Making An Air-Powered Wind Instrument Using LEGO Pneumatics

[@Crib5]

One funny thing about this is that the keyboard is reversed! Usually when you go from left to right the pitch of the note goes up. But here its the other way around. Really fun build!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Thanks a lot! Haha yeah that really messed with my head having the lower notes on the right hand side. On the next version I'll likely try to swap it around

[@johanneshartman4618]

hey cool idea!! i really love it, by the WAY, did you know that JESUS is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE, and that no man cometh unto the FATHER but by JESUS? so without JESUS we are damned already!

[@Crib5]

@johanneshartman4618 sorry sir, but I have not experienced anything like that. And please don't rub religions to other people's faces.

[@LittlePixelTM]

@@johanneshartman4618 Non sequitur of the year - well done, random evangelist person

[@johanneshartman4618]

god bless@@LittlePixelTM

[@evanbarnes9984]

You weren't cheating, you were sampling! It's proud tradition in the world of music production.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Haha awesome, glad to know I can 'fake it' till I make it 😅

[@ThatSockmonkey]

Heck, if you don't mind writing a text file, and you make samples of every note, you could make a soundfont in a couple of hours. Sfz format is awesome. Or there's decent sampler format, also very simple.

[@AdrianChazz]

@@ThatSockmonkey Can you explain more about SFZ files? Plz and Thx?

[@LiftPizzas]

There's no such thing as cheating in art.

[@theAristocrap]

@@AdrianChazz en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SFZ_(file_format)

[@autiebleSam]

I like how the first attempt at Greensleeves was almost spot-on except this setup doesn't allow for accidentals, but then the second was just completely off.

[@emilyrln]

Ikr?? I was flinching so hard on the second one 😂💀

[@azeemtravadi6128]

I think you're mostly just limited by the keyboard only having 7 notes (less than an octave) whereas most melodies will go over multiple

[@JamiesBrickJams]

You're totally right, I realised pretty quick that having less than a full octave was very limiting. Perhaps a future version will have a full keyboard!

[@Vloddamick]

​@jamievancoppenhagen if it's like an organ you could have the second set of keys above the first.

[@Klaevin]

Another limitation from the 0an flute he used, is that he can't do any half notes, which are essential for any songs in minor (which are pretty much all the songs that coind "cool") Edit : *half TONES

[@WMDistraction]

@@JamiesBrickJams My only question is could you have built in a mechanism to switch to the other row of pipes? You talked about the possibility of reprogramming it, but I wonder if you could’ve basically built a shift key for it. It’s actually very common on wind instruments.

[@Typical.Anomaly]

@@JamiesBrickJams It's awesome that it's in the mixolydian scale too. Decades of kids toys being bound to a major scale has worn my soul thin lol throw in some harmonic minor or something!

[@Losloth]

As a person who loves Lego technical builds this was an absolute joy to watch! As a musical person this was a very special version of joyous torture - like enjoying good clean dad jokes and suddenly watching “the aristocrats” for the first time. Keep it up! I’m here for BOTH emotions!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Haha the way you've described it here perfectly encapsulates how I've been feeling about it! Absolutely delighted the machine works, but also crestfallen that I didn't get it to play music nicely. And I'm sure as a musician yourself it's extra difficult to listen to being played so poorly 😅 For a future version I will for sure build it to be played by someone who can play a piano proficiently! Thanks for the encouragement though 😁

[@Losloth]

@@JamiesBrickJams Actually I did not mind the playing, even if not alle the notes were the correct ones. But the pipes are very out of tune. This is easily fixed! Tuner apps like guitar tuners will help you dial that in beautifully.

[@johanneshartman4618]

hey cool idea!! i really love it, by the WAY, did you know that JESUS is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE, and that no man cometh unto the FATHER but by JESUS? so without JESUS we are damned already!

[@operatorchakkoty4257]

​@@johanneshartman4618Keep it to yourself.

[@ramiroj.arguello1714]

As an organist, this is INCREDIBLE!!!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Woah that's high praise, thanks a lot! 🙏 Of course there are a host of issues which I'm looking forward to correcting in V2 ... Along with having someone play it properly 😉

[@bichela]

@@JamiesBrickJamsI am sure you can improve it it is a great start

[@MATIOSAR45]

@@JamiesBrickJams 10 months later, any plans for annual V2?

