In Memoriam: Leon Theremin (August 15, 1896 – November 3, 1993) was a Russian and Soviet inventor. He is most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments, and the first to be mass produced. Some of Theremins other inventions included the first Burglar alarm (1920s), Electromechanical television (ca. 1925), the Terpsitone (a platform that converts dance movements into tones in 1932), the Rhythmicon; worlds first drum machine (1931) and The Great Seal bug, also known as The Thing – one of the first passive covert listening devices; first used by the USSR for spying (1945 or earlier). In 1919, Theremin worked at the Physical Technical Institute in Petrograd, working at developing measuring methods for high frequency electrical oscillations. While adapting a dielectric device by adding circuitry to generate an audio tone, Theremin noticed the pitch changed when his hand moved around. In October 1920, he first demonstrated this to the other professors and students to hear. Theremin recalled trying to find the notes for tunes he remembered from when he played the cello. One month later, Theremin had given his first public concert with the instrument, naming it the etherphone and later the theremin in the United States. After a lengthy tour of Europe starting in 1927 during which he demonstrated his invention to full audiences, Theremin and his wife came to the United States the end of that year and performed the theremin with the New York Philharmonic in 1928 and patented his invention in the United States in 1928 and subsequently granted commercial production rights to RCA. In 1930, ten thereminists performed on stage at Carnegie Hall. Two years later, Theremin conducted the first-ever electronic orchestra, featuring the theremin and other electronic instruments including a fingerboard theremin which resembled a cello in use. Theremin set up a laboratory in New York in the 1930s, where he developed the theremin and experimented with other electronic musical instruments and other inventions before he returned to Russia in 1938, where he died in 1993 at the age of 97. youtu.be/w5qf9O6c20o
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 22:42:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015