Who is Oskar Sala, the composer honoured by Google in its doodle today?

Google on Monday is celebrating the 112nd birthday of German composer and physicist Oskar Sala by honouring him in its latest doodle. Born on July 18, 1910, in Germany’s Greiz, Sala is best known for his work in creating sounds effects for TV, radio, and films on a musical instrument called mixture-trautonium.

The German composer was born to a singer and ophthalmologist father, who also had musical talent. Sala started creating compositions and songs for instruments like the violin and piano at the age of 14.

Sala’s notable work includes the bird sounds in Alfred Hitchock’s ‘The Birds’ and in Rosemary (1959). The instrument that Sala played created noises like bird cries, hammering and door and window slams.