One of my all-time favorite archaic tube devices......with a sound near and dear to the hearts of all those who watched cheezy horror films back in the 1950's and early 60's. Thanks for this very thorough tour and impromptu performance, Brad :)
+Uncle Doug Thanks Doug. Good to hear from you, as always. I think a tube theremin is something you need to build next. Would make a great video series!
I have always harbored an interest in them, Brad, but have never had the opportunity to see one up close....until your video. The circuit seems fairly straightforward and there are numerous sites dedicated to the design and construction of clones. Perhaps Rusty and I need to consider this for a future project. God knows the neighborhood could use some spooky late night music emanating from the workshop.
Uncle Doug Only just saw this comment Doug, hope you and Rusty are well. This would be an awesome project to see you have a crack at. Can't wait to see a new video from you.
A couple of years ago my wife and I were walking from the botanical gardens in Oxford UK whenever I noticed a tiny hand written sign that read something like the keyboard museum. Was small place and off the beaten path. They had an original Moog theremin along with various very old harpsichords, pianos, clavis and such. I had never seen a theremin but the minute the caretaker demonstrated it. I instantly knew where the music came from in those old horror movies.
Judging by the tubes used , this circuit was operated directly from the rectified AC line input , with popular tubes used in the 50's & 60's for a five tube super heterodyne radio. its operation and circuit may have been quite similar to that very popular 5 tube radio., as the radio, and the basic theremin work on the principle of demodulating a beat frequency produced by interaction with the a fixed oscillator, and a variaible frequency (in the theremin its another oscillator, whose frequency is dependent on capacitance changed by one's hands) of a signal.
Possibly the coolest vintage electronic instrument I will ever see and hear! The tour inside this instrument was incredible!! I agree, looks like it was last touched by Bob Moog himself. A couple of things I noticed: the volume and frequency controls are actually air core variable capacitors. But the really amazing thing was the 2N35 NPN Germanium transistor! Yea, this transistor came out in the market 1953. But to see it in an original Moog Theremin is a portent of the incredible sounds he would soon be creating with semiconductors! Thank you for this awesome record of this historic instrument.
One thing about those tube theremins that isn't so on the newer ones that I've played is the ripping sound. When you stop the note it almost sounds like a stylus is ripping across a vinyl record. That just sounds great!
The four cans which thing are inductor coils are stock slug-tuned IF-transformers - some are probably 455kHz and some maybe 260kHz or something like that. Each set of oscillators (pitch, volume) has its own transformers to couple the signal between stages (how its done at RF, otherwise stray capacitance swallows most/all your signal). The pitch is done using a fixed and variable oscillator close in frequency so that a mixer generates the difference frequency (in the audio range), and small percentage change in variable oscillator scan the difference across a wide audio range. The volume uses an oscillator on a different frequency, which is detuned away from its IF transformer passband by the antenna enough to control its amplitude over a wide range - the output of this oscillator in simply converted to DC to control the volume - some circuits do this by controlling the filament current to the audio driver which is kind of interesting (maybe some tremolos use the same idea?). The 2N35 transistor may be the detector converting the volume oscillations to DC. Each antenna has a series inductor - not sure of the reason, but perhaps to tune each one so they don't interfere with each other? Even at widely different frequencies the antennas will have a tendancy to interact which is why they are at right angles.
There's a part marked "2N35" visible at 12:07. That refers to a PNP germanium transistor which was contemporary to the design, although its appearance doesn't conform to its usual package style. It might be used as a mixer. At 13:21, the items you referred to as "pots" are variable capacitors, and the number 273 is the EIA (Electronic Industries Association) manufacturer code for the Radio Condenser Company (now called RF Products, Inc.).
Holy smoke!! What an incredible find, and what a piece of history! Listening to that, compared to the chinesium available these days, is a simple joy! Jimmy Page, eat your heart out! Have you sold it yet? If not, talk to me, please! :-)
Absolutely fabulous. I used to live in Buffalo and by chance have stumbled upon R Moog's old shops. Especially the one on Walden Ave.(This shop/facility obviously came much later than this featured Theremin.) Even long after Moog moved out of the Walden Ave facility there was still old "junk" laying around in a disused corner of the building. Promotional posters still on the walls. Parts bins etc... Your videos are really cool. You got a keeper with that thing. I hope you haven't parted with that.
