Two-Tone Phototransistor Theremin Using a 556 Timer IC
BY CABE ATWELL
The Theremin is an electronic musical instrument with its roots in the dark world of espionage.
It was the year 1919. In the new
Soviet Union, the Russian phys-
icist Lev Sergeyevich Termen
(aka Léon Theremin) was tasked
with researching proximity sen-
sors that could detect a human
body. He used high-frequency
electromagnetic oscillations and
created the “radio watchman,”
a device that changes the pitch
of a tone based on the proximi-
ty of a body. Vladimir Lenin, the
Bolshevik leader, was impressed
by the device. He even took les-
sons on how to use it as a musi-
cal instrument. Lenin sent Léon
Theremin around the world to
demonstrate the Theremin.
Eventually, Theremin ended up in
the USA, in 1928, where he patent-
ed the device. Electronic music
was born!
Flash forward ninety years, and
the Theremin is a standard instru-
ment around the globe. The
sound a Theremin produces—a
spooky “weeeeeeee-oooooooh”
sound heard in a lot of science
fiction and horror movies—can
be mimicked by today’s syn-
thesizers. Even the contactless
interfacing can be reproduced in
other ways, and inexpensively too.
This project will attempt to make
the simplest version of a contact-
less theremin-like tone-producing
device. At the heart of this project
is a 556 timer integrated circuit
(IC). This particular IC technical-
ly consists of two separate 555
timer IC circuits on a single chip.
Each side of the 556 timer here, in
this project, will produce a differ-
ent tone. One low and one higher
pitched.
The circuit configuration places
Difficulty: Easy - Medium
Build Time: 2 - 3 hours
both sides of the 556 timer into
“astable” mode. In other words,
the 556 timers will generate wave
forms at certain frequencies. If
the frequency is in a particular
range, it can be heard through
the speaker. In other words, the
regularity of the waveform will
generate a sound tone.
In this device, the tones are
changed using phototransistors
in a particular configuration. Pho-
totransistors sense how much
light surrounds them, and they
change electrical properties as
the lighting changes. This effect
will be harnessed to create a high-
ly sensitive interface for the tone
generators on the 556 timer.
First, let’s take a look at the
schematic.
2

What is happening here is a precise controlling of the 556 timer. The resistor labeled “R1” and the phototran-
sistors on the left side, and R2 and the phototransistors on the right side, control how long the output pulses
are on and off for either side of the 556 IC. The phototransistors in their configuration are acting like a vari-
able resistor. Typically, a transistor controls the current flow between the emitter and collector depending
on the current applied to the base. The base current, in this case, is being changed by the light level. Hence,
the emitter-to-collector current changes. Since there are two transistors configured opposite to each other,
the current can flow in both directions.

The output pulses from the 556 are also known as Positive and Negative Time Intervals—the time the pulses
are in the on and off state respectively. The total time between pulses is the positive (on) and the negative
(off) time intervals added together, also known as the frequency of the sound.

The ratio between the resistor and the effective resistance of the transistors can be seen in this equation:

Frequency = 1.4/((R1+2Rt)/C1)

(Where Rt is the equivalent resistance of the phototransistor leg)

As you wave your hands and fingers over the device, the amount of light falling on the phototransistors will
change. This changes the value of Rt, which changes the frequency of the 556 chip, which changes the sound
you hear.
 To build this project, a handful of items will be needed:

• 556 Timer IC (Jameco part number 24329)

• 10k Ohm resistor (Jameco part number 691104)

• 47k Ohm resistor (Jameco part number 691260)

• 2x 1M Ohm resistor (Jameco part number 691585)

• 2x 0.22 μF(220 nF) ceramic capacitors (Jameco part number

25540)

• 2x 50 μF electrolytic capacitors (Jameco part number 330820)

• 4x Phototransistors (Jameco part number 1108144)

• 2x 8 Ohm speaker (Jameco part number 2234134 OR 2099606)

• Breadboard Wire kit (Jameco part number 2127718)

• 1x full-size breadboard (Jameco part number 20723)

When assembled on a breadboard, the project will look something like the above image. Exact wire color or
length isn’t important. As long as all the points are connected, then everything will work.
01 01

TAKE THE BREADBOARD AND

556 TIMER IC AND PLACE
THEM ON AN ANTI-STATIC
SURFACE IF THERE IS ONE
AVAILABLE. PLUG THE IC
INTO THE BREADBOARD. THE
LITTLE DIMPLE IN THE CHIP
SHOULD BE FACING THE LEFT.
IN THIS CONFIGURATION,
THE PINS ON THE CHIP ARE
LABELED 1 TO 7 FROM LEFT
TO RIGHT ALONG THE BOT-
TOM, AND 8-14 FROM RIGHT
TO LEFT ALONG THE TOP

02

CONNECT THE POSITIVE RAIL

02 ON THE BREADBOARD TO
PIN 14 (VCC) ON THE CHIP
(TRADITIONALLY, THIS USES
A RED JUMPER WIRE). THEN
CONNECT THE NEGATIVE RAIL
ON THE BREADBOARD TO PIN
7 (GND) WITH THE BLACK WIRE.

03

CONNECT PIN 4 AND PIN 10

03 (BOTH RESET) DIRECTLY TO

THEIR RESPECTIVE POSITIVE
POWER RAILS.
04 04

CONNECT THE TOP AND

BOTTOM POWER RAILS
TOGETHER—POSITIVE TO
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE TO
NEGATIVE.

