I was searching for a easy circuit of theremin for my whole life finally I got it. thank you very much great scott. I am building the prototype now and its working perfectly
I’ve learned about making oscillators with inductors and capacitors, but never heard of a way to constantly provide it with power in a way to keep it going, thanks for the lesson
Doesn't sound anything like a theramin, you need an even sine wave for a theramin, tuned to a set frequency (such as A, 440Hz) - then when you move your hand, that frequency changes, creating the notes a square wave just sequeels...
You will get better sound if the output wave is a sine wave (with minimal noise) and you calibrate the max and min distance to 18khz to 50hz. In that way you can get a better sound response. Try it, really play theremin isn't hard. All you need is practice the distance.
I think that the problem is mainly with the schematics, not with your playing skills. Such circuits REALLY have to be well-shielded, elsewise they output too much noise. I think, that is the reason why your theremin sounds like squeaking. Second, how does the differential opamp even work in such configurations? Subtracting two frequencies never gives a frequency difference unless some distortion occur, is it connected in a comparator mode? If not, try increasing the amplification. I've made a project that was about hearing inaudible ultrasonic frequencies - basically, a frequency mixer of a heterodyne and a mic, which is very similar to this situation. During my experiments I've found that the cheapest and simplest, yet good-sounding solution is to use an analog switch like 4053 to switch between the first signal and the first signal inverted at a frequency equal to the second signal frequency. Maybe you should try this configuration and replace on of your oscillators with a real colpitts oscillator. I can give you the schematics for my ultrasonic sound project if you want to.
as a professional theremin player you just changed the way that i look to theremin not because of the complicated structure .no no no no. because of your professional playing :)
Theremins are fun. Years ago I built one after a schematic from the net that utilised a CD4069 hex inverter and a CD4046 phase-locked loop. I had no clue how, but actually worked, although somewhat unstable. The frequency always drifted higher and it became unusable after a couple of minutes.
I made a capacitive touch midi controller a while back that I hook up to bananas, cucumbers and apples and a Roland synth. Its pretty popular at our local maker fest.
I graduated the last year so now I m electronic engineer, and I m in the same age as you but I m still learning from you and wait for your videos every week , keep going my friend (y)
I'm a recent subscriber (some of your arduino videos helped me a ton), and just realized this is the same GreatScott as the one on the flier I have hung on my wall for your HackRF One. It's been a goal of mine to own one ever since seeing it at Denver Maker Faire last month. Thank you for being amazing!
What if you use the triangle-ish waves from the capacitors instead(they have lower harmonics), by subtracting them with an in-amp? Maybe it'll sound nicer since it's easier to filter the harmonics
it sounds too high. is there a change that would lower the pitch an octave or two. it sounds mostly abover 10khz... it might sound nicer in the 500hz to 8khz range... could a different component somewhere change that?
I agree. In therory you need an korrelation circuit between fixed and variable frequencies. XOR is an simple "digital" approximation to this. Linear adding voltages does this not. But if the amplitudes are to high and nonlinear effects occur, it seems to work.
@@Chris-ZL Yes, in HF-technik an mixer is in my option an multiplier - in audio-technik a mixer is an adder. Or, shoud i say: Even in an audio-technik-mixer each input-signal is multiplied with their volume-control and then the signals are added.
There's a great 3 part TH-cam tutorial on how to do a full on synth starting here th-cam.com/video/FaoJaLmZaL4/w-d-xo.html I didn't make these videos I just think it's a great tutorial
A tip for hot gluers. Use a heat gun to pre-warm all the surfaces. Then the hot glue is less prone to making spider webs and the glue will flow onto the surfaces. The reason it does not stick to metal easily is the rapid cooling caused by the cold metal.
this is more "how not to build a theremin". I understand the concept of "keeping it simple". But if the functionally is reduced to beeing totally useless, then it's simply futile to spend any components (or time) on it. Apart from the soldering practise.
For this setup, could I use a battery instead of a power supply??? I think you are using 5V, what would happen if I put a battery with less voltage or a battery with a higher voltage??? Would still work? Please help
how does it sound with a much lower tone (e.g. 200-1000 Hz)? How difficult would it be to replace the pitch potentiometer with another antenna as found on a regular theremin?
I dont understand why you use an opamp here? They make terrible RF mixers. You are looking for a non-linear mixer like a jfet or even a bjt if nothing else... linear mixers are right out!
I agree. In therory you need an korrelation circuit between fixed and variable frequencies. XOR is an simple "digital" approximation to this. Linear adding voltages does this not. But if the amplitudes are to high and nonlinear effects occur, it seems to work.
