how to build a tannerin?

[neo644]

hi. i have been searching for the past 2 hours how to actually build a "tannerin", or electro-theremin, or call it what you like, with no success. i understand how it works, and its very simple. but i just dont know the necesary electronic to actually develop one from scratch.

so if anybody would like to develop the electrical aspect of it i would be very greatfull! and of course it would become probably the first documentation of it on the net, cause i couldnt find one.

well, thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

[mosc]

Hi, neo644

Good to have you here.

I'm personally not ready to undertake this project. It is an interesting one nevertheless. I hope you can round up some people who are interested. It seems like a good way to progress is to concentrate on building a suitable CV controller. Then you could use any modular synth modules.

I'm moving this topic to the DIY Developers Corner forum because it might get more page views there by builders.

[neo644]

ok, thanks!

i'm actually a total newbie in the synth world, i've never built anything like this nor do i fully understand most of it. neither do i have any kind of synth module whatsoever, so i'm actually looking for a circuit which will output a normal sound wave and not a cv output (i think i have used the terms correctly, if not please correct me) so that i can plug it directly to an amp or whatever.

[mosc]

OK, maybe there is some all-in-one kit like that. If so, it might be cool. There are theremin kits, but that is another beast. Since you haven't build anything like this before, I'd suggest using a kit as your first project. Building from scratch is another level up the learning curve. Mayber there is a Tannerin kit, but if you've searched already, the odds are low.

All the best of luck...

[neo644]

i've never built any eletronic-music oriented circuit but i have studied electronics 3 years, so i have built other things, just not oriented to music. i do understand schematics and how to build them. i just dont know all the theory to develop a tannerin from scrath, hehehe

anyways, thanks for your help!

[blue hell]

From what I read sofar (a nice page is : http://www.electrotheremin.com/PTE-TPage.html ) it's basically a sine oscillator that is frequency controlled from a potientiometer built from a long wire resistor.

A good starting point would be to build a simple voltage controled sine wave oscillator (with a 1V/octave input for frequency control) or buy a doepfer thingie or something like that and then build the resistor to control that.

But while working on that, why not go for a complete (mini) synth. like the soundlab or something (there is a soundlab forum on this forum).

This CV thing you mentioned is the Control Voltage as usd in Voltage Controlled equipment. This tells you not much about the equipment making sound or not. When it's an oscillator it will have an audio output signal. That signal can of course be used again as a CV to control some other VC equipment. So this is not a thing to fear, it's a good thing, it's flexibility, it's a standard and it makes equipment modular.

This soundlab might be just the right thing, it sure will be fun to use and it will teach you all the basic concepts of electronics for music.

The glide controller is just a strand of resistive wire with a constant voltage over it, as many volts as you want it to have octaves - maybe 10 Volts - and a slidable tap on it that you use as a CV for your VCO(scillator).

You might want to attenuate the output of the VCO a bit before plugging it into your amplifier, 10 to 20 V output signal may be a bit much for your inputs.

[dnny]

hi all. last night i read this post and the in morning Blue Hell have already answered - i must say this forum works very nicely.

but here is what i thought before going to sleep:

if you just want to fool around whit this E-theremin-like instrument
go the easy way and build VCO and ribbon controller

but if you want more seriously play whit it then i think you should
build the SoundLab
or just a box that has VCO, ASDR and VCA
and control it whit this controller that generates CV, gate and trigger from resistance changes - but you have to ad this simple ribbon controller to it


as probes you can use anything that conduces electricity - i would use metal spoons

hope this helps

daniel

[neo644]

hey, thanks for the info!

i have decided to go the easy way for now, hehehe. building a soundlad right now would be useless because i dont even know what the majority of its functions actually do, so id rather start with something smaller so i can learn it completely and then go with something more difficult.

i have read how to build the VCO and i think i can do it. though i have some questions:
it has 3 1v/oct cv inputs. how does it work? i mean, i can plug in 3 ribbons if would want to? but what will this do then?
and then i just dont know what is fm in and the sync in/out.

and then one other question, it may be very stupid, hehe, can i plug some earphones to the sine output for example? or do i have to amplify it first?

thanks for all your help, things have come much clearer now, and as i can see, building this vco will then allow me to experiment a bit more even though if i just fool around with the ribbon thingy

thanks!

[mosc]

There is a good set of tutorial resources at Synthesizers.com, see: http://www.synthesizers.com/links.html#tutorials

That will get you up to speed on the basics.

Yes, you could plug in three ribbon controllers to the FM input of a VCO, they would add up to one pitch. Better to use one ribbon controller and one low frequency sine wave (LFO) for virbrato.

These modules by themselves are not too good, but patch a bunch of them together you have a very powerful and flexible system for sound design.

Another way to get the feel of this, is to try the Clavia G2 demo software. You'll have a super nice modular synth emulation to work with. It's free. See: http://www.clavia.com/products/nordmodular/software.htm

[neo644]

thanks! gonna go read a bit.
yes, i know that having only a vco will probably be useless after a while, but then again, i really dont know anything so i'd better start with some very simple. then i may move to building a complete set of modules, like the soundlab or something like that.