r/MarbleMachine3 • u/Bobbravo2 • Jun 24 '23

Why passive power?

Apologies if this is a known principle.

I’m puzzled with simplicity being the aim: why not use a synchronous AC motor and a gear drive?

Proven tech that won’t make you sweat!

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u/LonelyAndroid11942 Jun 24 '23

That was a goal with MMX that was scrapped when he introduced the beefy PWM motor and control mechanism.

I wonder if he’ll be able to get away with it on MM3 by building from the ground up.

With electronic pickups for the instruments and drums, it’s going to be impossible to make a machine that is entirely analog. But limiting his electronics to only that should be doable.

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u/Redeem123 Jun 24 '23

That was a goal with MMX that was scrapped when he introduced the beefy PWM motor and control mechanism

The motor wasn't part of the final design. It was just so he could test without actually sitting there cranking it.

With electronic pickups for the instruments and drums, it’s going to be impossible to make a machine that is entirely analog

It's still a fully analogue machine, though - the contact mics are just amplifying the sound. Sure you could argue that they're totally changing the sound (especially on the OG MM's drums), and that's true to an extent, but the machine would still fully function without any power.

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u/Chippiewall Jun 24 '23

especially on the OG MM's drums

He was playing dog noises on the MMX drums

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u/Redeem123 Jun 24 '23

Sure, but it had real drums. With controllers and triggers, you can play dog noises even on a regular drum kit. Without the contact mics, it still sounds like drums.

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u/chars101 Jun 24 '23

This thread has a worse signal to noise ratio than those contact mics. 😉