volume knob but not volume control

[Niko]

maybe a stupid question, but what is the reason that I cannot dim the volume on the Etherwave Theremin towards really zero? I understand that the volume knob on the Theremin is for tuning the instruments volume changes by the left hand movement. But again, why there is no volume control function implemented? I'm not complaining but I would like to know a little more about the philosophy behind this instrument.

[Gordon Charlton]

I agree. A volume attenuation knob would be a welcome addition to the etherwave. I typically have several guitar effects pedals in the chain between my etherwave and my amp, and many of them are overdriven by the etherwave's very hot output.

I would also add that, as an attendee at Lydia Kavina's workshops I am surprised how many etherwave owners don't pick up on this - quite a few are disappointed by the rough sound of their instrument, not realising they are overdriving a guitar amp. Oh, my.

The hot-rodding manual does suggest a simple fix to reduce the audio-out to guitar level, but a simple alternative if you don't have soldering iron skills (I don't!) is to put an inexpensive low impedance inline volume pedal before any effects that need a softer signal.

[Niko]

thanks a lot for your reply. So my question may not

too stupid as I thought. Actually it came up during our last Theremin-Duo session this weekend (a comprehensive report and a video will follow soon (can you read this Harald!)). We fed the two outputs into a mixer and adjusted both instruments sufficiantly - for the beginning. But during the playing and particular by intensively using of ring mods, delays, Midi MuRF, etc. the level adjustments for both instruments became a little difficult because we had to move towards the location of the mixer to do that. This usually simple task however influenced the concentration negatively sometimes during the music. So a simple volume control knob may helped significantly I guess.
The picture should give an impression of our limited set up space situation. In front one Theremin is shown, the black one is shown behind or in the middle (with the plasma sphere on top).

[Gordon Charlton]

Nope, not a stupid question at all. The only thing that puzzles me is why it isn't asked more often. My first theremin (a Kees Enkelaar - no longer in production) has one and I miss it on my etherwave.

Sounds like you've got an interesting set-up. Delays and ring-mods are great with theremins. I love them! Also pitch shifters and wah pedals are cool.

Which brings me to my other gripe about outboard effects - darned noise gates! I've got a lovely Snarling Dogs Mold Spore (a combination wah and ring-mod) - the wah is great but the *#&%ing ring-mod is noise-gated - which is OK when I want that (very rarely) and frustrating when I don't.

So... I'm currently having my etherwave modded to circumvent that - I'm gonna have a new line-out from before the volume loop (but after the wave-shaping) so it's always at full volume (or turned down a bit with a volume knob ) so the noise-gate never kicks in, and then I'll feed the signal back into a line-in connected to a new op-amp controlled by the volume loop (in addition to the op-amp that the volume loop controls normally) and then out again via a third line-out. (Also with a volume knob, of course!)

The reason I'm doing it that way - with a secondary op-amp rather than just a simple "effects loop" is so that I can have the dry - un-effected - sound available on a second channel. Just right for my other outboard effect with a noise-gate - an Abstract Data Synthex (kind of a budget FreqBox) which needs noise gate circumvention on the hard-sync input, but not on the frequency modulation input.

Oh. I seem to have wandered off topic. Oops. Anyway - I'm looking forward to seeing your forthcoming video - it sounds like you're having a lot of fun. Please could you post a link on this thread to be sure I'll hear about it. (Note to webmaster - I visit this site sporadically. If it had an RSS feed I'd be here all the time. )

[Niko]

Many thanks for the reply. And thanks for your infos about external modifiers. You mentioned that you're using an op-amp for splitting the signal. Do you think a Y-cable (breakout cable is maybe the english word for it?) could help herewith as well? I mean to split the audio output signal (50% to 50% ?) into two channels? The signal level itself should be high enough I suppose. But I'm concerned whether this set up may sucks too much current in the Theremin? Hm, I still have not enough knowledge about this instrument. In that content I'm thinking to get a Theremin kit to built (or better to assemble) it by myself as a kind of Zen experience...
And yes - we do had and have a lot of fun with our electronic components. Actually since some decades already, starting with a spring of a ball point pen moving over a coil from a broken head phone to discover the sounds of inductivity and feedback invesitgations with a transistor radio on which we guided the line output into the line input. Well, we are going to get matured but we aren't yet.
And I'll send you a link to the video whenever it will be ready. This will be done by Harald which you can see on the pictures (can you read this HAL?). He is our master for the optical parts.
And here another picture from our weekend session from another angle of view. You can see that the distance between the two Theremins are quite small. Much smaller of that what Thierry recommended on an earlier reply (thanks again Thierry for your tips!). But it worked quite well, at least sufficiant to get a lot of fun...

[Gordon Charlton]

You mentioned that you're using an op-amp for splitting the signal.

