Thoughts wanted: The first Theremin

Hello together!

I'm new here, from Germany, in the mid 40th - and want to start "theremining".

This instrument fascinates me since I saw a TV-report about Mr. Theremin years ago.

I want to buy the first instrument now to give it a try, but I can't really decide which "path" to go. I'll target more towards classical style music - just as a background.

I came down to the following two options:

a) LV3

    Pro: A "real" Theremin. Very affordable for quite good quality.

    Con: A "real" Theremin - with the challenge playing it.

b) Moog Theremini

   Pro: The pitch-correction feature allows playing well-tuned songs faster. Might be good especially for me since I tend to get easily  impatient :-). Lots of options - which I most likely never will need.

   Con: It's basically adigital synthesizer with the controls of a theremin. More than double the price.

Any additional points I could put to these lists to make a decision?

Ah, maybe to mention this aswell: It's not my 1st instrument. I played classical and western guitar in my younger ages - so I'm not new to music as such.

Smartie

Soll es denn längere Zeit Freude bereiten? 

*D 

Smartie, get yourself a Moog Etherwave and then install Thierry Frenkel’s ESPE01 modification. The reasons NOT to purchase a THEREMINI (particularly for someone like yourself who is interested in classical music) are so numerous, and we have been over them so many times in this forum, that I will not bore you with them.

Just take my word for it…..I know what I am talking about.

Gotta agree with Coalport.  The only thing he didn't mention is that you also need a decent amp that can handle the bass notes.  My 15 watt Peavy keyboard amp sounded terrible playing the bass notes generated by the ESPE01.  I got a Behringer 45 watt amp and now the Etherwave sounds wonderful.

@Coalport - good to see you posting again.  We missed you!

Unfortunately, the two main considerations for newcomers to the theremin when it comes to buying their first instrument, are COST and SOUND.

“Gee, I like the sound of that theremin and it only costs $50.”

Such things as stability, range, configuration, linearity etc., which OUGHT to be the main considerations, are ignored because someone new to the instrument has no criteria with which to judge them.

If you tell a noobie the THEREMINI has a serious problem with latency, he won’t know what you’re talking about.

As thereminist Carolina Eyck pointed out in a video demonstration she made of the THEREMINI, it’s a great instrument to take to a party.

It is a clever, gestural, musical toy with a built-in speaker but it is not for the serious aspiring thereminist.

"Soll es denn längere Zeit Freude bereiten?  *D"

 Natürlich!

Thank you guys for your opinion.

I was afraid it comes down to "save a little longer - and get something right from the beginning"....

But, so it is.

I didn't mention: I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to equipment - it simply has to work good. Fullstop.

So - the Etherwave then .....

CU

Smartie

Just to stir the pot a little bit...the Subscope theremin is built right there in Germany. (Or was - I do not know if it is still made.)  Amethyst and Bisem both have subscopes and have good things to say about the instrument.  Perhaps they will weigh in with how they feel it compares with the etherwave with the espe01.  Or you could send them a message.

Hey smartie - If you have decided on the Etherwave, you have made a wise decision. Many people start out playing the theremin with high hopes for success, but they buy an inferior instrument (usually because it was cheap) and do not realize that the deck is stacked against them. They eventually despair of getting any musical satisfaction from playing, and they move on to something else.

I hope you realize that the theremin is possibly the most difficult instrument to play that has ever been invented.

“It is much harder than the violin, which I played for years.” Clara Rockmore

It is also the most magical!

Thanks for the pointer senior falcon. I still build the subscopes. Performance should be comparable to an Etherwave equipped with Thierrys module, while the timbre is quite different. Link. Resale, if theremin playing was not yours, might be not so easy like with an Etherwave.