The pitch preview display -- how it should be

Peter said: You are describing EAR TRAINING, and there is no question that an accurate tuning device is very helpful with that. As far as performance is concerned, a thereminist should not need a visual prompter to know if the note is on pitch. 

It is partially ear training. it is also muscle memory building, and improving awareness of body movement and other hidden variables. essentially, theremin training, as Fred put it. The high resolution tuner in MIDI Merlin can be used to help a theremin player become aware of many different areas of his/her playing. For example: the consistency of the vibrato oscillation; location of vibrato oscillation with respect to the pitch center; the shape of the vibrato oscillation, the transition time when changing from note to note; the degree of pitch error for certain finger/hand/arm motions compared to others; the degree of stillness of the body; accurate measurement of the theremin's pitch range linearity. many of these things are difficult to examine closely with a slow tuner.

I think the challenge is getting over the technical hurdle of using a computer and connecting the theremin via an audio interface.  If you download it, try it for yourself, and find that you do not become more aware of aspects in your playing, then you are free to delete it. I have made the tool freely available. It allows anyone to "see" his/her theremin's pitch represented in a real-time with a resolution of 1 cent. It does require putting forth a little effort, and having a tiny bit of enthusiasm to try something new. I realize not everyone is inclined to using computer software, but I'm willing to help anyone that needs help hooking it up. for now, it is still located at this address: http://cycling74.com/project/midi-merlin/

for those theremin players who are set on their methods, or don't feel the 'want/need' to improve, or do not feel they have a capacity to improve their theremin playing, MIDI Merlin would pretty much be useless. I will not be upset if it ends up in the trash can on your Windows or Mac operating system. It all ultimately depends on each person, whether or not he/she is satisfied with the music that he/she creates with the theremin.

"There is no advantage for any theremin manufacturer in increasing the cost of his instrument by adding a visual preview" - Coalport

This is the only thing you have said so far, that I disagree with.. ;-) I think the "theremin market" is "clustered" into about 3 "zones" - "Low end" rubbish, then the "mid band" at which the bottom is probably the LV-3 (although its pricing also puts it at the top of the low-end band) and extends to the EW+ and includes the Burns et al, and then there is the "high-end" (and true "high-end" theremins are sparce - RCA,E-PRO,TVOX,E-VOX,91's) and those being manufactured now are borderline "high-end" in all but price - Wavefront and "Theremax with RCA switch" ;-) being ones that come to mind..

Those competing for the low-end and "mid band" market have greatest competition - The low-end has no slack (in terms of cost) so adding anything is folly... But if competing against say the top Burns or the EW, any VISIBLE extra "feature" could well persuade an ignorant newbee to buy the theremin with this "feature" - even in preference to a better, similarly priced theremin which has nothing obviously "special" about it.

For a theremin with truly digital topology, Visual pitch indication could probably be added for almost the cost of the LEDs (cents) only - And it would therefore be, IMO, wise for anyone manufacturing digital theremins to include visual pitch display.. It can do no harm, would prevent gross pitch wander over a long solo piece if this was ever required, could help with ear training and early learning..... AND, most important, it WOULD help to sell the theremins!

I think with the digital theremin its (and my suggestion below) are worth doing, as added cost is probably minimal - With an analogue theremin where one must construct the entire pitch detection circuit, the cost will be substantially higher and probably outweigh any sales advantage.

But, IMO, If one has the technology to quantize the pitch (as in, determine the degree of deviation of the pitch from any note in the ETS) , a far better use for this would be to implement my suggestion of some years ago - ON-KEY-EMPHASIS..

If the volume of either the "cue" signal or (for a completely different theremin sound) the main output was adjusted so that it increased as the note came closer to being "on key" one has, I think, the best of both worlds... Lets say that, when further than 20cents away from the true note, the audio was attenuated by 30db, and as one got closer to the true note, the attenuation decreased Logarithmically so that, when "on key"(within 1 cent) it was 0db (full volume heard)..

Having the "window" and "depth" adjustable and having the ability to apply this to both the audio preview and / or the main (where the attenuation would be applied to whatever level is set by the volume antenna) would cover monitoring requirements and also facilitate a major audio "feature" for modifying the theremins sound.

Fred.

Fred, I think you misunderstood me.

I am not suggesting that adding a visual preview is not a good idea. What I am saying is that it would needlessly increase the price of the instrument, because a preview is something that can easily be added later, as a peripheral, by any buyer who wants one.

As Randy points out, a visual preview is great for 'ear training' and developing muscle memory. It doesn't make sense to add, as a permanent fixture, what is essentially a practice tool that not everyone is going to want, particularly if it is going to add to the cost of the instrument. 

About muscle memory. 

Muscle memory is unreliable. And the more exacting the task, the more unreliable it is. When we walk, we use muscle memory very efficiently but walking is a task that does not require enormous precision. 

