BELIEVE IT OR NOT THIS IS A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT...

Time To Check Out Electrostatic Tone Wheels
More projects and updates on this machine, and support these regular videos check out here :-
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Which helps the constant improvement of ‪@THISMUSEUMISNOTOBSOLETE‬ info here :-
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Lucien Nunes Vaz :-
• Lucien Nunes introduce...
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EAST MIDLANDS CINEMA ORGAN ASSOCIATION :-
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The midi board i designed for The Joans Organ Project :-
• I BOUGHT A CHURCH ORGA...
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Greyhound Totalisator at ‪@THISMUSEUMISNOTOBSOLETE‬ :-
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#synthesizer #microphone #experiment

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

its the worlds largest stylophone atm. but next time it'll be a whole lot more tuneful :D, i have a plan which im going to see through. but leave your comment below if you have any ideas or suggestions, so i can stick em on the fridge like ringos song ideas! :D

[@KeritechElectronics]

The most stylish stylophone! :)

[@KeritechElectronics]

@@5cyndi Fran-tastic! :)

[@soillodge]

I noticed the way the frequency would change when you applied more pressure/connectivity to the alligator clips. Have you considered a CV sequencer to operate it? Cheers.

[@king_ofgames3650]

Why don’t you use the organ PCBS to send 24v into the switch board

[@ChrisTackettMusic]

Wire it in as a rank with Joan's organ! Use what you already have to be able to play it. You'll probably need to create some other bits to MIDI-fy it, but in the end you'd have what would amount to the first MIDI-ed Compton organ, and from there clever folk with organ sampling technology could sample and preserve these sounds and make them usable today.

[@bigclivedotcom]

That is ridiculous! I love those etched/routed tone discs.

[@pattheplanter]

I trust your opinion, as you are familiar with the ridiculous.

[@PhilR0gers]

Ah! Love it when the worlds of my favourite KZbin channels collide!

[@fburton8]

Yes! They're so... explicit!

[@richardsavage2]

@@PhilR0gersexactly my thought!

[@LordDragox412]

Some wizard out there is mighty confused why people are calling the magic circles "tone discs".

[@Stadsjaap]

"What instrument do you play...? "The 18V hammer drill." 😂

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

haha. the warmest sounding power tool brand

[@martinunetic5567]

@Stadsjaap your comment reminded me of Einsturzende Neubauten and playing the angle grinder 😁

[@UCCLdIk6R5ECGtaGm7oqO-TQ]

Percussion drill.

[@TDOBrandano]

Well, I have seen someone play an angle grinder for precussions on stage, and naturally there's Einstuerzende Neubauten that regularly play compressor turbines, haemostatic rubber bands, teacups, a shopping cart etc.

[@LeonEvans_Guyver1]

Mr. Big from 1991 enters the chat...

[@keyboardtek]

I was an electronic organ, digital piano, synth tech for 37 years. When I first got hired, my employer explained all the various tone generation designs the various manufacturers had come up with through the years. They were extremely varied and extremely clever. This is one I have never seen.

[@spacehitchhiker4264]

Looks like something you'd use to break the enigma cipher.

[@dickseevens8099]

That was my first thought! A Turing number cruncher...

[@blancfilms]

My first thought too. Looks like that machine that Turing built. Bomba or something I think it was called.

[@ScruffyMisguidedAndBlue]

Instead they used it to break out the Enigma Variations!

[@SteinGauslaaStrindhaug]

@@blancfilmsYes! Btw. "Bomba" was the Polish machine that the British machine was developed from called "Bombe"

[@NORMIES_GET_OUT]

Reporter: "Mr. Turing, now that the war is over, what do you think you will focus your efforts on next?" Alan Turing: "Well, I was thinking about building an instrument..."

[@peter.stimpel]

"The conclusion on this video isnt great" - Pardon, it is a great video about a great piece of technology. Thanks for bringing it online, Sam.

[@stulora3172]

absolutely. All of their videos are so damn inspiring!!

