This remnant will be replaced soon. The FAQ is back, with a new design! How does a theremin work? The theremin (see picture and diagram) is a synthesizer that uses a field monitored by two antennae (one horizontal and one vertical, forming a right angle) as the input device (instead of, e.g., a keyboard.) The field created within this right-angle reads "capacitance" to produce noise sounding something like a cello.. Moving your hand (or a wand) within that angle disturbs and changes the electromagnetic field between the antennae, one of which reads changes in amplitude (and produces change in volume) and one of which reads change in frequency (and produces change in pitch). Brian Whitman <bwhitmans@www.phish.net> posted (1-23-97) to the MMW net: "It works using the same theories that allow a good musician to tune instruments accurately. When you have an instrument that is out of tune to a reference note, you can hear a pulse in the sound that you can use to tune the instrument. The theramin works by using an electronic oscillator to create a high pitch tone (inaudible) as a reference tone, and another oscillator who's tuning is controlled by a simple antenna which detects changes in electical capacity. The produced tone is the 'pulse' frequency between the two oscillator frequencies." (You can build one.) Related FAQ pages: What is a theremin? Where else have I heard a theremin? Special thanks to Lee Shiller and Ben Williams. The real reason I don't have to tune or break strings is because of the pact with the Devil that I made. That's just one of the clauses in the pact with the devil. Actually, contract negotiations for artists have improved since Robert Johnson. You gotta have a good lawyer when you're dealing with the devil. My contract is way better than Robert Johnson's. ~ Trey Anastasio This page last updated January 26, 2007. All contents © 1992-2007 Ellis Godard. All rights reserved.