and it was all but forgotten for many years. Later years One of the original instruments built by Theremin wound up at Stanford University; the other stayed with Slonimsky, from whom it later passed to Schillinger and then the Smithsonian Institution. This latter instrument is operational; its sound has been described as "percussive, almost drum-like". Theremin later (in early 1960s) built a third, more compact model after his return to the Soviet Union toward the end of the 1930s. This version of the instrument is operational and now resides at the Theremin Center in Moscow. According to many unsubstantiated accounts, in the 1960s, innovative pop music producer Joe Meek experimented with the instrument, though it seems very unlikely that he had access to any of the original three devices; similarly, a number of accounts claim, without substantiation, that the Rhythmicon may be heard in the soundtracks of several movies, including Dr. Strangelove. More recently, composer Nick Didkovsky designed and programmed a virtual Rhythmicon using Java Music Specification Language and JSyn. Edmund Eagan also created a Cowell Triangles preset for the Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard (Firmware 9.5 released 01-2021). In 2019, Tufts University hosted the premiere of Cowell's 1931 Rhythmicana (Concerto for Rhythmicon and Orchestra) performed by the Tufts Musical Ensemble, led by Paul Lehrman. The performance featured a reconstruction of the Rhythmicon played, designed and built by Mike Buffington for multi-instrumentalist and composer Wally de Backer. See also Leon Theremin#Some of Theremin's inventions Polyrhythm Notes Further reading Hicks, Michael (2002). Henry Cowell, Bohemian. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. . Lichtenwanger, William (1986). The Music of Henry Cowell: A Descriptive Catalogue. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Brooklyn College Institute for Studies in American Music. . Nicolas Slonimsky, Electra Yourke, Perfect pitch: an autobiography. Schirmer Trade Books, 2002, 318 pp. External links (1 minute 50 seconds video of Andrej Smirnov demonstrating a Rhythmicon with keyboard and spinning disks at the Theremin Center, Moscow, 2005) (Flash needed) (YouTube copy of Smirnov Rhythmicon demo) "The ‘Rhythmicon’ Henry Cowell & Leon Termen. USA, 1930" (at 120 Years of Electronic Music) The Schillinger Society American Mavericks: The Online Rhythmicon (Java applet) Rhythmicon for Windows https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~mburtner/polyrhythmicon.html Drum machines Inventions by Léon Theremin Rhythm and meter Musical instruments invented in the 1930s