[@Juttutin]

It's like when you set out on the first day of a journey you've been planning for ages, and the sun is shining, the views are beautiful, and by the end of day one, you're well on your way.

[@Graham_Rule]

Those disks are amazing. Primary tone plus a selection of harmonics all in one. Even changed tones by having irregular shapes. What I find most astonishing is that this was probably all built by very skilled people with excellent hearing who could match the sound with old pipe organs. Oh, and they probably also avoided touching the 500V lines.

[@Kalvinjj]

I would take a bet at them recording organ samples on vynil, and then observing them through a microscope to match it. Or the more boring way through an oscilloscope. Still takes a lot of knowledge and skill, but the coolest part is how they even came up with that method of generating the tones.

[@matthewseymour8972]

The look of delight when successfully playing a tone generator with a drill...

[@unixerius6632]

You marvelous nutter. I'm having a VERY rough day with loss and you manage to make me laugh, with your comments and expressions, at a time that it's sorely needed.

[@docthorr]

Be gentle with yourself, you'll get through 💪😘

[@buzzedalldrink9131]

@@docthorrwhats a nutter?

[@zdenek7220]

That spinner you've opened took my breath.

[@CulinarySpy]

I have overhauled one of these Compton electrostatic tone generator organs. It is a delicate business re-coating rotor surfaces and the adjusting the gaps between rotors and stators, then voicing and filtering the outputs. Lots of fun!

[@p60091]

must have been quite an undertaking

[@douro20]

Are there any left which have the ultralinear tube amp?

[@MostlyPennyCat]

What are the rotors coated in? What are the different waveforms in the rotor for? It's filtered? How? I have a million questions.

[@CuriousMarc]

It looks and sounds frigging awesome! Who needs transistors when gears, pulleys and relays will do!

[@timballam3675]

Not quite in the same league as the Bendix air computer though is it 😀

[@QuanrumPresence]

I was looking for your comment on this beauty!

[@Richardincancale]

What an amazing set of ideas went into that! The tone wheels effectively varying the capacitance as they revolve, according to the shape of the pattern! Really analogue! And those 2D relays to link the keys via the selected stops - you can see that the designer was really thinking about traditional wind-boxes in organs with their 2D structure - and at the same time as you say, looking like cross-bar telephone selectors! Absolutely magic - I’m glad it still makes sound and look forward to seeing it Midi-fied!

[@markschweter6371]

Those test panels REALLY going to save time building an interface... don't need to trace ALL THOSE WIRES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😏😉😎

[@OmegaSparky]

🤯🤯🤯🤯 Wow. I love the ingenuity. It really is an analog sample playback machine. So many possibilities.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

​@@OmegaSparky Just need a way to etch some metal. I wonder what the metal is...

[@lapub.]

@@MostlyPennyCat Usually aluminium.

[@ScornfulEg0tist]

I really enjoy how close to a computer this stuff is but even so, it's still so beautifully arcane. Those electrostatic spinners and the etching look way too beautiful to function. playing the spare with a drill was literally witchcraft

[@GerinoMorn]

Oh, you're right! I guess one could play with the waveforms and even essentially get analogue computer out of it, doing some math using wave interference... if only I had infinite time xD

[@i_never_asked_for_an_alias]

Truly amazing. Imagine slapping the blueprints of this whole thing on the table these days: "Hey guys, i have an idea."

[@stitchfinger7678]

Yeah, with how complex electromechanic are, its crazy some of the things people were actually willing to engineer, fund, and physically construct.

[@tsm688]

@@stitchfinger7678 I have to think that, even then, there were better ways to do it. Look how many outputs those tone wheels have. The amount of redundancy seems insane. Was this organ capable of playing every key simultaneously?

[@NinoJoel]

​@@tsm688I wouldn' call them redundant. More "voices / possibly stacked mean greater depth in sound. There is a reason some crazy people put together the Yamaha Rack monstrosity that held 8 or more Yamaha DX7s to play via midi

[@tsm688]

@@NinoJoel they did that because they thought it'd be a cool use for 8 yamaha dx7's. You don't actually need to do that to get the effect.