05

TAKE THE TWO 1M OHM

RESISTORS AND CUT THE
05 LEADS A BIT SHORTER, AS
SHOWN. THIS WILL ENSURE
THE COMPONENTS WILL
STAY CLOSER TO THE
BREADBOARD’S SURFACE.
IT LOOKS A LOT NEATER
THIS WAY, AND PIECES ARE
LESS LIKELY TO BREAK OFF
THE BREADBOARD.

5
06

USE A SMALL JUMPER TO

06 CONNECT PIN 2 TO PIN 6,

AND PIN 8 TO PIN 12. INSERT
THE 1M OHM RESISTORS AS
SHOWN, CONNECTING PINS
6 AND 8 TO THE NEGATIVE
POWER RAIL.

07

TRIM THE LEADS OF THE

07 47μF ELECTROLYTIC CAPAC-

ITORS. YOU’LL ALWAYS
BE ABLE TO TELL WHICH
SIDE OF THE CAPACITOR
IS WHICH—THE NEGATIVE
LEAD IS INDICATED WITH
A STRIPE AND NEGATIVE
SYMBOLS.
08 08

CONNECT THE 47μF

ELECTROLYTIC
CAPACITORS AS
SHOWN. THEY ARE
PLACED THIS WAY FOR
LATER EASE IN THE
BUILD.

09

CONNECT THE POSITIVE

LEADS OF THE CAPAC-
09 ITORS TO PINS 5 AND 9
RESPECTIVELY.

10

THE PHOTOTRANSISTORS

10 ARE NEXT. DO NOT TRIM

THEIR LEADS. THEIR ORIEN-
TATIONS ARE INDICATED BY
ONE LONG LEAD AND ONE
SHORT. THEIR LEADS NEED
TO BE PLUGGED INTO THE
BREADBOARD INVERSELY
TO EACH OTHER.

11

SO, ONE SHORT AND ONE

11 LONG LEAD IN THE TOP

COLUMN OF THE BREAD-
BOARD, AND ONE SHORT
AND LONG LEAD CON-
NECTED IN THE BOTTOM
COLUMN.
12 12

ADD A 47K OHM RESIS-

TOR CONNECTING THE
POSITIVE POWER RAIL TO
ABOUT HERE.

13

THE 0.22 μF CERAMIC

CAPACITORS HAVE NO
13 POLARIZATION,
SO ORIENTATION OF A POS-
ITIVE AND NEGATIVE SIDE
ISN’T AN ISSUE.

7
14

THEN CONNECT ONE LEG

14 TO THE BOTTOM OF THE

PHOTOTRANSISTOR COL-
UMN, AND THE OTHER LEG
TO THE NEGATIVE POWER
RAIL. ALSO CONNECT THE
RESISTOR TO THE TOP OF
THE PHOTOTRANSISTORS.

15

CONNECT PIN 1 ON THE 556

TO THE RESISTOR. HERE,
15 WE SHOW YOU HOW TO DO
IT WITH SMALL “HOPS” OF
WIRE, TO CREATE A LOW-
ER-PROFILE WIRE BUILD
ON A BREADBOARD. OF
COURSE, YOU CAN ALWAYS
CONNECT A SINGLE LONG
WIRE DIRECTLY FROM PIN 1
TO THE RESISTOR.
16 16

CONNECT PIN 2 ON THE 556

TIMER IC TO THE LEFT PIN ON
THE CAPACITOR. HERE WE’RE
USING A SINGLE LONG WIRE.
DO NOT CONNECT PIN 2 TO THE
OTHER PIN ON THE CAPACITOR;
THE CIRCUIT WILL NOT WORK
THAT WAY.

17

DO THE SAME BUILD ON THE

17 RIGHT SIDE OF THE BREADBOARD.

NOTE: THE RESISTOR ON THIS
SIDE OF THE CIRCUIT IS THE 10K
OHM RESISTOR, AND IT IS CON-
NECTED TO PIN 13 ON THE 556
TIMER CHIP.

18

THE RIGHT SIDE OF THIS

18 CAPACITOR SHOULD BE
CONNECTED TO PIN 12.

19

PLUG THE POSITIVE LEADS OF THE

19 TWO 8 OHM SPEAKERS INTO THE

NEGATIVE SIDE OF EACH OF THE
47 μF ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS.
THEN CONNECT THE SPEAKER
GROUND TO THE BREADBOARD
NEGATIVE POWER RAIL.
20

20

CONNECT THE POWER TO THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE RAILS.

9
THE PROJECT WILL IMMEDIATELY START MAKING A SOUND. THE LEFT SPEAKER, AND LEFT SIDE OF THE BOARD, WILL PLAY
THE LOWER-PITCHED TONE. THE RIGHT SIDE WILL PLAY THE HIGHER-PITCHED SOUND. CAREFULLY MOVE YOUR HANDS AND
FINGERS OVER THE PHOTOTRANSISTORS TO BLOCK LIGHT, AND THE SOUNDS WILL CHANGE.
ALTERNATIVELY, GET A FLASHLIGHT AND SHINE IT ON THE PHOTOTRANSISTORS. THE SOUNDS WILL CHANGE DEPENDING ON
THE LIGHT INTENSITY.