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Lev, Theremin-Playing Robot

&relLev is a robot that plays the theremin, patented by Russian inventor Lev Termen in 1928. The theremin is the beloved first choice for soundtracks of early science fiction movies, owing to its eerie sound.

Let's listen to Lev the robot playing an old standard.


(Lev robot plays the theremin video)

Lev is made out of an old floor lamp, some plumbing supplies, a few empty mint tins, and some microprocessors. There's a picture of Lev down below.

Lev will never replace the human theremin virtuoso, although, as there are so few of the latter, a a mechanical substitute may someday be vital to our economy.


(Lev robot poised to play the theremin)

Fans of sf classic 2001: A Space Odyssey recall the musical stylings of the HAL 9000 computer. Take a look at HAL singing "Daisy, Daisy" from the end of the movie.


(HAL 9000 sings "Daisy, Daisy")

Read more about Lev the theremin-playing robot via synthtopia.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/13/2009)

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