Update

Hi all,
First off I want to thank everybody who replied to my post about whether a blind person could play a therimin. Well I've taken all your positive comments to heart and purchased one for myself earlier today. Doubtless many will say I shouldn't have spent so much money (the Etherwave and the amp cost me a little more than 400 dollars), but I decided to do it because I can easily pay my card back down within three months tops without affecting the rest of my budget too adversely. So hopefully within a week or two I'll be able to start exploring this fascinating instrument for myself.

That's great news! Congratulations!

Do keep us posted when you receive your etherwave, and have fun!

Absolutely! Keep us posted! This is very exciting news!

Oops, forgot to have the forum Email me when folks replied to this thread. Needless to say I didn't know there were any until just now. Well I received my Etherwave last week, a week ago yesterday in fact. I can't start experimenting with it yet since I don't yet have a cord to connect the Etherwave to the TB-15 amp I purchased, but I'll be visiting Seattle next week and I think I'll ask my brother, who plays guitar, if he might have a cord he could spare or, failing that, if he wouldn't mind taking me to get one. I suppose I could always buy one when I got back from the trip if nothing else.
But I was incredibly amazed at the small size of both the Etherwave and the amp. This is lucky actually since I'm not living in a place where I could just leave them set up. It's a studio apartment and so there really isn't a whole lot of space. That and I have a cat who would no doubt find all this stuff just fascinating. I can picture it now, the kitty's big, fluffy orange tail getting in the way of the antennas as he walked past the Etherwave. Might make for some pretty bizarre noises in terms of pitch. I'd proably end up getting a call from the ASPCA about a cat being tortured in my apartment, then they'd show up and find that the whole thing was caused by a therimin.

One thing I I also really liked is how the Etherwave sports removable antennas for travel. That and the different shapes guarantees that you know which antenna's supposed to be what. And the positioning of the connectors on the therimin itself make it easy to tell which antenna fits in which one. All I can say is I'm really excited to get that cord so I can start practicing for myself. Watching the DVD is fun but nowhere near as interesting as trying it for yourself.

My cat likes to sleep on my Wavefront Classic.

Andy

I'm sure Max would sleep on my Etherwave if he could, especially since the only place in myy apartment where I could conceivably set it up and leave it would be my dining room counter/table...which also happens to be where his food and water dishes are. So probably not a good thing. And when he got swishing his tale the way he often does it'd be knocking into the pitch antenna constantly.

Well I went to the store this morning and bought a instrument cord, so I've finally been able to start experimenting. Of course right now the best I can do is make weird noises, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of changing the pitch. Guess I'll have to practice A. maintaining a pitch and B. slowly moving from one to another. So far the Etherwave makes some pretty cool noises though.

Well, after a few weeks of experimenting with the Etherwave I can definitely understand why there aren't many virtuosi aside from Lydia Kavina and the late Clara Rockmore. It's a hard instrument to play. This in no way means I've decided to give up, on the contrary in fact. It ust means I'm beginning to understand why it can be a difficult instrument to master. Lately I've been trying to get the hang of maintaining a single pitch and volume before I actually try to make any tunes. That seems to me the best way to start. It's difficult because the therimin is such a touchy instrument. I mean if you move even a finger at the wrong time it can mess up whatever piece you're trying to play. I wonder if it might help if I try playing along with a piece of music. Ah well, it just gives me something to shoot for.

Hello!
Glad to hear you are not giving up. The theremin certainly isn't an easy instrument to learn. It's easy to get discouraged when progress seems slow - but try not to let the discouraging times put you off. I know I was frequently baffled by how, one day, I'd seem to be playing semi okay for a learner, (or so I thought), then the next day I felt like I'd lost everything and was starting over. Improvement and confidence in playing will come in time - but it's only when you look back after several months you'll be able to see that clearly; however, from one week to the next progress is often difficult to observe. I think, especially in the early stages, at least a little practice every day can be more helpful than one long practice session once a week.

My problem is that I don't have a place in my apartment where I can leave the therimin set up. I'm just glad the Etherwave isn't a more cumbersome model so it's easy to get out. I'll say this much though, it's definitely a fun instrument to play!