Before I get into the meat n taters of this post, I must sadly inform you that I will not be getting a Theremin this summer. It dawned on me a few days ago that I have no place in my home where I could play one. My studio, a relatively small room, has two huge metal bookshelves, plus a large futon with a metal frame. In fact, there is no place in my house (possibly excluding the living room) where I can escape large metal objects, which would of course wreak havoc with the pitch setting/s of the instrument. I’d either have to practice outside (poor neighbors, until they’d call the cops) or rent a room. With that said, I will make one more post, and aside from lurking and an occasional comment or two, I’ll be gone. And now, on with the show…
Now, don’t get me wrong, if I could get a Theremin chances are good I would go with the Theremini. What can I say; the pitch correction would be a godsend for me in learning the instrument. Still, I have to wonder, and this is in no way a diss of the Theremini, why would Moog decide to go this route? When I was researching the Theremin (before I found this site) I came across numerous articles and reviews on the Moog Etherwave Pro, which was considered in many circles THE state of the art for the instrument up to that time. And to paraphrase Fred, after an instrument as wonderful and astounding as the Pro, why would Moog, in a sense, regress to a digital instrument that would be, especially after the Pro, an insult to serious Thereminists? I think Fred and a number of you answered that query; Moog is trying to expand its market to capture, essentially, the clueless masses who not only don’t know what a Theremin is but who would be horrified to try the real thing. In short, “let’s get the instant gratification crowd.”
I knew long before now what a Theremin is and how it is played, but had no desire to approach the instrument, but that changed when I came across the Theremini. For me, it was obvious it was a more accessible instrument to a newcomer than a Theremin, and I seriously thought I’d acquire an Etherwave Standard at some point after becoming comfortable on the “mini”.
Again, I’m not dissing the Theremini, and as I’ve said elsewhere, even given its problems with latency and linearity, if I could I would still get it. But, as a number of you have speculated, and in general I concur, this is not forward movement for the Theremin from Moog. Will the masses move on to analog Theremins after their love affair with the Theremini, or will they be content with the ease of play of the “mini” and never attempt to approach an analog instrument?
To conclude, it remains to be seen if Moog generated a shrewd marketing ploy, or has unknowingly (?) contributed to the demise of further refinement of the Theremin.
My next post will be a review of the Documentary, Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey. I’d like to thank the members of this forum for all the information and impressions on the unique and otherworldly Theremin. Like I said, I’ll be about.
