What do we tell people with too little money?

Would $200 get you a worthwhile piano, guitar, drum kit, violin, synthesiser, flute, oboe, bagpipes, glockenspiel, clarinet, looper etc etc etc?

I note that $195 will buy one 12-inch electronic cymbal made by Roland.



I suggest explaining that making music is an expensive business and they are darn lucky that most professional musicians would sooner go hungry than stop playing.

Great point Gordon.
Good tools contribute to serious work and good tools usually cost more.

If you're hooked on and committed to the theremin just get the best one you possibly can.
Money is rarely the real or insurmountable issue, more often it is doubt or self denial that leads to lengthy vacillations.

My approach when someone complains about the cost of a theremin, is simply to use the hi-fi analogy. You get what you pay for. Unfortunately, sometimes you pay for the logo. Other times, if you're carefull you pay for the quality.

We need to keep in mind, that when someone new to theremins asks about pricing, they don't know what goes into a good, or cheap theremin, and it's up to us to educate them to some degree. Granted, Moog Music is a bit high, but the service is very good. I've been known to send out a theremin, and get it back in less than a week or two. So, are you paying too much on a Moog Music theremin, or are you really paying for the service standing behind the instrument?

Then, if they still gripe, I say "shop around", and "buyer beware!".

There is a thread here at TW which talks about how to buy a theremin.

"Would $200 get you a worthwhile piano, guitar, drum kit, violin, synthesiser, flute, oboe, bagpipes, glockenspiel, clarinet, looper etc etc etc?"

Could it be that for some reason some people just don't think of the theremin as a "legitimate" instrument, so they wonder why it should cost as much?

I don't see why people complain about the Moog Theremin pricing. Their instruments are for a tiny consumer group, yet they keep making them (sometimes at a loss, in the case of the larger instruments) for our benefit. They aren't a big company, yet they command a great deal of respect.

[i]Would $200 get you a worthwhile piano, guitar, drum kit, violin, synthesiser, flute, oboe, bagpipes, glockenspiel, clarinet, looper etc etc etc?[/i]

Piano no, Guitar yes, Drumkit maybe, Violin maybe, Synthesizer yes, Flute yes, Oboe maybe, Bagpipes no, Glockenspiel yes, Clarinet yes, Looper yes.

[i]I don't see why people complain about the Moog Theremin pricing.[/i]

It's about the Moog pricing in general. Incidentally, where did you hear that they run at a loss? They sell thousands of Theremins and their synthesizers are some of the most sought-after in the world.

I guess in terms of their synthesizers my gripe is that I might like to own one [i]if[/i] they weren't 4-5 times the cost of a piece of Japanese kit that I'll get far more out of. American synths have always been a bit limp.

As far as Theremins go, it'd be worth calculating exactly how much it costs to build one and then determining if their pricing is reasonable. That said, I'm willing to pay for the quality of their Theremins which is very good, but I bet they could corner the market a lot better by building a much more affordable kit aimed at hobbyists that can be upgraded, much like the Paia.