Invented 100 years ago, the world’s first electronic instrument inspired a surge in sound technology that led to Robert Moog’s creation of the modern synthesiser, transforming the musical, Theremin, electronic musical instrument invented in 1920 in the Soviet Union by Leon Theremin (also called Lev Termen). It consists of a box with radio tubes producing oscillations at two sound-wave frequencies above the range of hearing; together, they produce a lower audible frequency equal to., The theremin, an instrument known for its eerie and otherworldly sound, holds the distinction of being the first electronic musical instrument. Invented in 1920 by Russian physicist Léon Theremin (Lev Termen), the theremin is unique in that it is played without physical contact., In October 1920 Russian and Soviet physicist and inventor Lev Sergeevich Termen, known in the West as Léon Theremin, working at the Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg, invented the Theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments, and the first musical instrument that was played , In the years previous to 1920, a young student, Lev Sergeivitch Termen (a name which was thereafter gallicized to Léon Théremin), built an electronic musical instrument in St. Petersburg. It was a Thermionic tubed instrument. Théremin was not only a technician, but also a professional musician., Do Not Touch! The theremin is perhaps the most fascinating invention in music history. Developed by Russian inventor Lew Termen—or Leon Theremin, as he also liked to call himself—it is the.