12 ms·
Wintergatan Marble Machine (2016) [video]
- adzm 3y agoThis is cool but have you seen barcode scanner music? https://youtu.be/2CvnajExX-A https://youtu.be/2CvnajExX-A
- kaycebasques 3y agoActually I did stumble across it on my "weird music instruments" rabbithole last night! They also figured out how to somehow play TVs and a space heater as guitars?? https://youtu.be/A0VYsiMtrNE?si=8SUpClphR2f1hBFf https://youtu.be/A0VYsiMtrNE?si=8SUpClphR2f1hBFf
- arrakeen 3y agoei wada is immensely talented, see also his open reel ensemble[1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-6WfT8RAh4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-6WfT8RAh4
- seabass-labrax 3y agoThe sound of that piece reminds me a lot of Emerson, Lake and Palmer's rendition of 'Fanfare for the Common Man'[1]. Progressive as Progressive Rock is though, I'm not sure ELP would have been let into the Toronto Olympics stadium with an assortment of electric fans and televisions! [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2zurZig4L8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2zurZig4L8
- seabass-labrax 3y agoThat'll be Lindt's most cost-effective product placement yet!
- u320 3y agoI think music machines like this would be a perfect application of digital computers.
- QuackyTheDuck 3y agoCould you please explain?
- whereismyacc 3y agoThe whole machine is just an overgrown midi player in a sense, but also that's not the point.
- mock-possum 3y agoIt’s a lot cheaper to set up something like this in a virtual space - it also takes up a lot less space. VCV Rack 2 is a free way to very closely replicate the experience of building eurorack module synthesizers - without the cost of buying all the rack gear, and without needing to devote space IRL to assembling and organizing all the parts. I could imagine a similar approach for designing and operating musical marble machines like this (in fact I’d almost be surprised if something doesn’t already exist, akin to roller coaster tycoon’s coaster design tools!)
- shlubbert 3y agoPerhaps one could even apply AI and put it on the blockchain!
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- ysofunny 3y agothe programable part of the machine, the tracks themselves are comparable to a midi file I think part of the point of this project is to avoid electronics and digital tech in the final machine. personally I think it's what makes it so interesting, he's interested in the mechanical design and engineering aspects, not the digital ones
- shagie 3y agoHave you watched the Animusic series ( https://www.youtube.com/@animusic https://www.youtube.com/@animusic ) ... especially Pipe Dream - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyCIpKAIFyo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyCIpKAIFyo Be sure to watch the "Creating the Animusic DVDs" pair of videos. https://animusic.fandom.com/wiki/Pipe_Dream https://animusic.fandom.com/wiki/Pipe_Dream
- Trellmor 3y agoHe is currently working on the 3rd evolution of the marble machine and posts build updates on this YouTube channel. Interesting intersection of music and machining content.
- kzrdude 3y agoWhat happened to his 2nd evolution of it, that one was being built for a long time too?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- fl7305 3y agoIt is up and running in a music museum in Germany.
- proteal 3y agoI haven’t followed it too closely, but he posted a video saying that previous iterations of the machine didn’t make good music. They were really loud (mechanical noise drowned out musical noise) and didn’t play music in time. In fact, the video from the submission has had its audio significantly edited to sound pleasing. I believe he posted the raw audio a few months ago in a video. His current design looks much more promising.
- vintermann 3y agoI think it was also throughput and reliability issues. He gave up on it in connection with a marble tube bursting.
- DrSiemer 3y agoThe guys that actually finished it also agreed that it would not have been possible to tour with this iteration of the machine.
- kibwen 3y ago
- calibas 3y agoAccording to the artist himself, this video is a bit misleading as the majority of what you hear in this video is not from the machine. There were some fundamental flaws in the first designs, he almost gave up on the whole project, but he's recently come back with plans for a whole new version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbmMnu-NpaI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbmMnu-NpaI He's very open about the whole process, it's quite interesting from an engineering perspective. Designing the marble divider: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y83I8mLKufo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y83I8mLKufo Testing the new fly wheel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ouH21npL58 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ouH21npL58
- datadrivenangel 3y agoHe's on his third iteration of the machine because he keeps over engineering parts and starting over, in a way which is simultaneously impressive and heartbreaking.
- rallemoose 3y agoPain is temporary. Glory is forever.
