Make your own Simple Theremin

[@Koshka42]

Wow. Can't believe how much circuitry I've forgotten since I last had to build a circuit! 33 years ago this would have seemed so simple to me, now...

[@TheRealThisIsAlex]

That sounds like I'm at the dentist's office.

[@m_k_akash]

I was searching for a easy circuit of theremin for my whole life finally I got it. thank you very much great scott. I am building the prototype now and its working perfectly

[@zephalon]

Those drawn hands alone are worth an upvote.

[@mennims]

These videos are what keep me from falling off the edge.

[@luca.holanda]

1:30 Will you teach us how to draw such realistic hands?

[@greatscottlab]

It is easy. Never listen during art class in school. That is at least how I draw them.

[@cirithor]

I actually prefer the one at 1:27 This. is. art! :D

[@havesomecoffeeand6085]

As realistic are his hands, is realistic is theremin.

[@tafsirnahian669]

@@greatscottlab LMAO

[@steveoddlers9696]

Theremins are fun. Years ago I built one after a schematic from the net that utilised a CD4069 hex inverter and a CD4046 phase-locked loop. I had no clue how, but actually worked, although somewhat unstable. The frequency always drifted higher and it became unusable after a couple of minutes.

[@LuxBacelo]

You will get better sound if the output wave is a sine wave (with minimal noise) and you calibrate the max and min distance to 18khz to 50hz. In that way you can get a better sound response. Try it, really play theremin isn't hard. All you need is practice the distance.

[@confusionprice1422]

I’ve learned about making oscillators with inductors and capacitors, but never heard of a way to constantly provide it with power in a way to keep it going, thanks for the lesson

[@lf2371]

as a professional theremin player you just changed the way that i look to theremin not because of the complicated structure .no no no no. because of your professional playing :)

[@Alan-pz9gf]

Can you play I just wasn't made for these times? I just love how they made the theremin sound like a voice

[@Chuffin_ell]

The nicest hand drawn schematics and blueprints on KZbin. But that drawing of a hand......

[@boukhelkhalyoucef]

I graduated the last year so now I m electronic engineer, and I m in the same age as you but I m still learning from you and wait for your videos every week , keep going my friend (y)

[@greatscottlab]

Thanks for the feedback. I try my best.

[@mpilosov]

I'm a recent subscriber (some of your arduino videos helped me a ton), and just realized this is the same GreatScott as the one on the flier I have hung on my wall for your HackRF One. It's been a goal of mine to own one ever since seeing it at Denver Maker Faire last month. Thank you for being amazing!

[@Ghozer]

Doesn't sound anything like a theramin, you need an even sine wave for a theramin, tuned to a set frequency (such as A, 440Hz) - then when you move your hand, that frequency changes, creating the notes a square wave just sequeels...

[@samiant5199]

"simple" was his main goal

[@Eo_Tunun]

Yes, but it was "Simple Theremin". Maybe he built something simple, but that is *not* a theremin. Sorry for farting in the bath, but that's a fail.

[@Auriflamme]

Exactly, this is a simple noise creator, not a simple Theremin.

[@LuxBacelo]

Totally agree. As a "distance" detector maybe it work but isn't a theremin. Too much noise and high freq.

[@StephenTack]

The LP filter needs set much lower, like 1-2KHz max to be musical, and subtract the unwanted harmonics of the square waves.

[@Sx107music]

I think that the problem is mainly with the schematics, not with your playing skills. Such circuits REALLY have to be well-shielded, elsewise they output too much noise. I think, that is the reason why your theremin sounds like squeaking. Second, how does the differential opamp even work in such configurations? Subtracting two frequencies never gives a frequency difference unless some distortion occur, is it connected in a comparator mode? If not, try increasing the amplification. I've made a project that was about hearing inaudible ultrasonic frequencies - basically, a frequency mixer of a heterodyne and a mic, which is very similar to this situation. During my experiments I've found that the cheapest and simplest, yet good-sounding solution is to use an analog switch like 4053 to switch between the first signal and the first signal inverted at a frequency equal to the second signal frequency. Maybe you should try this configuration and replace on of your oscillators with a real colpitts oscillator. I can give you the schematics for my ultrasonic sound project if you want to.

