Playing music by moving hands in the air : digital theremin

• Main Author: Nihara Azeem
• Other Authors: Alexei Sourin
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Computer science and engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/77022
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Theremin is a contactless instrument that was created in 1920s. It is much more difficult to play and bears a higher cost than other musical instruments. A digital Theremin would be a more affordable option and easier to play. Creating a digital Theremin would result in more people playing it. Therefore, this paper experiments the possibility of creating a digital Theremin using Intel RealSense SR300 webcam and Leap motion controller device. The results will be analysed and studied upon to conclude the feasibility of a digital Theremin and to design a digitalised Theremin application. This project utilises Microsoft Visual Studio .NET framework and C# programming language to create the application, NAudio library to generate sounds, Intel RealSense SR300 and Leap motion controller devices to track hand coordinates. Analysing the results showed that it is indeed feasible to create digital Theremin with Leap motion controller but not with Intel RealSense webcam. Subsequently, an improvised application with more features will be created with Leap motion controller to generate music while tracking hands. These features include enhancement of sound by adding filters and waveforms to make sound less mechanical, a better user interface to make it user friendly for non-musical players to try out the digital Theremin.