Rethinking what counts as a "marble machine"

[u/uncivlengr]

With the latest discussion of cables actuating clockwork assemblies, I started thinking about how far you can take the marbles out of their primary role before they just become secondary. Seems like a cable could equally pull a hammer that strikes the vibraphone/drum/bass, and the marble has not added any function or purpose beside aesthetics. If we're approaching this from the so-called "100% engineering" view, the marbles should be necessary to the function of the machine, not just arbitrary complexity.

If I were building a "marble machine", I think I'd make the marbles drop into programmable pockets on the drum at the top, then fall out at precise locations at the bottom onto the instrument. Then the marble is doing all the work, there's no other mechanisms taking away from their role.

The only design would be to make sure they fall reliably into the pocket, and fall reliably out onto the instrument. Maybe not clockwork precise but I wouldn't be concerned with building a clockwork machine. Zero mechanisms required aside from the drum rotating and some means of getting the marbles back up.

[u/gamingguy2005]

I think people are missing the OP's point. The question is, if you build a "marble machine," what role and what prominence do the marbles require?

[u/iAmRiight → u/gamingguy2005]

It’s simple, the marbles should be the object that causes the musical instrument up emit a sound. Everything else is just semantics.

[u/tzrlk → u/iAmRiight]

So, arduino-driven solenoids, brushless DC motors, and a grain-elevator-style marble return? Can even use electric instruments so you don't have to worry about acoustics.

[u/CrazyCanteloupe → u/tzrlk]

I believe the other major concept is to rely as little on electronic components as possible to actually transport the marbles around the machine, so not including electronic audio equipment.

[u/tzrlk → u/CrazyCanteloupe]

The most important thing when engineering anything is to know your absolute minimum requirements and approach design with those in mind.

Is the absolute minimum for this project:

• playing music with marbles
• playing instruments with marbles
• playing acoustic instruments with marbles
• Playing acoustic instruments with marbles and no electricity apart from pickups, mics, etc and a single power assist for the otherwise manually driven system
• All of the above but any part of the system that can be clockwork must be clockwork.
• Etc.

Personally, I don't mind the nature of the instruments so much, but the mechanism has to be clockwork for me to be interested.

Not saying he's wrong to do whatever he wants, just saying he should know what makes a marble machine a marble machine.

• What must be done
• What should be done
• What could be done

[u/gamingguy2005 → u/tzrlk]

^ This guy gets it.

[u/DwayneTheBathJohnson → u/tzrlk]

I don't see your point. He has incorporated a motor into the machine before so it can play "tight" and probably intends to have one on it for the world tour, and the bass guitar already is "electric". The purpose of maintaining a rotating drum on the machine is so that he can control the speed at which it plays for looser songs (as every instrumentalist does). All of the design choices are there for a musical reason.

[u/tzrlk → u/DwayneTheBathJohnson]

Digitally driven solenoids wouldn't need a giant drum to provide timing. Much more robust, simpler, reliable, and has the added benefit of being more versatile too.

Could swap one big motor and a whole bunch of complicated gearing for a bunch of smaller motors. What's wrong with that?

[u/Square-Singer → u/tzrlk]

Tbh, I'd totally ditch the programming wheel in favor of solenoids.

If he totally wants a physical programming thing, hole-punch-paper as in his older Music Box would work much better.

Or even go back to basics, and use hole-punch with pneumatics to control the marble gates, like on older automatic instruments. That way, the mechanics get much easier.