Big Briar SERIES 91A Theremin

[Peter Pringle]

Sarah wrote:

I have some questions for you about the Big Briar 91A.

I have a chance to purchase one for a seeming reasonable price of 2000-3000.

What do you like about it? I am looking for "that" sound-- like the RCA and even with Thierry's module my etherwave still has that annoying bees playing a kazoo sound although much improved. There is still an annoying buzz in the lower octaves that goes away with the TMachine.

**********************************

Sarah, you are a touring/traveling musician, and I would recommend that you invest in a theremin that is portable. The SERIES 91 instruments are large, and awkward to move around and assemble. 

I don't know whether it is really of any importance to you, but the SERIES 91's are not true heterodyne theremins, they are gesturally controlled synthesizers (similar to VOICE TWO of the Moog MIDI Ethervox). That being said, the price of the instrument you mentioned above is a deal. When and if you ever wanted to upgrade to something more expensive or practical, you could always get your money back on a resale.

You might also be interested to know that at the request of thereminist Dennis James, Bob Moog designed an upgrade for the SERIES 91 that was supposed to emulate the sound of Clara Rockmore's custom built instrument. If it has not already been integrated into the instrument you are considering, I believe Moog Music can install it if you want it. The upgrade in question does not sound like Clara's instrument at all, but it was apparently the best the late Dr. Bob could come up with. 

Listen to the sound of the SERIES 91 instruments (there are three models, A, B, and C but they are all pretty much the same inside). If you like it, YOU LIKE IT. 

What more can I say.........

[Lawrence P Kaster]

I'm still trying to imagine a tiny kazoo played by a bee. Or a whole swarm of bees puffing away on a comb covered with tissue paper. Either way, it's nearly too much for me.

LPKaster

http://lpkaster.com

Sent from my iPhone

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[mpic...@earthlink.net]

I'm still trying to imagine a tiny kazoo played by a bee. Or a whole swarm of bees puffing away on a comb covered with tissue paper. Either way, it's nearly too much for me.

It reminds me of when I sing "The Fly Duet" from Orpheus in the Underworld.

You sing on a "Zi" to sound like a fly.

It is what the etherwave reminds me of, although I have to say with Thierry's wonderful module it is much improved from the Big Briar model I had borrowed from a friend. It is a very comic sound.

That and my imperfect playing and hitting a few clunkers every now and then, makes my audience giggle.

At least I can bear to play the enhanced etherwave without the TM connected to it, thanks to Thierry's magic.

S

[mpic...@earthlink.net]

What I am looking for is a fullness of tone with a presence. I love that rich tube sound because of the overtones.

I want it to sound like an instrument. I play it like a precision instrument.

I will have a couple of theremins that are portable, the enhanced etherwave and the subscope. But that string/human sound is my holy grail.

It is so hard to tell anything over the net.

Maybe the wavefront is a better future choice. is that a true true heterodyne theremin?

Also what about cables? Worth the extra price to get monster cables or the other professional top of the line cables? Or as long as they are of good weight and gold plated enough?

I am also using a stereo cable single 1/4 inch plug out of my theremin. Should I be only using a mono cable? 

So many choices. Monster makes a cable for bass guitars that supposedly warms up the bass in the lower octave. Or is a keyboard plug better? Is this something I should be asking Thierry?

S

[theremin137]

I had a Big Briar 91-A many moons ago. I never really like the sound. To me it was too flat and one dimensional; did not have that "duality of tone" (e.g., as with a violin, the vibration of the bow plus the resonance in the body) that heterodyning instruments can produce when voiced correctly. I sent away for the "Clara Rockmore voicing upgrade." There was a small bit of improvement but still not "THAT" sound. It was not until I got my Ethervox that I was truly happy, tonal quality wise.

I've had a few theremins along the way including three Etherwaves (still have two of them including my first one, which is Ser. No. 0136, and a much newer one with greatly improved tonal quality), a rare custom-made tube instrument from the 1930s that was never viable for me, an Ethervox and an Etherwave Pro.