It's been a long time since high-school physics, but couldn't you take the final audible square wave and make a sine wave from it, with an RC circuit? Maybe be a bit more musical... (yes, I will be trying this myself)
As an electrical engineering: This is fascinating, remarkable and inspiring. As a musician: This is an excellent instrument for annoying people!!!! I believe you got this idea from Sheldon Cooper right?
That would actually make a great mini proximity detector. Make an electronic controlled mouse-trap or a snack-snatching alarm. If anyone tries to grab a snack, it triggers a siren horn. Attach it to a door handle and you have an anti-tamper alarm detector. Put it in your wall, where the doorbell should be, and you have a 100% waterproof, touchless door chime. Add it to a robot and the robot can sense when you are about to grab it. Add three and the robot can detect you and run the other direction, where is doesn't sense you. :)
I have commented on your videos before asking about this, i want to make a vintage sounding 30 watt guitar tube amp with a clean and dirty channel, ive seen people make videos before where they assemble the pre amp and the power amp but they dont go into detail like you do, they just give you the schematic and schematics with vacuum tubes are too hard for me to understand, can you make a video on it?
XOR would be a better choice for the mixer, you need to multiply the signals to get heterodyne products, not just subtract them. Unfortunately you can't throw out too much complexity from the Theremin and keep it sounding like an instrument; square waves sound very harsh because of all the harmonics. The lack of a volume control is less important, but makes it much less useful musically. Narrowing the pass-band on the post mixer filter would help make it sound better, but the timbre will change a great deal over its range.
I agree. In therory you need an korrelation circuit between fixed and variable frequencies. XOR is an simple "digital" approximation to this. Linear adding voltages does this not. But if the amplitudes are to high and nonlinear effects occur, it seems to work.
I'd rather build the more complicated analogue circuit with a proper sine wave.... at least it has a nice sound, this one sounds terrible, and the response on the antenna makes it impractical to use, not to mention the noise :(
In my amazement that they built a Low Frequency mixer in the circuit, so i went in the theremin site and found out what it was, just a capacitor. Obviously, for a crude experiment no one wanted to design a mixer with high specs.
@GreatScott Long time fan, first time post...How exactly does subtracting two signals (f1 = a & f2 = b) using a difference op-amp configuration result in a signal having a frequency of the first minus the other (fout = a - b)? A frequency down mixer uses the property of trig multiplication which results in this behavior but I don't see how this applies when performing a signal subtraction. Thanks!
I agree. In therory you need an korrelation circuit between fixed and variable frequencies. XOR is an simple "digital" approximation to this. Linear adding voltages does this not. But if the amplitudes are to high and nonlinear effects occur, it seems to work.
sadly in its current form this theremin is unplayable, a Theremin has 2 antennae, one for the pitch (as above) and the other is for volume and shapes all of the sound. a conventional instrument has its own volume envelope shaping. its useless for music until you make a more tactile volume shaping system.
In one of your videos you showed how to make. A light screen from Laptop screen so can you tell us how to make a portable display without using any other display driver and making driver from laptop
That sounds like I'm at the dentist's office.
Wow. Can't believe how much circuitry I've forgotten since I last had to build a circuit! 33 years ago this would have seemed so simple to me, now...
1:30 Will you teach us how to draw such realistic hands?
It is easy. Never listen during art class in school. That is at least how I draw them.
I actually prefer the one at 1:27
This. is. art! :D
As realistic are his hands, is realistic is theremin.
@@greatscottlab LMAO
I was searching for a easy circuit of theremin for my whole life finally I got it. thank you very much great scott. I am building the prototype now and its working perfectly
I’ve learned about making oscillators with inductors and capacitors, but never heard of a way to constantly provide it with power in a way to keep it going, thanks for the lesson
Doesn't sound anything like a theramin, you need an even sine wave for a theramin, tuned to a set frequency (such as A, 440Hz) - then when you move your hand, that frequency changes, creating the notes
a square wave just sequeels...
"simple" was his main goal
Yes, but it was "Simple Theremin". Maybe he built something simple, but that is *not* a theremin. Sorry for farting in the bath, but that's a fail.
Exactly, this is a simple noise creator, not a simple Theremin.
Totally agree. As a "distance" detector maybe it work but isn't a theremin. Too much noise and high freq.
The LP filter needs set much lower, like 1-2KHz max to be musical, and subtract the unwanted harmonics of the square waves.
Those drawn hands alone are worth an upvote.
You will get better sound if the output wave is a sine wave (with minimal noise) and you calibrate the max and min distance to 18khz to 50hz. In that way you can get a better sound response. Try it, really play theremin isn't hard. All you need is practice the distance.
