# Who plays the theremin on ‘Good Vibrations’?

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/who-plays-the-theremin-on-good-vibrations/
- Published: 2026-11-10T22:15:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-10T23:26:46+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/who-plays-theremin-on-good-vibrations/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Paul Tanner played the Electro-Theremin on ‘Good Vibrations’.
- The device was designed to imitate a theremin with easier controls.
- The song helped spur Moog to mass-produce theremins.

## Summary

Brian Wilson used an Electro-Theremin on The Beach Boys’ ‘Good Vibrations’, played by its co-inventor Paul Tanner. The distinction matters because the instrument is often mistaken for a conventional theremin, although its controls and design were different.

Tanner, a former trombonist with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, developed the device with engineer Bob Whitsell to make theremin-like sounds easier to control. He had also played it on ‘I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times’ and ‘Wild Honey’; only two units were made, and Tanner later sold them to a hospital. The song’s success helped popularise the conventional theremin, which Moog subsequently began mass-producing.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.