Theremin, << THEHR uh mihn, >> is one of the earliest electronic musical instruments. It is the only instrument that a musician can play without touching it.
The original theremin design resembles a large box or small desk. A rodlike antenna sticks out from the top on one side of the box, and a loop antenna projects from one side. The musician controls the theremin by moving his or her hands in electromagnetic fields around the antennas. The vertical antenna controls the pitch, and the horizontal antenna controls the volume.
The Russian scientist and inventor Leon Theremin (the Russian form of whose name was Lev Sergeyevich Termen) invented the theremin in Russia in the 1920’s. One of the most widely known uses of the theremin was in the soundtrack for the 1945 motion picture Spellbound. Classical, rock, and pop musicians and composers have used the instrument. Sound effects artists employ the theremin in movies, television, and radio. Leon Theremin also used theremin circuitry in other inventions, including motion detectors that opened doors, turned on lights, and set off alarms.
