Beginner with few questions

Hello TW! :-)

I bought a Moog Etherwave Plus Kit, but it hasn't arrived yet.

In order to play as soon as possible I have some questions that should be answered:

1) I read a post about black color being bad for the theremin sound. Is that true? Does that only apply for paint or also for stain?

That standard ash doesn't please me that much and I'd like to have a darker look, it transitions better into the control panel.

2) I have no clue about synthesizers, for sound signals on my soundcard I know green=out, red=mic.

Can I just plug my Theremin into my soundcard or any speaker to hear it? Because some people say that you need an amp with at least 40W, which costs another 150€+. I really hesitated to buy the Theremin with its 519€ so I don't want to pay on additional things not desperately needed...

3) The EW+ has pitch preview. Is that always good to have on while playing? I mean for the first pitch or after breaks its wonderful to know if you are off, but besides that is it a nuisance in my ears? If so, I thought about turning the signal off after the first seconds.

Is there any cheap and handy thing, that can do this (maybe with your feets)?

Sorry about some noob questions, last time I played an instrument was in my childhood. I'm learning music notes again atm. ;-)

Thanks for help!

The EW uses bare metal plumbing screwed right into the wood housing, so electrical conduction by any coating on the wood could be a concern.  But finish manufacturers don't normally tell you anything about conductivity.  I'd take whatever paint / stain / varnish I was considering finishing it with and coat a small test piece of wood.  Let it dry and test it with a DMM to see if it conducts on the ohms setting.  Most DMMs can read 10s of megs, which should be sufficient for testing.

You can plug it into anything, for performance you might try an inexpensive guitar amp mounted on a pole behind your head.

Thank you dewster!

Its ok for me, playing it without an amp, at least the first few months.

Ok, I consider testing the stain. But shouldn't the EW Standard look have a coating too? If its just the extra layer, not the color, then I will ask Moog what they used.

I've used basic black spray paint on my Etherwaves, and I never noticed that it interfered with playability or sound. Though to be honest, I never thought about it much. You could alternatively cover it with a material like Tolex, vinyl, or pleather. At least it'd look different from all the rest that way.

Hi guys, I'm the newest member of the crew. I want to know, who is the right person for me to ask here?

Hello, John! Welcome aboard! Newbie here as well and I'm glad to have found this great forum. Whenever I'm taking a break from this particular interest, I'm usually found at home, watching my Pomeranian relax in one of his dog beds and watching TV with the wife and kids. Such a simple, yet, happy life. Have a nice day!

New one here.

A beginner as well.  I've had the theremin plus for a week and have spent quite a few hours on the instrument.
What I would like is..........

Something that will display the note im playing, preferably in as real time as possible.

At this time I think I will enjoy the theremin because I really enjoy violin and stringed sound.

Respectfully