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I'll study your last response. I think I'm beginning to understand . . . ]]> Sun, 6 Jul 2008 19:45:19 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3405&F=3
Update-

TeslaTheremin worked on it, and found a bad transistor. We called radioshack, and they didn?t have it, so we were out of luck. Oh well. Then we looked at a few odd spare resistors and such left over in the old box I keep it in, and there was a transistor. It was just the one we needed to replace! After putting that in, and doing more work (including some tuning and antenna work), TeslaTheremin got it to work!

I haven?t unpacked it yet or put it in the wooden box I have for it, but wow, thanks TeslaTheremin! I?ll update everyone with how it goes.

Have a fun day everyone!

Equinox

P.S. TeslaTheremin also demonstrated his cool Tesla coil. Not for the faint of heart!
]]> Sun, 6 Jul 2008 19:23:52 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3399&F=5
I thought the price for an used, black cabin EPro would be around 3000 Euro, but nowadays the USA Dollar is so low (or the Euro so high) I am not sure of its market value.
]]> Sun, 6 Jul 2008 16:34:31 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3433&F=1 Sun, 6 Jul 2008 14:30:27 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3440&F=1 . . . i.e. the potentiometer varies the intensity of the signal that comes from the hand-influenced pitch "antenna" circuit. It comes AFTER your hand has done its work, and BEFORE the two signals (fixed and variable) are summed (or, more accurately, _differenced_) to yield the signal that eventually goes to the amp. Have I got that right?

Mais non, pas forc?ment!

The potentiometer just changes the off-load frequency of one of both oscillators. Lets see an example:

The potentiometer acts on the fixed oscillator and allows to vary its frequency from 170 to 172kHz. The variable oscillator runs on 171kHz and goes down to 168kHz when you approach your hand.

With the potentiometer on the 170kHz side you will hear 171-170=1kHz when your hand is far away. Your hand comes nearer and the pitch goes down to 0Hz (Zero beat) when your hand forces the variable osc. down to 170kHz. Your hand comes still nearer until the variable osc. is at 168kHz. The pitch will then go up from 0 to 2kHz. The playing range is reduced since the zero beat zone is inside the useful playing distance and you can only go up to 2kHz

With the potentiometer on the 172kHz side you will hear 172-171=1kHz when your hand is far away. Your hand comes nearer and the pitch goes steadily up to 172-168=4kHz when your hand comes nearer. This is the other extreme. Zero beat is far away and you will not be able to play frequencies below 1kHz.

"Tuning" would mean to adjust the potentiometer so that both oscillators frequencies were close beneath so that zero beat marks the beginning of the useful playing distance which gives you the maximum range (0 to 3kHz).

The pitch adjust is initially not intended to directly influence the playing range, but to compensate other effects: The environment (grounding, humidity etc.) influences also the variable oscillator by lowering its off-load frequency because it adds more or less capacity to the pitch antenna. Out of that, oscillators vary their frequency with time and temperature. The goal of adjusting (by whatever circuitry) is to come back to the ideal situation described in the paragraph before.

I hope that this is understandable - it is very difficult for me to explain complex stuff in English - a language which I do not really master (compared to French or German). I must use a dictionary in order to write such postings.]]> Sun, 6 Jul 2008 00:08:02 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3440&F=1 Sat, 5 Jul 2008 23:13:29 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3440&F=1
Ah, comes the dawn! So that pitch tuning dial works not on the field or on its generative circuit but on the signal emerging from the circuit associated with it.

Thanks to M. Thierry, "qui comprend sans effort le langage des fleurs et des choses muettes," not to mention the insides of theremins!

Bests,

Eliot]]> Sat, 5 Jul 2008 23:07:14 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3440&F=1
a) A variable capacitor which acts either on the variable or on the fixed oscillator. Mostly found in historical designs.

b) Very rare: A varicap diode which acts like a variable capacitor under the influence of a variable DC voltage coming from a potentiometer. Same effect as under a)

c) A potentiometer which gives a variable DC voltage in order to influence the working point of one of the oscillators. Found in the Moog Etherwave Standard, the Burns B3 and in lots of cheap CMOS designs.

