Eerie cave descent to hear the world’s largest musical instrument in VR

Also this week, fly on the wing of a skywriting plane and dive into a flooded nuclear missile silo from the Cold War: • VRtually There | Seaso...
Deep within the chambers of the Luray Caverns is an organ millions of years in the making. Let the notes of the largest musical instrument in the world guide you through a stunning maze of remarkable features in this underground realm.
The first time Otto Pebworth heard The Great Stalacpipe Organ he was around six years old. He was mesmerized by the sound.
“In a lot of ways it’s nature singing at its best,” Pebworth said.
The Great Stalacpipe Organ is unlike any other organ in the world. In order to listen to it you must go underground. Travel through a cave with VRtually There in the video to hear the largest musical instrument on Earth.
The organ is the most notable feature of the Luray Caverns, a vast cave system in northern Virginia. It was created in the 1950s when rubber mallets were strategically placed on 37 stalactites across three and a half acres of the caverns. It’s these stalactites, formations made of mineral deposits that hang from the cave ceiling, that replace the metal pipes found in traditional organs.
The sound of the organ followed Pebworth into adulthood. He now works as a pipe organ technician during the week, and plays organs during the weekend. Each time he sits in front of a keyboard everything slows down. The process of playing the instrument brings him inner peace. He hopes that everyone who hears the organ embraces the unique sound as a pleasant break from the craziness of the world above the ground.
Descend into Luray Caverns to see Pebworth play the incredible instrument in the video above.
From the USA TODAY NETWORK and KZbin, it’s VRtually There, bringing you cool VR experiences each week.
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[@estelaosorio7468]

Minecraft cave sounds in a nutshell

[@jrseahorse5886]

Oh geez didn’t realize this was 360 until I tried swiping down to get out and my screen went ⬆️

[@jamesdoakes4956]

Bruh I’m here from the future and I don’t know how to exit out of these without closing the app or waiting until it’s done playing. Hopefully you can get back to me within the next minute thats left in the video because I’m getting claustrophobic and can’t breath. How do you exit out of these stupid things!!!

[@FG-vp6id]

i think i've been here

[@Paxloria]

Thanks for the Post! This is awesome & incredible. The Trivia is also interesting. It'd be better without that human talking & ruining the mood, though.

[@RaccoonNation]

My raccoon agrees

[@ECHtoplasm]

Why does the organ have a full set of keys if only 37 are attached to stalactites

[@happyhotdog4342]

What song is being played? I want to listen to it.

[@mars-sd4ps]

Happy Hotdog it’s Prelude in A by Chopin!

[@naughtonbraunluxuriousfres7303]

The inspiration behind our The Luray Treasury*- Pearl Necklace, naughtonbraun.com/the-luray-treasury-pearl-necklace

[@Donde_Lieta]

This automatically started playing. I study musicology but I have a debilitating fear of going cave diving- so I am horrified yet so intrigued. I don’t like it

[@canaleacaso1059]

Bello/Brutto

[@estelaosorio7468]

The hell are u saying lol HAHAHAHA

[@RaccoonNation]

Raccoon music yayyyyy

[@vishnu437]

Pretty BORING piece being played. Organs sound great but it would be nice to hear something a bit more complex and dynamic. Just sayin'.

[@yellowchino3883]

vishnu437 for the sake of the videos name it would be more fitting to have a nocturne by Chopin rather than other pieces.

[@Da_TboneLife]

It's hard to play very complex peices on a stalactite organ because each note is separated sometimes by miles apart and there aren't more that are found currently to fit more notes to play besides the 37 already. Another thing is to make the music audible they have pickups that when notes far into the cave are played, they 6 picked up and sent by cable to amps, the newest video by Rob scallon covers this instrument but the matinenence is costly and daunting to keep the pickups and connections fast and usable when playing notes on the keyboard, some notes will be way louder than others because of their pickup connections. So you're forced to have very simple but beautiful pieces to play by hand or by automation like a player piano, and it makes the beauty of the cave greater because simple is sometimes very beautiful.

[@vishnu437]

​@@Da_TboneLife ~ Thank you very much for the explanation. Indeed the situation (of produucing and 'playing' the sounds) is a lot more involved and complex than I had quickly imagined. Also thanks for the heads-up on the recent Rob Scallon video. As a musician, and in conversation with Mr. Pebworth, he was able to bring a lot more of musical interest & vitality to the overall story. I suspect that many musicians and mystically inclined folks would relish the opportunity for a few hours alone with the organ in that "cathedral' chamber.