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Today's Bonus:
- The "Plus" makes it an ideal controller and performance instrument:
- Pitch & Volume CV Outputs - control a different CV parameter with each hand
- Gate Output - trigger envelopes and other events
- Pitch Preview/Headphone Output - with volume control, lets you hear your note before the audience does.
- Power LED - instant visual power status on dark stages
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The Etherwave Plus is a professional-quality theremin. In other words, it's built well (mine has the ash upper cabinet) and made for durability and serviceability, as well as very useful tone controls (yes, you can actually get some useful variation of the sound by varying the waveform and brightness controls; waveform is a "soft distortion" on the sine wave, and brightness is a lowpass filter. In that way, the Etherwave / Etherwave Plus is far superior to the Burns B3-series theremins in that the B3 theremins have exactly one *tone* and you better like it because that's what you get, while the Etherwaves can "bend" quite a bit from almost a flute-like sinewave to something close to a viola or maybe even past that. The B3 antennas (even the new solid aluminium ones) aren't as nice as the Etherwave (chromed brasss) antennas, but I have to admit that the B3 wood cabinetry is nicer than the "functional" Moog wood casing.
The two things I didn't like are trivial to fix; 1) the case screws are black oxide coated, which means they look like drywall screws; and I don't like that look. Get yourself four chrome or stainless-steel flathead 6-32 screws about 20mm (3/4") long and replace them if you're like me and don't like them. (2) the antennas are not prefilled with epoxy or polyester as Robert Moog himself recommended. That's an easy fix too.
You will need a mike stand and an external amplifier for the Etherwaves. I also recommend you get a travel case; I got the premium (hardshell) MOOG-branded case and I have no regrets; the Etherwave is well built but I want to protect it in transit anyway.
How easy is it to play? Let's just say it's a challenge. I've played ribbon synths and such before, so I'm no stranger to fretless electronic instruments, but the theremin gives you no physical reference at all (you don't touch it while you play). I'm still learning.
[[ EDIT ]]
A few more things:
1) go on YouTube, type in "theremin", and see what one of these puppies can really do in the hands
of someone with musical skill. "Over the Rainbow" practically brought tears to my eyes. For a
good technical tour-de-force, check out the "Theremin Hero" video.
2) if you have electronic skills (i.e. basic soldering) send an email to support@moogmusic.com and
ask for the "Etherwave Hot-Rodding Manual". This document has complete schematics not only for the
Etherwave, but for all sorts of extra things you can do to your Etherwave. It's well worth the read
even if you don't plan on making modifications, because it tells WHY some things are the way they
are (like, why is the pitch antenna a vertical bar, while the volume antenna is a hairpin loop which
I suspect Dr. Moog found out by asking Leon Termin himself).
3) The included DVD is boring at times but watch it anyway. Much of it is 20 or 30 years old,
so it's more interesting as history rather than howto. But the comments by Clara Rockmore on Leon
Termin's life are priceless. ("Of course, Leon did not have easy parts. He had what he had, and he
would make it work. It might be somebody frying pan handle. But he would make it work.")
Buy Moog Etherwave Plus Theremin Now
I got the Moog theremin after touring around Europe with Pas Musique with a Burns entry level theremin, which worked fine but had no tone knob. The Moog Etherwave is very relaxing in comparison, it's easy to tune and you pretty much know how it's going to sound. It has "waveform" and "brightness" knobs that lets you sculpt the sound a little.
I upgraded to the PLUS model after I premiered a work with the Rutgers Symphony Orchestra, and my entrances were a little bit off. The pitch preview function let's you hear the pitch before it comes out which is great when a high degree of precision is needed.
I use the CV outs to control the Moog Voyager to great effect...you can literally play the voyager with this theremin ( ! ) . I played the Slim phatty too but be careful because the stock Phatty is not calibrated to the theremin so it's a little off. I'll save details on that for my slim phatty review.
If you are into theremin, you should get this one.
Read Best Reviews of Moog Etherwave Plus Theremin Here
A very interesting gadget, this instrument met my expectations. I received it on time and was very well packed, with a full set of instructions. I put it together and started practicing right away. Now I have a challenge! Should you need a different instrument to enjoy music in a special way, I recommend you to get one of these.