Judging by the shape of the speaker and from past experience the speaker is a 5x7. Roughly the equivalent of a 6" round speaker. Not gigantic but sufficient. There's no external speaker jack because an external speaker cable would mess with the tuning/playability. Those cans look to be regular radio IF transformers. Probably Meisner brand. It was said that Theremin accidentally came up with with his namesake while trying to make a new radio design. Pretty good playing, BTW. Is there any instrument you can't play? You got talent man!
Hey Guitologist, Awesome piece of equipment, a museum piece. I have some old all american 5 tube radios that have a very similar tube compliment, some are exactly the same. I know you can make a Theramin from 3 radios, so it stands to reason it would have some radio tubes in it. Pristine component side of chassis, clean work. The chicklet as you said, or domino looking capacitors are the old style Mica capacitors, with the 6 dots for the color code. Mr. Carlsons Lab on TH-cam has a video that features that kind of cap with a good explanation of how to read the code, not to tough. Mr Carlson's Lab also has good videos on tubes, tube amps and related subjects, worth a look, good channel. Thanks for the look at that piece of history and an unusual instrument. Take care, keep one hand in your pocket, C.
+Cass Virgillo I'm a subscriber to Mr. Carlson's Lab. Very knowledgeable tech. There is no doubt you could make a working theremin from radio parts. The tubes you see here in this one are mostly for the rectification and amplification of the produced sound. I have a couple cool old radios that aren't worth much, I may do some research and try my hand at converting one or both into a theremin.
The Guitologist Hey G, That sounds like it would be a great Winter time project, weather is to good now to be inside. Thankyou for replying to my comments, and, only if you want to. Be good, C.
The One Step Beyond them was a great display of creepy theramin music. What an education to look inside this unit. History, culture, controversy, intrigue, conspiracy all in one show. Sounds like a home run!
(Keith Emerson ha , no ) , but wasn't page using one of these in the song remains the same ? How do get in touch , think we may be in the same area and may have met ?
+JogLab All of my videos are recorded on an iPhone 4 or 5 with no processing. The iPhone has built-in compression, but that's it. Very natural and neutral, I've found, for demos.
The theremin should be placed no closer than 6-8 ft. from any object or surface, including walls. If you'd move it away from the wall it will be much easier to play.
haha, cool! Yeah! I really liked it. Took my daughter there. She had fun. My favorite thing was using the pipes to redirect the water. My wife and I sat there fiddling with that for probably 45 minutes, like little kids.
Oh yeah. I actually designed a prototype parabolic reflector to be attached to an iPhone for acoustic amplification of the built-in speaker, so when I saw that I knew precisely what they were. Also, if you ever go to Saint Paul's Cathedral in London, climb to the top of the dome, they have a "whispering wall" inside the dome. One person can stand on one side and whisper to a person on the opposite side. Same principle. Before the invention of radar, the British used huge parabolic reflectors along the British coastline to listen for approaching German planes. Cool stuff!
The KGB connection is one of the more fascinating aspects - especially as the early Theramin demonstrations were also information gathering (spying) exercises...
What a thing to own. I bet your having second thoughts on just replacing those original electrolytics. You could just hollow some of those caps and stuff a brand new one inside so they still look original. :-)to add: you forgot the banjo...next time huh. lol
+August Lyons I know! I forgot the banjo! You can see the banjo in this clip. This clip was filmed at the club just down the street from Ruby's Carousel Club. That's Demar in the video with the Vega banjo I also bought from the son. th-cam.com/video/rRHLf49PTCw/w-d-xo.htmlm51s
Jimmy Page used one on stage with an Echo-Plex on one song. I forget which song, but you can see and hear it on The Song Remains the Same, film and audio recordings.
Most of your videos I find a bit long winded and overly verbose but more on that later... This video is not too bad on balance. The metal cans are of course RF transformers which are the heart of the device. Ditch the electrolytic capacitors and install an isolation transformer then earth the chassis and install a 3 pin plug. This is important because the player can touch the antenna and volume metal surface. Safety first.
