The pitch control is the knob at the paper keyboard, which exists only for letting the player know where the notes are. The volume knob is on the left end. The other controls select pitch range, waveform and master volume. I made this instrument for David Miller, who whetted my interest in putting one of these together. To learn more about this instrument, check out David's web page referenced at the left.

Like the Tannerin, this one produces a sine wave. Unlike the Tannerin, which uses a mechanical linkage to control a pitch potentiometer, this Trautonium uses a brass tube pressed against a long wirewound resistor to change pitch. The resistor is barely evident as a black line along the top front edge of the instrument.

I never intended to make this instrument look more elegant. It was just the framework that started it all.

It is this instrument that you hear playing the lovely music at Dave Miller's Tannerin Page.

The instrument was invented early in the 1900s by a Russian, Leon Theremin. He customized the newly discovered circuit that causes screeches and howls in radios so that it could be used to play music. Theremin was the inventor of the first electronic bug (for surveillance) and a proximity detector for security. He spent some time in America, where he had enough influence for RCA to make and sell 300 Theremins.

Most often you hear Theremin music in movies; for example, it produced the ooOOoo sound in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "Spellbound."

The controls set the range, overall volume, brightness and waveform. 

It is notoriously difficult to play, and a heckuva lotta fun!

I omitted the antennas from this picture to save space. The long wooden rods have a similar function to the controls on the Etherwave.

A commercial version of this instrument is also known as the Southwest Technical Products Corporation theremin. The San Antonio, Texas company sold it as a kit, which I never had access to, and wished I had, because my homebuilt was difficult to get to work.

Aeolian harps are most often built to fit on one's windowsill; a strong breeze generates lovely, ethereal harmonics as it vibrates the strings. Like wind chimes, the music is random. Unlike wind chimes, the pitch combinations fade in and out unpredictably. Sometimes one note will hang in the air for several seconds, then be joined by a chorus. Sometimes the harp will not sing at all, especially if you are trying to show it off for someone. In cases like that, I turn on my attic fan and use a sliding glass door as a huge air valve to control the chord production.

Interestingly, the strings (eight to twelve) are tuned to the same pitch. This tuning eliminates dissonance, as the vibrations produce only one harmonic series with nothing else to clash.

It is a descant horn. It it a type of french horn, but it is pitched an octave higher than the standard F horn. It looks skinny because it is half the length of a standard horn.

Because it is pitched higher, the notes are farther apart than normal, making it very easy for the player to hit the desired note. In the lower range,this instrument sounds less like a french horn than a fluegelhorn.

I worked at a musical instrument factory and from time to time they gave us scrap parts. The brass colored section is part of a trombone!