[@chrisa8118]

I know this is late but as an organ builder i have to say this is excelent. To fix the tuning you likely just need to adjust the wind pressure for each note. Alternatively you could add adjustable sleeves to the end mouth ends of the flute to allow you to tune it by altering the length of the pipes. Also if you want a more consistant wind supply you could add rubber bands to your bottle and connect a hairdryer to it to supply constant air. Pipe organs work on very low pressures but very high volumes of air. All in all though you did a great job.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That's fascinating to hear, thanks for sharing man! Especially about lower pressures and higher volume. Main reason I used pneumatics and hosing was to keep the Lego theme as Lego has pneumatics available. But as you pointed out, pressure is an issue! I've been experimenting with just producing more air on the fly via a series of Lego compressors, but I need like 50 of them 😅 Also experimenting with large syringes to push more air. I tried a bellows which turned out to be near impossible to make out of Lego. But love your idea of a ducted fan simply pushing air via a bottle. Will certainly give something like that a try - thanks!

[@mindcreeper]

@@JamiesBrickJams Organs (at least older ones) have a bag with a weight on it providing (nearly) constant pressure. Maybe that is possible to recreate ?

[@vicarofleng23]

@@JamiesBrickJams Have you tried incorporating the official Lego Bellows (part 87945) from the air shooter range? If you're trying to keep it as purely lego as possible it might be worth looking at!

[@cyberyogicowindler2448]

Some people used an ordinary big balloon instead of an air storage bellow to operate a small organ. Also a robust plastic bag with weight on it may work, but for lower pressure it would likely need wider hoses.

[@svenlangstrom8927]

What you should do is increase the number of pipes so you have more notes, most songs use "accidentalls" which means that a note outside of the scale is used (a C is replaced with C sharp for example). That way, the songs should sound much nicer

[@JamiesBrickJams]

You're totally right. I realised after trying a few songs that the lack of sharps and flats was very noticeable. I think sometimes talented panpipe musicians can create those using different methods of blowing. But I can't do that easily with these pipes. For a future version I'll certainly look into some pipes with more notes and a larger keyboard. Thanks for your suggestions!

[@svenlangstrom8927]

​@@JamiesBrickJamsMaybe you can "cheat" by having two pneumatic connectors for every pipe that are angled differently? I don't know however how much the pitch changes for the pipes depending on the inlet angle but it's worth a shot🤷‍♂️

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That's a pretty interesting concept - might be worth playing with! I guess another easy solution is just to get a bigger set of pipes with more notes 😀

[@johanneshartman4618]

hey cool idea!! i really love it, by the WAY, did you know that JESUS is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE, and that no man cometh unto the FATHER but by JESUS? so without JESUS we are damned already!

[@paradox9551]

@@johanneshartman4618 There are no gods. It's time to transcend beyond childish fantasies.

[@buwumet]

This instrument seems to only have the notes of A minor/C major (starting with the lowest note being G), so you'd need to transpose everything you see to one of these keys depending on the original key: A minor (natural minor only) C major (these two are the most common ones) D dorian E phrygian F lydian G mixolydian B locrian Any song or piece that uses more than seven different notes will not be possible, and even songs that use harmonic or melodic minor will not be playable without detuning the physical pipes. This makes the instrument quite limited in its choice of possible tunes but there still is a lot of music that could be played accurately if you put in the work to transpose it to a possible key. Also, from a musician's perspective, the keyboard is the 'wrong' way around; for the sake of musical convention it'd be easier to learn how to play on it if you switched the high and low notes. I know, there is no real 'wrong' when it comes to music but there is this strong convention with almost every key based instrument that the low notes are on the left and high ones on the right.

[@BuisnessAccount-g2j]

i love minors

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That totally makes sense, I'll look into another set of pipes that might a more comprehensive set of notes. Or maybe even build one that can cover the ones I need. And totally understand the keyboard convention. I wasn't sure whether to keep the pipes in their original orientation and match the keyboard to that, or to invert the pipes and standardise it to the keyboard. Of course in retrospect aligning to the keyboard would have made more sense. Will bear that in mind for a future version too. Thanks again for your recommendations here!

