User's Manual

EXPRESSIVE VOLUME
There is a wide range of loudness that
the Thereminist can employ to liven up
his or her playing. Try playing with your
volume hand about three-quarters of
the way up. From here, just a casual
raising of your hand or fingers makes
the volume swell; dipping your fingers
or wrist slightly makes the volume drop.
This variation in volume adds articulation
and depth to your playing, while also
highlighting specific notes or passages
of music.
Try attenuating the volume to emphasize
the mood in your playing, making some
sections soft and others loud. If you find that your volume sensitivity
range is too small or too big for you to easily control, redo the calibration
procedure adjusting the distance between the volume “near” and “far”
to suit your needs. Ideally, you should be able to go from full mute to
maximum loudness with just a flip of the wrist.
VIBRATO
Vibrato is an effect created by shaking
your hand and rhythmically “bending”
notes back and forth, causing a vibration
of the pitch frequency. This can make
certain passages seem more mysterious
or interesting. A strong, fast vibrato
will add tension or drama to a passage,
while a slow and delicate vibrato creates
a subtle movement that can soften or
sweeten a passage.
To perform vibrato, simply give your pitch
hand a slight wiggle. The trick is learning
to sync the back-and-forth motions in a way that are musically appropriate
to what you are playing. Keep your movements small and gentle. You
are bending the note up and down just slightly. Vibrato that is too wide,
covering several steps, is a trill and generally doesn’t sound as pleasant.
There is no “correct” way to perform vibrato, but generally you want to
find a technique that is both precise and physically comfortable to sustain.
Using only your wrist to provide the necessary back-and-forth motion can
become painful even after just a few minutes. Instead, try leaving your wrist
r e l a x e d a n d fl e x i b l e , u s i n g m a i n l y f o r e a r m m o v e m e n t s t o s h a k e y o u r h a n d .
MAX
(VOLUME FAR POSITION)
MUTE
(VOLUME NEAR POSITION)
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