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Comment by nosianu | Hacker News Reader

Here is something similar ("useless" complex machine made from wood) that somebody made to create music:

"Wintergatan - Marble Machine (music instrument using 2000 marbles)"

The video shows the details pretty well too, and the piece being played is of quite good quality. One can see that the machine can just play a pre-configured song, but the operator can add and/or change a lot while running it to create variations of that pre-configured song. The machine is programmable, so that song could be changed.

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Checking the youtube channel, the operator of the machine has continued to refine his design, in the last video it barely shakes (https://youtu.be/ZddqSR1wXkE?t=3025), if it shakes at all. Weird fun dedication to a passion project ^^

He live streams all of his work too, which is absolutely amazing to watch four or five hours of him refining small parts of the complex machine he’s working on. I watched him make small adjustments to a tube the marbles drop into so they’d travel at just the right speed to the next point, but without binding. Slightly too loose messes everything up, and slightly too tight makes the marbles get stuck. He’s supported by Patreon fans, which is truly amazing that such a skilled and niche project can be put together from the funding of random people who believe in him.

He’s so openly collaborative too, it’s inspiring! There’s a vibrant discord community of makers, 3d designs, and engineers helping Martin solve problems and prepare a “Manufacturable CAD.”

Like, there are dozens of ideas linked in the video description for a contraption to divide one stream of marbles into four: https://youtu.be/U4B0i0VzXuA

This song is in my audiophile test tracks list. It sounds amazing on a well calibrated HT system. The wood "scratching" of the machine operation adds so much realism to the track; it makes you feel like you're just there in front of the machine.

I'm half waiting for him to redo the track again with his latest marble machine. Only half waiting though, since there is no "stopping point" for a hobby project :)

I'll take this opportunity to post the Death Grips mashup https://youtu.be/gSQyPdYz4f4, which the creator of that machine really likes!

That guy creates a lot of instruments, including portable ones. He's a very passionate woodworker and a great collaborator, it seems.

Not exactly useless. Wooden clocks used to be mass produced as an affordable option for the middle class.

It's "useless" in the sense that you can go to IKEA and buy a small, easy-to-read, reliable, accurate clock for $2.

Even though wooden clocks were once useful, this was not designed to accurately keep time but more to just be beautiful.

Wooden clocks were made up until the early 20th century.

They were more accurate than people think.

If anyone comes across a wood movment, don't use oil on the pivots, and bushing (usually just a smooth hole in a piece of hardwood.).

Just dust, and use graphite.

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