AETHERPHON, global theremin family

As of late I have been rehearsing for an outdoor gig and turns out my back patio
has turned out to be a great place to practice -- I can play loud enough to
enjoy playing however the area is isolated enough that the sound doesn't bother
the neighbors (though I wouldn't attempt a practice session outside of normal
waking hours).

The pitch arm is an unattractive destination for flying insects. The volume arm
is perfect -- a nice horizontal landing area and not too much movement.  To
concentrate on sustaining correct pitch while feeling a skeeter taking a
leasurely snack from one's volume arm is certainly a challenge to one's focus!

Thus, to the required equipment list I have added: bug repellent.

Don't leave home without it.

-- Kevin

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

> 
> The pitch arm is an unattractive destination for flying insects. The volume
> arm
> is perfect -- a nice horizontal landing area and not too much movement.  To
> concentrate on sustaining correct pitch while feeling a skeeter taking a
> leasurely snack from one's volume arm is certainly a challenge to one's focus!
> 
I bet a dragonfly would enjoy hanging out on the pitch antenna. They love
car antennas, after all.

I guess a citronella candle might help with the skeeters.

Kevin:

With your electronics acumen, I think it'd be a small matter to solve 
the problem in the most high-tech way -- STEP ONE: wire a fourescent 
light to the front of the E-Pro so that it gives off a nice blue glow 
AND ATTRACTS the insects -- STEP TWO: Run a good electric current 
through both antennae and you have the world's first

THEREMIN BUG ZAPPER

Quoting brickblad <kr@...>:

> Kevin:
>
> With your electronics acumen, I think it'd be a small matter to solve
> the problem in the most high-tech way -- STEP ONE: wire a fourescent
> light to the front of the E-Pro so that it gives off a nice blue glow
> AND ATTRACTS the insects -- STEP TWO: Run a good electric current
> through both antennae and you have the world's first
>
> THEREMIN BUG ZAPPER
>
Kip,

Turns out that the TBZ may not need the flourescent light.  Turns out 
that bugs
were wanting to land on the antennas.  Particularly bad when they land on the
volume antenna -- it makes the pitch go crazy.

Undaunted, I sprayed bug repellent on the antennas!  And... that seemed 
to stop
the problem!

Quoting Victoria Lundy <victoria@...>:
>
> I bet a dragonfly would enjoy hanging out on the pitch antenna. They love
> car antennas, after all.

Hmm... didn't encounter any dragonflys.  Usually when I see them they 
are flying
in pairs in close formation.

>
> I guess a citronella candle might help with the skeeters.
>

Vic,

The citronella candles are a good idea.  I may set up out back after 
dark (when
the bugs really start biting) and light a couple citronella candles.

Music by candlelight!

On 5/28/06, kkissinger@... <kkissinger@...> wrote:
> Turns out that bugs
> were wanting to land on the antennas.  Particularly bad when they land on the
> volume antenna -- it makes the pitch go crazy.

hmm ...

how does landing on the volume antenna effect the pitch output? did
you do some special 'hot wiring'?

also, i think it would be interesting to incorporate this into some
music. it would be more music about sound [john cage] than music about
melody [saint saens]; but still might be interesting to listen to [at
modest volume].

have several players come and play, with time between them, leaving
the theremin on at all times [or course, adjusted for zero beat]. i
wonder if the mosquitoes would affect the players differently in
addition to changing the music by landing on the antennas.

i wonder how many of the players would resort to chemical warfare [bug
spray] to keep the bugs off of them!

-- 
\js  [ http://or8.net/~johns/ ]

\js wrote:

 >
 > also, i think it would be interesting to incorporate this into some
 > music. it would be more music about sound [john cage] than music about
 > melody [saint saens]; but still might be interesting to listen to [at
 > modest volume].

I've had the idea, as I'm sure every thereminist in the history of the 
world has, of tuning a theremin with the largest possible control zone 
and leaving it in a busy area and recording what happens.

 >
 > have several players come and play, with time between them, leaving
 > the theremin on at all times [or course, adjusted for zero beat]. i
 > wonder if the mosquitoes would affect the players differently in
 > addition to changing the music by landing on the antennas.

Well certainly some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others 
for various biological reasons.  And if you're waving your hands around 
swatting then you're not playing with much precision ;-)

 >
 > i wonder how many of the players would resort to chemical warfare [bug
 > spray] to keep the bugs off of them!
 >

Oh I would.  Better living through chemistry.



-----
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http://davidv.purplenote.com
porphyrous@...
-----
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-----

Quoting "\js" <js0000@...>:

> On 5/28/06, kkissinger@... 
> <kkissinger@...> wrote:
>> Turns out that bugs
>> were wanting to land on the antennas.  Particularly bad when they 
>> land on the
>> volume antenna -- it makes the pitch go crazy.
>
> hmm ...
>
> how does landing on the volume antenna effect the pitch output? did
> you do some special 'hot wiring'?

No hot wiring!

At first I just sprayed repellent on the pitch antenna.  However, actually
touching the volume antenna makes the pitch go wild on most Theremins. 
Normally this is not audible because when the volume antenna is touched 
it
isn't audible anyway.  However, thru a pitch preview one can hear the pitch
changes when touching the volume loop.  So, much to my surprise, when bugs
touched the volume loop a pitch jump was audible.

Oh, the amount of the change is directly proportional to the size of the bug.

-- Kevin