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Questions tagged [theremin]

Electronic music instrument that is played without physical contact

The theremin, originally named after its creator Léon Theremin but also known as the etherphone, thereminophone, termenvox or thereminvox is an electronic musical instrument played without physical contact. It consists in two antennas, that sense the position of the hands relative to it, controlling oscilators frequency with one hand (pitch) and amplitude with other (volume). The electric signals are amplified and sent to a loudspeaker.

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Single oscillator theremin?

I read that the pitch circuitry of a theremin mixes two RF oscillators, and their difference creates the audio frequency produced by the instrument. The theremin has inside it three radio-frequency oscillators, of which two form the heart of the…
nuggethead
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single-capacitor oscillator choice for digital theremin

Intro One of the pupils puzzled me with a question of building a theremin - a basic musical instrument which has a pitch manipulated by moving the hand around the vertical antenna. Due to specifics of our course (and skills of our pupils) I proposed…
Rodion Gorkovenko
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What type of oscillator is this? (Theremin Project. Variable Pitch / LC Oscillator)

I found this oscillator at a Theremin project pdf. I simulated the circuit, and found that the output (left wire) oscillates at 236.5 kHz. This circuit is referred to as "Variable Pitch Oscillator", but that doesn't seem to be the best reference…
triplebig
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Might swollen caps be working properly?

I've seen these two swollen caps in a symmetric +12, 0, -12V power supply. The circuit (a theremin) seems to be working properly, but I don't know if that caps are going to cause damage in the whole circuit in the long term. Should I replace them?
Andrestand
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'How/why' does a human act as a capacitor for a theremin?

I've read that a human plays a theremin by acting as a capacitor, or reducing the capacitance of the theremin. What properties of a human make it act this way? Is there any way of reducing/negating the effect? Are there any non-living things that…
Wilskt
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I am making a theremin-like circuit using a 555 timer and an LM386 amplifier chip. It’s currently not outputting any sound. Why is it not working?

This is the 555 timer circuit that I am using: This is the LM386 circuit I am using: I have connected the output of the 555 timer to the 10k potentiometer. If I connect the 555 timer part of the circuit directly to the speaker, I am able to use…
Tara
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Finding Diff Eqs for Variable Square Wave Oscillator of Theremin

For a project, I built a theremin using an LM311N as the basis for my fixed and variable oscillators. I wanted to find the period of the variable oscillator by finding the systems of diff eqs associated with it but I'm having trouble deriving them.…
NaiveCoder
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People detection in large rooms using antennas

After coming across a 2004 installation by Carsten Nicolai titled "anti" where he used a theremin as an element for presence sensing, I was wondering if this principle could be extended to greater distances. Let me better explain: would it be…
moscardo
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555 timer Theremin - capacitor choice, and question about mixing signals

I'm trying to create 555-timer based Theremin, but I have a few questions that I don't quite understand. For now, I'm building it on a breadboard (yes, I know it's not the best option), but I don't want to commit yet to some schematic that might be…
user12940963
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Need help with theremin oscillator

I'm having trouble getting my colpitt's oscillator to give me nice sinusoids. It seems to be clipping the output for for reasons I don't understand. The circuits needs to oscillate at 7MHz (Body capacitance does zilch at 1.5MHz). So here's my…
Pratik Kunkolienkar
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Radioshack's theremin circuit - how does this work?

Can anyone explain why this works? What's going on? I built this kit today and it works great, but I don't fully understand what each part is doing. Is the 555 timer being used for pulses or ossilation? How's that working? And what are the other…
Agent Zebra
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FPGA based theremin , is possible?

I remember a while ago , i saw some Digital based Theremins circuits from glasgow university... http://www.theremin.info/-/viewpub/tid/10/pid/65 would it be possible to make a theremin by using an FPGA ?
Cristian Mardones
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