Theremin arrived - DOA!

Well, my work has obtained a Moog Theremin for me. Except, I open it up, follow the setup as described in the accompanying documentation and ... nothing! It appears to be stone dead.

Needs more information.

Most obvious thing that springs to my mind is the way you are mounting it. When I got the same Theremin, I plonked it down on a table, and sure enough it didn't work. The volume field was being interrupted by the flat surface. Best thing to do is use the fitting on the bottom to mount it to a mic stand. Of course, you might have done this, in which case what I'm saying is useless.

Which setup procedure was it? Did you solder the circuits yourself or did it come as a fully assembled device?

It was a fully assembled theremin. I'm off to attach it to a mic stand to see what happens ...

OK, we don't have a mic stand with the right sized thread. But, on lifting the theremin up into the air - we get sound. On examining the user's manual, I note the key phrase that if the theremin is on a table, the volume antenna should overhang the edge. When we placed it on a table with the volume antenna overhanging the edge, it works properly.

So the problem was caused by failing to RTFM.

Does anyone know if it is possible to buy a "music-minus-one" version of Pink Floyd's "Shine on you crazy diamond" with the guitar solo missing?

Ah, good to hear you've got results now :) Best of luck playing it, I'd recommend getting a mic stand with the appropriate thread as soon as possible! Should be just a case of buying a tiny adapter.

Thanks for your help.

FYI....The standadrd microphone stand thread in the US is 5/8"-27.

I'd be interested to know what it is elsewhere in the world if this is not the global standard.

I wich my work would buy one for me.

All they ever gave me was this computer, a phone, a desk, business cards, sales leads, pens, pencils, tape, a stapler, and the occasional free lunch.

I would trade them all for an E-Pro but I'm not sure how that would benefit the company...

I did get the theremin bought for me to play in a non-traditional manner, which doesn't require normal theremin playing skills.

But with it sitting there, it is impossible not to "have a go".

It seems that the theremin is quite easy to play, except that what I play is way, way, out of tune. I was playing things like the star trek theme. But all the notes came out different and not conforming to any scale. I could play sort of eight-note patterns on it. But again, the notes are "out".

Is this typical? That the main problem in playing the Theremin is getting the notes right?

[i]Is this typical? That the main problem in playing the Theremin is getting the notes right?[/i]

There is a warning that comes with asking that question, I'm afraid it might be a bit like saying "don't push the big red button" so I'll refrain. BUT you've basically got it, yep.

Well, the Theremin is like any instrument in that respect. You work towards mastering its tuning and dynamics. It creates every frequency within its five octave range, so you go about finding the correct intervals. This is pretty easy to do with the Etherwave once you've got the hang of it. Trust your ears - the fact that you can hear yourself playing out of tune is a good sign!

Please could you give me the "don't push the big red button" answer to my question? I promise not to push the button. I don't always behave as my user name suggests, honest!

Oh, and I should have said that the main problem seems to be getting the frequencies of the notes right. I don't have perfect pitch, but have something of a musical ear, and do play other musical instruments.