I got the Etherwave Pro as an alternate instrument for "quickie gigs" e.g. TV commercials etc. It's a wonderful instrument, especially after benefiting from Thierry Frenkel's volume response fix. However, I'm not crazy about its "parking meter" appearance, and I am always concerned about the relative fragility of the wooden base for the pitch antenna. Even though it does have a steel core, it could fairly easily be snapped off of the cabinet if a drunken lout lurched against it in a bar. (Oh, the gig stories I could tell.......) And the screw-in antenna is a concern -- eventually after attaching and removing it time and time again the threads are going to get stripped. It would be a fairly easy matter to have the antenna re-threaded, but it's not the best arrangement. Not to mention trying to get it screwed in to the base when you're in a hurry or having to assemble your instrument backstage in pitch-blackness. But the big plus is its svelte profile and lighter weight. Oh, I painted over the WARNING! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!! type at the bottom of the back-side of the cabinet because it looks tacky. The "house" side of an instrument (the side that faces the audience) should be at LEAST as aesthetically pleasing as the performer's side.

I have never had a Wavefront but have seen and played a couple of them. Some people love them and declare them to be the best theremin ever made; I was "underwhelmed" by the couple that I played -- granted, they were very early models; improvements may have been made over the years to the sound. But the innards are -- or were -- simply Etherwave circuitry with larger coils and a fancy cabinet (in the Wavefront Pro model). [There's a story there, but I'm not telling].

A theremin that I'd love to have but unfortunately is no longer made is the Kees Enkelaar theremin. Going by the on-line sound files available when he was making them, it had a really nice, warm sound.

A tube theremin would be fun to have at home, but I'd be very leery about having that type as a main instrument or for touring. I had a few on-stage nightmares early on with a Sherwood tube amp I was using. Nightmares like, walking up to the theremin to start playing a recital and there being NO SOUND. "Sorry folks, show's over..."

Happy Fry-day, One and All.

[theremin137]

P.S.: How could I have neglected to mention my very first theremin, a Moog Melodia that a dear friend gave to me! That theremin provided good service but it had a disappointing tone quality and the linearity was just horrible. Suffice it to say that getting my first Etherwave was a BIG step up!!

[Amethyste]

I have a Wavefront and it's a love/hate relationship. Moslty love though. :) The volume loop response is just abominable. And I have been pretty disapointed when I thought I had a problem with a certain pitch drift and the owner of the company sent me fishing. Customer service is a HUGE part for me, so this left me a little cold. Because of this, I will not be enclined to recommend one to just anyone. But I do love it's timbre, alas, that theremin weighs A LOT! It is not really a great gig theremin as you have to disassemble the screw legs, and everything else. So it stays at home, and treat it as it is an antique.

[mpic...@earthlink.net]

Thanks so much for the in depth analysis on the sound of the different theremins.

I do want that resonance and the overtones are very important to me.

Best,

Sarah

[mpic...@earthlink.net]

Rob Schwimmer's melodia has a beautiful sound. He played it at the NY Thermin Society performance.

Rob, what do you think?

XOXO,

S

On Feb 1, 2013, at 11:38 AM, theremin137 wrote:

P.S.: How could I have neglected to mention my very first theremin, a Moog Melodia that a dear friend gave to me! That theremin provided good service but it had a disappointing tone quality and the linearity was just horrible. Suffice it to say that getting my first Etherwave was a BIG step up!!

[Rob Schwimmer]

Hi, S!

 

Please help--I'm not sure what the question is...

 

I can tell you that I love my Melodia best of my theremins (I have 2 Etherwaves and and Etherwave Pro) but I usually try to play things to fit the particular instrument rather than the other way... Sometimes just letting the instrument tell you what it likes to do can take you into places you might otherwise not go... I usually plset my amp (whatever it is) to bass up, mid and treble down for the Melodia. Of course then below middle C is pretty fuffy but above sounds kinda great (to me.)