- dodslaser 3y ago*bittersweet angle grinder noises*
- nextaccountic 3y agoI love his mad scientist project (I liked the characterization from some comments below "slow descent to madness") and I'm glad he got enough funding from patrons Is it practical? No, but he had real progress (he's not just walking in circles) and he has acquired real engineering chops in meantime Also there are other marble engineers in Youtube and he checks out their progress as well, see this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLD_Nl12oacv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLD_Nl12oacv he left a comment. I think this kind of cross-polination is important So I think he will eventually ship something (and this something might mean a music video on Youtube but I hope it also mean a live concert) edit: if I had to criticize him, it would be only about his worship of the likes of Elon Musk. But, it's pretty tame/harmless (if a bit cringe) and if it inspires him to do better engineering, all the better
- barnabask 3y agoIf you enjoy Wintergatan’s clever marble videos, check out Ivan Miranda’s marble clock project: https://youtu.be/JLD_Nl12oac https://youtu.be/JLD_Nl12oac. Ivan relies on 3d printing vs. Martin’s emphasis on machining and welding, but they are both charming and instructive creators.
- itronitron 3y agoAlso, marble video aficionados might also enjoy this >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lso6OSfKrrk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lso6OSfKrrk
- shooshx 3y agoThough these two guys could not be more different from each other. Ivan actually has a toy marble machine video which he seemingly build over the course of a few weeks. I feel like he could design and build from scratch a fully featured MMX in not much more than that.
- cpach 3y agoIt would be cool with a “space race” for marble machines (:
- iseanstevens 3y agoRobotic fun instrument I worked on this back in the day. flying balls and wine glasses and drums. I did the lighting and later redid the real-time low latency streaming: https://bea.st/absolut-quartet https://bea.st/absolut-quartet
- IggleSniggle 3y agoAwesome!!
- gclawes 3y agoHey, it's the DarkHorse Podcast music! I forgot that was Wintergatan, cool!
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- quasarj 3y agoI watch it every once in a while. He's done a lot more, but somehow this one is still the one that really excites me.
- zabzonk 3y agoalso, a marble clock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IF4esSNA3k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IF4esSNA3k
- nextaccountic 3y agoI love love love love love his other instrument, the modulin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFfe4ZRQOH8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFfe4ZRQOH8 (just the original music it played) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdWeBYe3GY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdWeBYe3GY (explains how it works) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaW5K85UDR0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaW5K85UDR0 (playing music from mega man) Selected comment from the last video > I love how it's an instrument with the aesthetic style of "functionally a mess"
- tibbydudeza 3y agoThe marble machine song and video of the Rubik's cube contraption was whimsical and so good but he released no music since the 2013 album and that song in 2016. He is seemingly obsessed with building something for a couple of years right now - would prefer he just stick to using synthesizers and make music. It is reminds me a chap I met at uni - he sat in the Applied Maths computer lab every time when I was there and one day I asked him what he was doing as he was not goofing around like the first years playing games or destroying dot matrix printer ribbons making greeting cards but writing some serious code in TrueBasic. He was writing his own programming language called "Tree" and he even showed me a programming manual he had written for it - it had a Tree on the cover - serious mad scientist vibes.
- LegitShady 3y agohe's had a handful of singles out in 2018 and 2019. He's also released a VST too I think, although I didn't get it. His passion is his passion. He's a talented and inquisitive and seriously interested in this project. If he can afford to devote his life to his passion and not be broke he's winning life, in my eyes.
- tibbydudeza 3y agoNothing on Spotify though - it could be licensing issue from my country.
- pfannkuchen 3y agoHow much is hacker news discussion topic focus second order steered by recommendations algorithms? I just had this one recommended and now it’s here, seems to happen a lot lately!
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- pvg 3y agoIt goes both ways all the time, things from the Greater Internet Hive Mind get posted on HN or HN posts get regurgitated by the Greater Internet Hive Mind. Occasionally, the cud goes back and forth multiple times (as cuds do), for instance there've been cases of HN->social media->media coverage->HN posts about the media coverage. The order and the participants can also vary, of course.
- rzzzt 3y agoI had this in my Facebook memories, it is the anniversary of when the original video started to make its rounds.
- ani-ani 3y agoThis particular machine has been on HN a few times before (and with good reason!)
- HNArg024 3y agoI was so hooked to his videos a couple years ago... he was making real progress to what was his 2nd iteration of the marble machine, then he suddenly decided he had to start from scratch and got into some crypto/web3.0 thing. That was the last video I watched.
- GuB-42 3y agoI have watched many of his videos, including recent ones and I don't remember anything about crypto/web3.0. He kind of an Elon Musk fan, but far from the most obnoxious one. The "start from scratch" part is annoying to many, including myself, but he explained his reasons. And a group took back the 2nd iteration (MMX), trying to fix it, and mostly agreed. The goal was to have a machine playable on stage, and there was too many problems with that.
