Please note: The Deerhorn is calibrated from the factory. Please get in touch if you need help with re-calibration.
Comes with universal 12V PSU.
Text by Peter Blasser:
The design of the Deerhorn circuit has evolved much since it was first created to answer Clara Rockmore's original complaint with the Theremin: "Can there be more than one pitch?". Lev Theremin responded that one would need more than two arms, but the Deerhorn makes this possible by extracting gestural information from the radio fields and using it to control pitch and envelope. The current unit contains three of these antenna-synthesizer modules, and adds two extra, highly useful modules known as intersections.
An intersection module simply samples one Deerhorn's antenna voltage at impulses provided by another module. It is a sample and hold, triggered by changes in gestural direction. Since there are three modules, there are six permutations, doubled because each module reports changes in both directions; there are twelve new outputs, plus four special ones that sample in random steps. Each Deerhorn module emits a different light— red, orange, and yellow— which also color-codes the intersection bananas to show which module is being sampled.
The Deerhorn modules are color coded. An [orange banana] reports its primary product: a control voltage representing the hand's distance from antenna. The impulses utilized in intersections, are also available as [red bananas]. These are like two complimentary square waves that flip when the hand changes direction.
The base tone of Deerhorn is a simple two tone straight bellow. That's as your hand moves in towards the antenna and back out again. You must always tune the response first, so that the two leds cross each other at a comfortable range from the antenna. Fine tuning is done with the top knob.
The bottom cluster of controls deal with the synthesizer frequencies. The bottom knob sets the base pitch of both oscillators. The next two knobs are associated with the [purple bananas]: they are FM tuning knobs. The switch on the stub of the Deerhorn orients the stereo position of the oscillators. In middle position, it turns them off (for the stereo auxiliary inputs). The white bananas output the same stereo sound which is output the main output, but in single tracks so it can be used as separate modulation sources.
For coarse tuning of the antenna, two trimmer capacitors lie beneath every Deerhorn module. They are well-tuned upon shipping, but may always be accessed via a face-port with small slotted screwdriver.
How much is my shipping?
Shipping is automatically calculated before you submit your payment information. Simply add items to your cart and proceed to the checkout page, where you'll be offered shipping options and their prices. In the UK it's normally around £4 for order values under £150, and free above that. Shipping to mainland EU is typically between £7 and £20, depending on the shipping method and the size and weight of the order.
Do you ship to my country?
Almost certainly - the site will give you an estimate of shipping costs if you add an item to the cart and then enter your country and postcode. If you have specific requirements (such as if you prefer UPS over FedEx, for example) then let us know in advance and we'll try to work something out for you.
Shipping methods
We use a combination of Parcelforce, DPD, Royal Mail and UPS for the UK, and for international orders it's either Royal Mail, UPS, DHL or FedEx depending on where you are in the world. If you have a particular preference then try to let us know BEFORE you order so we can look into it for you. Please note that there may occasionally be additional shipping charges if you live in a remote area, depending on what surcharges are applied by the shipper. We'll get in touch to discuss this with you in such cases.
Dispatch times
For UK orders, we normally dispatch the same working day if we get the order before 15:00. If you have a really urgent situation then of course drop us an email before ordering and we'll always do our absolute best to accommodate you.
For international orders, we normally dispatch the same day if we get the order before 13:00 but again, occasionally it might be the next day before we can send it out, and sometimes FedEx or UPS may come a little earlier than scheduled which would also push an order into the next day.
Shipping times
Since April 2020 the couriers we use have suspended guarantees for shipping times, so even though we're paying them for priority services - 24-48 hours for most of the world - in practice it's often an extra day on top and sometimes it can be longer.
There is absolutely nothing we can do about this unfortunately. If you are outside the UK and it's a life-or-death situation where you absolutely MUST have that passive mult for the next day then... it may be better to find a local supplier.
Saturday shipping
If you're in the UK and you order before 15:30 on a Friday then we can send something for a Saturday delivery (NB: this applies to UK mainland addresses only). The success rate with DPD is about 95% so it's worth a punt most of the time. Please note that if you select Saturday shipping on an order placed earlier in the week, we'll wait until Friday to ship it.
Pre-orders
If a product is listed as a pre-order, it means we've ordered it from the supplier but it's not physically in stock yet. The product listing will include an estimated shipping date based on the best information we have from the supplier, but do bear in mind this is subject to change and is not a guaranteed date.
If you place an order containing a mixture of in-stock and pre-order items, we'll normally hold off on shipping anything until the pre-order item(s) have arrived, rather than splitting it into multiple shipments. If you need the in-stock items sooner, we'd recommend placing separate orders. As always, please get in touch if you have questions.
