitor.[/i]

Well, if you insist.

You Traitor! You Turncoat!! You Quisling!!!

Feel better now? :-)

I second the advice from Thierry, Thomas Grillo and Kevin Kissinger etc. (Yes, I'm on aetherphon too. I [i]really[/i] need to get out more.)




And also, please don't be too concerned about blowing up your household appliances. There are probably laws about that sort of thing, and it is most likely that any explosion will be safely contained within the flimsy plastic shell of the device, should there be a big bang when you plug something in. Do not worry about the chandelier shaking loose from it's rusty mooring and plummeting like a crystalline Sword of Damocles - that really is very rare. The worst that could realistically occur is that the loud report may startle your ageing butler (shell shocked and consequently of a nervous disposition) making him flinch and causing the hillocks of dandruff snow-capping his shoulders to avalanche into your consommé like so much month-old parmesan. Ooh, I *hate* it when that happens.

Any line-level amplifier should work.. and this includes 'active' speakers (loudspeakers with amplifier incorperated) such as those for PC's..

I use a pair of MicroLab active speakers for testing (Dont want to connect experimental stuff up to my main Kenwood + Tannoy Golds)..

Altec Lansing do a range of extremely cheap, good sounding active speakers - the Altec 120i is about £25, for 20W RMS total (one ported bass unit with 2 HF satelites) or there is the Logitech X-230 (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/devices/208&cl=roeu,en) which has Total RMS power: 32 W RMS
Satellites: 12 W RMS (6 W x 2)
Subwoofer: 20 W RMS
and I have seen these on sale at £19.. The X-230 has an advantage of headphone output, so one could add a small mixer to play along with (say) a CD, and do this without bothering any wildlife...

Go to a guitar shop, or anywhere that sells amplifiers and speakers, and TEST as many as possible. If you aren't prepared to do this than anything that makes a sound will be acceptable for practise, provided it has a fairly large response (so don't buy something the size of a pinhead).

Thanks to all of you gents for all of your help with the amp thing.

I've taken notes and know what to get when the time comes.

For now, I'm plugged into the stereo and have begun practicing in earnest (and Gordon, the chandeliers and the butler are just fine).

So now I have to exit this thread and go over to HOW DO I PLAY THIS GOD DAMN THING.

Sorry.

Just a bit frustrated.

Jul

We've all been there. There's some serious skills to acquire and it can be a slow learning curve. But sooooo worth it! Do let us know how you get along - it's encouraging.

And, yeah, we do seem to be all gents, don't we. There are ladies as well, but they don't post as often. It puzzles me - for an electronic instrument there is an unusually high proportion of really great female players but they do tend to keep their thoughts to themselves. Shame really - theremin playing is as much emotional and intuitive as it is technical and, at the risk of stereotyping, I think a higher proportion of postings from women would go a long way to reflecting that on the forum.

Perhaps some of us oafish blokes might learn a thing or two. :-)

thereminjul, so glad to hear you've plugged in and started to play. I started out using powered computer speakers and it took a while to evolve to my current set up.

Playing - ah, that's the reason to get a theremin.
I found a play-a-long song, anything you know well and can sing to all the way through, was great for opening and closing my practice sessions.

You reminded me of one of my favorite lines from the Saxton Method
'Tabourot's Law of Learning' in brief:
"Tabourot's Law states that success always comes after you start screaming in frustration but before you actually give up."' - Quoted from Dr. R.B.Sexton; "Method for the Theremin".

Sorry - more topic drift...

omhoge - are you still looking for Sexton's Method For Theremin? There's a "new and second hand" one at Amazon. clicky (http://www.amazon.com/Method-Theremin-Bk-Robert-Sexton/dp/1881428087/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217582969&sr=1-1)

(I found it by googling Tabourot and Theremin.)