ThereMini !!! He too, the good old and glorious Theremin managed to digitize himself !!!!! Well yes !!! The Theremin, Robert Moog's favorite instrument, the instrument that started the story of MOOG MUSIC INC. it has "modernized".
And it almost seems to be right there Moog to give a second chance to one of the strangest and most fascinating instruments that history has ever seen.
The sound produced, totally free from constraints, both on intonation and volume management, makes it one of the instruments most similar to the human voice, giving it an almost "supernatural" identity, and for this reason it is practically used in all those films , from the years 40 until the middle of the years 60, which speak of paranormal and especially science fiction !!!
Let's not talk about the show when you see a theremin player (thereminist? ... well) at work. He almost looks like a magician ...
Right hand controls the pitch of the notes, left hand the volume, touching what? A keyboard? Ropes? NOTHING touching absolutely NOTHING !!!!!!
Turn of the coin?
Anyone who has ever put their hands on a Theremin, remembers very well (for many a trauma) how difficult it is to come up with something that resembles the concept of "playing" an instrument!
Well he thought about that MOOG ThereMini.
Let's start with the engine that has nothing to do with its analog brother, theetherwave. The heart of ThereMini is the famous ASE (Anisotropic Synth Engine), i.e. that software better known as AniMoog, famous application for ipad, which also won the TEC 28 award for audio applications for tablets and smartphones. It is precisely the ASE that provides the ThereMini with those cards that catapult it into the 21st century.
Let's take a look at the control panel and see four potentiometers:
VOLUME
PITCH BIAS
AMOUNT (preceded by the Delay key)
PRESETS
VOLUME check the general volume of the headphones and, listen, hear, of the internal speaker !!!!!!! Already the ThereMini has an internal speaker, someone will cry scandal, but for many it could mean autonomy in the studio or the possibility of being able to play the instrument in small spaces, in small formations, without having to bring additional amplification ... In addition, two jack outputs guarantee the performer to be able to connect to any mixer or system in stereo (stereo ... practically science fiction !!!)
PITCH BIAS is the function that makes the ThereMini definitely innovative and attractive to the general public, that is the "correction of the pitch of the notes !!!! Simply put, by adjusting the amount of the pitch corrector (pitch bias) we are able to obtain notes more or less in tune, starting from a minimum retouching that guarantees us the management of fluid melodies with carried notes, managing to create glissandos and portamento, (main feature of the instrument), gradually arriving at a correction increasingly present, which guarantees perfectly pitched notes as if we were playing on a keyboard. The glissando then become chromatic scales, the portamento, however, impossible.
Surely some disciple of the classical instrument to this news, is already organizing a "crusade" to annihilate the "demon" who wants to harness the freedom that the ThereMini offers in terms of intonation and volume. But if we reflect for a moment, it could be a first tool for some neophytes who want to approach the "ethereal management" of sound, typical of the Theremin, without having to spend the next two months at a psychologist to regain the self-esteem lost during the study of the instrument. , or even worse, avoiding using the Theremin to create sound phenomena more worthy of a clown in a circus rather than a stage where music is played ...
AMOUNT coupled to the DELAY button is used to adjust the delay of the repeated signal (Delay effect). Interesting that Moog has inserted a Delay inside the ThereMini because in this way we can make the sound more interesting (the delay is perhaps the most used effect coupled with the Theremin) without having to rely on external units.
PRESETS check the other parameter that makes the ThereMini an instrument of the 21st century, that is the 32 (I mean 32…) waveforms that can be used for the creation of sounds.
A Theremin with more sounds? Charming…
To these potentiometers we add three buttons:
SCALE
SETUP
ROOT
SCALE is used to select the various types of stairs stored within the ThereMini.
Very useful function if you use the PITCH BIAS at best creating perfectly pitched notes.
SETUP it is used to adjust the various general functions of the instrument
ROOT selects the root note on which the selected scale will be built.
No more chatter !!
Did we need a ThereMini? Thinking about it, instruments conceptually similar to the ThereMini exist. For example, the Korg Kaossilator, but none have the charm of a Theremin's "antenna." It's a bit like having to decide between an electronic or acoustic drum kit, an electronic or acoustic piano. We know that history teaches us that one doesn't exclude the other; in my opinion (that of a Theremin player...), the ideal would be to own both.
The Theremin and the ThereMini !!! Well…. Of course the ThereMini certainly does not have the charm of the classic Theremin.
It is true, it is a tool that would put a lot to the test, even the most revealed of Buddhists, but once you understand how it works… guys it's like reaching nirvana !!!
But on the other hand The ThereMini is easier to play, to manage, to calibrate and opens the doors to worlds hitherto impenetrable with the Theremin, so it could be a starting point for those who want to approach the instrument without going crazy and then maybe side by side with an Etherwave.
I forgot the most interesting news, the ThereMini has a USB port (mini USB 2.0) which is used to connect MIDI, instruments, laptops and maybe use some plugins like Z3TA+, or imagine CONTACT piloted by a Theremin ...
Interesting….
Very interesting…..
