Adding a mute switch to an Etherwave

The Moog Forum Theremin Forum
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Currently, I own a PAiA Theremax, and I’m lookng to upgrade to an Etherwave. One of the features that I like about the Theremax is the jack for a mute switch. I hold the switch in my left hand and use it like a tremelo effect. What I’m looking for is a way to add a mute switch to the Etherwave, and I’m wondering where in the circuitry would be the best place to put it. I just want to make sure that the switch doesn’t cause a pop (like if you turn the unit on while the amp is already on) everytime it’s activated.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I’m assuming that it will be easier to do with the Etherwave kit than with the assembled model.

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Is your goal to simply mute the theremin or to add a tremelo effect?

If you want to add a tremelo effect, you can do much more with a tremelo effect box such as The Tremulator.

Similarly, if you just want to mute your theremin, a simple volume pedal will give you that as well as a master volume.

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Have you got any good proposals on effects that can be well combined with the etherwave? especially I m interested in reverbs and tremolos or wha’s.. What have you tested / heard?

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Have you got any good proposals on effects that can be well combined with the >etherwave? especially I m interested in reverbs and tremolos or wha’s.. What >have you tested / heard?[/quote]

i saw a thereminist who was using an old ensoniq dp2 processor. he got some really nice results using one of the ‘tube amp simulator’ effects - it was a subtle trick that i thought really enhanced the natural sound of the etherwave…the dp2 is a multi-effect device, so he was able to do things like put delay after the tube effect, etc.

regarding tremelo and wah, i’ve gotten fun results with both the mf101 filter and the 102 ring modulator. the filter is nice for ‘talkbox’ sorts of articulation effects, and the ring modulator is great for both tremelo and clang-y sci-fi effects. add a control voltage pedal or two, and you’ve got plenty of fun, expressive realtime control to experiment with.

so if you’re on a tight budget, i suggest getting some sort of used muiti-effector, especially one that can handle foot control. you can probably find an old digitech or something for less than a hundred dollars.

if you can afford to spend more, pick up a moogerfooger or two and prepare to spend quality time with them. they are perhaps not as flexible as a digital muiti-fx box, but they sound beautiful, are very musical in use, and are just plain cool things.

lx

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I use a Lexicon MPX110 with my Moog Etherwave theremin. It includes flange, chorus, delay, echo, pitch, reverb and more. The price is under $150 and the FX are great. My favorite effect is the dual pitch/delay…it almost sounds like you’re playing chords!

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I use an ART FX-1 with my etherwave. It’s pretty nice for $4o off of Ebay.

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I would think delays would be fun as well as a looper where you could add layers.

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Yes, a looper, I think, would make a good addition. Pamelia uses one in the “instruction” DVD for the EPro. And, in looking over information from NAMM, it looks like there will be several new loopers out there, including the return of some older names such as Repeater and JamMan.

FX can be used to highly modify the sound or subtly enhance it. For the most part, I’ve gone with the latter. I like two FX in particular for this.

The first is the Boss Octaver pedal. It adds a note one octave and two octaves below the pitch you are playing, and you can adjust the relative volumes between the original, the octave down, and the two octaves down. By adding just a bit of one octave down and even less of the two octaves down pitches, they sound like subtle subharmonics, making what you are playing fuller.

I like the Boss OC-2, which is no longer being made, but that you can finid on eBay. The OC-3 adds a distortion option (similar to what Hendrix used), which I didn’t want. All of the octave pedals use some sort of oscillator to create the lower pitch(s), and to my ear, the Boss has the best results for blending in with a theremin. YMMV.

Second, at the end of my chain I use the Arion SAD, a stereo analog delay. Just using a touch of delay gives a bit of vibrancy to the sound. Even better, the Arion pedal takes your mono signal and creates a stereo image. Take the outputs to two channels of your stereo mixer and pan the channels to opposite sides of the stereo P.A. Your theremin will sound incredibly full and wide.

Currently, I’m investigating using a tube pre-amp to help add more harmonics and roundness to the tone.

You might consider an exciter, too.

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I would think a very cheap way to add a mute switch is to put a phone plug into the headphone jack.

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