[@NinoJoel]

@@tsm688 have you ever used one? I don't know how you want to make such sound depth without Manny Manny voices stacked. Sure you could record one and duplicate the recording but that's not very live play friendly now is it

[@mikegeary8056]

You could etch a tone wheel like one makes an etching or lithograph. Coat the disk with etching “tar” scratch in the waveforms then submerge it in acid. Then wash off the tar, the acid will have etched where the waveforms where scratched in and not where the tar was. There’s more modern was to make etchings with less harmful chemicals etc. I haven’t made an etching since the 90’s. The new techniques are friendlier. Man you could scratch in some wild waveforms. Maybe a wavetable type scenario. This is so cool. Such a perfect example of sound and art. I’m inspired.

[@frederickbaugher8361]

I would imagine a micro imperfection in the etching process Could render the entire plate defective.

[@famousutopias]

@frederickbaugher8361 A feature!

[@burmesecolourneedles4680]

Fantastic! I used to know an amazing old engineer who lived in Ramsgate, Brian Carpenter. He rescued several of these Comptons and had them running (also a 3 manual pipe organ he had built himself!) in one of the large Victorian houses on Marlborough Road.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Wonder what happenned to it all?

[@Nukle0n]

How many British houses had an organ built in? Did the Council know? 😜

[@Magnum3144]

Dear God, when you adjust the tension on those wheels, the slowed tones sound so eerie. Like the world is melting

[@incandescentconker6193]

What a wonderful machine. *Please* show the output of one of those wheels on an oscilloscope

[@fathomisticfantasy2681]

My mentor on the electronic side is an organ repairman. He showed me a much smaller version of the organ sound generator like those. It looked just like a metal brick with axels coming out its sides. My other mentor keeps me on par with acoustic pianos. Just to keep my story strait. My electronics mentor began having issues with walking on a problematic leg. So, getting an episode on organs is a real treat. Much friendly love. Lily

[@FPSNecromancerBob]

Chatty Kraftwerk is back with another beautiful example of audio engineering. The tone generating etched circular waveform assembly is a thing of art.

[@olavl8827]

Speaking of Kraftwerk, I think Sam would get along with Ralf Hütter if they'd ever meet. Perhaps this needs to be arranged.

[@dmthandmade5674]

An old 3D resin printer can be used to very easily etch a precise and intricate pattern on metal if you wanted to have a go at your own waveforms.. I've made some lovely lithographic plates this way in a few minutes (as opposed to the old ballache way). This thing is amazing.

[@pattheplanter]

Will that be better resolution than photoresist?

[@dmthandmade5674]

@@pattheplanter You still use photofilm but you don't have to print a transprency, or cut a stencil or make a screenprint. Resolution depends on the printer but most are going to be 2-4K these days. Lots of hobby modellers have an old Mars lying around.

[@TesserId]

I would totally do that.

[@radarmusen]

It could be human choirs not a long sample.

[@TesserId]

@@radarmusen Choirs, yes. I wonder if the inventors of this thing could imagine some kind of changer, like a record changer, to expand the memory bank capacity.

[@stevebabiak6997]

Martin: “It would be so cool to play tight music with that instrument using marbles.”

[@envisionelectronics]

This is exactly what I thought about when I saw this thing.

[@stevebabiak6997]

@@envisionelectronics - I am waiting for Martin to add this machine to his marble machine ;) And I admit it would be cool - but that marble machine might never play music if he sets out to add this.

[@freeculture]

@@stevebabiak6997 considering the time it took to build the 2nd one... he is on the 3rd yet? maybe by the 4th one... If these two guys get together a singularity will occur.

[@repeatdefender6032]

What a totally wacky thingamajiggy! I just love that you call the other one "Joan's Organ", very sweet to remember her.

