Oskar Sala's 112th Birthday: Google Doodle celebrates German electronic music pioneer's birth anniversary

Oskar Sala's 112th Birthday: Google on Monday (July 18, 2022) celebrated German electronic music pioneer Oskar Sala's birth anniversary with a special Doodle. Today would have been the 112th birthday of Oskar Sala, who was also a physicist. Born in Greiz, Germany, in 1910, Sala was immersed in music since birth as his mother was a singer and his father was an ophthalmologist with musical talent. At 14, he started creating compositions and songs for instruments like the violin and piano.

Oskar Sala was recognized for producing sound effects on a musical instrument called a mixture-trautonium. 

"When Sala first heard a device called the trautonium, he became fascinated by the tonal possibilities and the technology the instrument offered. His life mission became mastering the trautonium and developing it further which inspired his studies in physics and composition at school," Google said.

Take a beat to celebrate German electronic composer Oskar Sala's 112th birthday. He developed & played the mixture-trautonium, which introduced a unique sound to television, radio & film.

Learn about his legacy & instrument in today’s #GoogleDoodle → https://t.co/YC1kOPZFxe pic.twitter.com/r1wXsrDoLW — Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles) July 17, 2022

He then developed his own instrument called the mixture-trautonium and created electronic music that set his style apart from others. 

Known as the "one-man orchestra", Sala also built the Quartett-Trautonium, Concert Trautonium and the Volkstrautonium and opened the field of subharmonics.

Oskar Sala composed musical pieces for many television, radio, movie productions

Oskar Sala composed musical pieces and sound effects for many television, radio and movie productions, such as Rosemary (1959) and The Birds (1962). The instrument created noises like bird cries, hammering and door and window slams.

In 1995, he donated his original mixture-trautonium to the German Museum for Contemporary Technology.