OK, so whats a Theremin?
An electronic musical instrument created by Soviet scientist Leon Theremin (originally called Lev Sergeivitch Termen) in 1919. You often hear it in the sound tracks to 1950s Science Fiction movies. It works like this: the player never touches the instrument, but just brings a hand close to an antenna that sticks out of it. The original instrument had two antennas: a loop and a rod. The right hand (the rod) controled the pitch and left hand (the loop) controled the volume. Leon Theremin played his instrument for USSR dictator Lenin and toured Europe and the USA. He was a brillient scientist and had many other electronic inventions. (After his death in 1993, it came out that he had also been a spy for the KGB–a very successful one. He also invented one of the first electronic lisetening devices, or “bugs”) Anyway, Ursula played a mini-theremin for a while, before returning to real love, the musical saw. Also check out our instruments page.
