I’m trying to set up an Etherwave theremin to work with a dancer. To do so, I need to ensure the theremin acts over as wide an area as possible - not just an arm’s length away from the aerial.
i’m putting the output of the Etherwave into my own software which uses the pitch to control certain other things. As I’m not trying to play tunes on it directly, it doesn’t matter if semitones end up really wide apart in space.
Does anyone know of a simple way to stretch the user area? Also - does anyone know what the useable distance from the aerial is normally? I live in a small flat so can’t tell!
Hi Sarah, I do not know wether it really helps, because I did not try it.
The antenna is part of a condenser. Another part is the body. You use the phenomenon known as “body capacity.”
Theremin himself build an terpsitone making just what you want.
I suppose, you must readjust the oscillator. I do not know, whether this works without measuring. There are hints in the manual. The circuits are very sensitive for changes in environment.
I’ve actually done some work with dancers and Theremin before. It’s not the greatest way to merge movement and sound, but it is possible.
As long as you’re in a wide open area, you can get a pretty large area of coverage out of the Etherwave. I never took measurements, but it’s much longer than arm’s length - something like 8 feet or so.
It’s very easy to widen the area to which the Theremin will respond.
I’ve been able to get it working about fifteen feet away, without
altering circuitry or anything else.
It’s a little tricky because you will have to experiment.
If you’re using a standard Etherwave, just set the PITCH
knob as you normally would for ZERO BEAT (no sound),
just as though you were going to play it.. Then, move back
about one step, reach in and set it again. Keep stepping back,
them move forward, turn the PITCH knob a bit more
and keep going. Eventually, you will have to duck down when you
move away. As I said - experiment. At some point you should
be able to stand 12 to 15 feet away. Hold out your finger and
see if you can get the Theremin to respond. I’ve done this
many times.
One thing you must understand is that at that distance, you will
only get very low pitches. A dancer would need to mopve back and forth
to get enough variance to sound like something is being “played.”
This is the simplest way I know to achieve what you’re hoping to do,
And since you’re going to pass the output into a controller,
you get much more musical results.
Hi Sarah et al
I’m making a dance theatre piece with a theremin in it and I am really interested in using it to control other effects but I don’t know how I can do this. I built the theremin myself from a kit. Maybe I need something to change it into midi format. I dunno. But I’m interested in the software you said you were using. Greatly appreciate any advice.
Cheers,