History Main / Theremin

[[caption-width-right:250:Leon Theremin playing the instrument he invented.]]

* Music/{{Ghost}}'s song "Spirit" opens with an theremin refrain backed by a mellotron choir. It's the only song in their catalogue that uses the instrument, giving the song an eerie, horror movie-like feel.

* Though for that matter, ''Film/TheTenCommandments1956'' has a theremin in its score. The instrument really was quite widely used in 1950s Hollywood, even beyond SF.

* Though for that matter, ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' has a theremin in its score. The instrument really was quite widely used in 1950s Hollywood, even beyond SF.

** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' uses the instrument sound in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rayLCPzTM7w "White Acropolis (The Base)"]], starting at around 0:55.

* The score of ''Series/Loki2021'' prominently features a theremin, for example in the tracks [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WezpvuNPN1M "TVA"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La1TD4yGi1s "TVA First View"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV_76cm2BWU "Loki Green Theme"]]. Both composer Music/NatalieHolt and director Creator/KateHerron independently from each other decided to use the instrument in the score because of its inherent sci-fi sound.

* In ''Series/CowboyBebop2021'', Ana is not impressed when Gren suggests they use a theremin in her nightclub. "We might as well hire a magician in a bow tie and coattails."

** He also utilized the unusual instrument for Hitchcock's ''Film/{{Spellbound}}'' (1945). That score was supposed to be the first one with the theremin, which producer David O. Selznick was really excited about. When he found out that Rózsa was also using the instrument in his score for ''The Lost Weekend'', Selznick was furious. He knew that ''The Lost Weekend'' would be released before ''Spellbound'' (Weekend was released in November, Spellbound in December), thus spoiling Selznick's "first-score-with-theremin" thunder.

* In ''Series/{{Cowboy Bebop|2021}}'' however, Ana is not impressed when Gren suggests they use a theremin in her nightclub. "We might as well hire a magician in a bow tie and coattails."

* The score of ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}'' prominently features a theremin, for example in the tracks "TVA", "TVA First View" and "Loki Green Theme". Both composer Music/NatalieHolt and director Creator/KateHerron independently from each other decided to use the instrument in the score because of its inherent sci-fi sound.
* The ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' theme and underscore uses it, to great, creepy effect.

* Harry Lubin, composer for ''Series/OneStepBeyond'' and the second season of ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'', used the theremin extensively in his scores for both series.
* The melody of the theme of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' was actually never played on a theremin. A soprano singer emulated its signature sound.

* ''The Delicate Delinquent'', a Creator/JerryLewis film from the late 1950s, was unusual for having an actual theremin on screen instead of just using it for the score. It's mined for physical comedy, as Lewis' character stumbles upon it, slowly figures out that its sounds are corresponding to his movements, and starts dancing around it.

* The score of ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}'' prominently features a theremin, for example in the tracks "TVA", "TVA First View" and "Loki Green Theme". Both composer Music/NatalieHolt and director Kate Herron independently from each other decided to use the instrument in the score because of its inherent sci-fi sound.

* The score of ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}'' prominently features a theremin, for example in the tracks "TVA", "TVA First View" and "Loki Green Theme". Both composer Music/NatalieHolt and director Kate Herron independently from each other decided to use the instrument in the score in the score because of its inherent sci-fi sound.

* The score of ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}'' prominently features a theremin. Both composer Music/NatalieHolt and director Kate Herron independently from each other decided that it should be included in the score because of its inherent sci-fi sound.

* Music/DmitriShostakovich used a theremin in a film soundtrack in 1931.
* Music/MiklosRozsa was the first composer to incorporate the theremin in film scores in the west:
** He first used it on the soundtrack of ''Film/TheLostWeekend'' (1945), for the nightmare sequences.
** He also utilized the unusual instrument for Hitchcock's ''Film/{{Spellbound}}'' (1945). That score was supposed to be the first one with the theremin, which producer David O. Selznick was really excited about. When he found out that Rózsa was also using the instrument in his score for ''The Lost Weekend'', Selznick was furious. He knew that ''The Lost Weekend'' would be released before ''Spellbound'' (Weekend was released in November, Spellbound in December), thus spoiling Selznick's "first-score-with-theremin" thunder.
* ''Film/RocketshipXM'' was the first ScienceFiction movie to use it, with ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951'' becoming the TropeCodifier and one of its most famous uses. It also showed up in countless other horror and science fiction B-movies between 1945 and 1960. In those times, if it wailed, it was usually a theremin.

