I can't imagine just how much time it took to build that! I think it is probably safe to say that must be the most complicated musical instrument ever created!
Tony.
Tony.
I used to watch every video along the way from drawing board to machine, but I missed several over the last year.
The old marble machine took about 16 months to build, and was not portable so it never moved. Nearly 2 years ago it was disassembled, and moved to a museum where it was reassembled. It was a hand made design with all unique mostly plywood parts, made with only a few paper sketches for plans.
This machine was the other extreme, a full CAD design using CNC made, and outsourced parts from all over the world and a design team scattered all over the world as well. Planning started when the old one was decommissioned. Some subsections were prototyped early, but the full buildup started over a year ago.
This one can be broken down, moved and reassembled.....They even promise to take it on tour and do a MMX album. Definitely a MAJOR project with ample opportunity for failure......flawlessly executed to near perfection.
The old marble machine took about 16 months to build, and was not portable so it never moved. Nearly 2 years ago it was disassembled, and moved to a museum where it was reassembled. It was a hand made design with all unique mostly plywood parts, made with only a few paper sketches for plans.
This machine was the other extreme, a full CAD design using CNC made, and outsourced parts from all over the world and a design team scattered all over the world as well. Planning started when the old one was decommissioned. Some subsections were prototyped early, but the full buildup started over a year ago.
This one can be broken down, moved and reassembled.....They even promise to take it on tour and do a MMX album. Definitely a MAJOR project with ample opportunity for failure......flawlessly executed to near perfection.
It's such a cool project. From the beginning until now (I got interested/aware of it only in the last few months)
I am absolutely fascinated myself. I love the intricacies and precision (mind you not all the balls off the drum land in the collector tube 🙂) of this beast. I have to wonder about the return on investment. Thousands upon thousands of hours for...? Are they able to raise enough money through temporary installations to make this one of a kind project worth it? You can't just do this for fun.
The economics are an interesting part of the whole deal. Namely, it's crowd sourced, both from the perspective that people are donating (e.g. patreon) to the project *and* the ad revenue from the view on YouTube/Twitch/etc. The additional machining help has come from individuals who also are funded by similar sources.
In many ways it's a crowd source art piece. I can't imagine it's any more than a labor of love though as the remuneration can't be much above cost + barely feeding the artist.
In many ways it's a crowd source art piece. I can't imagine it's any more than a labor of love though as the remuneration can't be much above cost + barely feeding the artist.
Sometimes, those of us with creative minds build something impractical just because we can. The marble machine was something far beyond my wildest dreams. Most of my crasy dreams were discarded, or failed early on in the build. The giant digital music synthesizer I started building in 1971 started making music in late 1972, but the final argument between my father and I resulted in it's destruction and me leaving home with a car full of my belongings. The synth (built into and on top of a Hammond organ cabinet), probably several thousand tubes, and a lot of stuff were trashed. That tends to put a damper on creativity.
The first machine was like that, highly impractical. It couldn't even be moved......but the "instant hit" status it created on YouTube created credibility for it's creator, and the rest of the band. Otherwise they would have never been heard outside Scandinavia. Their talent as musicians kept us watching through the details of the second machine's design and build. This guarantees a good audience when the machine and the band do their album / tour.
The first machine was like that, highly impractical. It couldn't even be moved......but the "instant hit" status it created on YouTube created credibility for it's creator, and the rest of the band. Otherwise they would have never been heard outside Scandinavia. Their talent as musicians kept us watching through the details of the second machine's design and build. This guarantees a good audience when the machine and the band do their album / tour.
I just watched the video. Wow what a awesome concept and thinking way out of the box with musical instruments. Thumbs up. Cheers Jeff
I saw it 3 or 4 years ago. Those Dutch are a bit extravagant, architecture, lifestyle and all that.
And the new machine is being built in France. His Swedish workshop was a shipping container and the big CNC machine took up most of it.
Absolutely incredible.
Here's a humorous - but informative - video from This Old Tony, another channel that helped build the conveyor mechanism.
Here's a humorous - but informative - video from This Old Tony, another channel that helped build the conveyor mechanism.
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