[@emilianotonayan7903]

can you share thos schematics comrade?

[@edgeeffect]

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only genius who plays the guitar in my style. ;)

[@jemand771]

so if you're interested in music, creating your own midi instrument/controller may be a project for another video

[@greatscottlab]

I put it on my to do list

[@vladtomoiaga4721]

+GreatScott! You could make a 3D printed piano keyboard, or make a capacitive touch keyboard =)

[@deltaray3]

I made a capacitive touch midi controller a while back that I hook up to bananas, cucumbers and apples and a Roland synth. Its pretty popular at our local maker fest.

[@mathieuclement8011]

It's also fun to make those with conductive ink on a piece of paper :)

[@vladtomoiaga4721]

Mathieu Clement Or pencil marks

[@Apple.Repair]

I just realized you're left-handed like me, double thumbs up!!

[@MrButternutsprinkles]

*notices person is a fellow southpaw and spends the entire video in a fervor of happiness about this.*

[@chi221]

I love your handwriting.

[@andrewoverheid3883]

Really loving this! Been looking around for small sized theremins in order to build one into my electric guitar, and this might do the trick!

[@digitalcthulhu143]

Lol same

[@Chris-ZL]

I think you might find it worth revisiting the XOR gate which will mix the frequencies, unlike the op-amp which is mixing the voltages.

[@joergfoerster8043]

I agree. In therory you need an korrelation circuit between fixed and variable frequencies. XOR is an simple "digital" approximation to this. Linear adding voltages does this not. But if the amplitudes are to high and nonlinear effects occur, it seems to work.

[@Chris-ZL]

@@joergfoerster8043 someone probably told him he should use an SA602 Double-balanced mixer, but he substituted the OpAmp 🙂

[@joergfoerster8043]

@@Chris-ZL Yes, in HF-technik an mixer is in my option an multiplier - in audio-technik a mixer is an adder. Or, shoud i say: Even in an audio-technik-mixer each input-signal is multiplied with their volume-control and then the signals are added.

[@BruhM0ment_]

send it to rob scallion, he can make it sound good... right?

[@josephnevin]

CJLOLZ I second that 😂😂😂

[@amirs5512]

he can play anything, so......

[@unqualifiedMacbeth]

I would go for andrew huang

[@DylanSaliba]

I would check out Angelo Moore from the band fishbone

[@gabibonza]

Everything is so well written and drawn, damn

[@anonym7500]

Wait a minute, Great Scott! is promoting the simple schematic???

[@revimfadli4666]

What if you use the triangle-ish waves from the capacitors instead(they have lower harmonics), by subtracting them with an in-amp? Maybe it'll sound nicer since it's easier to filter the harmonics

[@JD_Mortal]

That would actually make a great mini proximity detector. Make an electronic controlled mouse-trap or a snack-snatching alarm. If anyone tries to grab a snack, it triggers a siren horn. Attach it to a door handle and you have an anti-tamper alarm detector. Put it in your wall, where the doorbell should be, and you have a 100% waterproof, touchless door chime. Add it to a robot and the robot can sense when you are about to grab it. Add three and the robot can detect you and run the other direction, where is doesn't sense you. :)

[@dryrotdryrot9908]

If I wanted to build a Theremin with a 10 foot pitch antenna, what changes would I need to make?

[@Lory98]

Nice! Just a question: why are you using NAND gates with an input pulled to HI instead of simple NOT? Wouldn't you get the same result?

[@Lory98]

@@__MINT_ The easiest way would be to use a ring oscillator.

[@Lory98]

@@__MINT_ You could, you just need an uneven number of gates.

[@bestestinventions7032]

i love your handwriting!

[@joaovitorlacerda4124]

Wow, perfect😍😍 brasilian here

[@PreludeSon]

Very good tutorial.....I won't need a mixer, just going to feed it directly to the power amp and play some music for my dog.

[@SnoozeTheRecluse]

What do I need to learn in order to know what he's talking about?

[@juliedejonge3931]

Logic gates.