 

I also use those amp settings for my Etherwaves with the waveform and brightness around 1PM and 11AM or maybe 2PM and 10AM. If I'm using the Talking Machine I set the mid and treble up to 12 noon on the amp and brighten up the Etherwave. My Melodia is very rich and mellow and doesn't work well for the Talking Machine...

 

What was the question again?

 

Bye for now,

Rob

[mpic...@earthlink.net]

Hi Rob,

Just saying the sound on your Melodia is beautiful. It has a warmth and richness that is very pleasing.

Sarah

[Rob Schwimmer]

Yeah, I was lucky... Charles Lester's was very different sounding and I think Uncle Howie has one... Anyway they vary an awful lot evidently... I've been in places with many different theremins together and preferred the sound of mine (in its good range) to most others I've heard... I just wish the cello range was more useful...

 

One thing mine may have had in its favor is based on a possibility...I'll never know but I got mine from Walter Sear who had it forever. So it's quite possible that Bob Moog may have hand made this one as opposed to a random person with the kit... I'm probably just romanticizing. But I do know Bob did personally work on it when I sent it for initial repairs right after I got it way back when

[Fred Mundell]

“A theremin that I'd love to have but unfortunately is no longer made is the Kees Enkelaar theremin. Going by the on-line sound files available when he was making them, it had a really nice, warm sound.”

 

The Enkelaar is just a modified Silicon Chip theremin – the only thing which gives it its particular sound is the way that the nasty little audio power amp IC (which drives the small speaker in the Silicon Chip) has been used to distort the audio and drive the line output.

 

In terms of comparison with other theremins (EW etc) the Enkelaar is a toy..  I drew a schematic and photographed the board and its modifications, and anyone who can build a Silicon Chip Theremin could easily knock one together, or one could build the distortion stage and drive this from any other theremin.

 

Schematic:  http://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-23047/l/enkelaar-theremin-schematic  (can be downloaded ad PDF)

Other documentation / photos etc can be found here: http://www.element14.com/community/groups/theremin-general-resources?view=documents#/?page=2

 

Fred.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: lev...@googlegroups.com [mailto:lev...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of theremin137
Sent: 01 February 2013 16:37
To: lev...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Big Briar SERIES 91A Theremin

 

I had a Big Briar 91-A many moons ago. I never really like the sound. To me it was too flat and one dimensional; did not have that "duality of tone" (e.g., as with a violin, the vibration of the bow plus the resonance in the body) that heterodyning instruments can produce when voiced correctly. I sent away for the "Clara Rockmore voicing upgrade." There was a small bit of improvement but still not "THAT" sound. It was not until I got my Ethervox that I was truly happy, tonal quality wise.

--

[mpic...@earthlink.net]

Cool! Well it is a beautiful instrument for sure. And you play it beautifully as well.

XOXO,

Sarah

[mpic...@earthlink.net]

Oh, Fred

You make the difficult sound so easy...

XOXO,

Sarah

[Fred Mundell]

“You make the difficult sound so easy...”

 

Sorry! ;-)

 

If anyone really wants an “Enkelaar” I could build it for them (or at least I can modify a SC board – they would need to provide the box / antennas etc) – But I don’t really think its worth doing – Its not the worst theremin in terms of linearity, but its quite bad.. and it really only has one setting where the sound, IMO, is any good… That sound can be really quite nice though.

 

One major problem with theremins based on this particular Silicon Chip design is that there is no possibility of fitting preview without adding an additional mixer / amplifier stage – the volume CV goes directly to the mixer IC, one never sees a mixed (audio) signal which is not controlled by the volume.. Adding a simple logic (XOR) mixer for preview is simple and cheap – but not as a modification – it needs a board re-design.

 

However – for anyone building the SC kit, I think it is worth doing the Enkelaar modifications.

[Rob Schwimmer]

Thanks!