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A Note From: "Arthur Harrison"
Visit Art's
Theremin Webpage
January 9, 2004
Chris,
Congratulations on your newest theremin development. The sound samples are
wonderful, and so appropriately named. You've really captured the spirit of
the theremin concept, and I am sure that Lev himself would approve heartily.
Yes, I agree that a sine has its own beauty and purpose. For one thing,
since all the sine's energy is in the fundamental, I find that playing it
provides the most pertinent audio feedback and therefore seems easier for
obtaining correct pitch while played. My earliest theremins (optical, by the
way!) had very precise sine wave oscillators to produce the audio tone.
Perhaps I was bit influenced by the numerous Paul Tanner "electro-theremin"
recordings popular during my childhood, most of which were very good sines
from a slide-controlled commercial oscillator. (Tanner is heard in the Beach
Boys recording of "Good Vibrations," as well as in the theme music for the
TV situation comedy "My Favorite Martian," among many other familiar
compositions.)
As I explored "true" heterodyne theremins, such as my 144 and 145 designs, I
became aware that "all that glistens is not sine." Unquestionably, the
beautiful vox humana timbre of the Clara Rockmore theremin, especially as
heard in the famous "Vocalise" recording, stands as a benchmark for great
theremin sounds. If you have not listened to the brief sample at
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/1859/Vocalise.au, I highly suggest it!
In your approach, you are using additive synthesis, with your ingenious and
cost-effective method of wave-summing via LED sources and silicon solar-cell
pick-ups, and this allows "hands-off" timbre selection, which is a great
feature. (Early in the instrument's history, RCA Victor had notions to
employ multiple voices as an enhancement to their 1929 AR-1264 theremin.)
-Art
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