Here’s where it all began. Inventor of the theremin, Leon Theremin, plays the Henderson-Vallée jazz standard “Deep Night” on what appears to be a 1929 RCA Theremin, the first manufactured electronic musical instrument in history. “Deep Night” was made famous by crooner Rudy Vallée, who purchased his own theremin and used one in his orchestra, the Connecticut Yankees. This performance was given in 1930, and committed to the relatively new medium of sound film.
We can’t be certain what the internals of the instrument in this video looked like, because Leon Theremin manufactured a number of custom instruments using the same cabinet as the stock RCA Theremin. You can hear a recording of this same piece on a recently-restored RCA Theremin, recorded using modern techniques, here: https://youtu.be/fDlgvMTgiI4
Theremin - Leon Theremin / Lev Sergeyevitch Termen (1896-1993)
Piano - Unknown
Source - Les Actualités françaises, 1930.
To find out more about the RCA Theremin and Leon’s custom instruments, visit:
RCA Theremin
Contributed by
Juan Pablo Macías