George McDonald’s Theremin

When George McDonald stopped by for a catalog the other day he had these pictures of his setup back in Vancouver. It’s the first triple theremin rig we’ve ever seen. George built his own theremin circuits based on an article that appeared in Popular Electronics in the early ’70s, and fitted the antennae to this motorcyle fork with mic goose-necks. The pods where the antennae meet the goose necks are fittled with LEDs that light in synchrony with the music for effect. George most often uses his theremins as controllers, a typical patch might use a theremin pitch as the carrier for a balanced modulator on the guitar, and uses his shoulders and upper body to control theremin elements. The ARP 2600 cabinet in the right of the photo is used for a lot of processing.

George breaks all the rules. He has pitch and volume antennae reversed from their traditional positions, volume is on the right in his setup. He nulls volume so that approaching the antenna increases signal level and nulls pitch so approaching decreases frequency.

George McDonald
1028 Odlum Dr
Vancouver, BC V5L 3L6