[@vk2zay]

XOR would be a better choice for the mixer, you need to multiply the signals to get heterodyne products, not just subtract them. Unfortunately you can't throw out too much complexity from the Theremin and keep it sounding like an instrument; square waves sound very harsh because of all the harmonics. The lack of a volume control is less important, but makes it much less useful musically. Narrowing the pass-band on the post mixer filter would help make it sound better, but the timbre will change a great deal over its range.

[@joergfoerster8043]

I agree. In therory you need an korrelation circuit between fixed and variable frequencies. XOR is an simple "digital" approximation to this. Linear adding voltages does this not. But if the amplitudes are to high and nonlinear effects occur, it seems to work.

[@Junior-rz7ol]

I don't get why this guy haven't reach 1m

[@shleed]

3 minutes ago, but 32 comments! Wow! Great job!

[@sanchohacker]

As an electrical engineering: This is fascinating, remarkable and inspiring. As a musician: This is an excellent instrument for annoying people!!!! I believe you got this idea from Sheldon Cooper right?

[@greatscottlab]

Well, he can definitely play it better than me.

[@yashdhandale]

I was waiting for it

[@seanivrymusic]

it sounds too high. is there a change that would lower the pitch an octave or two. it sounds mostly abover 10khz... it might sound nicer in the 500hz to 8khz range... could a different component somewhere change that?

Just idea, plug output into ATmega32u4 a make cool MIDI instrument

[@greatscottlab]

Never worked with MIDI before. Might have to do a little research.

[@dronemansk2121]

CZ/SK?

[@romanemul1]

greatscott asi nemec

[@dronemansk2121]

ja nemyslím greatscotta ale teba xD

[@LuxBacelo]

Or just use an Arduino with Atmega16u2 built-in and flash de LUFA midi firmware. Cheap and simple.

[@rodstartube]

OMG those hands symbol made my day !!

[@spacemini24]

The best would be to do 2 levels for this kind of projects, an easy circuit and a more advance one, but it will take a lot longer to make. Btw nice video, as always

[@greatscottlab]

+Frost Might be a good idea. I put a more complicated, better sounding theremin on my to do list.

[@ninodiscox]

For this setup, could I use a battery instead of a power supply??? I think you are using 5V, what would happen if I put a battery with less voltage or a battery with a higher voltage??? Would still work? Please help

[@harryball3093]

This is a very nice circuit tutorial, but the net result makes this theremin hardly worth the trouble. If you want to make a simple pitch theremin using CMOS ICs, then I suggest the "101 Minimum Theremin" or the "102 Minimum Theremin," which you can Google.

[@tyronenelson9124]

Do you know exactly what a attenuator is? because ive heard so many different versions and uses abd its getting abit confusing to me

[@alexanderoneill6160]

Why did you use ex nor gate for the oscillator when you have one input connected to vcc you could have just used a not gate.

[@xDR1TeK]

In my amazement that they built a Low Frequency mixer in the circuit, so i went in the theremin site and found out what it was, just a capacitor. Obviously, for a crude experiment no one wanted to design a mixer with high specs.

[@leozendo3500]

Great video! Using Schmitt trigger as an oscillator is much better than the ne555 circuit and should be the future of hobbyist electronics. s4:30 One outputs. Yeah! I 've even got a gramma warning here.

[@rarbiart]

this is more "how not to build a theremin". I understand the concept of "keeping it simple". But if the functionally is reduced to beeing totally useless, then it's simply futile to spend any components (or time) on it. Apart from the soldering practise.

[@albericlajarte6849]

you could easily get a better timbre for your theremin by lowering the cutoff frequency to get rid of those high harmonics created by the square wave. Maybe put a variable resistor instead of a simple resistor in your low pass filter ?

[@scienceteam9254]

"Not complicated enough yet?" me: pls. stop

[@dwaynewladyka577]

Like Jimmy Page. He played it in Led Zeppelin.

[@ElGuayo]

Dwayne Wladyka Page fucking sucked playing the theremin

[@derchesten]

I LOVE THE HANDS YOU DREW! MAKE A DRAWING FULL OF HANDS

[@jonathannagel7427]

Using a Stabilo pen right now, I have trust in you!

