Peter Pringle and the EPro

Although I do not play the theremin, I have been experimenting with applying effects on sine waves and the like after recording, to see if there is a simple way to make square and sine waves softer and more pleasing to the ear.

The quality of the sound (near identical to that produced by most digital theremins) can be dramatically improved by adding a small amount of reverb, smoothing the waveform and simply boosting the higher frequencies with an equaliser. This is partly what Peter Pringle does in real-time whilst performing.

If you were to edit your recordings after the performance then you should be able to improve the timbre dramatically, just by doing some of the things listed above. I do it to MIDI files all the time- it makes certainly makes them sound less electronic.

Pre- and post- EQ'ing sound different. Many factors, incl. recording method, interaction between the instrument and pre-eq, etc.

As they say, you can't polish a turd - you cannot "fix it in the mix". The best recordings are done with properly-setup pre-EQ voicing and preamp characteristics. You can get close with post processing. For most people though this is snake oil.

Distortion is another effect quite useful in smoothing out the tone of an instrument. Note a guitar played thru a solid-state amp compared to a tube amp - the tube amp (due to it's even-order harmonic clipping) sounds warmer, sweeter, better.

Another variation on the reverb idea is to make a copy of the recorded track, and time-shift it behind by a milisecond or two. Pan each track hard left and right - depending on the instrument and playing it can create an enormous stereo spread.

I agree it is better to do the EQ'ing on th eincoming signal as opposed to the final recording. I do the same with effects when possible.

That way the performer interacts with the actual sound being produced. When I use effects (whether on the theremin, guitar, or bass) I tend to play the effects as well as the instrument.