A Theremin Mystery for the New Year 2021

There is a mystery hidden in the analog theremin.

I like to think the musician creates 90% of what you hear and 9% is the audio wave shape that comes from the circuit design. The mystery is that 1% added to the timbre that a keen ear can hear, but most can not put into exact words.

It is the 1% of knowledge that always kept me intrigued; I was unable to explain it to other theremin designers. To be honest I have never worked in electronics and did not speak their language so they may have viewed me as silly.

I do understand the beauty of electronics and learned several things in how the theremin worked, but the hard way. This is documented on my webpage’s so future explorers might view several new ideas in design.

The theremin is a simple principle; you control a sound with the proximity of your two hands. You only have three things, your Sound, Pitch Control and Volume Control. What could possibly go wrong?
The first thing Lev Sergeyevich Termen noticed was the sound, without that we would not be here. On that I will focus.

Something very beautiful and natural happens in the heterodyned sound approach. I have been accused of being against digital but that is not so. In digital they cut out her vocal chords from the start and somewhere in the process try to add it back in using a Mary Shelley Frankenstein approach. If someone likes their sound that is most important, yet some Thereminist search for more, even their own unique sound.

In analog theremins it seems the sound chooses you and so I will demonstrate examples. Why the sound bytes below are so different is a mystery to me, Valery might agree. When a Thereminist wants to build my theremin design for a specific sound I cringe, as that sound may not choose them.
I use to think room temperature had something to do with it? In my daily design process a different sound or “old soul” would show up each time. They took turns.

All of the sound bytes below are played by Valery Shamarin on the same Phoenix Theremin using the same circuits. The mystery it seems must be in the oscillator section that heterodyning is what makes the difference. The heterodyning sound is natural and always different, almost alive?
Phoenix Theremin - Valery Shamarin of St Petersburg Russia, home of the theremin, playing all of the sound bytes except the last one.
http://www.oldtemecula.com/theremin/tw/phoenix-gershwin.wav
sounds/phoenix-first-time2.wav
http://www.oldtemecula.com/therem.../sounds/silent-night.wav
Phoenix slightly human - http://www.oldtemecula.com/.../valery-phoenix-add-on.wav
Theremini - Valery Shamarin “Over the Rainbow” beautifully played
http://www.oldtemecula.com/.../valery-on-theremini.wav
Latest digital from that place where they passed Rule #8 and kicked me out.
http://www.oldtemecula.com/+2020-12-13_merry_little_xmas.mp3
Every theremin design has its place; it is not digital vs. analog. I hope the above demonstrates why I always remind you to get a sound sample of any theremin design you intend to buy or build. Start with the theremin model that demonstrates where you want to end up. To buy cheap only cheats you with non-transferable skills.
http://www.oldtemecula.com/theremin2020/