[@bertbronson8395]

I dont understand why you use an opamp here? They make terrible RF mixers. You are looking for a non-linear mixer like a jfet or even a bjt if nothing else... linear mixers are right out!

[@joergfoerster8043]

I agree. In therory you need an korrelation circuit between fixed and variable frequencies. XOR is an simple "digital" approximation to this. Linear adding voltages does this not. But if the amplitudes are to high and nonlinear effects occur, it seems to work.

[@howardjones543]

It's been a long time since high-school physics, but couldn't you take the final audible square wave and make a sine wave from it, with an RC circuit? Maybe be a bit more musical... (yes, I will be trying this myself)

[@keithnikolaevich7530]

I have commented on your videos before asking about this, i want to make a vintage sounding 30 watt guitar tube amp with a clean and dirty channel, ive seen people make videos before where they assemble the pre amp and the power amp but they dont go into detail like you do, they just give you the schematic and schematics with vacuum tubes are too hard for me to understand, can you make a video on it?

[@testohtoby]

That's exactly what I was looking for. A bit complicated though but still awesome

[@mathieuclement8011]

how does it sound with a much lower tone (e.g. 200-1000 Hz)? How difficult would it be to replace the pitch potentiometer with another antenna as found on a regular theremin?

[@lvb1b463]

never clicked so fast in my life

[@blackturbine]

do u also play N-game that is how i got quick reflex

[@lvb1b463]

Black turbine nope

[@jaymantisgaming]

*closes video tab* *opens ebay tab* *types in ''cheap theremin'' i tried guys.... i tried lol

[@johnfaraway4666]

You know the ZOOM H1 also has an input audio port? This way you can directly record the audio signal. Afterwards you can always amplify the recording with Audacity.

[@annemariemiguel2541]

Hi greats Scott could you make a synthesizer using some oscillater like the 556? That would be awesome!

[@greatscottlab]

It is on my to do list

[@annemariemiguel2541]

GreatScott! Or you could make a quad oscillater circuit using the 4093

[@KeeganCrankshaw]

There's a great 3 part KZbin tutorial on how to do a full on synth starting here kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJLSe5SCor-UgpY I didn't make these videos I just think it's a great tutorial

[@EricHallahan]

GreatScott! Atari Punk Console? So classic.

[@AndersJackson]

A Thermin also adjust the volume with an antenna. So one for the pitch and one for the volume. And as might be good to have a separate LP filter which can be tuned. Don't bother with a midi convertion. It would be like trying to make a midi interface to a violin or bandless base guitar. A Thermin like a violin doesn't have fixed band and notes. Interesting projekt, with potentials. :-)

[@CriusDigital]

Great Scott! You maybe could add an lm386 amp to increase the output volume! 📡🎶

[@sciencedogsandallkindsofcr9104]

it's not a Moog theremin but it will do

[@SkyTechElectronics]

This is cool and all but I'm worried people are going to look up Theremin and find this and assume they all sound annoying. Any chance we could get a more.... realistic Theremin build?

[@kras_mazov]

Is it possible to have two antennas perpendicular to each other tracking x and y position of one hand?

[@dzorzstops5136]

You are genious.

[@gerardvandoornmalen1977]

Why it doesn't sound right,,, It's your output oscillator, A sine would be better for trying to play melodies.. Even better if you make it put out voltages in the range of CV (control voltage) for an analogue synth, make a separate channel for volume (same setup) Hook them up to pitch and volume control... and you can really play.

[@alexmednick431]

sadly in its current form this theremin is unplayable, a Theremin has 2 antennae, one for the pitch (as above) and the other is for volume and shapes all of the sound. a conventional instrument has its own volume envelope shaping. its useless for music until you make a more tactile volume shaping system.

[@stuffandjunkanduhh5049]

Sometimes i wonder if people actually watched the video. He explained that and why he removed it. 🤷‍♂️

[@RonLaws]

I'd rather build the more complicated analogue circuit with a proper sine wave.... at least it has a nice sound, this one sounds terrible, and the response on the antenna makes it impractical to use, not to mention the noise :(

[@exploitzero]

really nice work man!

