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Sample
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2017 Microkits
MicroKits.cc for more info
So how does a theremin work, anyway? It’s all about turning one kind of signal into
another kind of signal. First, your hand adds electric fields to the antenna. This adds
capacitance. Tick creates a high frequency signal based on this capacitance.
Then, I, Micro, read the signal from Tick. I do math to turn Tick’s high frequency
signal into a signal you can hear. Then, the speaker turns my signal into sound.
TICK
MICRO
♪
♫
♫
♪
♪
~500,000 Hz
0.001 nF
440 Hz
Capacitance
Signal
Sound
I bet you’re wondering how Tick turns capacitance into a signal. Tick
contains a timer circuit, a kind of clock. This clock is based on the
amount of time it takes to build up a tiny amount of charge. In this
case, the theremin antenna is what is building up the charge.
Moving your hand toward the antenna adds capacitance, and Tick needs extra time to
charge. The resistor you added also changes Tick’s frequency. The whole equation is:
Where R is resistance, C is capacitance, and F is output frequency. F is proportional to
the inverse of R and C. This just means that the more resistance and capacitance, the
lower the frequency.
f = 0 . 7 2 / R x C