I think I did not explain very clearly. In an unmodified etherwave first the signal is generated by an oscillator that is controlled by the pitch rod. (Specifically a beat frequency oscillator.) Then it passes through an op-amp that is controlled by the volume loop. In my modified etherwave, there will be two op-amps, both controlled by the volume loop. The signal is split into two signals before the op-amps - the first signal goes straight through the first op-amp, the second signal can pass through outboard effects before going to the second op-amp.

I have tried using a Y-connector to split the signal - it only works when there are certain combinations of pedals attached to each branch of the Y (I think this means circuits of similar impedance but I am not an electronics expert - I leave that to others), otherwise one side gets most of the volume and the other side is very quiet.

(NB In classical performance the distance needed to separate two theremins is proportionate to the skill and experience of the thereminist. The more they have, the more they are aware of the effect of other theremins in the vicinity.)

[Niko]

now its clear (more clear) what you described concerning the splitting. Thank you, another piece of the mosaic to understand the instrument better.
And yes, I agree with you totally that the Theremin is (or could be) a real serious instrument which allows to perform music in a repeatable manner. It allows solo performance but also ensemble polyphonics with other Theremins or with other instruments- but this requires the skill of the player. And there is obviously no limit defined so far as a certain skill level is concerned. In other words it is a permanet and ongoing challenge and requires practise and practise (for me maybe drill). Well, I'm ready for that! In that content can you recommend a school for Theremin performances? At the moment I only have the Moog DVD with Lydia Kavina (which is great, both the DVD but also Lydias performance!) but I think to share the learning curve with other students may be more effective I suppose.

[Gordon Charlton]

There are no regular schools for theremin, but some of the best players do offer private tuition. I do not know of any that are very close to you, but you might consider Pamelia Kurstin in Vienna or Barbara Buchholz or Carolina Eyck, both in Berlin, or Wilco Botermans in The Hague, according to who's approach to the theremin most closely conforms to your own intentions. You could also ask Thorwald Jørgensen in Rotterdam if he gives lessons - Thorwald is a relative newcomer to the classical theremin scene but is astonishingly talented.

I also note that Barbara Buchholz organises four day long theremin workshops in holiday locations each year. There is one for beginners in Mallorca starting August 30th.

http://www.theremin-workshop.com/

It is also worth knowing that Barbara, Carolina, Wilco, Thorwald and Lydia Kavina (based near Oxford) will be at the Without Touch 4 theremin festival in Lippstadt in November this year. This would be an excellent opportunity to meet them and other theremin players from around Europe.

http://www.theremin.musikschule-lippstadt.de/

As a final suggestion, you could buy a copy of Carolina's method book.

http://www.carolina-eyck.de/school/schule.html

And Clara Rockmore's method book is freely available online. There is a copy on my Scribd account.

http://www.scribd.com/GordonCharlton

[Niko]

Hi Gordon,

thank you very much for the fast and very comprehensive reply. There are a lot of opportunities. I think the Lippstadt-Festival seems to be the most preferable attempt for me as a beginner to get in touch with the elite in that field.
Again thank you very much for your suggestions. It is a great help - and it's now really up to me to...

[Thierry]

@Niko: An additional knob which would allow you to adjust the "overall" output level can be added to your Etherwave Standard or Plus. I normally install those at the bottom of the instrument, below the audio output jack. If you are interested, you may contact me via the contact form of my website http://theremin.tfrenkel.com.

[Niko]

Hi Thierry,

sorry for my late reply to your recommendations. Do you want to attend the Lippstadt workshop? If yes I would appreciate very much to discuss these questions with you there if possible.

And do you know whether it is already time to apply a seat for this workshop?

[Thierry]

Yes, I'll be in Lippstadt from Thursday 11/04 in the afternoon to Monday 11/08 in the morning. Actually, Wolfgang Streblow (Director of the Lippstadt Music School) is setting up the program and will allow registrations very soon. You'd have a look from time to time on http://theremin.musikschule-lippstadt.de.

I personally will be teaching on technical subjects there and being available for individual repair/tuning/modification sessions. As most participants normally stay in the same hotel (Rixbecker Alpenhotel Koch) there will also be enough opportunities to discuss during the common breakfast or in the evening, assisted by some cups of wine.

[Niko]

Hi Thierry,
thanks for the message. I've now registered to the Lippstadt workshop. So I'm looking forward to expand my touchless sonar explorations and have - excuse me please - some pitchers of beer. I'm anticipating the bavarian style although - as a hesse - I'll never will reach this high level of assimilation...
Anyway, see you soon.

[Thierry]

More info about my personal contribution to the Without Touch 4.0 Festival:

http://theremin.tfrenkel.com/en/news/withouttouch4