I think that the problem is mainly with the schematics, not with your playing skills.
Such circuits REALLY have to be well-shielded, elsewise they output too much noise. I think, that is the reason why your theremin sounds like squeaking.
Second, how does the differential opamp even work in such configurations? Subtracting two frequencies never gives a frequency difference unless some distortion occur, is it connected in a comparator mode? If not, try increasing the amplification.
I've made a project that was about hearing inaudible ultrasonic frequencies - basically, a frequency mixer of a heterodyne and a mic, which is very similar to this situation. During my experiments I've found that the cheapest and simplest, yet good-sounding solution is to use an analog switch like 4053 to switch between the first signal and the first signal inverted at a frequency equal to the second signal frequency. Maybe you should try this configuration and replace on of your oscillators with a real colpitts oscillator. I can give you the schematics for my ultrasonic sound project if you want to.
can you share thos schematics comrade?
These videos are what keep me from falling off the edge.
as a professional theremin player you just changed the way that i look to theremin not because of the complicated structure .no no no no. because of your professional playing :)
Can you play I just wasn't made for these times? I just love how they made the theremin sound like a voice
Theremins are fun. Years ago I built one after a schematic from the net that utilised a CD4069 hex inverter and a CD4046 phase-locked loop. I had no clue how, but actually worked, although somewhat unstable. The frequency always drifted higher and it became unusable after a couple of minutes.
so if you're interested in music, creating your own midi instrument/controller may be a project for another video
I put it on my to do list
+GreatScott! You could make a 3D printed piano keyboard, or make a capacitive touch keyboard =)
I made a capacitive touch midi controller a while back that I hook up to bananas, cucumbers and apples and a Roland synth. Its pretty popular at our local maker fest.
It's also fun to make those with conductive ink on a piece of paper :)
Mathieu Clement Or pencil marks
I graduated the last year so now I m electronic engineer, and I m in the same age as you but I m still learning from you and wait for your videos every week , keep going my friend (y)
Thanks for the feedback. I try my best.
I'm a recent subscriber (some of your arduino videos helped me a ton), and just realized this is the same GreatScott as the one on the flier I have hung on my wall for your HackRF One. It's been a goal of mine to own one ever since seeing it at Denver Maker Faire last month. Thank you for being amazing!
What if you use the triangle-ish waves from the capacitors instead(they have lower harmonics), by subtracting them with an in-amp? Maybe it'll sound nicer since it's easier to filter the harmonics
What do I need to learn in order to know what he's talking about?
Logic gates.
it sounds too high. is there a change that would lower the pitch an octave or two. it sounds mostly abover 10khz... it might sound nicer in the 500hz to 8khz range... could a different component somewhere change that?
If I wanted to build a Theremin with a 10 foot pitch antenna, what changes would I need to make?
Nice!
Just a question: why are you using NAND gates with an input pulled to HI instead of simple NOT? Wouldn't you get the same result?
@@__MINT_ The easiest way would be to use a ring oscillator.
@@__MINT_ You could, you just need an uneven number of gates.
The nicest hand drawn schematics and blueprints on TH-cam. But that drawing of a hand......
4:29 could you use the nand logic symbol there instead of the triangle so it doesn't look like an op amp or buffer?
send it to rob scallion, he can make it sound good... right?
CJLOLZ I second that 😂😂😂
he can play anything, so......
I would go for andrew huang
I would check out Angelo Moore from the band fishbone
Just idea, plug output into ATmega32u4 a make cool MIDI instrument
Never worked with MIDI before. Might have to do a little research.
CZ/SK?
greatscott asi nemec
ja nemyslím greatscotta ale teba xD
Or just use an Arduino with Atmega16u2 built-in and flash de LUFA midi firmware. Cheap and simple.
*notices person is a fellow southpaw and spends the entire video in a fervor of happiness about this.*
I think you might find it worth revisiting the XOR gate which will mix the frequencies, unlike the op-amp which is mixing the voltages.
I agree. In therory you need an korrelation circuit between fixed and variable frequencies. XOR is an simple "digital" approximation to this. Linear adding voltages does this not. But if the amplitudes are to high and nonlinear effects occur, it seems to work.
@@joergfoerster8043 someone probably told him he should use an SA602 Double-balanced mixer, but he substituted the OpAmp 🙂
@@Chris-ZL Yes, in HF-technik an mixer is in my option an multiplier - in audio-technik a mixer is an adder. Or, shoud i say: Even in an audio-technik-mixer each input-signal is multiplied with their volume-control and then the signals are added.
