I'm New to Theremins

I'm new to theremins, I've never gotten my hands on one, and I'm really excited to get one. Before I go searching to buy one, though, does any one have any recommendations on what type to buy? Is this (http://www.zzounds.com/a--3900/item--BIGETHERWAVEKIT) one a good standard one, or are there any better ones around that price? What sort of specs should I be looking for?

Any help would be great! -Zeroth.

The Moog etherwave is a good instrument.

Welcome to Theremin World. :-)

Yes, that is a good instrument. You can actually make music with it if you are so inclined.

When people reccommend instruments, the Etherwave Standard always comes up. Another well regarding theremin is the Keas.

Thanks, I think I'll be ordering tonight!

Okay, well I didn't order yet. I looked around and found a cheap, used B3 theremin. Is it worth saving some money, or would I be better off getting Etherwave Standard? Please help me.

It's up to you.

This may help you decide. TW's remarkable Thomas Grillo posted a demonstration of the B3 on youTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3btSH5cOxlc

Thomas - if you're reading this, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. From the look of the video the pitch field seems to be quite small, but acceptably linear within the range of the tune you are playing?

My feeling is that it would be a significantly harder instrument to play well than an etherwave, (note how small the movements of both Thomas's pitch and volume hands are - there's no room for error whatsoever - not that there is on any theremin, but even more so here!) but it might be a way of getting a taste of theremining and at the least allow you to defer buying a better instrument for a while.

Thanks for the plug Gordon. Sorry I'm a few days late reading this, but the B3 does have a tight playing field. You can get around this to some extent by expanding the pitch field to fit the note range of the work you're performing.

The B3 is a great little starter theremin, and until I get my E Standard's burnt out diode replaced, the B3 is my backup theremin.

Oh, the B3 has a quieter tone, and like the Moog Melodia, and RCA theremins only has a pitch, and volume knob, but no control over tonal charactoristics. You'd need an effects device for that.

The E-Standard has waveform, and brightness control.

The B3 is interesting because the non-linearity is like the E standard's in the high end of the scale, but the notes keep getting wider apart at the low end.

It's a challenge, but fun to play.