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canopic jug [soylentnews.org] writes:

The theremin turned 100 years old [pri.org] sometime this year.

Russian inventor Léon Theremin, a cellist and physicist, was doing research for the Russian government on something called proximity sensors.

“He was just experimenting in his lab and somehow found out that you can create a sound by moving your hand in electromagnetic fields,” Eyck said. “So, with the right hand, you can change the pitch the closer you get to an upright antenna, and with the left hand, you can change the volume the further away you go from a loop antenna.”

That was in 1919. Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin reportedly “adored” the newfangled contraption. Léon Theremin brought his instrument to the New York Philharmonic, and his so-called “ether-wave” concerts were a hit all over Europe.

Even though the theremin isn't exactly mainstream today, it has had a big imprint in popular culture. For starters, the theremin's eerie, shaky sound figures prominently in the sci-fi classic, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”

Also at The Radio Science Orchestra [radioscienceorchestra.com], The NY Theremin Society [nythereminsociety.org], and Theremin World [thereminworld.com].

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