[@Ramog1000]

B locrian lets go xD

[@YeshuaGod22]

the keyboard has a flat 7th in that position so it's in myxolydian, an uncommon scale. Start 1 pipe higher for minor, 3 higher for major. Greensleeves can't be played on this, as it uses notes outside the starting key, but there are loads of easy songs that do stay in major or minor and you can play them if you line it up with the right pipes. Would really recommend having an eighth key for the octave of the first note.@@JamiesBrickJams

[@Grdtrm]

Having multiple sets of the output tubes connected to the keys via valves could allow you to have a switch to change octaves, much like small digital keyboards let you move up and down octaves with a button press

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That is such a great idea! What an easy way to switch to a different set of pipes. Big thanks for the suggestion 😁

[@JOAOMENGAO100]

It is amazing how good this instrument is in mimicing an 8 year old with a sweet flute 😂

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Haha my apologies for the aural assault 😂

[@cosmocode75]

The key mechanisms is genius!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Thanks a lot! It needs improvement, but at least it's relatively compact

[@kostas_ts]

A very nice lego project, this channel definitely deserves much more attention!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Aw thanks a lot! 🙏

[@johanneshartman4618]

hey cool idea!! i really love it, by the WAY, did you know that JESUS is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE, and that no man cometh unto the FATHER but by JESUS? so without JESUS we are damned already!

[@bunnysparklzbunnytime5117]

Making a musical device with zero understanding of music is amusing. I know how you feel! I made a couple of acoustic guitars, a lute, several flutes and a hurdy gurdy. I have zero idea how to play any of these haha

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That's fantastic 😂 I totally get you. Sometimes the creative 'maker' juices overwhelm the practical issue of not knowing what to do with the final product. You made me look up what a hurdy gurdy is ... what an absolutely bizarre but stunning instrument! Big kudos managing to build your own 😳

[@Gabe-xw8cz]

holy crap! if this was a lego kit I would 100% buy it. these are the kits i wish they made when i was a kid

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Aw thanks! And same, I wish Lego made more functional kits

[@Gabe-xw8cz]

@@JamiesBrickJams man it'd be awesome if you approached them with this design. you never know... ',:^)

[@tkava7906]

Our parents are eternally grateful there wasn't one.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

😂

[@Space_gamer99]

You can do one thing, build a drum that rotates with legis on it so that when those legos touch keys music plays automatically

[@JamiesBrickJams]

I'd love to make a programmable music box at some point, good idea!

[@MaxLBogue]

As some others have alluded to, the flute is in a certain key that doesn't include various notes. You would most likely need either another flute or multiple in different keys to cover the notes in between, or custom tone pipes.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

I was hoping it might be possible to buy another set of pipes that covers a more comprehensive set of notes... hoping I won't need to go custom! Though it may be worth experimenting with some pipes made of lego and using a reed to generate fully customisable notes. No idea if that's possible, but will look into it! Another possibility is using bottles filled with water

[@MaxLBogue]

@@JamiesBrickJams It looks like you can buy what you're looking for. Search for chromatic pan flute and there are 16, 18, and 36 pipe versions

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Fantastic, a 36 pipe one could be quite a mission to attempt at some point

[@redtails]

it really hurts my brain that you made this keyboard high->low instead of low-> high

[@DanielDuhon]

This is why you need a pressure regulator. You want to limit the pressure going into the tubes to what is required for playing the note accurately, but a high pressure in the tank to extend your playing time.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Totally, that's actually a really good idea! Will try to work something like that into the next version. Should be quite doable with lego

[@fluffysatyr23]

californication was actually spot on!! as someone who does a lot of music stuffs and listens to a lot of music this is very impressive :) spot on!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Thanks a lot 😁 I'm very aware of how many issues there are with this contraption, especially my own knowledge of music. But at least it's a solid learning experience. V2 should be a bit better 😅

[@walterlyzohub8112]

Well, you could go the music box route with pins on a rotating drum. Songs can’t be long though with a drum. Perhaps like a player piano with a roll of holed paper?

[@JamiesBrickJams]

A mechanical drum was my original plan but decided to test it manually first. I'd love to know how a paper programmer works - will need to do some research!

[@OLDMANTEA]

Lego should really make this set

[@JamiesBrickJams]

I wish Lego made more functional sets!