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only genius who plays the guitar in my style. ;)
can you make something like a led suit like a costume using led strips
Do you know exactly what a attenuator is? because ive heard so many different versions and uses abd its getting abit confusing to me
What about electric kalimba with set frequencies for each note? using the same principals as the theremin.
I just realized you're left-handed like me, double thumbs up!!
Hi greats Scott could you make a synthesizer using some oscillater like the 556? That would be awesome!
It is on my to do list
GreatScott! Or you could make a quad oscillater circuit using the 4093
There's a great 3 part TH-cam tutorial on how to do a full on synth starting here
th-cam.com/video/FaoJaLmZaL4/w-d-xo.html
I didn't make these videos I just think it's a great tutorial
GreatScott! Atari Punk Console? So classic.
7:49 Why not Hot glue?
I had to use two component adhesive for the antenna anyway. So I just used it for all the parts.
Because hot glue does not sick well to metal.
A tip for hot gluers. Use a heat gun to pre-warm all the surfaces. Then the hot glue is less prone to making spider webs and the glue will flow onto the surfaces. The reason it does not stick to metal easily is the rapid cooling caused by the cold metal.
What is that material to glue?
Why did you use ex nor gate for the oscillator when you have one input connected to vcc you could have just used a not gate.
Really loving this! Been looking around for small sized theremins in order to build one into my electric guitar, and this might do the trick!
Lol same
Is it possible to have two antennas perpendicular to each other tracking x and y position of one hand?
this is more "how not to build a theremin".
I understand the concept of "keeping it simple". But if the functionally is reduced to beeing totally useless, then it's simply futile to spend any components (or time) on it. Apart from the soldering practise.
Is there a simple circuit for making oscillation. just like those found in toy fish? thanks
Wait a minute, Great Scott! is promoting the simple schematic???
I love your handwriting.
Could you make a RF audio transmitter
What is that grey and orange thing he uses to split the wire to multiple outputs called? AliExpress links?
How can I smooth out a square signal to get a smooth sound, also, how can I lower the tone so It ca be a bass theremin???
For this setup, could I use a battery instead of a power supply??? I think you are using 5V, what would happen if I put a battery with less voltage or a battery with a higher voltage??? Would still work? Please help
Is it possible to make Theremin with Micro-controller ?
Not sure.
Isn't that 4077 "NOR" ( 6:08 ) IC an XNOR IC?
Like Jimmy Page. He played it in Led Zeppelin.
Dwayne Wladyka Page fucking sucked playing the theremin
is the change in capacitance over the distance linear or like esponential?
how does it sound with a much lower tone (e.g. 200-1000 Hz)?
How difficult would it be to replace the pitch potentiometer with another antenna as found on a regular theremin?
What kind of wires do you use for the jumpers on your perfboard?
+Jesus Christ Silvered copper wire
GreatScott! Is it solid core? What's the wire gauge?
Could you post a link? the only stuff I can find on ebay is for jewelry...
Can I use a wien bridge oscillator to generate a sine wave instead of a square wave?
Hi, I need to replace the MCP602 with other Amplifier. I have a LM324 and LM358.
I dont understand why you use an opamp here? They make terrible RF mixers. You are looking for a non-linear mixer like a jfet or even a bjt if nothing else... linear mixers are right out!
I agree. In therory you need an korrelation circuit between fixed and variable frequencies. XOR is an simple "digital" approximation to this. Linear adding voltages does this not. But if the amplitudes are to high and nonlinear effects occur, it seems to work.
Can this circuit be modified into auto tuning solid state Tesla coil driver ?
Can i replace opamp with 358 ic? Otherwise use schematic as it is
could a long distance theremin be used as a intrusion detection sensor?
What was the effeciency of the wireless power transfer circuit that you built in one of your video. Say approximately
Never measured it
GreatScott!
My homebuilt coil gave an effeciency of just 40 %.
hi there, in the schematics it calls for 1 10k potentiometer and 1 100k potentiometer not 2 10k's?
great scoot please will u make a video on how to make a 50 watt amplifier
It's been a long time since high-school physics, but couldn't you take the final audible square wave and make a sine wave from it, with an RC circuit? Maybe be a bit more musical... (yes, I will be trying this myself)
Great Scott- can you make a metal detector
As an electrical engineering: This is fascinating, remarkable and inspiring.
As a musician: This is an excellent instrument for annoying people!!!!
I believe you got this idea from Sheldon Cooper right?
Well, he can definitely play it better than me.
