Theremin (1920)
Synthesizers
Lev Theremin performed a miracle: he taught humans to play on thin air. No keys, just two antennas and an electromagnetic field. A sound resembling a ghost's voice became a symbol of the future and science fiction.
Full text
The principle of the instrument was born from observation: while developing gas density meters, Leon Theremin noticed how the capacitance of the human body affected the frequency of a radio circuit. He turned this heterodyning effect into music — sound emerged from the frequency difference between two radio oscillators.
In New York, Theremin's studio was often visited by Albert Einstein, fascinated by the link between geometry and sound; they even played duets — Einstein on violin, Theremin on his invention.
The American commercial chapter crashed against reality. RCA released home Theremins promising that anyone could play, but the instrument required perfect pitch and rigid coordination. Without tactile feedback, buyers extracted only eerie wails, quickly demoting the invention to a sound effect generator for horror movies.