The theremin is widely regarded as the world's first electronic musical instrument. It is also a touchless instrument, which means that it is played without actually touching any part of the instrument. It is still used by many musicians.
Film scores of the 1940s and 1950s used the instrument to eerie effect and it makes a famous appearance in the chorus of the Beach Boys hit Good Vibrations.
Invented in 1920 in the then Soviet Union, the theremin is also called thereminvox, or etherophone and is named after its inventor Professor Leon Theremin (also called Lev Termen).
The theremin is an electronic box of radio tubes with two long antennae. To produce music the musician moves her hand or baton around the antenae without touching them. The right hand's proximity to one antenna controls the pitch of the sound and the left hand's proximity to the other antenna controls the volume.
On March 9, 2016, Google had posted an interactive playable doodle on theremin performer Clara Rockmore's 105th birth anniversary.
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