theremins?

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cliff richard

cliff richard

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hi all,

does anyone have any experience of theremins? id like to know if there is a particular good make, is it safe to buy one on ebay or should i have to listen to it first etc. also, how long does it take to master the art of playing one. cheers.
 
:D Yo Richard of the Cliffs:

Well, like, man, I don't think anyone ever masters the theremin. It's some type of electronic gizmo and when you put your hands between the gizmo, you break the signal and can slide into notes up and down the scale.

I saw the ONLY person listed in the Chicago Musicians' Union manual as a theremin player play her ax on a late night television show. I didn't record the show.

I think this particular electronic instrument has been phased out because of synthesizers. But, you can still buy one. I'd search the net before buying anything on E-bay.

Green Hornet ;) :D :D :eek:
 
theremins

bob moog still makes two models - a basic theremin (Etherwave) for about $399 and a very posh one called the Etherwave Pro for about $1500!!!.

http://www.moogmusic.com/

they are great fun to play with!

a similar device is the obsolete Alesis Airsynth which used D-Beam type technology to achieve the same x-y positioning control.

and as an aside - if anyone HAS an alesis airsynth that they want to sell - i have a hugely overexcited sound engineer who really wants one - really really wants one! and christmas is looming! willing to part with up to $120 i guess for one in good condition with a manual.

i'd agree about checking info before buying theremins on ebay - they can use step-up voltages incompatible with good health should things go wrong!

have fun

best regs

paul d
UK
 
cliff richard said:
hi all,

does anyone have any experience of theremins? id like to know if there is a particular good make, is it safe to buy one on ebay or should i have to listen to it first etc. also, how long does it take to master the art of playing one. cheers.
Click to expand...

The Big Briar Etherwave (Moog's unit) is probably the best for the $. I've hacked around with a friend's unit. Personally, I think these are easy to get science fiction sounds out of, but very hard to make predictable notes for a specific tune. You are literally picking notes out of the air -- no fret-board.

I heard one guy tried to play "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" and broke his arm... (just kidding). Seriously, I imagine it would take a while to get to the point where your not sounding as though you are just playing with a neat toy. But isn't that the case with any instrument?

If you see the video of the Beach Boys doing "Good Vibrations" you'll see they're using a theremin like device that's been set up with a keyboard underlay. So it's technically not a theremin, but a variation thereof. This made it possible to pick specific notes consistently without having to be a virtuoso.
 
This is the one that my drummer uses. It's cheap, but only has one antenna, so no volume control. Tone only. He runs it thru a multi-fx pedal to get some sweet noise. If you go this route, I would recommend a volume pedal along with it. The one antenna type works well, as he can still keep a basic beat on the drums while providing some ambience with the theramin. However, I wouldn't say I've ever hear it "played," ie specific intentional notes. And finally with this model, the sensitivity is difficult to control. We've played entire shows with the thing whirring away, because it has "up to a 3 ft range." This isn't neccesarily a good thing when you can't get the damn thing to shut up.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14286&item=2279589563&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
 
Cliff I saw a link for some kits and dedicate websites (I think) let me know if you are interested and I will find them for you.
 
Cliff I saw a link for some kits and dedicate websites (I think) let me know if you are interested and I will find them for you.
 
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