* Creator/DannyElfman also include theremin in the music for ''Film/MarsAttacks'', as part of the overall pastiche of old science-fiction movies.

* As befitting a sitcom about aliens, ABC's ''Series/TheNeighbors'' used a theremin sting as its opening for the show's first season.

* The melody of the theme of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' was actually never played on a theremin. A soprano singer emulated its signature sound.

* The theme music to ''Series/DarkShadows'' does, as well.
* Sheldon Cooper from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' plays the theremin. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YYABE0R3uA Badly.]]
* Harry Lubin, composer for ''Series/OneStepBeyond'' and the second season of ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'', used the theremin extensively in his scores for both series.
* The title character in ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' teaches his apprentice-turned-lover Alana Bloom to play theremin as part of his general bon vivant persona.
* Myrtle Snow plays a theremin to calm herself in ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCoven''. It fits nicely with her odd, eccentric demeanor.

* The score of ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}'' prominently features a theremin. Both composer Music/NatalieHolt and director Kate Herron independently from each other decided that it should be included in the score because of its inherent sci-fi sound.
* In ''Series/CowboyBebop2021'' however, Ana is not impressed when Gren suggests they use a theremin in her nightclub. "We might as well hire a magician in a bow tie and coattails."

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Rockmore Clara Rockmore]] based her entire orchestra career on playing the instrument, and was ''extremely'' serious about it. She ignored the general populace's idea it was an otherworldly, spooky gimmick, and treated it like the cello or any other core stringed instrument, finally releasing an album ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_the_Theremin The Art of the Theremin]]''.
* Hisashi Imai of Music/BuckTick has this as one of his signature instruments. It pops up in a lot of Buck-Tick's songs...

* "Whole Lotta Love" from ''Music/LedZeppelinII'' by Music/LedZeppelin. Although it sounds less like space and more like [[Main/HellIsThatNoise THE DEEPEST DEPTHS OF HELL!!!!]]
* The '60s psychedelic band Lothar and the Hand People was known for using the theremin.
* The punk-reggae band The Dingees featured a guest thereminist on two tracks from ''The Crucial Conspiracy'', "Summertime" and "We Rot the Voodoo". It fit well with the album's sci-fi ConspiracyTheorist themes.

* "Velouria" by Music/ThePixies.
* The Hungarian space rock band Omega has always loved the theremin, and it shows up in multiple songs.
* The Road Hammers may be the only country music band in history to use one.

* Music/BillBailey uses it as part of his keyboard setup, usually for comedic effect.
* Several of Music/DoctorSteel's songs incorporate the theremin (or at least samples of theremins).
* Possibly subverted in Music/TheB52s' song "Planet Claire" -- it sounds like they use a theremin at one point, but that's actually Kate Pierson's voice.
* In their more recent live shows, Music/SimonAndGarfunkel have used a theremin player for the instrumental break in "The Boxer".
* "Mysterons" by Music/{{Portishead}} from their album ''Music/{{Dummy}}''.

