Kit - An amazing musical Instrument played without touching anything . . .

 
RS Theremin

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Designs by Christopher  -  My Theremin Exploration Has Finally Reached Retirement!


Lev Sergeyevich Termen

A Letter from your Friend
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Last Page Update 09.01.07
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Clara Rockmore & Lev Termen
A Theremin Love Story
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  Bowing a Saw?  mp3 (270k)
No it's My RS Theremin

~ At its best the voice of the theremin will capture the soul of the performer along with the soul of the instrument maker ~
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"This makes them immortal"

  Clara's Voice 16 .mp3 (225k
Intimate analog not synthetic

  Lev's Favorite .mp3 (190k)
Polyphonic Theremin

“Theremin designers will arise from every generation to bastardize the electronics, attempting to capture her song with control, barely emulating her original design. If I could attain her voice however impure, so might you my friend or else my efforts would be mask in a beautiful enclosure displaying only pictures, my substitute from having to deliver any raw & unfiltered sound . . . this would leave me dispirited.”  Christopher    clara test8.mp3  (180 kb)

"Let the sun shine forever, let me be forever!"

Christmas '04 - the ether revealed the most profound component of theremin construction, the Ultimate Linear Pitch Antenna. Identical octave widths, it's Lev's gift to you   Learn More =>


Read =>  The Vision    and    The Illusion  <=Read

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Build My RS Ultimate 2 Theremin

It is about capturing a natural organic voice, not just building
 a pretty box with two cutoff coat hangers sticking out of it.

  • Play  3 to 5 octaves "Perfect Linear Pitch" for aerial fingering.
  • Play two voices for real-time optical volume & timbre control.
  • Null Point tuning LED turns off at Null Point or beams voice # 2.
  • Power On LED,  beams main voice # 1 for real time timbre mix.
  • Optical Volume Control -  excellent response, position like the standard hoop.
  • Line level output, drives computer amplified speakers or home stereo.
  • Batteries - uses  8 to 10 ma @ 6 volts on 4 AA batteries which will last years!
  • Temperature drift is a "non-issue" due to the balanced minimal part design.
  • Radio Shack parts are used to make this a possible weekend project.
  • True Heterodyne-Pitch / Optical-Volume - build for about $75 usd
"You will succeed if you focus on the invisible and do what seems impossible,
learn to play the only musical instrument you will not touch!"
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Schematics  
RS  Ultimate 2b <= "True Theremin", etch your board, optical volume 2 voice Timbre effect - A must visit!
Lev's Antenna <= This Antenna design gives the Ult-2b "perfect" linear pitch, really!
Optical Volume <=  CdS Photocell -Simple volume control better than a hoop.  Less than $5 usd
The Ultermen 5  <= Polyphonic Theremin Cello - Create Fascinating music with  5 Voices!  This extra board gives you Volume Control, Staccato & Timbre effects. Still experimental awesome potential!
Sixth Voice <= Square to Sine wave shaper used with the Ultermen 5 or Optical Theremin
Optical Theremin <=  A simple $15 technique to get that theremin effect, square wave output
My Links  
  Dr. Paul Tanner The Father of the Electro-Theremin on the 1966 Beach Boys "Good Vibrations" song. 
The Showcase Photos of your constructed Ultimate 2b Theremins - A must visit!
Acoustic Effects Using  "Acoustic Effects"   "A  free Gift is on this Page!"
The Graveyard Past photos and designs, just too good to bury
Observations My theory of how the theremin works, could most have it wrong?
The illusion Why most beginning theremin players quit before they start! - A must visit!
Aerial Fingering Understand better what you are observing as the Thereminist plays
The FAQ A messy page with valuable information
Who Am I ? Visit Christopher's home webpage. Where I live, photo's and more
test .mp3's  
Sine  .mp3 (54 k) Sine wave from the Ultimate 2b, every voice develops from this.
Over Rainbow .mp3 (235 k) Ultimate 2b  Perfecting transistor analog sound.
Clara's Voice .mp3 (225 k) Intimate, no reverb or faking the beauty of  true analog, coming soon.
One Angel .mp3 (297k) Advanced Ultermen 5, this reveals the broad range of octave sliding and blending with a complex analog pitch. I am using a metal bucket and Acoustic Effects
Get a .mp3 sample from any model you intend to buy or build. If none is available view that as a warning!!!
Valuable Links

Email - Christopher at RS Theremin:

theremin@oldtemeculaX.com  <=Remove X from your Email Address 

 

Several electronic devices over the years have been falsely identified as true theremins, yet stirred great interest in this unusual instrument.  Some of these devices emulated a analog theremin quite effectively but are better classified as alternative theremin concepts or replicants.

"Imagine an old timer interested in your keyboard and you try to convince him 
it's a old time piano while you know its a synth."
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Clara Rockmore
- played a "true theremin" using tubes (valves) built by Lev Termen. Clara's genius sets the standard we strive for today in her original true theremin sound and style of play.  "Vocalize"  .mp3 (777k) performed by Clara (circa 1940) demonstrates the essence of a pure theremin and a perfection in sound that modern day theremin designers "hope" to achieve.

Lydia Kavina  video on YouTube - Plays a "true theremin" using transistors. She is universally recognized as being one of the world's greatest virtuoso's of the theremin. The niece of Lev Termen's first cousin, Kavina was born in Moscow and began studying the theremin under the direction of Lev Termen when she was nine years old. Lydia's CD & MP3 Samples  

 
 
My Mentors Lev Termen Forrest M. Mims III Don Lancaster
 
Thinkers Meet some true theremin thinkers who blossomed into teachers!
Jason Barille - Founder of "Theremin World" with focus on the young and up coming bands.
Theremin Vox - T-Vox Investigates the relations between art, technology and the human body.
Wilco Boterman - "The theremin at the start of the 21st century" by Teletouch, a must visit webpage.
Art's Harrison   - Learn about the Theremin, you will find years of Art's research &  designs
Kip Rosser - Brilliance in theremin and creativity can be found in Performance.
Giorgio Necordi - Read his inspired understanding of theremin theory, quite good.
kevin kissinger - A  true thinker, expert on the Theremax, also  plays the EtherWave Pro.

Spellbound  a brief program of
music for theremin

Weekly Theremin Radio
Sunday Nights 10 pm to Midnight  EST

 
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