[@upsidedownairline9388]

As much as playing it may be a challenge, this is still really cool! Do you have one of those Mindstorms computers? Maybe an idea for a future video would be to make a machine that plays the pipes for you.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

I do have a few of those! Love the idea - that was the original plan, but figured I'd try manual first, then automatic. Cheers for the suggestion - will likely try that in the future 😉

[@Pythonister695]

@@JamiesBrickJams i can’t wait

[@crypto.7562]

midi lego pipe organ?

[@qwerTY-jb3jo]

That is actually a smart idea. NICE

[@aagoutos]

The problem starts at the start of the video that you hold the instrument upside down. You have to go from lower notes left to higher notes right. Yours is backwards, but very nice!

[@Ryuusei924]

i gasped out loud when i heard how charming and clean the final sound was!! the two-note tones you played at 6:00 were particularly very harmonic and pleasant to listen to

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Aw thanks a lot 😊 My main regret is not having someone play it properly. And agree, some of the harmonics sounded really nice! Next time I'll try to make a bigger version sing 😉

[@adiseagledostuff]

it's so cursed playing it while the notes are in the reversed order

[@JamiesBrickJams]

My buddy Tom who helped translate this into some songs totally agrees - it really messes with the mind 😅

[@the_lemonman]

I recommend putting in it in the key of c if there aren't any sharp notes, and the keyboard is reversed. But even with those, it's still very fun and quirky. Love it!

[@stookinthemiddle]

Was trying to figure out what was bothering me so much as a musician... then I realised you have 7 notes, not 8, and the notes are going the opposite way. This isn't a criticism, it's just very interesting to see an engineer with no musical background build an instrument from scratch.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

I realise now how many mistakes I made 😅 But I appreciate the support from a real musician! The next version will hopefully make a lot more sense

[@cyberyogicowindler2448]

When I listen to some lousy 1990th electronic toy keyboards from China (Yongmei etc. - I collect that stuff), I am sure those designers knew nothing about music either. E.g. often the key positions don't match a chromatic scale, or chords were totally wrong (also in demo tunes) so they were basically unplayable.

[@stookinthemiddle]

@@JamiesBrickJams making mistakes is the only way we truly learn. I'm just very impressed at the whole thing. If I'd try and make one it musically may be sound (excuse the pun) but engineering wise, I'd make a ton of mistakes. The important thing is you're willing to put yourself out there and I think that is pretty darn awesome. Well done!

[@J.A_Music]

you can use this keyboard to make some meme parodies (like the ones with the screechy detuned flute 🤣)

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That's a fantastic idea 😂

[@emilyrln]

I can't believe this man built a functioning Lego organ with the pipes on backwards 💀 really impressive build, though! Love the sharp 6 on "Twinkle, Twinkle" 😂 I will say I preferred the first rendition of "Greensleeves," as some of the second's intervals were yikesly painful 😅

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Haha thanks! I guess this is what happens when someone with no real musical knowledge tries to make something musical 😅 I promise I've learned my lesson and will make the next version more sensible

[@aspensmusicandrestoration]

As someone who works with mechanical music (Organs, player pianos, and player organs!) this was really neat to see!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Aw thanks a lot, appreciate it! Also, apologies for the lack of someone talented making some real music with it 😅 I'm sure as someone who works with instruments, that must have been a bit frustrating

[@aspensmusicandrestoration]

@@JamiesBrickJams I’ve seen worse, this is decent for its restrictions. Try making a valve system (the folding tube thing) that uses each valve hooking together so it isn’t as thick. If you use the outside wall of one valve as the inside valve of the one next to it, you save one pin and can therefore fit more keys to control it. When you blew into the pipes, it sounded like it wasn’t a full chromatic scale which also limits your ability to make music. Plastic pan pipes like that are all over the internet and have a full 24 note chromatic scale. That combined with a thinner valve would make a really neat organ!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

I'm sure there is some gold in your advice here, but to be honest I'm struggling to picture what you mean by the outside wall of one valve serving as the inside valve of an adjacent one. Will have to do some research here clearly! But big thanks for the suggestion. And definitely agree with a larger set of pipes. 16 feels quite limiting and skips many of the flats and sharps I wanted. Next one will have many more keys!

[@aspensmusicandrestoration]

@@JamiesBrickJamsno worries on the wall thing, it isn’t a huge deal. It’s mostly for cosmetics and to make the keyboard smaller.