* Used in "Stab My Back" by the All-American Rejects.
* Music/{{Covenant}}'s first hit single was named "Theremin" after Leon Theremin, the instrument's inventor, but [[NonindicativeName does not actually use it]].
* Notably used on "Electricity" and "Autumn's Child", both by Music/CaptainBeefheart from his album ''Music/SafeAsMilk''.
* Japanese electropop artist Aira Mitsuki released a single called "Aira no Kagaku CD" (translated as Aira's Science CD). There are two tracks that prominently feature the Theremin -- a song called Science Music and her cover of Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence called Senjou no Merry Christmas.
* Twentieth-century composer PercyGrainger wrote for an ensemble of four to six Theremins (instead of a string quartet) in his composition "Free Music", utilizing their potential for notes of indeterminate pitch.
* Wiki/TheOtherWiki lists several composers of 20th-century concert music who called for Theremins in their instrumentation: Bohuslav Martinů, Percy Grainger, Christian Wolff, Joseph Schillinger, Moritz Eggert, Iraida Yusupova, Jorge Antunes, Vladimir Komarov and Anis Fuleihan.

* Ska/punk/funk band Music/{{Fishbone}} makes use of a theremin.
* Music/PatoFu's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPD8Pe8QV_o "Eu"]] not only has a SampledUp theremin, but also features the arrest of Leo Theremin in its video.
* The trance tune "Dark Blue" by Cabala.
* Music/TheSpaghettiWesternOrchestra use illuminated platforms and dramatic lighting to make a big deal out of the one use of a theremin in their show -- to replace the operatic female vocal in [[{{Leitmotif}} "Jill's Theme"]] from ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest''.
* Music/JoyElectric has used the instrument in concert as more of a noisemaker than a real "instrument".
* Used in "Terre-Mere" from Creator/CirqueDuSoleil's ''Totem'', and "Running on the Edge" from ''Amaluna''. (Or at least a similar-sounding synthesizer is used.)
* "Noises for the Leg" by The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. It's implied that the theremin is being played by leg.
* Music/DreamTheater uses one in one verse in "A Nightmare to Remember".
* Music/JeanMichelJarre supposedly used this in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEo4IuEmwDA "Oxygene 10"]], likely in homage to classic sci-fi films. In addition, he has played the Theremin at every one of his concerts since 1997 along with various pieces of music, starting with "Oxygène 10", later with older material such as "Magnetic Fields 1". During his 1997 tour, he even explained the Theremin to his audience and briefly told them its history.
* Music/TheBlackLips feature a guest theremin player on their single "Modern Art."
* Eric Hersemann of Music/{{Gigan}} uses one as part of his extensive effects setup.
* By the way, the Theremin might not be as popular as it is today, weren't it for Dr. Robert A. Moog himself, later founder of Moog Music, who has been making the Etherwave Theremin from 1954 on, for a while under the brand name Big Briar. Moog Music still makes the Etherwave — and has recently given it a younger brother named Theremini, the first virtual-analog Theremin.
* The intro of Helalyn Flowers' "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG4nMLibi7g New Days of Babylon]]".
* A handful of songs by Music/{{Rammstein}} incorporate a theremin, especially "En Lied" and "Tier".
* The theremin is one of three instruments used in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkTpUxh8Vxc this mashup]] of the themes from ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. The other two instruments were a Rhodes piano and... a funnel.
* Used in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D207V63EBXk this jazz cover]] by Robyn Adele Anderson of the Music/BeastieBoys song "Intergalactic".
* Music/{{Ghost}}'s song "Spirit" opens with an theremin refrain backed by a mellotron choir. It's the only song in their catalogue that uses the instrument, giving the song an eerie, horror movie-like feel.

* ''Radio/DimensionX'': The theremin is one of a number of instruments that Creator/AlbertBuhrman tended to choose for the music. Its distinctive sound made radio listeners easily identify that they were listening to a futuristic ScienceFiction story. When the TitleSequence was revised to include references to ''{{Magazine/Astounding}} Science Fiction'', a piano and theremin play to indicate a transition to the episode's story.

* ''[[VideoGame/MontyMole Impossamole]]'' has this at the beginning of its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia0PHxN_fao title theme]].

