Moog Claravox Centennial Theremin

Fantastic

This is a very otherworldly idea to start with but the Clara Vox goes even deeper. I’m not sure I’m so keen yet on the modern function, I bought it so I could use it for traditional use together with the fact it has an analogue delay built in and looks very pretty. The packaging, wood and quality are brilliant let alone the sound quality.

Playing theremin is very difficult to do very well, it takes a great deal of practice so bear that n mind if you’re just starting out, but you could say this about nearly every other musical instrument. I recommend the Clara Vox 100%

A flawed classic in the making

This is the third theremin that I've owned. I started with a Big Briar Etherwave standard, followed by a poorly maintained second-hand Etherwave Pro, which unfortunately had to go due to various issues. My standard Etherwave is already aging, so I could not wait to get my hands on (or around?) the Claravox.

As a musical instrument Claravox plays and sounds great in both the Traditional (analogue) and Modern (digital) mode. It has plenty of knobs to play with to customize your sound, a built-in analogue delay that sounds great and an option to hook it up to your computer, phone or tablet via USB. The mobile or desktop app opens up tons of additional controls allowing to sculpt sounds in the Modern mode, as well as a large number of presets (made by renowned theremin performers) otherwise not accessible.

In general, Claravox feels like a solidly built quality instrument, however one can't help but feel that some corners have been cut in the making of it. For example, while looking like fabric, the beige front and back panels are nothing but plastic, wrapped in some textured paper-like material. The body itself, and especially the antennas feel very solid and high quality. Still, the enclosure feels a bit unbalanced, and kind of hollow. The stand adapter on the bottom of Claravox works okay, but it's a bit difficult to set up and requires some patience and careful adjustments.

If you're considering buying this instrument, you probably already know everything about its well-documented quirks and shortcomings. I only have one real issue with mine. The volume antenna does not mute the sound completely, like it should, so even with your hand almost touching the loop, you can hear some sound bleeding through. This, for some reason, is not an issue with my other lefty Claravox. I am not sure if this can be fixed with a software update, as this only affects the Traditional mode.

I'm sure that most of the issues can be fixed with time, either by Moog or by the community and independent theremin engineers.

This is a limited run instrument, so chances are it will follow the fate of other boutique Moog instruments like the Etherwave Pro theremin, Taurus 3 and others, that have grown in price and are now hard to find.

Will it achieve a cult status and be regarded as classic? Not sure, but time will tell.