Theremin me!

Hey everyone.

I am new to the world of theremins. I am a guitar player of 6 years and have fallen in love with creative and unusual sounds. I use alot of effects pedals and enjoy music that is "out of the box". Naturally, I was very atracted to the theremin.

I was planning on buying a Moog Etherwave, which is apparently the stardard, but i recently decided against i because i am not quite ready to spend that much money on an instrument that is so difficult to learn. I want to buy a theremin to play simple melodies and to make craaaazy noise. Would the PAiA theremax suit me well? I understand that the antennas aren't that great and should be replaced.

Also, does this...
http://www.paia.com/proddetail.asp?prod=9505k

come with this stuff...

http://www.paia.com/proddetail.asp?prod=9505FPA

...or would i need to buy it too?

i plan on building the housing myself.

thanks so much to anyone who took the time to read this. Sorry if i posted this in the wrong forum. I want to get on building this soon and this one seems like it gets the most traffic...thanks again!

Welcome to Theremin World!
I'm a bit Moog centric so can't help with those.

While waiting for other folks who can help to chime in, try the search page here. words like:

which theremin should I

may help you find the previous discussions.
It's a natural and frequent question and has come up before. Search for those theremin brands too there may be dedicated threads just for them in the forums too. Check it out.

Best of luck and please keep us posted on you aether adventures!

No - the kit does not come with the front panel and antenna - you need the second kit for that.

I built the kit into a small briefcase, which you can see in some of the Hands Off 2007 photos - although I used the antenna and mounting kits for those, I still have a front panel if that is all you need.

Also, be aware that although the front panel/antenna kit comes with the mounting hardware for the antenna (bolts, nuts, huge washers), you will still be short of some solder lugs and a suitable way of mounting the board in your enclosure.

If there's anything I can help with, ask here or email (my user name) at googlemail dot com, or via myspace at myspace dot com slash (my user name).

Good luck! I love my Theremax!



Stuart.

thanks for the help guys!

the front panel isn't needed to build the theremin right?

is it a difficult build? i am very new to DIY electronics but i have the assistance of friend who are more experienced in it.

Hi,

No you don't need the front panel/antenna kit if you're prepared to make your own antenna (which you could do with wire coat-hangers, water-pipe, whatever). The only real advantage of the front panel is that it's made from metal, which gives a strong, thin surface through which to mount the pots and jacks.

Do not forget to arrange to have a metal plate under the board!

The construction is really at the beginner level - the booklet contains all parts lists including colour codes, and is very step-by-step - in fact maybe a little too much for someone who's experienced.

As Paia say, take care to check off each component on the parts list - mine had an incorrect resistor, which I sourced locally, but I understand Paia's missing parts service is excellent.

If you can still get Tin/Lead solder in California, it might be worth considering using that instead of lead-free as it's easier to work with as a beginner. Your choice, but I'm assuming you're not going to be throwing the completed item into landfill for many years.

It's a great kit - and with sympathetic amplification it sounds beautiful, especially with Carolina Eyck playing it!



Stuart.

If you don't want to build the PAIA, and don't want to put out three to four hundred on the Etherwave Standard, the next best thing for the money would be the B3 at soundslikeburns.com. It lacks the cool stuff found on the PAIA like timbre, waveform, brightness, and a few other controls, but it's only 150 dollars, and works well with effects gear. I have one, and when I don't feel like luggin' the Pro around, I take it to small gigs.

one again i really appreciate all the help here!

ethermin...do you still have that font panel?

one again i really appreciate all the help here!

ethermin...do you still have that font panel?