Distant Voices Theremin

"Dewster, it does make a lot of sense, but losing the volume loop is a big deal - the question is, does everything that can be gained balance giving up half the magic of the theremin. For my purposes this seems like a worthwhile question to explore. For the dyed in the wool classical Thereminist, maybe not. Which may go someway to explaining why it is not more well known."  - GordonC

Theremin players & builders are a tiny group, but there's enough precedent and history to dictate the one fairly rigid way I suppose.  I don't play enough, but the volume side of things always has always bugged me as being the most non-intuitive, awkward element of traditional Theremins.  People who use Theremins in band situations are perhaps getting short shrift?

If you want to make "Noise Music" then a volume control is not only unnecessary, it could be a nuisance!

I find control of volume the most difficult aspect of playing a theremin, by a long way! - Pitch, with a reasonably linear theremin, is no problem for me - but combining pitch and volume control is damn near impossible.

However - For me, this is I think more to do with the fact that it takes every neuron in my brain to be focussed exclusively on pitch if I am to play in a way which doesnt irritate me (as to how much I irritate others when I play "in tune" I cannot say, LOL - Usually I wear headphones - my "in tune" may be completely delusional ;-) .. as soon as I must "think" about anything else, I just dont have the processing power, and everything falls over.

I found the above to be true for anything else I try to do - even a single switch driving an envelope generator.. And my efforts to "simplify" things by combining pitch and volume on a linear controller were abandoned because I found it unplayable - I now wonder if I was wrong here.. Perhaps it would have been playable by a thereminist or someone capable of multi-tasking.

I do not have a problem when I use ribbon type controllers with a theremin type volume control (one of my most promising areas of exploration is a capacitive "ribbon" controller with a capacitive volume pad, sort of like a keytar - Because the pitch slide area is absolutely linear, and because I can see the location of note positions, and because I can touch the slide board (it senses a finger up to about an inch away), I do not need to concentrate on pitch so much.. The volume pad is short range - I can rest my hand on the ground pad and control the volume with my fingers)

IMO, tactile feedback (even if only "pretend" tactile feedback - as in, this "feedback" does not actually carry or convey any real data) makes a huge difference - or at least it does to me.

I think my persistance with "conventional" theremins is just down to stubborness and insanity, LOL ;-) .. They really have nothing going for them except their weirdness and visual effect, oh, and yes - the sound that good ones make - Putting the sound into a sensible controller is a much more sensible direction I think - Anyway, 3 PCBs are sitting on my bench waiting to be populated to build my alternative controller - another two are being put together for a client's capacitive joystick..

Its really annoying - Just started to get back to actually working on building / testing designs again after years in simulation or "virtual theremin world" and all these people start giving me work I cannot turn down! ;-)

I am a little confused by the "theremaniacs" schematic supplied by RS.. I cannot see how this could possibly be the same as the board shown in their advertisement..

The schematic given is for a THEREMIN - As in, it has pitch and volume antennas..

The theremaniac board is pitch only..

The schematic shows 4 adjustable inductors, I only see 2 on the board.. The schematic shows 7 transistors,I only see 3 on the board.. So I presume that the "common" bits  must be the oscillators (Q1,Q2,L1 and L2) and the mixer (Q3).

There is nothing about the theremaniacs board which IMO makes it worth buying - at 1/3rd of the price, maybe - but for anyone who can use a soldering iron, the SC theremin kit (at about 1/3rd of the theremaniac boards price) is far better value.

It is good to see that the BS that originally accompanied the add has been removed - I found the denigrating of far better (competitors) theremins and statements like "Analogue circuits must have coils" really offensive.. Particularly when he posted waveforms alledgedly showing "digital" artifacts on his major competitors theremin (a $100 theremin which had pitch and volume antennas).

Given the choice of a Burns with 2 antennas, case and power supply and $50 change,or a 3 transistor circuit board at $150, I know what I would go for!

Oh, BTW - The tunable inductors are almost an irrelevance.. One could use a 42IF106 and select whatever taps you wanted for the frequency you wanted - these inductors will not affect the sound at all, and reading reviews of the theremaniac board it seems that you could only improve it when it comes to temperature drift (But this is only based on other peoples opinions - I have never played with one of these boards)

Anyone wanting a 3 transistor pitch only board, drop me a line! - for $150 I could get PCBs made and build 10, you could keep 3 and sell the others on ebay as free charity listing, donating the takings to http://streetkidsrescue.org/ - dont bother contacting me if you are in a hurry - The job would be low priority and it could be 3 months before I ordered the boards!

I just dont want to sell theremin junk!

Fred.

Hello,

here is this overpriced plastic toy in action - one boring czech death metal band gave really stunning performance at one concert. At 4.14 we can hear as Satan himself menacingly farts from hell... or maybe is it just laugh of damned souls amused for a while during this funny invoking :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lgQcHo-7vU

The guy on the video presenting this "theremin" talks about important things, for example that the theremin invented Leonid Termen or that is important plug this device into some amp... in the end he added, that this widara distant voices theremin was highly praised on renowned sites TW and therefore it is worth to buy one. Well, at least many people now can feel like Jimmy Page.

Ending on a high note, I rather enjoyed the show being the Thereminist out performed the band!  (-'

"... in the end he added, that this widara distant voices theremin was highly praised on renowned sites TW and therefore it is worth to buy one."  - Kuli Schreiber

Maybe others here have praised it (?) but this thread is the first I've heard of it (and I wouldn't praise that tone).

"was highly praised on renowned sites TW and therefore it is worth to buy one."  - Kuli Schreiber

Yeah - TW has now established itself as the most credible theremin "home", and people will abuse this and attempt to pass their theremins off as "TW Theremins" or "Approved by TW" unless they are discouraged from doing so!

IMO, these people are low life!

However.. I did not see any guy talking about the "theremin" or TW or, well, anything on that video - all I saw was a band making "noise music" or "music noise" or perhaps just noise with a few random "musical" bits thrown in.. I went there to provide a link to TW so people could actually read what had been said here, but thought id better check the video again (I never watched the whole thing the first time).

Fred.

And here it is..

The "endorsement" on the front page of TW!

http://www.thereminworld.com/Article/14641/distant-voices-a-new-pitch-only-theremin-from-widara

Complete with a pre-emptive assault on us "nay sayers" who think of the theremin as a musical instrument!

"And naysayers... Widara is one step ahead of you.  Here's an excerpt from their website:

Also this is not meant to play melodies as much as it is meant to produce a nice spectrum of horrifying sounds and noises."

A "nice spectrum" of "horrifying sounds and noises" ROFLMAO!!

Well, what can one say ? LOL - No lies there!  If I had read this before, I would not have been so scathing.. Yes, if you want a pretty little plastic box with an antenna sticking out the top, that is unplayable, and makes Horrifying sounds and noises.. Buy the Wildara Distant Voices "instrument" !

And at 83 Euros, its not too outrageous ... Almost cheap enough to use for the one application it would be really good at ... Hiding it in bushes around haloween time, so some unsuspecting person gets freaked by the horrifying sound as they walk bye..

At 1/2 the price of a Maniac board, its a lot neater - probably just as playable - no contest!

Fred.