That would actually make a great mini proximity detector. Make an electronic controlled mouse-trap or a snack-snatching alarm. If anyone tries to grab a snack, it triggers a siren horn. Attach it to a door handle and you have an anti-tamper alarm detector. Put it in your wall, where the doorbell should be, and you have a 100% waterproof, touchless door chime. Add it to a robot and the robot can sense when you are about to grab it. Add three and the robot can detect you and run the other direction, where is doesn't sense you. :)
Hello GreatScott can you make a video to explain why we can’t use capacitor as batteries? Or if we can how to archive this ? Thanks for considering
I have commented on your videos before asking about this, i want to make a vintage sounding 30 watt guitar tube amp with a clean and dirty channel, ive seen people make videos before where they assemble the pre amp and the power amp but they dont go into detail like you do, they just give you the schematic and schematics with vacuum tubes are too hard for me to understand, can you make a video on it?
I don't get why this guy haven't reach 1m
where did you get the casing?
Can you make it so that it produces a pure sine wave?
XOR would be a better choice for the mixer, you need to multiply the signals to get heterodyne products, not just subtract them. Unfortunately you can't throw out too much complexity from the Theremin and keep it sounding like an instrument; square waves sound very harsh because of all the harmonics. The lack of a volume control is less important, but makes it much less useful musically. Narrowing the pass-band on the post mixer filter would help make it sound better, but the timbre will change a great deal over its range.
I agree. In therory you need an korrelation circuit between fixed and variable frequencies. XOR is an simple "digital" approximation to this. Linear adding voltages does this not. But if the amplitudes are to high and nonlinear effects occur, it seems to work.
In your buck boost converter project I cannot understand the connection in circuit diagram
Could you make it sine wave funkional ? And ad the amp circuit ?
I'd rather build the more complicated analogue circuit with a proper sine wave.... at least it has a nice sound, this one sounds terrible, and the response on the antenna makes it impractical to use, not to mention the noise :(
Can you please try and build an FM transmitter and an FM reciever for your DIY or Buy series?
Everything is so well written and drawn, damn
Does thos thing work with battery?
Have u done electronics and telecommunication engineering
Hey scott! I was wondering what electronic component shelf you were using to store you'r small components in.
Why CMOS logic instead of TTL? Is it just preference?
Wow, perfect😍😍 brasilian here
Are 74ls suitable for this?
Is there a simple way to change the square wave to a sine wave without the LC Tank circuit? I'm guessing that'll make the sound much nicer.
can we please get a led cold/warm ring light with a dimmer
I wonder if you can make a video to build a cnc plotter using old dvd writers. Can you?
it's not a Moog theremin but it will do
3 minutes ago, but 32 comments! Wow! Great job!
i love your handwriting!
I thought differential op amps are for subtracting voltages only, is that incorrect?
+Abdurrahman Knifati No. Correct.
Where can i find large pcs prototype boards? On Ebay i could only find very small ones
Thanks for help^^
have a nice day
Can someone tell me which pen he is using? I really need one.
Great video indeed. Can you make a video of FM transmitter with very detail explanation with BJTs?
It is on my to do list
WOW! I will be waiting for that.
In my amazement that they built a Low Frequency mixer in the circuit, so i went in the theremin site and found out what it was, just a capacitor. Obviously, for a crude experiment no one wanted to design a mixer with high specs.
Is it possible to make this with an arduino
Very good tutorial.....I won't need a mixer, just going to feed it directly to the power amp and play some music for my dog.
@GreatScott Long time fan, first time post...How exactly does subtracting two signals (f1 = a & f2 = b) using a difference op-amp configuration result in a signal having a frequency of the first minus the other (fout = a - b)? A frequency down mixer uses the property of trig multiplication which results in this behavior but I don't see how this applies when performing a signal subtraction. Thanks!
I agree. In therory you need an korrelation circuit between fixed and variable frequencies. XOR is an simple "digital" approximation to this. Linear adding voltages does this not. But if the amplitudes are to high and nonlinear effects occur, it seems to work.
What about a frequency counter project ?
sadly in its current form this theremin is unplayable, a Theremin has 2 antennae, one for the pitch (as above) and the other is for volume and shapes all of the sound. a conventional instrument has its own volume envelope shaping. its useless for music until you make a more tactile volume shaping system.
Sometimes i wonder if people actually watched the video. He explained that and why he removed it. 🤷♂️
What should I do to understand this video???
In one of your videos you showed how to make. A light screen from Laptop screen so can you tell us how to make a portable display without using any other display driver and making driver from laptop
6:13 This truth table showcases an XNOR IC. The real NOR IC would have a 0 output with both inputs 1.
can you 3d print drone With GoPro