Playing the theremin demands a degree of exactness that human physiology is not particularly well adapted to deliver, and muscle memory will only get you so far. The rest is the skillful use of hand/ear coordination for the relentless job of "trimming". As the late Bob Moog said of Clara Rockmore: 

"She is constantly moving her hands, listening to the resulting pitch changes, then trimming the precise position of her hands to home in on the desired pitch and volume. The process is essentially one of continuous aural feedback."

There are theremin techniques that depend far too much on the pinpoint accuracy and consistency of muscle memory and the result is frequent and predictable pitch disasters which cannot be masked with the clever use of vibrato (it is vibrato that masks the "trimming" technique that Moog mentions). If you use a theremin method that requires you to use muscle memory to aim for, and hit, an exact pitch and then "warm it up" with a little bit of gentle vibrato, you're in for trouble! Your precision is going to suffer depending on the speed with which you are expected to play, and the size of the intervals you must negotiate accurately. 

There are lots of videos on the internet, from well established thereminists, that more than adequately illustrate the problems I describe above. 

"For a theremin with truly digital topology, Visual pitch indication could probably be added for almost the cost of the LEDs (cents) only - And it would therefore be, IMO, wise for anyone manufacturing digital theremins to include visual pitch display.. It can do no harm, would prevent gross pitch wander over a long solo piece if this was ever required, could help with ear training and early learning..... AND, most important, it WOULD help to sell the theremins!"  - FredM

It's true that the materials cost could be quite low.  There is are almost always some ROM code space and spare clock cycles left over with an embedded processor, some orphaned logic languishing in the corners of an FPGA.  The real cost is in any extra manufacturing steps / time, and the code development NRE.

The biggest issue for me is "trimming" the display itself - i.e. giving it a professional look.  There will be a backlit LCD as part of the UI, so the question is how to incorporate a bar or ring of multi-color LEDs into the physical design.  Ideally one could buy a plastic or metal bezel with a smoked plexiglas insert that would cover both displays, but I'm not sure where to get something like that.  Bezels at Mouser / Digikey are either too small or too expensive.

Surface mount LEDs make the most sense from a manufacturing standpoint, but I think there is a value in seeing the full LED ring even when the LEDs aren't illuminated for the extra positional information.  This makes me think I should either use thru-hole LEDs and just have them poke through the case, or somehow have most or all of the LEDs lit during normal operation.

"The biggest issue for me is "trimming" the display itself - i.e. giving it a professional look." - Dewster

Oh yes - the physical / manufacturing side of things is a right royal pain, particularly if you cant afford more than a few hundred.. Particularly for displays etc. I am sure that if someone was to manufacture a set of useful display / UI "faces" at a fair price, there must be a big market for these - from the electronics DIY lot to manufacturers making things like theremins... ;-)

The only products I have seen which are affordable are these plastic labelling systems where one can have transparent films within the label - they are multi layer DIY laminates - not cheap, but not killing.. Nearly bought a kit (about £150 some years back) but didnt (and glad I didnt - At present, reverse colour lazer printing onto transparencies suits my purposes).

I will see if I can find a link and post it here.

Fred.

"Fred, I think you misunderstood me.

I am not suggesting that adding a visual preview is not a good idea. What I am saying is that it would needlessly increase the price of the instrument, because a preview is something that can easily be added later, as a peripheral, by any buyer who wants one." - Coalport

No, I think I understand you ;-) And I agree with all you say (on this thread at least ;-) ...  Yes, adding external visual preview is an option (particularly if the theremin has an audio preview output..

And there is Randy's free software..

And I personally dont see any great benefit in having visual preview built into the theremin if it adds much cost..

BUT - If the additional cost is trivial, Then (and only then) do I think it is worth including .. And I think (but I am on the Ferengi death list ;-) that whether useful or not, inclusion will increase sales if this inclusion adds say $5 or at least less than say $10 to the retail price.

Fred.

If including a visual pitch preview significantly increases the cost of the theremin and discourages sales, on the Ferengi home world you could be arrested, and possibly executed, for the crime of having engaged in an unprofitable enterprise.

The Ferengi, BTW, have extremely large ears and exquisitely sensitive hearing. Their enormous lobes are also one of the Ferengi primary erogenous zones.

Ferengi females are not permitted the luxury of wearing clothes. 

I have big lobes ... >.<

" have big lobes ... >.<" _Amey

Thats just a genetic throwback from a distant common ancestor - so distant it makes the guinne pig a comparatively close ancestor to modern humans! .. Probably more like the rare lobolytes whos fossils have been found on several planets ..

Strange creatures these lobolites - Large lobes, but not much else.. two neurons for a brain (two were required to process stereo), rudimentary circulation / breathing / eating etc.. But lots of "essentials" seem to be missing..

"the crime of having engaged in an unprofitable enterprise." - Coalport

And its worth noting that NOT ONE THEREMIN has EVER been manufactured by ANY Ferengi enterprise! 

This just proves that theremins cannot be profitable!

I should make love to my theremin by rubbing my lobes on its attractive antenna ;) Making little love squeaks.

Obviously, I need serious meds...