[@patrickbodine1300]

Joan's or Jones? Makes a big difference. (Please pardon my ignorance)

[@stitchfinger7678]

@@patrickbodine1300 "Joan's" as it was owned by a woman named Joan. No worries, he's been doing that project for a while, can't expect everyone to know everything :)

[@zebo-the-fat]

Amazing, the first thing I thought was the Hammond tone wheel, but it's different and weird! Whoever came up with the idea was smoking the good stuff!

[@pablowentscobar]

That really is an amazing piece of ancient technology. It's stunning the lengths men went to to make noises in churches, I know that's a super over simplified explanation. But, it really is that simple when compared to how complicated and complex these beautiful old machines are. Thanks for sharing such things with us.

[@GothGuy885]

I found the video VERY interesting. I have an old 1960's Vacuum tube, Hammond home organ that still works, though, no one seems to want it. So, I might start to do some experimenting of my own with it, would be interesting to mess around with the tone wheels, and it has a power amp, and 2-3 Pre-amps in it. along with a spring reverb Tank, and tremolo, and other interesting circuits, for my Mad scientist experiments 😀👍

[@fgroen1225]

So cool to see al this lost technology. What a beauty! People become the most resourceful in the light of lacking resources.

[@usvalve]

This guy is amazing! While I'm trying to get a record player with a handful of TO-72 transistors working, he's fixing organs with thousands of electrical, mechanical and pneumatic parts. Next project: connecting the Apollo 11 flight computer to work the Star Trek transporter!

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Have you seen the channel that restored an Apollo AGC and ran the software that flew the spacecraft?

[@axolouis7025]

Its amazing what kind of electronic devices you find and show us. Great work!

[@matekovacs2696]

The inside of those tone generators is just beautiful. Whoever invented this was a genius. They didn't have transistors or fancy ICs, they had relays, motors, metal, and Maxwell's laws. And they still made music. Also, manufacturing these could've been a real chore. A modern CNC would make short work of it, but back then this was made by hand, or with a manually controlled mill. The mechanisms they must've came up with to make perfect sine waves (or the other more intricate waveforms) are equally fascinating, I'm sure.

[@totallycrimson5853]

I love old electronics that bridge the gap between mechanical and solid state. Those tone generators are a work of art, the genius who worked out how to make this stuff is incredible.

[@CuriouslySkeptical]

Just incredible! I’m so glad this is being preserved, and not just chucked out. I had the absolute privilege of rebuilding a Hammond and Leslie once - it blew my mind! But this machine is off the charts! I just love everything about this!

[@adammoss5284]

The Wurlitzer spectra-tone was similar but spun the speaker 😆

[@JanusMirith]

I tried to come up with a better comment but I've just circled back around to " this makes my brain happy"

[@RCAvhstape]

Very cool old technology, good on you for saving such a beautiful machine from the scrap heap and making it sing again!

[@audhen1]

0:03 that giggle :D

[@TesserId]

I went back for a listen. That needs to be loaded into a sampling synth.

[@emmetcassidy]

:D your face when messing about with the drill

[@sawiblue]

bro is reaching new heights of complexity everyday

[@dxtxzbunchanumbers]

Always love a good organ transplant

[@mastercylinder1939]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, what a fantastic machine. How did I every live without you? You’re a beautiful machine...

[@kenworks6068]

I'm very impressed by your ability to describe and present this system. My mom restored a Wurlitzer for her home and I learned how it all worked. There are so very few people who make the effort to learn these things and fewer yet who are actually teaching the next generation. Thank You

[@lummsmusik3219]

Thanks for all showing and explaining. So cool to see such exotic hardware working in detail.

[@TheFurriestOne]

What a fantastically complex, yet deceptively simple, bit of kit! Wonderful bit of musical machinery.

[@charleswheeler3418]

I just can't get over how beautiful those etched waveform generators are - mind blown... absolutely love what you do Sam.

[@WanTan8888]

i dont think people understand how amazing this is, in a day where all of this is ran by software, to be able to do these things with insane analog solutions is just amazing

[@Alan_UK]

Excellent Sam. I've always wondered how these tone units worked. You're doing great work not only rescuing equipment but getting them working, often without manuals. Looking forward to the next episode.