[@kenshiromilesvt.7037]

Bro, you legit don't know how to miss with a project idea. I've always loved unique and wacky instruments so this definitely scratches that itch!!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Damn thanks a lot, appreciate your comment! One of the other commenters turned me onto wintergatan on KZbin, and now I'm fascinated with his instrument inventions! You ever see his stuff? That's some next level invention 😳

[@kenshiromilesvt.7037]

@@JamiesBrickJams absolutely I have. Super freaking cool

[@bwest6275]

Amazing! Perhaps using the Lego suspension shock to keep the keys closed would work better than the rubber bands? Can be placed under each key.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That's a great idea, I'm pretty sure I have loads of them lying around - will experiment with that for the next version

[@jaye1967]

Well, you can always turn it into a "player piano" type thing by building an additional mechanism to add to it.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That's my eventual goal!

[@declankelley309]

6:11 > 6:12 is similar to Gordon's whistle from thomas and friends

[@Vlow52]

Basically it’s a binary gates computer, so with enough pipes you can calculate things up. However, it’s better to use liquid instead of air, so pressure would be more constant.

[@JosephCornishV]

Very cool concept! 16 possible notes needs 16 keys. Yes, yes, 16 tubes and 16 connectors and 16 L shaped bricks and all the rest in 16. Is it possible to make a cinch tube key design that is only two bricks wide? This reduced width can help to add more keys in the lineup. This current design with only 7 keys skips possible notes in the full measure of musical notes, meaning some notes that should be available are skipped over entirely and can't be played at all. This current design destroys the ability to play most songs correctly. You did have a good go at green sleeves though despite the shortcomings.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

You're totally right, it definitely needs a full keyboard... and preferably a more comprehensive set of pipes that cover more of the notes I need. Will certainly work on an update in due course. Cheers for your recommendations!

[@KSPgamer-v3u]

We need Through the fire and flames on it!

[@ffoninamhcar24]

Absolutely love this project. Having grown up with lego all over my house, I used to dream of building little devices that would make sounds.. I've been taken back to my childhood with this video. Thank you for sharing it! Now I want to go build something!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Aw thanks a lot, really appreciate your words 😁🙏 And that's awesome, I hope you do go build something - there's nothing more satisfying than building your own contraptions and having them work (even if only poorly).. Good luck! 🤞

[@purevessle2641]

You could add a key that or two to toggle between high and low octaves, if you put the blowers on an axle does it make sense to be able to blow the tray to the other side

[@karigisla]

okay for starters you have them going in the wrong direction its like your counting down, the highest note should be on the right side so change that, you have in this position of f,e,d,c,b,a,g but it should be g,a,b,c,d,e,f and then after that you have g,a,b,c,d,e,f,g,a - being big to small pipe as - g,a,b,c,d,e,f,g,a,b,c,d,e,f,g,a - the repetition in this is because of a higher octaves, its the same note but higher or deeper, depending on if you move left or right on the flute, left being deeper (in this case higher, so change it) and right is higher and because of what you have made here is essentially a pipe organ, you should have a lever to play octaves so that you can play two octaves at the same time, large organs play around 5 octaves at the same time for a very visual picture, some bigger ones can play more but it then starts to become just vibrations or high frequency noises that do more bad then good for the sound, please make another one with more pipes, you can buy flutes with higher and lower octaves and use a tuner two arrange them, it could be really cool, and then have it take in midi notes and output it into pistons that press or play the notes, it could automatically play any song of your choosing, because midi is basically scripts of notes that can be read and played by computers or instruments, check out "lookmomnocomputer" he made a real pipe organ take in midi and its pretty cool, would be cool to see the lego version of that (ill retype this if jamie requests it im dyslexic and english is my third language)

[@jamsistired]

A version of this laid out with a full octave in keyboard layout with accidentals would be the most amazing thing ever, but this is certainly close I saw the thumbnail and never thought it would have such a fun sound to it!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Good points - the next version will certainly be much larger and will have the correct keyboard orientation. Thanks a lot though for your comment!

[@aaroncameron1494]

Funny that the first pipe organ was invented as a way play more than one pipe on a pan pipe at a time

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Huh now that I didn't know - that's really cool

[@pwcorgi2000]

Really Awesome! Lego needs new people like you and others here on KZbin, help designing their sets. Too many of Lego sets lacks a sense of originality or self creativity.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Ha thanks a lot, that's a hell of a compliment 😁 I do wish Lego made more functional things like music boxes and whatnot. Maybe sometime they'll realise there's a sizeable market there!