UPDATE: I did find some info on the "Moog Archives" website which states Robert Moog had two other theremin designs as early as 1953-1954. He apparently only made about 20 or so of those before making the Vanguard and Professional models starting in 1957. Sorry or any misinfo in the video. moogarchives.com/
Brad , Have you read up about Leon Theremin, the inventor who this is named for? This man was an amazing genius , very prolific in his efforts. Clara Rockmore (married name) was a Russian violin prodigy and quite nice to look at, Theremin tried more than once to marry her. Clara changed from violin to theremin , she lived a long time and so did Theremin.
One of my all-time favorite archaic tube devices......with a sound near and dear to the hearts of all those who watched cheezy horror films back in the 1950's and early 60's. Thanks for this very thorough tour and impromptu performance, Brad :)
+Uncle Doug Thanks Doug. Good to hear from you, as always. I think a tube theremin is something you need to build next. Would make a great video series!
I have always harbored an interest in them, Brad, but have never had the opportunity to see one up close....until your video. The circuit seems fairly straightforward and there are numerous sites dedicated to the design and construction of clones. Perhaps Rusty and I need to consider this for a future project. God knows the neighborhood could use some spooky late night music emanating from the workshop.
that's definitely one id watch.
Uncle Doug Only just saw this comment Doug, hope you and Rusty are well. This would be an awesome project to see you have a crack at. Can't wait to see a new video from you.
A couple of years ago my wife and I were walking from the botanical gardens in Oxford UK whenever I noticed a tiny hand written sign that read something like the keyboard museum. Was small place and off the beaten path. They had an original Moog theremin along with various very old harpsichords, pianos, clavis and such. I had never seen a theremin but the minute the caretaker demonstrated it. I instantly knew where the music came from in those old horror movies.
Judging by the tubes used , this circuit was operated directly from the rectified AC line input , with popular tubes used in the 50's & 60's for a five tube super heterodyne radio. its operation and circuit may have been quite similar to that very popular 5 tube radio., as the radio, and the basic theremin work on the principle of demodulating a beat frequency produced by interaction with the a fixed oscillator, and a variaible frequency (in the theremin its another oscillator, whose frequency is dependent on capacitance changed by one's hands) of a signal.
Possibly the coolest vintage electronic instrument I will ever see and hear! The tour inside this instrument was incredible!! I agree, looks like it was last touched by Bob Moog himself. A couple of things I noticed: the volume and frequency controls are actually air core variable capacitors. But the really amazing thing was the 2N35 NPN Germanium transistor! Yea, this transistor came out in the market 1953. But to see it in an original Moog Theremin is a portent of the incredible sounds he would soon be creating with semiconductors! Thank you for this awesome record of this historic instrument.
One thing about those tube theremins that isn't so on the newer ones that I've played is the ripping sound. When you stop the note it almost sounds like a stylus is ripping across a vinyl record. That just sounds great!
The four cans which thing are inductor coils are stock slug-tuned IF-transformers - some are probably 455kHz and some
maybe 260kHz or something like that. Each set of oscillators (pitch, volume) has its own transformers to couple the signal between stages (how its done at RF, otherwise stray capacitance swallows most/all your signal). The pitch is done using a fixed and variable oscillator close in frequency so that a mixer generates the difference frequency (in the audio range),
and small percentage change in variable oscillator scan the difference across a wide audio range.
The volume uses an oscillator on a different frequency, which is detuned away from its IF transformer passband by the antenna enough to control its amplitude over a wide range - the output of this oscillator in simply converted to DC to control the volume - some circuits do this by controlling the filament current to the audio driver which is kind of interesting (maybe some tremolos use the same idea?). The 2N35 transistor may be the detector converting the volume oscillations to DC.
Each antenna has a series inductor - not sure of the reason, but perhaps to tune each one so they don't interfere with each other?
Even at widely different frequencies the antennas will have a tendancy to interact which is why they are at right angles.
