Question about antenna sensitivity...

What is it that determines how sensitive the pitch antenna is? When I say "sensitive," I'm referring to how close I have to be before it starts to respond. I'm not sure if it's possible, but my goal is to make it so that the pitch starts to change when I'm several feet away.

It may seem a bit unpractical, but for this application I'm actually not interested in musical-functionality. I'm an art student (sculpture student to be exact) and I plan on integrating a few theremins into a sculpture I'm working on, as a kind of viewer-participation-piece.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

- Brandon

You shouldn't have much trouble getting the antenna to sense you 2 to 4 feet away. Check out Christopher's Lev antenna. It uses a ferrite antenna and a tuning capacitor from a small AM radio to trim the antenna. The environment the antenna is in will affect the sensitivity. The less stuff around the antenna the more sensitive it can be. Especially metal. Even extra wood in the area can reduce the sensitivity. I suspect tuning drift will be more of a problem for you than sensitivity.

HTH

Grasshoper

great!

where do we find info on "Christopher's Lev antenna"?

Try Google:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=Christopher+Lev+antenna&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

The first few hits should take you to all the relevant pages. Good luck with your installation. It sounds like it'll be great fun!