Mondo Knows Facts
The theremin is played without being touched
Leon Theremin invented it in Russia in 1920
The theremin was invented in 1920 by Leon Theremin in Soviet Russia. The player moves their hands near two antennas, one controlling pitch and the other volume, without touching the instrument. Its eerie sound became associated with science-fiction film scores.
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Tags: instrument, invention, electronic
The theremin is played without being touched: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Leon Theremin invented it in Russia in 1920. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a music fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.
