THEREMINS I HAVE KNOWN Hands-On Encounters with Models and Makes THE MOOG ETHERWAVE PRO

Those of us who purchased this instrument during its early promotions were chomping at the bit month after month, until it began shipping. Remarkably, it originally listed for $995.00, but in about six months – still before the first one shipped – (we were still waiting for out new Theremins to arrive) the price increased almost 50%; the new list price was now $1,495.00! Most of us assumed that the folks at Moog were finding the costs of production to be greater than first anticipated. It may for this reason that the Pitch Preview feature originally advertised was dropped. Mine arrived toward the middle of October, 2004. I plugged it in and the experience was a revelation in sound and versatility. It was also a revolution in design. In the advertising shot, the theremin stood out against a backdrop of a lavendarish/fuschia light – its wood face made of birdseye maple, it's little LED eye glowing blue. It always suggested to me a sort of abstract, electronic moose head. When the genuine article arrived, gone was the birdseye maple; tiger stripe, still beautiful, was in its place. The LED, it turned out, was red. Oh, well... Though it played beautifully, "out of the box," my Pro did require a minor adjustment to gain greater space between the volume loop and the threshold of noise and silence. Like the Etherwave Standrard, the Pro is capable of sonic textures impossible to duplicate on any other theremin. It five preset timbres give you some radically different qualities, but the three manual controls for Wave, Brightness and Filter allow for infinite variations. Early on in many of the forums, new owners were ciritical of the Pro's "snappy" response. I found it perfect for the types of pieces I was playing at the time. The gradual smooth progression from soft to loud, or the softer attack are things that are fairly easy to create. But that "snap," is required if going to play rapid passages or get very crisp attack on a given note. The vertically oriented cabinet is long and slim. With the volume loop extending from one side, and the pitch antenna rising from the tip of a long wooden arm that extends about 16 inches out to the right, spectators have an unobstructed view that reveals more of the thereminist, whose arms seem to magically float further out in space than with the more traditional, boxy models of theremin. Another in this series of amazing features is the Register Control Knob that enables the thereminist to create the optimum range – Low, Mid, and High – for every piece of music based on the requirements of the composition. Over time, two things have surfaced as issues among Pro owners. First, the Mute switch (yet another wonderful feature) apparently fails to function reliably after a few years. This is true of mine. At times, it fails to completely mute the theremin's sound. Second, located inside the top of the theremin's stand (the stand is included with the purchase of the Pro and is the ONLY stand it will fit) is a sleeve into which the theremin fits. Over time, this sleeve's glue fails to hold the instrument stationary, so you have to be careful not to knock it or it will spin and fall over. I believe the loosening of the sleeve is caused by the sheer weight of the theremin's cabinet. Investing in the Pro's gig bag that Moog sells makes it very portable, but it's important to take extra care. The bag is only nylon with foam padding and this is a high end instrument. The whole package is still far too fragile to check at an airport. Sadly, Moog has stopped production on the instrument. There may still be a few out there in retail stores. Eventually, one may show up on eBay. If you ever come across one and you've got about $1,300.00 to spare, it would be a shame to pass up. Still, the Pro is both an outstanding instrument and technical achievement.