Product Overview
Please note: The Deerhorn is calibrated from the factory. Please get in touch if you need help with re-calibration.
Comes with universal 12V PSU.
Text by Peter Blasser:
The design of the Deerhorn circuit has evolved much since it was first created to answer Clara Rockmore's original complaint with the Theremin: "Can there be more than one pitch?". Lev Theremin responded that one would need more than two arms, but the Deerhorn makes this possible by extracting gestural information from the radio fields and using it to control pitch and envelope. The current unit contains three of these antenna-synthesizer modules, and adds two extra, highly useful modules known as intersections.
An intersection module simply samples one Deerhorn's antenna voltage at impulses provided by another module. It is a sample and hold, triggered by changes in gestural direction. Since there are three modules, there are six permutations, doubled because each module reports changes in both directions; there are twelve new outputs, plus four special ones that sample in random steps. Each Deerhorn module emits a different light— red, orange, and yellow— which also color-codes the intersection bananas to show which module is being sampled.
The Deerhorn modules are color coded. An [orange banana] reports its primary product: a control voltage representing the hand's distance from antenna. The impulses utilized in intersections, are also available as [red bananas]. These are like two complimentary square waves that flip when the hand changes direction.
The base tone of Deerhorn is a simple two tone straight bellow. That's as your hand moves in towards the antenna and back out again. You must always tune the response first, so that the two leds cross each other at a comfortable range from the antenna. Fine tuning is done with the top knob.
The bottom cluster of controls deal with the synthesizer frequencies. The bottom knob sets the base pitch of both oscillators. The next two knobs are associated with the [purple bananas]: they are FM tuning knobs. The switch on the stub of the Deerhorn orients the stereo position of the oscillators. In middle position, it turns them off (for the stereo auxiliary inputs). The white bananas output the same stereo sound which is output the main output, but in single tracks so it can be used as separate modulation sources.
For coarse tuning of the antenna, two trimmer capacitors lie beneath every Deerhorn module. They are well-tuned upon shipping, but may always be accessed via a face-port with small slotted screwdriver.
Technical Specs
Shipping Details
How much is my shipping?
Shipping is automatically calculated before you submit your payment information. Simply add items to your cart and proceed to the checkout page, where you'll be offered shipping options and their prices. In the UK it's normally around £4 for order values under £150, and free above that. Shipping to mainland EU is typically between £7 and £20, depending on the shipping method and the size and weight of the order.
Do you ship to my country?
Almost certainly - the site will give you an estimate of shipping costs if you add an item to the cart and then enter your country and postcode. If you have specific requirements (such as if you prefer UPS over FedEx, for example) then let us know in advance and we'll try to work something out for you.
Shipping methods
We use a combination of Parcelforce, DPD, Royal Mail and UPS for the UK, and for international orders it's either Royal Mail, UPS, DHL or FedEx depending on where you are in the world. If you have a particular preference then try to let us know BEFORE you order so we can look into it for you. Please note that there may occasionally be additional shipping charges if you live in a remote area, depending on what surcharges are applied by the shipper. We'll get in touch to discuss this with you in such cases.
Dispatch times
For UK orders, we normally dispatch the same working day if we get the order before 15:00. If you have a really urgent situation then of course drop us an email before ordering and we'll always do our absolute best to accommodate you.
For international orders, we normally dispatch the same day if we get the order before 13:00 but again, occasionally it might be the next day before we can send it out, and sometimes FedEx or UPS may come a little earlier than scheduled which would also push an order into the next day.
Shipping times
Since April 2020 the couriers we use have suspended guarantees for shipping times, so even though we're paying them for priority services - 24-48 hours for most of the world - in practice it's often an extra day on top and sometimes it can be longer.
There is absolutely nothing we can do about this unfortunately. If you are outside the UK and it's a life-or-death situation where you absolutely MUST have that passive mult for the next day then... it may be better to find a local supplier.
Saturday shipping
If you're in the UK and you order before 15:30 on a Friday then we can send something for a Saturday delivery (NB: this applies to UK mainland addresses only). The success rate with DPD is about 95% so it's worth a punt most of the time. Please note that if you select Saturday shipping on an order placed earlier in the week, we'll wait until Friday to ship it.
Pre-orders
If a product is listed as a pre-order, it means we've ordered it from the supplier but it's not physically in stock yet. The product listing will include an estimated shipping date based on the best information we have from the supplier, but do bear in mind this is subject to change and is not a guaranteed date.
If you place an order containing a mixture of in-stock and pre-order items, we'll normally hold off on shipping anything until the pre-order item(s) have arrived, rather than splitting it into multiple shipments. If you need the in-stock items sooner, we'd recommend placing separate orders. As always, please get in touch if you have questions.