There's a part marked "2N35" visible at 12:07. That refers to a PNP germanium transistor which was contemporary to the design, although its appearance doesn't conform to its usual package style. It might be used as a mixer. At 13:21, the items you referred to as "pots" are variable capacitors, and the number 273 is the EIA (Electronic Industries Association) manufacturer code for the Radio Condenser Company (now called RF Products, Inc.).
Holy smoke!! What an incredible find, and what a piece of history! Listening to that, compared to the chinesium available these days, is a simple joy! Jimmy Page, eat your heart out! Have you sold it yet? If not, talk to me, please! :-)
Absolutely fabulous. I used to live in Buffalo and by chance have stumbled upon R Moog's old shops.
Especially the one on Walden Ave.(This shop/facility obviously came much later than this featured Theremin.)
Even long after Moog moved out of the Walden Ave facility there was still old "junk" laying around in a disused corner of the building. Promotional posters still on the walls. Parts bins etc...
Your videos are really cool. You got a keeper with that thing. I hope you haven't parted with that.
I still have it. I'm not listing it for sale ATM, but I'll listen to serious offers.
As never seen one before this was more than interesting for me and it is so cool.
Judging by the shape of the speaker and from past experience the speaker is a 5x7. Roughly the equivalent of a 6" round speaker. Not gigantic but sufficient. There's no external speaker jack because an external speaker cable would mess with the tuning/playability.
Those cans look to be regular radio IF transformers. Probably Meisner brand. It was said that Theremin accidentally came up with with his namesake while trying to make a new radio design.
Pretty good playing, BTW. Is there any instrument you can't play? You got talent man!
Neat... Theremin is like the Violin... Beautiful when played by a master... hideous when played by a novice.
Cheers for video anyhow.
+DeadKoby Thanks for watching.
I have to correct you there - the majority of the synthesis on Dark Side of the Moon was generated by the British EMS VCS3 and EMS Synthi models.
Yes for sure.
This might be the coolest thing i have ever seen. It just makes you think of the beach boys...
This has been up for a couple of years now , Wonder if brad has added a lineout , and smashed this thing into his pedal board yet ??
Hey Guitologist, Awesome piece of equipment, a museum piece. I have some old all american 5 tube radios that have a very similar tube compliment, some are exactly the same. I know you can make a Theramin from 3 radios, so it stands to reason it would have some radio tubes in it. Pristine component side of chassis, clean work. The chicklet as you said, or domino looking capacitors are the old style Mica capacitors, with the 6 dots for the color code. Mr. Carlsons Lab on TH-cam has a video that features that kind of cap with a good explanation of how to read the code, not to tough. Mr Carlson's Lab also has good videos on tubes, tube amps and related subjects, worth a look, good channel. Thanks for the look at that piece of history and an unusual instrument. Take care, keep one hand in your pocket, C.
+Cass Virgillo I'm a subscriber to Mr. Carlson's Lab. Very knowledgeable tech. There is no doubt you could make a working theremin from radio parts. The tubes you see here in this one are mostly for the rectification and amplification of the produced sound. I have a couple cool old radios that aren't worth much, I may do some research and try my hand at converting one or both into a theremin.
The Guitologist Hey G, That sounds like it would be a great Winter time project, weather is to good now to be inside. Thankyou for replying to my comments, and, only if you want to. Be good, C.
The One Step Beyond them was a great display of creepy theramin music. What an education to look inside this unit. History, culture, controversy, intrigue, conspiracy all in one show. Sounds like a home run!
Gorgeous.
+Aiden Bradley thanks for watching, Adam. I agree, she's a beaut!
(Keith Emerson ha , no ) , but wasn't page using one of these in the song remains the same ? How do get in touch , think we may be in the same area and may have met ?
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing this presentation, hope the sound was coming from a condenser mic directly from the speaker though ;-)
+JogLab All of my videos are recorded on an iPhone 4 or 5 with no processing. The iPhone has built-in compression, but that's it. Very natural and neutral, I've found, for demos.
+The Guitologist It is an amazing video anyways! Thanks again!
I've never seen one of those until now. That is cool as all get out.
That is just too cool!!!!!
The theremin should be placed no closer than 6-8 ft. from any object or surface, including walls. If you'd move it away from the wall it will be much easier to play.
