Orchestral Devices in the Light
March 1, 2024 4:22 PM Subscribe
I play music covers using electric toothbrushes, credit card machines, typewriters, and other electric devices. I control the devices using a microcontroller, some wires, and my programming skills. Thanks to the ideas of my subscribers, my devices now have googly eyes, and some even wigs and pipe cleaner arms. Sometimes I also make the devices perform choreographies, by making the devices move each other. it's Device Orchestra
O Canada on 8 devices
Daft Punk - Get Lucky
Despacito but it's played on a nail drill
Seven Nation Army but it's a Seven DEVICE Army
Sweet Dreams
All Star - Smashmouth
And many more
O Canada on 8 devices
Daft Punk - Get Lucky
Despacito but it's played on a nail drill
Seven Nation Army but it's a Seven DEVICE Army
Sweet Dreams
All Star - Smashmouth
And many more
Okay, this Christmas video has me unconvinced that this is actually happening as described. Is there a video showing that the devices are actually making these noises? As far as I know this is movements programmed into various devices synced with noises that make songs.
It's a cute and delightful concept, and I support this kind of art. I just am not sure it is what it says it is.
posted by hippybear at 4:30 PM on March 1 [1 favorite]
It's a cute and delightful concept, and I support this kind of art. I just am not sure it is what it says it is.
posted by hippybear at 4:30 PM on March 1 [1 favorite]
Kind of delightful....Now I want to hear Leroy Andersons, The Typewriter Song...
posted by Czjewel at 5:24 PM on March 1 [1 favorite]
posted by Czjewel at 5:24 PM on March 1 [1 favorite]
Several years ago, I was a community mentor for our high school FIRST FRC team. The overall theme for the year was RISE, in partnership with Star Wars: Force For Change. Some of our students had recently learned that you can make stepper motors play music, similar to how Device Orchestra works. One of our students had been playing with this concept, and had figured out how to make so many different motors play Megalovania that the other students were getting a little sick of hearing it. All. The. Time. "Dude, not everything has to be Megalovania!"
Nevertheless, he was excited about adding this concept to the robot for style points, promising that the music would be Star Wars, to fit the year's theme. So, after the programming team got their autonomous portion of the programming pretty much ironed out, he got to test his little startup jingle.
True to his word, a couple of the motors on the 'bot hummed the first few notes of The Imperial March... and without missing a beat, switched to the first few bars of Megalovania.
hippybear In general, the different notes are generated by driving the motors at different speeds. Faster speeds=higher notes. You can sort of see this in action with the credit card machines; when the lower notes are played, the paper tape loop moves more slowly, and when higher notes are played, the paper visibly moves much more quickly. They switch the motors back and forth between forward and reverse, because that abrupt direction change gives a crisper transition from one speed/note to the next. At ~0:55, when the center machine plays "and Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again!" as the notes stairstep downward, you can see the paper moving more quickly (and feeding more paper) for the high notes of "and Mom and Dad...", gradually tapering down toward the lower notes. Here is a great example of stepper motor music, where you can see the colored flags spinning faster for higher notes, and slower for lower notes.
posted by xedrik at 5:38 PM on March 1 [7 favorites]
Nevertheless, he was excited about adding this concept to the robot for style points, promising that the music would be Star Wars, to fit the year's theme. So, after the programming team got their autonomous portion of the programming pretty much ironed out, he got to test his little startup jingle.
True to his word, a couple of the motors on the 'bot hummed the first few notes of The Imperial March... and without missing a beat, switched to the first few bars of Megalovania.
hippybear In general, the different notes are generated by driving the motors at different speeds. Faster speeds=higher notes. You can sort of see this in action with the credit card machines; when the lower notes are played, the paper tape loop moves more slowly, and when higher notes are played, the paper visibly moves much more quickly. They switch the motors back and forth between forward and reverse, because that abrupt direction change gives a crisper transition from one speed/note to the next. At ~0:55, when the center machine plays "and Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again!" as the notes stairstep downward, you can see the paper moving more quickly (and feeding more paper) for the high notes of "and Mom and Dad...", gradually tapering down toward the lower notes. Here is a great example of stepper motor music, where you can see the colored flags spinning faster for higher notes, and slower for lower notes.
posted by xedrik at 5:38 PM on March 1 [7 favorites]
Is it same to assume that the post title is a reference to OMD?
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:19 PM on March 1 [3 favorites]
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:19 PM on March 1 [3 favorites]
This is the best thing ever.
I say this as someone who along with my workmates discovered in the late 1970s that we could make a Tektronix flatbed plotter’s servos sing duets given the right sequence of points to plot.
posted by skyscraper at 10:44 PM on March 1 [4 favorites]
I say this as someone who along with my workmates discovered in the late 1970s that we could make a Tektronix flatbed plotter’s servos sing duets given the right sequence of points to plot.
posted by skyscraper at 10:44 PM on March 1 [4 favorites]
Is it same to assume that the post title is a reference to OMD?
perfectly same!
posted by chavenet at 1:11 AM on March 2 [3 favorites]
perfectly same!
posted by chavenet at 1:11 AM on March 2 [3 favorites]
This is captivating. So much time, technology, and musical knowledge spent on making an electric toothbrush make noise and roll googley eyes. What's not to love.
posted by BlueHorse at 11:28 AM on March 2 [1 favorite]
posted by BlueHorse at 11:28 AM on March 2 [1 favorite]
O Canada nearly choked me up, and I'm not Canadian.
posted by MtDewd at 4:46 PM on March 2 [1 favorite]
posted by MtDewd at 4:46 PM on March 2 [1 favorite]
I adore Device Orchestra! The bloopers are always fun too (for the Pirates of the Caribbean theme the toothbrushes simply could. Not. Hold on to their little pipecleaner swords.)
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 6:08 PM on March 3
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 6:08 PM on March 3
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posted by Nelson at 4:30 PM on March 1 [3 favorites]