Experimental musical instrument including intonarumori ("intoners" or "noise machines"), to create "noises" for performance. Unfortunately, none of his original intonarumori survived World War II. Replicas are being made though. Léon Theremin was a Russian inventor, most famous for his invention of the theremin around 1919–1920, one of the first electronic musical instruments. The Ondes Martenot is another early example of an electronic musical instrument. The luthéal is a type of prepared piano created by George Cloetens in the late 1890s and used by Maurice Ravel in his "Tzigane" for luthéal and violin. The instrument can produce sounds like a guitar or a harmonica,
Musical instrument classification Musical instrument classification Throughout history, various methods of musical instrument classification have been used. The most commonly used system divides instruments into string instruments, woodwind instruments, brass instruments and percussion instruments; however, other schemes have been devised. The oldest known scheme of classifying instruments is Chinese and dates from the 3rd millennium BC. It grouped instruments according to the materials they are made of. Instruments made of stone were in one group, those of wood in another, those of silk are in a third, and those of bamboo in a fourth, as recorded in the "Yo Chi" (record of ritual