* Used in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''. While flashing back to the day he met Roger at Area 51, the theremin plays in the background. Stan stops and says he's [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn going to check the room it's coming from.]]
* A theremin can sometimes be heard in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' to put emphasis on spooky, strange, or silly moments on the show. More often than not, it's [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]].
* The fourth episode of ''WesternAnimation/FrankeldasBookOfSpooks'' centers around Tere, a girl that is bullied at school for her theremin talents, culminating in being publicly humiliated at a school recital, leading her to take an offer from a monster to remove her passion for the instrument from her. The monster removes the part of her soul representing her passion for life in general which becomes the new star player in his ghostly orchestra of stolen childhood joy, tearfully asking her now helpless and emotionally drained self why she abandoned her.
* In a post-revival episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Bender dies and takes on a ghostly existence. When the characters call a séance to exorcise the ghost, cue the creepy theremin track, but when the EstablishingShot ends, [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn it is Zoidberg playing it to his colleagues]].
* Used in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Grojband}}'' episode "No Strings Attached" for Trina's Diary Mode sequence for fear.
* The ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'' episode "30 Seconds to Math" reveals that [[PerkyGoth Julian]] plays this instrument. Unfortunately, when he demonstrates his talents, he gets pelted with an orange.
* Used in ''WesternAnimation/TheCrumpets'' episode "Prehistoric Crumpets" in the scenes with the meteorite crystals and the arrival of the space ship.
* Doofus Drake plays the theremin in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|2017}}'' (2017) to highlight his [[CloudcuckooLander bizarre personality]].

* The score of ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}'' prominently features a theremin. Both composer Natalie Holt and director Kate Herron independently from each other decided that it should be included in the score because of its inherent sci-fi sound.

* The fourth episode of ''WesternAnimation/FrankeldasBookOfSpooks'' centers around Tere, a girl that is bullied at school for her theremin talents, culminating in being publicly humiliated at a school recital, allowing a monster to remove her passion for the instrument from her. The monster removes the part of her soul representing her passion for life in general which becomes the new star player in his ghostly orchestra of stolen childhood joy, tearfully asking her now helpless and emotionally drained self why she abandoned her.

* Twentieth-century composer PercyGrainger wrote for an ensemble of four to six Theremins (instead of a string quartet) in his composition "Free Music," utilizing their potential for notes of indeterminate pitch.

** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' uses the instrument sound in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rayLCPzTM7w White Acropolis (The Base)]]," starting at around 0:55.

** In "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner," the family hear what they think is a ghost haunting their attic. On their way up to investigate, the obligatory spooky theremin music starts playing. Homer [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn hears the music]] and is not happy about the ghost getting a hold of his theremin.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Wayside}}'' episode "Music Lessons," [[ExtravertedNerd Stephen, a student who loves Halloween and cosplay (typically as an elf)]], plays the theremin.

** In an episode, the family hear what they think is a ghost haunting their attic. On their way up to investigate, the obligatory spooky theremin music starts playing. Homer [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn hears the music]] and is not happy about the ghost getting a hold of his theremin.

** Despite being often featured on the soundtrack, it wasn't until the 2011 ''Treehouse of Horror'' episode that an actual theremin was used. (Before that, it was emulated by a synthesizer.)

* The music [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NyvvCGxRes "The Depth Napishtim"]](second FinalBoss theme) from ''VideoGame/YsVITheArkOfNapishtim''.

* Doofus Drake plays the theremin in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' to highlight his [[CloudcuckooLander bizarre personality]].

* The music [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NyvvCGxRes "The Depth Napishtim"]](second FinalBoss theme) from ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}: The Ark of Napishtim''.

* The score of ''Series/{{Loki}}'' prominently features a theremin. Both composer Natalie Holt and director Kate Herron independently from each other decided that it should be included in the score because of its inherent sci-fi sound.

* The score of ''Series/{{Loki}}'' prominently features a theremin. Both composer Natalie Holt and director Kare Herror independently from each other decided that it should be included in the score because of its inherent sci-fi sound.

* ''Plan 7 of 9 from Outer Space''. Gneelix tells his wife to [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn stop playing the theremin while he's delivering dramatic exposition]].

* Doofus Drake plays the theremin in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'' to highlight his [[CloudcuckooLander bizarre personality]].