Theremin Lip-Sync Scandal

Oh those finger nails:

Jo said: "I was just commenting on how there doesn't seem like there would be a whole lot more to it than has already been done by more than a few theremin designers."

I wish I could have found your list of volume control builders, I did ask around before I began. The stand alone volume control is much more difficult to design than the pitch only side, so it could have saved me a lot of time.

I thought the brilliant Domnik had one but it was not available to the public, who are you talking about?

Off topic: Thereminists only one of these as a middle finger extender would be needed. Something very much worth exploring!

Photo furnished by Invisiblejelly

Most pitch-and-volume theremin schematics I've looked at have a volume control that should be able to work on its own as far as I could tell.  Correct me if I'm wrong here (it would honestly be really educational and seriously helpful to me right now), but say you took for instance a Theremax kit ( http://paia.com/ProdArticles/Images/therschl.gif ), took out the pitch oscillators, the mixer, and the low-pass filter, and put the tip lug of a phone jack somewhere around C36, with the sleeve lug of course going to ground.  Is there any reason that wouldn't work as a standalone volume control?

Absolutely your approach would work!

Would you use their pcb or layout your own board? This is where the work comes in. I always prefer to buy something already finished on the market, it is less expensive and less time consuming in the long run.

I don't know of any proximity volume control I can go to a music shop and buy. Not being a musician I have no idea what is available. Nothing is more annoying than reinventing the wheel. The theremin has a lot room for improvement to make it more acceptable.

I use a different approach than the Theremax but we are similar in the oscillator area. I did not want to put in the effort to make a volume as there are more productive theremin aspects I need to work on. I am not an engineer as I think you also stated so often my approach is going to be different. All my work is original in design as I never looked at other designs just for the challenge. I did use the Hartley oscillator circuit only because he born before I was. (-'

It seems we all have a different approach to theremin design which is a good thing. My research is very public with sound samples as I never had anything to sell and never intended to play this darn instrument.

The only thing I keep private is my analog method of Clara's sound as that was a gift for me.

Christopher

I don't know of any proximity volume control I can go to a music shop and buy.

That's probably true, but more because there's never been a market for it than because the technology isn't there. Plenty of other types of standalone volume controls exist and are on the market. 

A proximity control is a pretty specialized concept with a learning curve and other technical issues most musicians wouldn't be interested in tackling.  Still, like I said, it could be cool for a hobbyist who wants to augment a pitch-only theremin, use a unique style of volume control for a synth or organ, or build other theremin-type instruments, such as the ribbon array I mentioned above. 

Not really proposing any project or making any claims about my own ability here, just playing devil's advocate and justifying the theoretical existence of such a device.

Jo said: "Not really proposing any project or making any claims about my own ability here, just playing devil's advocate and justifying the theoretical existence of such a device."

Your creative thinking is a refreshing character you have. I don't know how old you are (-' but in the last ten years I have watched this aspect of human existence become erased from the population. As mentioned in another thread there seems to be a correlation between texting, facebook and a bigger picture, so sad.

All my theremin work is a gift, for the mere fact I can do it. The enigma stand alone volume control was designed for one particular person as a gift from me. Along the way different little features I realized could be added like switching the response direction without retuning or having a wide 18" volume shading area or a snappy 2" and there is more...

Imagination is a terrible thing to waste.

That is why TW needed us the past few days...after the nightmare she has been sleeping.

christopher wrote: "....The only thing I keep private is my analog method of Clara's sound as that was a gift for me."

Where can we hear this?

coalport said: "Where can we hear this?"

Are you being silly again? Her voice is an illusion in the corridors of my mind!

Christopher

I don't know how old you are (-' but in the last ten years I have watched this aspect of human existence become erased from the population. As mentioned in another thread there seems to be a correlation between texting, facebook and a bigger picture, so sad.

Let's say I'm a little too young for gen x and a little too old for gen y, and grew up as a so-called child prodigy until the humbling experience of leaving an engineering school to get an art degree, so I know just enough from each world to have plenty of ideas, and not enough to get them anywhere usually.

Imagination is a terrible thing to waste.

That is why TW needed us the past few days...after the nightmare she has been sleeping.

All too true. Glad to be of assistance.

I don't know of any proximity volume control I can go to a music shop and buy. - Christopher.

Now you do...

http://zvex.com/trem.html

Jo - I agree completely with you about the volume only theremin. I have an effects loop mod in my etherwave (actually, an effects path, but for this a simple loop would work fine) which, amongst other things, allows it to act as a volume only theremin, and it does make a significant improvement to one-handed fixed volume electronic instruments - even something as crude as a stylophone sounds a whole lot better!

Incidentally, theremin makers take note, I have demonstrated the effects loop to various musicians who know a lot about electronic instruments in general, but not too much about theremins and their response is usually an incredulous "This doesn't come as standard? Why on Earth not?"