It would be much easier to play if I actually knew how to play the theremin. :P
Have you heard album "Songs of the Second Moon"?
No.
very cool. I seen somethin like that down town at the "science museum" or whatever it's called. Fun to play with for sure.!
+yrulooknatme Not sure where you're located, but there's one at the science museum here in Louisville.
I'm in Louisville this week... lol.. That's where I seen it. Fun stuff in that place:-)
haha, cool! Yeah! I really liked it. Took my daughter there. She had fun. My favorite thing was using the pipes to redirect the water. My wife and I sat there fiddling with that for probably 45 minutes, like little kids.
+The Guitologist ...Did you talk into those parabolic dish things? Kinda blew my mind how those worked!
Oh yeah. I actually designed a prototype parabolic reflector to be attached to an iPhone for acoustic amplification of the built-in speaker, so when I saw that I knew precisely what they were. Also, if you ever go to Saint Paul's Cathedral in London, climb to the top of the dome, they have a "whispering wall" inside the dome. One person can stand on one side and whisper to a person on the opposite side. Same principle. Before the invention of radar, the British used huge parabolic reflectors along the British coastline to listen for approaching German planes. Cool stuff!
Very Very Cool
Very cool.
Love that thing
way too cooool! wow
Have to tell everyone that the synths used by pink floyd during their golden era were all EMS synthesizers
According to this, in addition to EMS, Wright used a Moog Minimoog from Darkside to Animals. sparebricks.fika.org/sbzine28/WrightGear-rev156.pdf
So many experts so little time
The KGB connection is one of the more fascinating aspects - especially as the early Theramin demonstrations were also information gathering (spying) exercises...
Yep. He also invented the bug device.
@@TheGuitologist He was a genius, indeed!
What's a "death cap?" you mentioned at 13:11?
The one that if it fails leaky will electrocute you as it pulls the chassis live...
What a thing to own. I bet your having second thoughts on just replacing those original electrolytics. You could just hollow some of those caps and stuff a brand new one inside so they still look original. :-)to add: you forgot the banjo...next time huh. lol
+August Lyons I know! I forgot the banjo! You can see the banjo in this clip. This clip was filmed at the club just down the street from Ruby's Carousel Club. That's Demar in the video with the Vega banjo I also bought from the son.
th-cam.com/video/rRHLf49PTCw/w-d-xo.htmlm51s
+August Lyons As for the caps... They are all still going fine, believe it or not! The noise I was hearing ended up just being a dirty tube socket.
Who has the coolest shit? You do.
Jimmy Page used one on stage with an Echo-Plex on one song. I forget which song, but you can see and hear it on The Song Remains the Same, film and audio recordings.
Brian York - Dazed and Confused! Saw it done live in 1968! Pretty intense stuff for a fledgeling bass player/high school student! LOL
dude you are the deal and steal finder haha
it's Lothar!
15:37 Led Zeppelin- Immigrant Song
Sounds like a cats mating call
Most of your videos I find a bit long winded and overly verbose but more on that later... This video is not too bad on balance. The metal cans are of course RF transformers which are the heart of the device. Ditch the electrolytic capacitors and install an isolation transformer then earth the chassis and install a 3 pin plug. This is important because the player can touch the antenna and volume metal surface. Safety first.
UPDATE: I did find some info on the "Moog Archives" website which states Robert Moog had two other theremin designs as early as 1953-1954. He apparently only made about 20 or so of those before making the Vanguard and Professional models starting in 1957. Sorry or any misinfo in the video.
moogarchives.com/
Brad , Have you read up about Leon Theremin, the inventor who this is named for? This man was an amazing genius , very prolific in his efforts. Clara Rockmore (married name) was a Russian violin prodigy and quite nice to look at, Theremin tried more than once to marry her. Clara changed from violin to theremin , she lived a long time and so did Theremin.
On n odder note: th-cam.com/video/bMm0lotUs9s/w-d-xo.html
It's MOOOOOOOOG not moge
Snakefinger1000 Dr. Robert Moog: It rhymes with "vogue." That is the usual German pronunciation." from an interview with the man himself.