[@joshuagibson2520]

Hey ya moke. Thanks for sharing this. Unreal amount of effort to produce these back in the day.

[@marillion335]

When you opened that tone disk it reminded me of Roto pulses we used to work on back in the 70s/80s in a machine shop. They used two rotating graded glass disks to make a stepping motor move a rack and pinion very accurately. I love the technology and ingenuity of these old systems. You are very smart being able to work all this stuff out. I applaud you mate. Well done. Take care and watch those 500V rails - they hurt. Stu

[@wd-bs4xz]

I’m so happy you’re doing what you’re doing. All the old amazing machines of the world need a knowledgeable and creative person like you.

[@lfo2vco]

Fascinating, the etching in the tone wheels are a thing of beauty and I imaging this would sound fantastic in a large reverberant space. Thanks for sharing.

[@TheSynthnut]

Fantastic stuff indeed. This is yet more really incredible gear to get for the museum. The transitional technologies that get forgotten are fascinating. Looking forward visiting again...

[@brentdennard6722]

Those tone generating discs are so cool. That’s the coolest thing I’ve seen this month.

[@friskydingo5370]

This is so cool. It is amazing. It showed the creative mind of the times before modern electronics. What genius thought of this? Insanely awesome 👌 👏 👍

[@kgbstudio]

Dman Sam, these kind of videos are really amazing and so fun to watch. Your passion is so infectious!

[@Ghaz002]

oh my god those waveform/pickup etchings look so damn cool, like something you'd find in an alien spaceship

[@almosthuman4457]

Thank you so much for sharing this stuff with the world. It's always good to learn something new.

[@MikeSmith-sh3ko]

I am amazed how busy you keep yourself Sam. Love that you just got stuck in 👍

[@bricelory9534]

There is something magical in having the guts of this mechano-electronic organ exposed to explore like this! I like the idea of making it MIDI controlled - it could be fun to see if you could use a device to adjust the belt tension to make a controllable pitch bend. Interesting sounds!

[@SusanAmberBruce]

Wow! Sometimes it's such a surprise to find out stuff like this, it's been there in our midst for ages but hidden away.

[@capicolaspicy]

What a trip - loved it mate!

[@plou0018]

Imagine being the original constructor of such a machine and knowing this is cutting edge tech. And for us to see it uncovered, moth balls n’ all, and barely understand what the bloody hell is going on inside. Cheers, mate for blowing my mind.

[@gundarsmiks4889]

Keep going. Now already for years you are exploring some interesting things!!! And it just gets better honestly!

[@DJSockmonkeyMusic]

Incredible. I can't wait to see what you squeeze out of it!

[@DonChups]

This is incredible. Thanks for showing this amazing tech

[@mattman5406]

I can't wait to see this, me and friend have organized a holiday down to see the museum late august

[@BeniRoseMusic]

I was watching waiting to find out how a pre-transistor electric organ handled routing the signal from the console and thought "surely it wasn't relays, that would be loud and potentially slow", but sure enough, it was relays! Amazing how they implemented those grids of relays!

[@KristovMars]

You're a genuine treasure Sam, thankyou for all the mad awesomeness you share with us.

[@youlemur]

i dont have words to express how cool this is

[@user-dq2zx2ei4m]

Thank you for sharing an in-depth amazing piece of technology.

[@SteveMaggioncalda]

brilliantly done as always! thank you! so enlightening.

[@PeranMe]

Fantastic!! Thank you so much for letting the rest of us see and hear these crazy contraptions! ❤

[@virginiarocks]

Fascinating! And wonderful. Thank you

[@joey0079]

Well done for getting this masterpiece alive!

[@wallpurgesnight8209]

Being an organ guy at heart I'm very glad to see my donations are going to a good cause.

[@joonglegamer9898]

Curious Marc is probably drooling over those core memory units in the background there.

[@Brian-L]

What a fascinating bit of kit. I want one too!

[@gnarlysoundscapes7210]

3:05 That looks like some kind of ancient technology Indiana Jones would discover. Awesome stuff.