[@vidusenanayake5605]

can you make something like a led suit like a costume using led strips

[@tr3kn3rd]

@GreatScott Long time fan, first time post...How exactly does subtracting two signals (f1 = a & f2 = b) using a difference op-amp configuration result in a signal having a frequency of the first minus the other (fout = a - b)? A frequency down mixer uses the property of trig multiplication which results in this behavior but I don't see how this applies when performing a signal subtraction. Thanks!

[@joergfoerster8043]

I agree. In therory you need an korrelation circuit between fixed and variable frequencies. XOR is an simple "digital" approximation to this. Linear adding voltages does this not. But if the amplitudes are to high and nonlinear effects occur, it seems to work.

[@athphane]

What is that grey and orange thing he uses to split the wire to multiple outputs called? AliExpress links?

[@PL-pn9iu]

What about electric kalimba with set frequencies for each note? using the same principals as the theremin.

[@Yens.1337]

Hello GreatScott can you make a video to explain why we can’t use capacitor as batteries? Or if we can how to archive this ? Thanks for considering

[@MCsCreations]

Wow, that's really nice! :D Fantastic work, man!

[@thekookaburr4]

Is there a simple circuit for making oscillation. just like those found in toy fish? thanks

[@Socks3657]

How can I smooth out a square signal to get a smooth sound, also, how can I lower the tone so It ca be a bass theremin???

[@Winteriffic]

Congratzzzz 666k subz

[@StephenTack]

With all the square wave action going on, this would probably sound better through a low-pass filter with a much lower frequency of cutoff... maybe make a simple variable LP filter, with a range from like 100Hz to 2KHz.... Cheers!

[@hugofontes5708]

I thought the same thing as I saw those square waves

Prety so cool!

[@esakib]

Good Job boss !!

[@saragarcia7099]

hi there, in the schematics it calls for 1 10k potentiometer and 1 100k potentiometer not 2 10k's?

[@tobywenman4769]

4:29 could you use the nand logic symbol there instead of the triangle so it doesn't look like an op amp or buffer?

[@emmanueljaramillo1967]

Hi, I need to replace the MCP602 with other Amplifier. I have a LM324 and LM358.

[@thewiredmaniac3889]

Can you please try and build an FM transmitter and an FM reciever for your DIY or Buy series?

[@houseofelectronics5869]

Nice video! Liked it. GreatScott , I have often observed that when I make a circuit in a breadboard, it works. But after soldering it to a perfboard, it doesn't work. This is obviously due to my mistakes, but do you have any suggestions in general regarding this ?

[@greatscottlab]

Not really. Sometimes my circuits do not work on perfboard at the first try as well. I then troubleshoot and usually find the problem by measuring whether all components are connected to one another the way it is supposed to.

[@houseofelectronics5869]

GreatScott! Thanks :)

[@اكتشف-غ2د]

wowo another great video

[@sokauo]

what i would make is a vco with an external theremin circuit which produces a dc voltage proportional to the distance of your hand so you can modulate the vco.

[@arafatal-gharabi7066]

Good work man Keep going 😘😙😙

[@bfilldelrei]

Could you do a buy or diy about High Power RGB LEDs ? It could be interesting!

[@JerryEricsson]

Dang, I always wanted one of those since the first time I ever saw Star Trek on my old black and white television! Problem, it appears my hearing aides will not produce the output from your project, I could not hear a thing coming from your finished product. Guess it is just old age catching up on me, at our Winter retreat here in Golden Shores Arizona.

[@flash4yard983]

Where can i find large pcs prototype boards? On Ebay i could only find very small ones Thanks for help^^ have a nice day

[@nicktiegs952]

i came looking for answers and i leave with questions, thanks.

[@klab3929]

Hey scott! I was wondering what electronic component shelf you were using to store you'r small components in.

[@ekaansh]

Is there a simple way to change the square wave to a sine wave without the LC Tank circuit? I'm guessing that'll make the sound much nicer.

[@egoist4902]

In one of your videos you showed how to make. A light screen from Laptop screen so can you tell us how to make a portable display without using any other display driver and making driver from laptop