Finding Clara's Voice, She Is Vocal

This post was moved here to stay on target.

Hello Henk,

Your Clara theremin build Photos are wonderful and you have the audio wave shape I look for, this tells me you have excellent even harmonic overtones. I prefer our sound as the RCA is too buzzy for my taste on the low end.

Few today can appreciate what you have accomplished but I do, keep up the fine research.

Christopher

Edit: I just fired up my hybrid build to show you my wave shape using an original approach yet we remarkably arrive in the same ballpark. I found my waveform five years into my journey and it took me another five years to understand how to consistently construct the same wave shape easily. For those that want to know I believe a strong second harmonic is what creates the fat sound and is the bottom portion of the waveform which is enhanced with my vacuum tube and the skew on top creates the even harmonic overtones (solid-state). These two principles work together to create what I call the Authentic sound.

Ok..Ok what does that wave sound like? When I say a fat sound no spindly here. Also I have no Null Point the Pitch goes so low it will just roll over to the other side. Sample.mp3 This is theremin direct to sound card, no equalizer or acoustics added.

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Hello Christopher,

I've just listen to your sample mp3 and I must say your theremin sounds really beautiful! It's very identical to my own theremin so indeed we are in the same ballpark. Especially in the lower parts these tube theremins sound so beautiful and compared to the Etherwave, they go so incredible low. About the skew on the waveform I must tell you that on the Clara Rockmore  theremin the skew is adjustable by the 50 k grid  potentiometer, from no skew to full skew comparable with your scope picture.I am now building a portable and external powersupply for my theremin so hopefully in future I can supply a soundfile of my instrument as wel, when it's fully functional.

Henk 

Continuous Signal Breakout or good old fashion Analogue.

I am obsessed with the theremin CSB Hybrid concept as a means to stay connected to the authentic theremin past. There is a sound I like that is lost using a completely modern day approach.

With my gaining experience in hybrids I wondered what an EtherWave Standard mixed with a tube/valve would sound like. The design still needs some tweaking but could become a one-weekend add-on build project for less than $100 once everything is organized.

Fortunately the EWS never sounded like my grandkids on a toy keyboard synth but it is disappointing for me how the best theremin design available has a dull lifeless sound, even when the finest musicians play a tune.

The EWS Tube/Valve Hybrid responds exactly like a stock EWS, it just sounds more like an original classic.

Notice the green insulated wire fed through the volume loop, this prevents grabbing the loop contact and static discharge issues. 

The two custom pc boards mount on opposite sides of the mic pole. I have an idea to cover them along with a switch to go from the expressive tube sound back to an stock EWS tuba sine whistle.

Christopher

Edit:  Sample2.mp3   direct to sound card, covering the human vocal range as was always intended (not a seven octave digital whistle). Imagine this sound in gifted hands, who will be first to express what is truly beautiful about theremin and bring the digital strays back home?

What do I think I am doing? Well it is like this, after Paul Tanner theremin makers thought the instrument was suppose to whistle, it is time to bring the sound of her vacuum tube spirit back.

Hello All,

After finding four 59 tubes ( 2 used ones and 2 brand new) I decided to built a new amplifier for my Clara Rockmore theremin. As I didn't have a balanced interstage transformer I had to built a simple phase splitter before the two 59 tubes which worked out very well. I also added a crude tonecontrol by switching several capacitors across the primary windings of the outputtransformer so the sound becomes more mellow. I've put some photos in my Clara Rockmore Theremin replica photoalbum. At the moment I am trying to make some recordings of me playing the theremin and the guitar to make some MP3 files. But I still have to figure out how to post these files here on the forum,maybe someone can help

Here is a picture of my theremin amplifier prototype.The little toroidtransformer on the top is for the regulated powersupply for the heaters for the 59 tubes I still have to built. They are now heated by a Variac (5 Volt DC, 2 tubes in series). The yellow condensors on the bottom right are for the tonecontrol.