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Theramin magnet project

Hi guys....I'm new here :)
I don't have a magnetic implant...it's on my todo list. I'm curious if any of you who do have implants have played with a theramin. I'm curious about the possibility of designing a type of electronic tone generator which works with a magnetic implant.

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  1. I poked at one at a con I was at this past September and I didn't sense anything, nor did it really seem to have any effect. I do, however, really like the idea of a theramin-like instrument that could be controlled using our implants! 

    I remember reading a lot about using copper coils to send audio signals to implanted magnets, either just to have the vibrating sensation or to actually translate to audio in the ear (Reminds me, I still want to take a swing at that implanted headphone scene. Some day...). 

    I have a cheep kit for the external invisible headphones that I snagged off ebay some time ago, hoping to test both an idea of how the ear-based implant would work and if the coil could effect my hand-based implants as well when wrapped around my hand. Sadly the device seems to be borked, but I'm not terribly surprised given the, uh, questionable quality of the whole thing. I'll be picking up a new one sometime soon and giving it another go. I should also have a fingertip done by then, as opposed to just the sides of my hands. 

    If I can pass my fingertip through and get that vibratey goodness, I wonder if there's a way to amplify it. I'll probably start with a solo cup, with copper wired around the base so when I press the magnet against the area, it vibrates my flesh which vibrates the cup which will hopefully produce sound. If that actually works, we could make a neat thing with multiple solo cups with a different note being sent to each, and poking them would produce some sound. I doubt the vibrations would be strong enough to translate, but it could be worth a shot! Even if the result is barely audible, it could be run through something else to boost the volume.  

    Ugh, getting all riled up now with plans. Looks like I'll have some fun stuff to play with over winter break :)
  2. awesome! I had thought more of using the magnet as a trigger. I hadn't even thought of vibrating the magnet to produce tone. That has definite possibilities. I wonder about adding a thimble to the mix to increase the vibration on the cup....or would that interfere with the magnet?
  3. I have asked the theramin question. An electric guitar sounds hollow and souless when I play.
  4. The Theremin working principle is based around electric fields and their associated capacitance. Magnets don't really affect it. Building a magnetic based Theremin-like instrument would be rather easy. Magnetometers give you nice readings for magnetic fields in ranges from 3 to maybe around 30cm from the sensor.
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