Electronic producer and semi pro guitarist buying first Theremin

Hello New Friends,

I am a musician of 40 years guitar being my main instrument. I recently started building a new home recording studio using Ableton as my DAW of choice.  I am very big into anything musically unusual and have  MIDI guitars that allow me to control soft synths in my DAW.

My big question is whether to purchase the Moog Theremini or Moog Etherwave standard or Plus model. I do NOT want to become a classical theremist, but have fun using wah wah pedals and delays with Theremin. . I am also picking up the Moog sub 37 and want to intergrate the theremin with with sub 37.  I love MOOG products and just have no clue at all what model will give me the fun and different sounds that will work well with electronic music without turning me off from the instrument because of the learning curve.  I am one of those people that think spending more money means a better product which is normally the case.  But the $200 difference between Theremini and Etherwave plus will not be the deciding factor.   Ease of learning and fun factor are more important.

It's nice to be able to post on forum where no one thinks I am crazy. Everyone else thinks I am out of my mind for wanting one of these instruments.  Life is too short to live without owning a Theremin.  

Thanks everyone

Bobbyd

NYC

Let's just talk Moog integration here:

If you are really interested in integrating your Moog Sub37 with your theremin the best and most flexible way you can (I have a Slim Phatty, Etherwave Plus and Theremini), the Etherwave Plus is in my mind your best option as it has Pitch CV, Volume CV and Gate CV out.  The Sub37 has Pitch CV, Volume CV, Filter CV and Keyboard Gate control so having multiple CVs for control will give you the most creative options vs. the Theremini's single CV out letting that Sub37 in effect become the sound engine for your Etherwave plus (or mix the two together - after you tune up the Sub37's oscillators to the theremin's pitch CV out).

Since you already have guitar pedals it seems you can use them with the Etherwave Plus. The Theremini has controllable delay and variable filter control you could drive it through a MIDI pedal (say simulating a wah and a lot of other cool things), but if you already have analog pedals you kind of can do a lot of that and maybe more depending on what pedals you have.

The Theremini is more an instrument to be controlled by MIDI than a MIDI controller as you can not send note on/note off from the Theremini - just a variety of CCs. But if you are controlling the Sub37 though CV you are getting more real time dynamic pitch control from your Etherwave Plus anyway than you would from a MIDI CV.

The Theremini will give you all the different sounds - but hey you just said you were connecting it to a Sub37 so sound creation is not your issue. You can even connect the volume CV out of the Etherwave plus to the Sub37's CV filter input and control that wonderful Moog filter as you play.

So just looking at Theremin and Sub37 integration, I think most everyone will tell you (including Moog) that the Etherwave Plus is your most flexible and expressive option - basically turngin that theremin into a very expressive gestural controller.

Of course you can forget the CV and just play the theremin - but you can find a lot of stuff on Etherwave vs. Theremin to look at that.

Rich

Thanks for quick reply Rich.  I am into quality gear and at the moment, all I have is a new boutique wah wah pedal I just picked up.  I can buy  pedals needed to get the tones that will make a theremin rock.  The one thing I like about the Theremini is the ability to "cheat" and basically not rely on technique but digital modeling to keep me in tune.  I would rather spend my time practicing guitar and learning a new genre of music than the time it may take to learn how to play a theremin as if it was going to be used as a classical instrument.   I am also starting keyboard lessons so there is only so many hours in the day.  This is a tough decision and knowing the info I am sharing with you, let me know if you still feel the same way. I happen to have a great ear for music because of my guitar playing so I am just trying to figure out which model will give me the biggest return on my investment when it comes to the fun factor.   Without getting into too much details, I have this one opportunity to build my new studio and I want to make sure I do it right. The Theremin has intrigued me for years, but I do not want to be turned off from learning this instrument because I may not have the time needed to get to a level of proficiency that may be required with the Etherwave plus.  The Theremini seems  seems to be geared at people that want to play quickly and possibly cut corners because of the digital controls that can always keep you in tune or turning the control off and make you play with perfect technique. I have not yet purchased the sub 37 so my options are flexible. Again, I thank you very much for the quick reply.  

Bobby,

It's very easy to say Etherwave Plus on the topic of integrating with a Moog synth and I'm pretty sure Moog with go with me on that one. I've played the Theremini as much as anyone out there - and I can say while it has pitch correction and no question, yes that lets you zero in on notes (especially hold notes on pitch) easier if set correctly - that doesn't mean the Theremini is easier to play musically (i.e. expressively). There are other factors including volume and pitch/vibrato response, tone, ergonomics, etc. that actually make the Theremini more difficult to play melodies musically. There is no free ride with a Theremini.  Now perhaps if you are not that interested in true precision theremin playing and you are more a synth nut and like MIDI control and a greater variety of controllable sounds and ability to play fixed scales and patterns and the ability to configure things in many ways through their free app - you may well lean towards Theremini. But you appear to be a very experienced musician and a guitarist - which to me implies you likely have a pretty good ear and want the maximum expression you can get out of an instrument and that may well make you lean towards the Etherwave.  I have them both. I love playing them both. But they are very different animals. All I can say personally is if I only could have one of the two - I would have to choose the Etherwave. Of course, these are just my thoughts and I could be an idiot so why listen to me?

There's only one really good way to make your decision. Do you live near a music shop that might let you try both? As an experienced musician, that's what you want to do. The one thing I have learned is that there are no short cuts when playing theremin. And if you don't have a good ear, no matter what you buy, it will wind up in the closet or on eBay.

Rich

By the way - another option  is to buy either instrument from a reputable dealer like Sweetwater (online vendor) that will take it back without a hassle and let you buy the other one if you think you've made the wrong decision.