# Today's (March 9th) Google Doodle - the Theremin

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-march-9th-google-doodle-the-theremin/748484>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 9, 2016, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-march-9th-google-doodle-the-theremin/748484 "2016-03-09T22:16:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-march-9th-google-doodle-the-theremin/748484/1 "2016-03-09T22:16:08Z")

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Didn’t find a thread on this…

Learn to play the [theremin](http://www.google.com/doodles/clara-rockmores-105th-birthday)! Honoring the 105th birthday of Clara Rockmore, one of the first virtuosos.

By (I think) pure coincidence, later this week I’m going to a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony, which features the ondes Martenot, a somewhat similar electronic instrument.

Fun to play around with!

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**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-march-9th-google-doodle-the-theremin/748484/2 "2016-03-11T17:46:25Z")

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I had no idea that the Theremin was so old. I thought it was invented in the 1950s to provide mood music for science fiction movies.

Since you started this thread, I watched the 1945 movie _The Lost Weekend_ on TCM. I was shocked to find that they used the Theremin to provide background music, especially when Don was in the throes of alcohol withdrawal. Flying saucer movies were a decade in the future!

Ignorance fought.

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**Author:** ![orderfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orderfire/32/10908_2.png) [@orderfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orderfire)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-march-9th-google-doodle-the-theremin/748484/3 "2016-03-11T18:59:22Z")

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You can buy the cutest little wee baby Theremin - it’s actually called the “Theremini” - from the Moog Factory in Asheville NC. We sent one to my brother last year.  
Check it: [http://www.moogmusic.com/products/etherwave-theremins/theremini](http://www.moogmusic.com/products/etherwave-theremins/theremini)

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**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-march-9th-google-doodle-the-theremin/748484/4 "2016-03-12T07:53:42Z")

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I used to think it was a new thing in the late 1960’s, when Popular Electronics ran an article on how to build your own.