New Theremini Firmware Update!

[Control_Voltage]

Hello Everyone,

If anyone encounters this problem after updating the Theremini to the newest firmware, it is a simple matter to correct. It merely means that the presets need to be updated to a compatible version.

Please contact me directly at [email protected] and I will be happy to provide for you the sysex file necessary to do the preset installation!

Thanks,
Andy Hughes
Tech Support Manager
Moog Music, Inc.

[Control_Voltage]

Hello Everyone!!!

Andy from the Moog Tech Support Lab here...we are aware of this unusual behavior in the new firmware and are working diligently to find a solution.

If anyone here is interested in beta testing a patch for this please email me at [email protected] for details. One caveat: This is a beta level firmware that we are testing, so if your instrument is critical please continue to run the stable current public release until we can get this sorted.

Thanks to all of you for your patience!

Andy Hughes
Service Department Manager
Moog Music, Inc.

[Control_Voltage]

Hi Everyone!!!

Andy Hughes from Moog Tech Support here!

We are aware of this odd bug in the new firmware, and our programmers are hustling to find a fix for it.

Thanks in advance for your patience, and hang tight, hopefully a patch will be available very soon!!!

Thanks,
Andy Hughes
Service Department Manager
Moog Music, Inc.

[d'ni]

thanks andy,
my previous posted issues have magically dissappeared.
just loaded the given tmini_presets_1_0_3.syx file into c6, made sure the theremini showed up in config, and hit send. right into the already running theremini, then restarted it.

[bichuelo]

Regarding the flicker on the screen, the bug is now gone too! I updated again today and the theremini is working almost perfect!

I noticed, however, that the note range includes both high and low notes regardless of the root and scale set in the preset. I would call this a bug and not a feature...

[rkram53]

Not sure what your problem with range is. That's a global setting on the Theremini and I don't see what Scale or Root have to do with it. Root is needed to be able to quantize the desired scale correctly. I think there should be no connection between range and root. It's perfectly ok to have a root of F but a range that say goes C1..C6. In fact you want the range to be independent of the root.

But perhaps I'm not really sure what you are getting at here.

Now when you play with the transposition function in the app, that's a different story. That will affect range.

Rich

[bichuelo]

Maybe I didn't made myself clear enough.

the thing is that, whichever scale and root you choose, both high and low notes are included, even if they don't belong to neither scale nor root...

[rkram53]

Ah. So if you set Root/Scale to C/Ionian and Range to say C#1..C#6, it plays the C#s when you go the full range of the scale?
If that is the case ( I never checked that) I would agree that is an error in quantization output - unless you set a scale that's supposed to contain a C#/Db with a C root.

Though easy enough to fix by changing global range.
Rich

[d'ni]

bichuelo,
i have about the same problems, that worries me. the note range changes with every preset i choose, no matter how i set low and high note in the theremini setup menu note range. meaning, i can put c< for and c8 for high, while playing then and change presets, those values get changed too. that changes the pitch field depending on the preset and not on the setup values. didn't get it. it's maybe that semitone settings, that confuses. or the theremini mode.
but the ipad app also does not show the correct high and low note values in the global settings. it doesn't display notes as low as the new theremini can go after the update.like c<.
these global settings for the app and setup settings for the theremini looks like a double feature to me.
anyway, just messed my library back to bad, by midi.
this thing needs definte a fw update. and the app needs that too. yes, i heard that they're busy on this about enough times.

[rkram53]

Guys,
Make sure this is not related to a transposition set on the patches. That will make your range appear to be different as it tries to take the transposition into account and if that transposition is not set to the octave it will appear like range is being set to strange notes.
Load the patch in the app to easily see the transposition.

If your transposition is set to 0, the global range will always appear what you think it is, otherwise that range might appear to change.

Rich

[d'ni]

thanks rich, 4 trying to be of help. so i'll try to explain as clear as possible. fact: issues in progress.the app's "note transposition" is the one that fooled me. because the theremini ads or cuts higher notes, higher frequencies. the lowest remain low. i thought, the opposite would make sense. or a feature that the highest note remain and the low ones get added or cut. the note transposition is also available by +\- 12 semitones on the theremini. i never asked for pitch correction on a theremin. but since it's implented it obviously necessary to also put in root note and scale. i really never needed that on a theremin.
unfortunately, in the app "global settings" for highest notes and lowest notes, the displayed notes don't match with the new theremini feature for the lowest note c<, nor does it change the values with the different presets. but my theremini needs some .syx help anyway. the patch file from andy hughes helped, but not for very long.
btw, did you use your theremini with your slimphatty yet, cv to pitch?

[synthguy]

The CV out note adjustment on the new firmware works very well indeed. I have an Oberheim SEM module hooked up to the Theremini, and was able to adjust the scale and offset controls to get it to track the entire range of the Theremini (!) which is pretty impressive. With a bit of adjustment and patience, you should be able to get just about any CV synth to track very well.

I've used a Roland MPU-101 Midi/CV converter to translate the volume antenna CC to drive the SEMs VCA, so it follows the volume antenna fades, making for a nice-sounding combo instrument. No gates to trigger the envelopes (yet), but if you have a modular system with an envelope follower, you can set it to trigger at a settable volume threshold, as Thereminists have often done before. My modular system has a ribbon controller with an area you can touch to generate a trigger, and I've even used that at times to articulate notes as I'm sliding around on the Theremini.
There's many ways to skin that proverbial feline!

Pretty great stuff for such an inexpensive instrument, and who knows what the next firmware upgrade will bring? NAMM is coming in a few weeks, and manufacturers often unveil new developments at this show.

Those of you with an IPad, be sure to get the MidiSequencer app, and the FREE Yamaha Fader/XY pad app. These both expand the control capabilities of the Theremini by leaps and bounds (and don't cost much), and you just may find some interesting stuff lurking there....

[rkram53]

I don't seem to have a problem with range. Lets say I set range F#1 to F#6, but I set Root to F and scale to Ionian.
My Theremini plays notes G1 to F6 as expected as the top F# is not in the scale and G1 is the lowest note in the scale for root F.
But I'll fool around some more here as I typically don't use the full low range when I play (in fact I'll adjust range a bit outside of the range of the piece I'm playing to give me a larger pitch field - making things easier to play in many cases).

I've had no problem using the new NOTE CV with my modular oscillators as the 1/V octave input. Works well as it appears to for synthguy too.

I think I'll try running the Theremini through an envelope follower to gate the Slim Phatty while playing with note CV and see how that goes.

Rich

[rkram53]

Synthguy,
You running the "Genome MIDI Sequencer" on iPad. "MIDI Sequencer" by Anthony Saunders? There are quite a few. I'm using the free "Little MIDI Machine" but it is limited.
Thanks
Rich

[synthguy]

I've been using the MidiSequencer app...

http://appshopper.com/music/midisequencer

I've got a few different sequencers (including the Little Midi Machine) but this one is in a different league, and keeps getting better with every update. Since it can send multiple CCs at each step, it plays very well with the Theremini. By modulating the Transpose value, you can "sequence" the pitch, and then use the antenna to transpose the sequence through the selected scale. Add delay, and it sounds very impressive indeed. Sequencing the wave start point, filer cutoff, and delay time are also cool, and you can do all of this at the same time.
You'll find that the implementation of this sequencer is VERY deep.
Download the manual, and check it out!
Recommended.