Waiting for my Theremin...

Hi,

greetings from Germany!

Just wanted to introduce myself, I'm living in South Germany, nearly 50 years old and I'm learning to play the piano for around one year now (which is going slowly but I'm not in a hurry).

I was searching for a second instrument for some change, tried some with strings but I somehow didn't like these. I always liked the sound of Theremins, watch some videos on Youtube and thought I could give it a try.

Well, I ordered a Moog Etherwave Standard and I'm currently waiting for it to arrive. I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the information to get on the internet, the videos, the many different styles to play. I also ordered the book from Carolina Eyck, as I like the way she plays and the sound she generates.

So, all I have to do now is watch videos and work myself through this forum, and be not too nervous until the Etherwave arrives.

Wish me luck!

Oh... Welcome to TW THerenoob! You will love it! You have to be patient as it can be slow to progress, but it is so rewarding!!! When is your etherwave destined to arrive in your hands? :)

Should be here on Tuesday or Wednesday. I have already got the book from Carolina Eyck and am working through it.

It arrived already today!!!

And I already had my first funny experience: I first put it on the window ledge, connected it to a mixer and from there to the headphones (I know, headphones are not the optimal solution, but the neighbors...). But even with the volumes set to max. on the theremin itself and the mixer I could only get a very quiet sound, nearly unhearable. I thought it must be broken or something.

Then i moved it away from the window ledge to the tripod you see on the photo and wow, it's very loud now! What I didn't realise was, that under the window there is a radiator which of course is grounded. Must have sucked off all of the electric field from my poor theremin...

Now that it works I get a feeling of how difficult it will be to learn to control it.

I'm so excited!

That is awesome Therenoob! I hope you have a grea time! it is a little nerving at first, but then things will calm down and you'll be excited to learn it a little at a time each day! there hasn'r been a day that I didn't learn something. :)

Therenoob - Congratulations.  Hopefully, you will get many years of enjoyment from your Etherwave theremin.

I too am currently forced to play through headphones.  I learned one very important fact.  The theremin is much easier and enjoyable to hear when you add some stereo reverb.  Does your mixer have any built in effects?  If not, I highly recommend find a decent used (or new) effects unit.  I found having the direct sound injected directly into my brain very disconcerting.

The mixer will also allow you to feed in some musical accompaniment for you to play along with.

Unfortunately my mixer only has an equalizer, no reverb. On the long run I maybe look for a reverb module if the sound is too uncomfortable.

I also have already recorded some simple sound files with my digital piano like 2 notes in an octave interval, a C major scale etc. to use - with help of the mixer - as a reference for intonation on the theremin as I think it is very difficult to play a note on the piano with the left hand and try to get the same note on the theremin with the right hand.

Excellent Therenoob :-)

I'm convinced that you are going to have lots of mega fun and enjoyment with your theremin. As Amethyste said above, every day something new!

Today I took my theremin of the stand and lowered it placing it on a stool with various boxes on top, just to get the height more after the height I was comfortable with and the thing plays much better and acts more like a proper theremin now, I think because I'm playing the pitch antenna almost half way up rather than at the bottom.

Anyway, have fun!

@Therenoob: Welcome to TW. :) I know you're going to enjoy your new theremin. Congratulations.

Congratulations, and welcome to your new family :)

Quick question - in the photo, your audio cable is dangling over the volume antenna.  Have you tried with it just coming straight off the theremin and maybe wrapping around the stand to keep it out of the way?  I wonder if having it over the volume antenna will affect playability at all.

Nice stand choice, by the way!  Those are very sturdy and very stable.

I still think someone should make a theremin stand that helps with the cord mess.  For such a visual instrument, they sure get in the way sometimes.