[@IdoN0TneedTherapy]

That is one of the most beautiful pieces of technology I've seen!

[@harrysmbdgs]

This might be the coolest electromechanical device I've ever seen!

[@lucharumble1936]

WHOA!! What an amazing machine!!

[@a100user]

Love these insights into alternative sound generation. Nice one Sam.

[@AyyyGabagool]

unreal find. The ingenuity built into this chungus of a kit is truly a marvel.

[@lascheque]

The insanity level is rising and I like it.

[@mr.selfdestruct2917]

Amazing. Made my day better. Thank you.

[@RichardX-k8m]

I think Lucien would have loved to see it being so enthusiatically used even in part - and hopefully you can put this in a form others can play, exactly what he intended with his collection.

[@WOFFY-qc9te]

Richard, we lost an electrical magician Lucien was had an amazing mind I was so please to see this was saved as it was his mission to rescue the few remaining machines, I forget the detail but I think this machine had some funky functions I need to go back to his web page to refresh my memory. The tone wheels are an incredibly complex and the maths is very interesting.

[@RichardX-k8m]

@@WOFFY-qc9te I was a very close friend of Luciens, knew him from primary school. Unfortunately the websites we built are now gone but the wayback machine has good copies.

[@WOFFY-qc9te]

@@RichardX-k8m Richard, I am sorry to here the web site is no longer up I hope it can be resorected maybe by this channels help, it had some amazing content and important contributions in the comments. I did not know Lucien but I know from his comments and detailed descriptions of various machines that Lucien functioned on a level few could match and I would have loved to have met him and the crew. His passion to get the museum going and save the electromechanical heritage has in a way been achieved, too be honest I was struggling to take on board his illness and his last video was hard to watch, even more for you a life long mate to accept the inevitable. I am sure you and his chums are doing their best to find a safe home for the collection and importantly for your team to keep together is some way. Take care Richard and my condolences. Best Stephen ( Wirral )

[@michaelbauers8800]

As is often the case with your videos, I am blown away by learning about something I had no idea that existed. For all I know, there's no other video online showing this vintage tech.

[@tees_trials]

Great to see a lad happy in his work. That is right up your alley eh. Can’t wait to hear it chime 🤙

[@gordonrobertson102]

Thanks, This has got to be the most amazing form of e-music devices you have ever showcased

[@NahNoThankYou]

Sam, your enthusiasm is contagious ❤

[@baltofarlander2618]

I read "autism" at first, kinda fitting too.

[@Gefionius]

Amazing! Thank you for sharing Sean

[@StabilisingGlobalTemperature]

That is an amazing piece of technology. Using electrostatic rotors is brilliant. I never came across it before. Thank you.

[@roybent4514]

What a fabulous piece of engineering. I had no idea that such a thing ever existed.

[@scarfboy]

That is fascinating, ridiculous, and the internals are gorgeous. One of the things that strikes me is that probably no one would think to do it like this again, but it would be so much fun if they did.

[@DerSolinski]

So this is basically a variable capacitor mounted to a motor... Have to say this is a brilliant way to generate tones, especially since you can physically etch the desired waveform. Thx for sharing.

[@orglarovin]

This is effing fantastic!!!!! LOVE!

[@Tharicnar]

This is a piece of technology I never knew existed. Absolutely love the invention required to figure something like this out. Spinning discs with etched patterns to generate tones? Crazy... marvelous, but crazy. Love that you are taking care of this and finding this organ a new home.

[@Sharklops]

Few things excite me as much as finding out LMNC has posted a new video. They are always so fun and interesting, despite me not knowing jack about either electronics or music

[@jimisru]

The fantastic abstraction in those disks must have taken a lot of in-depth engineering. Who figured that out? It's amazing.

[@Colin_Ames]

Truly an amazing machine.

[@O.OEVA-OC]

It's only a matter of time until Sam obtains the RCA Mark 2 Synthesizer. Jokes aside, I'd love to see that happen 😂Love your videos Sam