From an academic point of vue, it doesn't matter on which of both oscillators you act, since it is only their frequency difference which comes into account after the mixer. You also never adjust the behaviour of the field around the pitch rod, but only the audible consequence of influencing the field by your hand capacity. One might get the impression that "tuning" would also have an effect on linearity, but this is only a nice side effect which is due to the superposition of hyperbolic and logarithmic functions.

I'll stop here before this becomes a dissertation on function theory...]]> Sat, 5 Jul 2008 21:20:45 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3394&F=3
I'm not an expert, but schematics I've seen for valve thereminae are slightly more complicated than the average portable radio circuit.

Kit]]> Sat, 5 Jul 2008 18:43:36 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3440&F=1
It ain't a voltage thing, right? Because a tank circuit like these has a frequency unrelated to applied voltage--isn't that what resonant circuits are all about?

Thanks, folks!]]> Sat, 5 Jul 2008 12:50:35 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3437&F=739
Strange Yahoo news article entitled: "Theremug - or how to make a theremin out of a teacup."

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/techdigest/20080704/ttc-the-theremug-or-how-to-make-a-therem-e870a33.html

Also the theremin got a mention on BBC radio 2's "Friday Night is Music Night" last night. No actual theremin playing or anything; I just heard the word mentioned in connection with some of the music played, and nearly fell off my chair in surprise. Good job it wasn't the Friday before, as I was actualy at the live recording of the programme!]]> Sat, 5 Jul 2008 11:13:18 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3439&F=4 CC]]> Sat, 5 Jul 2008 11:10:58 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3437&F=739 Sat, 5 Jul 2008 10:11:29 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3437&F=739 because I was blind. Punching people on the nose doesn't generally help, but it would have been sorely tempting.

I'm glad he had a blast with the theremin. And the performance was amusing.

I didn't recognise the theremin. Looks a bit like a Burns B3 Pro, but I don't think it is. (At 5:54 on the first video.)

]]> Sat, 5 Jul 2008 09:49:48 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3437&F=739
They learn of the musical challenge:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lFU8KzCPv8

They practice and play:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9oghcSdL3k

Blind guy talks about playing the "Theremon" (2:28):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYF5H7LndwA

The blind guy got to play the Theremin for the challenge. He had some interesting things to say about playing it afterward.]]> Sat, 5 Jul 2008 08:29:05 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3439&F=4 Chris Conway - Contact Light CD, often featured on Spellbound Radio is now available from iTunes.
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=282388967

It's also available from CDBaby as CD or download http://cdbaby.com/cd/cconway9

and from Amazon.com as a download
http://www.amazon.com/Contact-Light/dp/B001AUGBXO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1215133453&sr=1-3

...
I am also giving away a couple of new tracks from a forthcoming album "Yttrium" from my Continuum trio.
1. "Way Back Out" is downloadable from myspace
http://www.myspace.com/chrisconwaymusics

2. "Neptunium" is at Reverbnation
http://www.reverbnation.com/chrisconway

enjoy

Christo
http://www.chrisconway.org]]> Fri, 4 Jul 2008 01:16:05 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3438&F=4 Quad Studios http://www.quadstudios.co.uk
78 Friday Street
Leicester
LE1 3BW
UK

8pm - free

A night of improvised electronic soundscapes featuring various combinations of Chris Conway (theremin, flutes, effects), Alan & Steve Freeman (electronics), Bob Bryars (electronic percussion), Simon Strangeguitar (guitar & guitar synth) and more.

This is still a new thing at this venue - at our previous venue we were replaced by a pasta & topless waitresses night....

http://www.chrisconway.org]]> Fri, 4 Jul 2008 00:58:33 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3433&F=1
I have a lot family in MA and I love to visit.
If you have yet to find someone, please e-mail me.

Kip Rosser
www.performancekr.com]]> Thu, 3 Jul 2008 23:30:47 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3437&F=739 Not seen by me, honest. I was reliably informed that the morons in the above show were given a Theremin as part of a musical task...Bizzare I am not sure when though.]]> Thu, 3 Jul 2008 20:11:27 GMT http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=3348&F=557 Congrats on the Moog theremin project.
That new case is going to look great,
perfect for playing the waves of the aether.

Keep us posted how it turns out and your theremin music making.
]]> Thu, 3 Jul 2008 19:19:01 GMT