Theremin as a Capacitive Sensing Device

Totally new to this but.... I can't even open the .pde file. What is that?! :slight_smile: It's a small file so I'm assuming a .doc or something. Any Mac versions of this document?

Thanks in advance!

use the arduino IDE for mac http://arduino.googlecode.com/files/arduino-1.0.1-macosx.zip. it opens the .pde files so you can program it to your arduino.ur arduino.

I think we can make also a parking sensor (without those horrible holes you have to make to insert ultrasound sensors).
I think we can use a strip of aluminium tape (that used in kitchen )
Any idea?

hello dear arduino people!

how can i modify theremin with midi output from arduino 2009 board?
I want also audio output and midi output.
Code for that?

Thank you so much!

Hi,

Your theramin looks great. Im trying to build the same, but will be generating all the audio in MAXmsp6. I have it running with an ultrasonic sensor, but the sensitivity isn't as good as I hoped so would like to build a sensor like yours. Im presuming the circuit diagram you provide includes the audio output sound processing? could you give me any tips on how to make just the sensor so I can feed the readings into MAX?

thanks,

Rob

Hi, my son and I are newbies to this. He's blown away by your idea and would like to build one for his 7th grade science fair project and was hoping for a parts list for the oscillator build.
Any help you can give is greatly appreciated.

also, I cant seem to open the .pde file either, using Windows.
Any advice?
ranfan

pvar:
Would it be possible to use four hex inverters instead of four NAND gates? :roll_eyes:

Yes. Actually the fourth one is redundant, so you could even have two sensors with one hex inverter chip. Of course, the counter/interrupt stuff becomes more complex then...

Hi,
iam trying to improve the theremin circuit. Therefor i would like to change the capacitor inductor setup.
My aim is to generate a higher frequency, hence i hope for a higher precision on shorter distances.

Did somebody made any experinces with different components ?

Is it useful to use components with values far below the given values ? For example 10µH -> 1µH

Is there any other possibility to increase the precision ?

Kind regards

marnaw:
http://interface.khm.de/index.php/lab/experiments/theremin-as-a-capacitive-sensing-device/

its a problem with the mega 1280

the frequency input is fixed to the t1 timer input on the mega 8/168/328
in the code:
int pinFreq = 5;

the mega 2560 and 1280 has this pin not mapped to the pin header
you can try to solder a thin cable directly to that pin or just use a arduino uno.

martin
HOla, como puedo usar el thereming como medidor de distancias?. gracias.

I am really new to both electronics and programming, so please bare with my ignorance.

Just wondering if it is possible to enlarge the effective radius of this project,
perhaps with a larger diameter antenna, around 3meters ?
(although it is suppose to be around 1 meter)

If it is possible, I assume all other components should somehow also be scaled up?

Would that still be supported by the UNO?

that's a lot of questions, perhaps even incorrect assumptions,
hope someone could help me out here

=)

Would it be possible to use four hex inverters instead of nand or and gates
Thanks

Read the thread, already asked and answered.

http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=65991.msg1225366#msg1225366

TL;DR
Yes.

"the mega 2560 and 1280 has this pin not mapped to the pin header
you can try to solder a thin cable directly to that pin or just use a arduino uno."

Maybe someone know, how needs to modify sketch for using pin JP2(instead of pin 5 in original sketch) on Arduino Mega 2560 in this device, which is havent any digital or analogue mark? I try to replicate this device with cable soldering to unknown for IDE pin.

I'm considering building this but before I commit to it I'm curious to know - what sort of resolution have people achieved? The example video I've seen sounds very step-wise but I'm unsure if this is due to limited resolution on the sensing side or if it's because of the waveform generation on the output side.

I know the article states a resolution of 10hz but it's talking about the sensing oscillator which is running at about 1MHz so it doesn't hint at the number of steps reflected in the playable range nor what sort of hand movement is required per step.

I'd be interested in the experiences of anyone who's tried to use this design as the basis of an actual musical instrument, or who has measured its performance in that context.

I know I could just build it and see, and indeed the component costs are low but I'd need to order the bits for this and shipping charges mean I'd rather not do it if it's known to be unsuitable for my needs (which is to build two theremin each with pitch and volume circuits, possibly using external synthesis).

Hi, I've tried to build the board, but I'm new even to soldering so I just followed the given plan.
I tested it on a Funduino UNO board and I am getting no signal at all, by using your code, or just by reading the data fron the breadbord.

I have some photos, maybe I used the wrong components, or soldered something the wrong way. I was pretty confused as there are many differences between the drawn plan and what is too see in your soldered board.

http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=104799

http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=104802

Thanks from Stuttgart.

Pivetta

It would be much simpler to use the capacitive sensor library.

http://playground.arduino.cc/Main/CapacitiveSensor

Hello,first of all I want to state that I am a beginner.

Is it possible to move cursor (mouse pointer) like this instead of producing sound?

If you know any way and have the time, could you just give me some pointers what should be changed?

Fascinating subject!

The original Theremin , still used occasionally as a musical instrument, had two similar oscillators running at a few hundred kHz.

Both were free-running but one (A) was attached to an antenna such that the capacitance of a nearby object affected it's frequency. The other (B) was similar, but shielded to eliminate that effect, and was carefully tuned by a variable capacitance at start-up to be at exactly the same frequency as the first( without a nearby influence).

The two were multiplied together ( RF people call this mixing) and the difference frequency in the audio range extracted by a low pass filter, amplified, and fed to loudspeakers.

This was done back in the 1920's! with, of course, valves.

Drift was a serious problem, and the device had to be turned on and left for several hours with a stable power source and constant room temperature, with regular careful retuning until just before the performance...

I think you could make a modern version working on this principle with an arduino providing an auto-tune feature.

If anyone's interested I'll give it some serious thought - but I'm a bit busy with another project just now.

Give me a few days.........

regards

Allan.