"Magic Instrument - Theremin Tremin, Introduction and Getting Started"｜Audio Technology and Sound Exploration

opening

In the early 20th century, after acoustic instruments dominated human hearing for centuries, scientists gained new insights and discoveries about how sound is produced.

foreword

In the Moscow laboratory, scientists led by Ioffe were suffering from a request from the Soviet Union at that time, studying various analog circuits, trying to create a more convenient and encrypted radio system.

Among them, a young man who was deeply fascinated by the fields of electricity and music, which seemed to be unrelated at the time, accidentally discovered that when he soldered a circuit above an analog oscillator (Analog Oscillator), There will be noises broadcast through the test speakers (speakers). Miraculously, he found that the noises would change because of his actions. After several tests and modifications, he developed a box-like experimental body. In other words, the box-like musical instrument affects the circuit through the swing of the human body, thereby changing the oscillation frequency of the oscillator, and making sounds of different highs and lows.

Today, a hundred years later, I can still imagine the impassioned explanation of the principles and the amazing, magical live performance when he assembled all the scientists in the lab to present the invention in front of everyone.

To this day, this instrument that can be played without touching it still feels like magic.

The scientist, named Leon Theremin, showed great interest and enthusiasm in electricity and music before he officially started school. He studied at the Conservatory of Music in high school, and entered the Polytechnic University across fields. The opportunity of Ioffe's collaborative research, Theremin is a pioneering genius who changed the field of human electricity and germinated the possibilities of electronic music.

It is a pity that he was born in troubled times and was soon forced to serve in the Soviet army due to the outbreak of the war, and began a life of upheaval.

This article will begin to introduce the instrument Theremin. If you want to read more about Leon Theremin's life, readers can search for Leon Theremin directly on the search engine.

Profile Theremin - Theremin

In the foreword, the author briefly mentions Leon Theremin's original design concept and conception, allowing the human body to play without touching the instrument itself.

The detailed principle is that the oscillator (oscillator) in the machine forms a loop with the metal antennas protruding on the left and right sides, and the metal antenna is surrounded by a weak electromagnetic field. When the static electricity of the human body enters the weak electromagnetic field, the capacitance value in the circuit design will be changed accordingly. , the oscillator also changes the oscillation frequency and value accordingly, and in order to make the two metal antennas that control the volume (Volume Antenna) and the pitch (Pitch Antenna) respectively, the phases do not negotiate with each other, so one is vertical and the other is parallel. state.

Image source:
The original picture is no longer available. This picture is from Discover Magazine . Theremin himself looks a bit like Doctor Strange.

Actual performance video,
Performance by Dr. Samuel Hoffman (musician, Thereminist)

When Robert Moog fell in love with Theremin

Maybe you are not so familiar with Robert Moog, but his contribution to the world is definitely beyond your imagination. The author will briefly introduce him here. He is a legendary figure who changed the fields of audio science and electronic music. The most important part of Moog's illustrious history in physics was building a Synthesizer that allowed people to create sounds from scratch.

His contributions and stories are worth your in-depth understanding,
Moog Official Site
This website is a museum created by the Moog Foundation , called Moogseum, mainly for educational purposes.

 The opportunity for Moog to fall in love with the electronic sound that acoustic instruments can't make came from his teenage years, when he relied on Theremin's circuit design to improve and build his own Theremin.

Moog has since set out to investigate the circuit mechanisms that allow oscillators to generate a variety of changes in a more orderly, regular, and diverse manner, and then developed the "subtractive synthesis" that defines the way most synthesizers work today. Different waveforms are shaped by filters and adding various modulations.

Because of Moog, synthesizers are no longer only operated by scientists specializing in electricity. Composers, performers or even ordinary people can create and play sounds through synthesizers. In the middle and late 20th century, this kind of human has never heard of it. The peculiar sounds of the past have widely appeared in popular music, film and television, especially many horror movies at that time, all of which were played by synthesizers.

For example, Wendy Carlos produced the horror classics The Shining (ghost shop), A Clockwork Orange (clockwork orange) and other soundtracks, completely orchestrated by Moog synthesizers.

However, even though Theremin has a history of more than 100 years, the Theremin mass-produced by Moog Company makes it expensive due to its fine production and numerous functions. If you buy Theremin from other manufacturers, you will find that most of the functions are limited to "playing" (for example , the well-known Japanese magazine "Adult Science " has launched a DIY Theremin), which is not suitable for real performance. place.

Stumbled upon Theremin by Gaudi Lab in Switzerland

A few months ago, when I first saw the Theremin recommended by foreign netizens in a film, I was amazed.

This theremin developed by Gaudi Lab puts all the circuits and antenna contacts into a small circuit board. As long as the tripod is installed, you can start playing. What is even cooler is that Audio is directly mounted on the top of the machine. Out, so that the sound can be directly connected through the common 3.5 mm audio cable, and even has a control voltage output (Control Voltage, CV Out), so that the Theremin can directly use the CV signal to control other analog electronic instruments (such as other synthesizers) .

Not only that, the Theremin's circuit and programming are completely open source, and there are four knobs that can respectively control Volume / Pitch / Sensitivity and tone (waveform), and also have an automatic correction function.

Some people in foreign countries directly modified it, installed it in the modular synthesizer case, and directly integrated it into a Theremin modular synthesizer. The pictures below will be shared, but the production difficulty and technical requirements are quite high—

When I saw this Theremin and its price for the first time, I immediately wanted to buy one, and I also wanted to bring something like this to Taiwan. If readers are interested, you can refer to our store link below, maybe there will be opportunities in the future List this Theremin.

_Way To Exist. Official Website

There is a guide store to try!

If anyone is really interested, you can also email us directly.
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