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Google doodle marks the invention of the world's first electronic musical instrument

Clara Rockmore invented the Theremin nearly a century ago, and guess what--you can play it right in your browser!

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Clara Rockmore invented the world's first gesture-controlled electronic musical instrument--nearly a century ago!
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Google is celebrating electronic music pioneer Clara Rockmore's 105th birthday by dedicating todays doodle to her.

In the doodle one can see the movement used to play the theremin: one hand controlling pitch and the other volume. The interactive element guides the user through musical lessons trying to explore how theremin actually functions.

You have three lessons to get a sense of how the instrument works--hover the cursor over the notes, and move it higher or lower to vary the note's intensity.

Born on March 9, 1911, Clara studied violin under the virtuoso Leopold Auer, but due to bone problems, a result of childhood malnutrition, she had to quit playing it. However, this led her to discover the newborn electronic instrument the theremin, a gesture-controlled instrument and become perhaps its most renowned player. In 1977, she released a commercial recording called 'The Art of the Theremin.'

Go ahead--open a new Google window and give it a go. Just imagine how an EDM party would have played out back it its day.

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