- moogly 3y ago> I don't remember anything about crypto/web3.0 He had a phase for a while where he tried to run the project as a DAO. Didn't make any sense to me, but that's web3 for you.
- dzink 3y agoThe music is beautiful and the machine looks like a true labor of love. Looking up the machine, it looks like they sell apps that mimic the machine sounds and sound packs worth hundreds of dollars per license, so the video is a great viral sales tactic for their real products. The closest thing to the sound of the machine I found is a Kalimba instrument. The more notes the better. I was able to replicate the song from the machine on a kalimba at home.
- hettygreen 3y agoI started following this guy making the MMX (second verison of this machine) around the same time I was designing and prototyping the most complicated project I've ever worked on. Tuning in every week and seeing him make progress, or run into a failure and then eventually overcome it kept me motivated with my own personal project. In fact I was even racing him, trying to finish mine before the MMX was completed. The internet is full of b.s. influencers telling you to be motivated, but Martin and the Marble Machine definitely kept me going and kept it fun.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- SOLAR_FIELDS 3y agoEveryone is chatting about the engineering aspects of this project which is to be expected, but putting aside that for a second since it’s been discussed to hell: I really enjoy Molin’s music, when he does release some. He is well known for the marble machine but before that he had a band called Detektivbyrån - minimalist electronica that got famous performing on the streets of Göteborg. IMO his work around that is just as interesting as the marble machine - it really brought a breath of fresh innovation to street performing when Detektivbyrån’s album’s were released nearly two decades ago.
- Liskni_si 3y agoI have both Wintergatan and Detektivbyrån in my "calm/reading" playlist, and it's such a joy whenever the random shuffle decides to play it. So yeah I wish there was more! :-)
- paradox460 3y agoIt's been rather sad watching him fail and fail again, often due to a misplaced sense of perfectionism. I can't really stand to watch his videos anymore, as they're like watching a mad artist defeat themselves For similar, yet grounded and successful projects in this vein, I've been watching Ivan Miranda's videos. He recently built a massive marble clock, and it's really fun watching him realize when it's good enough, and declare it finished
- Exoristos 3y agoTo those lamenting Martin's "descent into madness," I'm not sure I'd agree. In fact, I assumed, starting a couple of years ago, that he's drawing out the process deliberately as a steady source of income. As long as people remain fascinated, then, well, why not? We still watch a video of his from time to time, but I'm not expecting a finished machine and world tour soon, or ever.
- mp187 3y ago[flagged]
- beAbU 3y agoThis video was incredible when it came out. The song itself, and the intersection between art and engineering was mind blowing for me back then. The creator released some videos later about making that machine that was also great. Then he started building the second version of the machine. It was supposed to fix all the "issues" he had with the first, and be something that can tour the world with. Super exciting! About 90% done, he abandoned the project to start with a /third/ version for reasons I _still_ don't understand. I think he allowed "perfect" to be the enemy of "done" and he frequently went down rabbit holes of design and "innovation" that left me frustrated because it was clear to me his original concept was "good enough" Sadly I stopped watching around this time. I'm sure his content is still interesting, and he definitely innovates in the marble machine space. But he stopped making music, and now only focuses on 3D printed marble gate designsto my eyes.
- luplex 3y agoSo he said that he misrepresented how good the MMX was in order to make good content. Apparently, it was still too unreliable to actually be usable. So for the MM3, he decided to do more engineering and less good content. His videos are less interesting since, and contain less music.
- whstl 3y agoAt one time the problem was that he wanted to tour with the machine, so it had to withstand transportation. But in some recent videos he mentions how the form factor and the goal of "looking cool" was more important than reliability. IMO the problem he is not really picking a consistent direction. Either make it road-worthy or make it look like a steampunk Rube Goldberg contraption. Or better: make two machines. But making a single machine that is both reliable and Rube-Goldberg-esque is be 10x more difficult than making two machines.
- boxed 3y agoThere's always the third option: first make a simple machine that works but looks crap, and then gradually upgrade the aesthetics of the worst looking part until it's "cool enough". Or, in Software development terms: Make it work, make it right, make it [cool]
- ruk_booze 3y agoI have been hoping for long that he would finalize this machine of his and start working on a new album. Please get me right, the machine is marvellous but I love their music even more.
- Intermernet 3y agoIf you like Wintergarten, and you like LineRider, there is a video for you. It's amazing. https://youtu.be/c4IIn6ZscPo?si=GOx61Umn-mDUQZ2- https://youtu.be/c4IIn6ZscPo?si=GOx61Umn-mDUQZ2-