[@ZonicTheRobot]

This is really cool, What you're essentially recreating is a Medieval Portative Organ! What could be an interesting build is making a Lego Accordion frame that inside houses reeds, and you can snap a bellows piece in-between two built sides of a Lego Accordion. Button accordion may be easier to manage than a Piano Accordion. There is a difference.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That's fascinating you say that - my original idea was to build a Lego bellows to supply air continuously. Turns out that's really hard with Lego 😅 But I'll keep trying, and will look up those instruments you recommended - thanks!

[@cyberyogicowindler2448]

@@JamiesBrickJams You may use a mouth organ as the sound source.

[@srgarathnor]

this should be a real lego set if not for the modestly dangerous compressed air

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Haha I was wondering what PSI would cause my knockoff brand soda bottles to explode 😅

[@cyberyogicowindler2448]

It won't need that high pressure. A robust big plastic bag with weight on top is enough to store air for an organ.

[@generaleminecraft0894]

You are now ready for become an organist

[@JamiesBrickJams]

😁

[@TheSuperbaconator]

Videos like this are why I'm still on youtube. Thank you.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Damn thanks, that means a lot 😁🙏

[@severalwolves]

the scale of notes ascends from right to left on the ‘keyboard’ - what are we even doing folks? the musician in me is battling with my ocd over how much I can appreciate this haha

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Haha totally get you 😅 I was battling between aligning the keyboard to the standard pipes position, or to the standard keyboard layout... I chose poorly. Will make sure the next version is oriented like a standard keyboard!

[@quinnpickard5899]

Well with the traditional western music you’re probably familiar with there are 8 notes in an octave so you’re missing one and second it sounds like some of the notes are a little sharp or flat which is why green sleeves sounded off

[@fairguinevere666]

Your approach to this reminds me a lot of the "diatonic melodeon", an instrument where the idea is each button corresponds to the key you're playing in. Traditionally they have one chord on the out, and another on the in for a basic tonic-dominant pair that a lot of songs need. The hope is that it's hard to play discordant notes, and easier to learn! But could be a interesting point of reference for future builds, especially with the left hand which handles chords and bass notes with just two buttons.

[@scoringstagecologne3514]

Such a great idea! You could load the single notes into a sampler, and you will be able to play in halfsteps. So you can play every melody in every scale : ) Without airpressure latency...

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Sampling would be a great idea for the next version!

[@donotatme]

An idea, you could use a LOT of lego tracks to make belts for each key with stuff attached to the belt so they actuate the keys when turning. Kind of like those music boxes. It would probably be absolute overkill and huge with a ton of parts but man would it be cool to see! "I made a pneumatic music box out of lego!"

[@JamiesBrickJams]

I absolutely love music boxes like that! Would love to eventually build a mechanically programmed version of this - will certainly look into it 😉

[@reis_hoffmann]

Hey man! Your build is fantastic! As a musician, you can try a way to keep the pressure constant. The variation of the pressure gives you different tuning. When you play multiples notes at the same time you can hear it very clearly. Do you think you can keep the same pressure all the time with this lego build?

[@JamiesBrickJams]

That's really interesting and makes a lot of sense. I've had a few folks suggest reducing the pressure and keeping it low and consistent. That's definitely something I want to try in a future version. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@fellipec]

The fact that the trebble notes are on left hurts!!!! Great build

[@agenttexx]

you could make the pipes out of lego. You build the bode as a square and then make a reed at the bottom to make the "whistle." Look up "wooden pipe organ pipes"

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Woah that's a really cool idea - I'd love to make more of the pipes out of Lego! I'll certainly look into how it sounds to build the pipe out of some blocks

[@Garfield_633]

I like it ❤ it looks weird to play it because the notes usually go up from left to right but here it’s the opposite😂

[@whattheheckisthisthing]

In this video we will create a Lego instrument. You will need: 1. Legos 2. Instrument (This a neat project btw)

[@yitzharos]

as a musician, you did wonderfully.

[@cyphre]

Pretty ingenious ideas! Only thing needed for that 'hyperactive piano' montage is combination of multiple keys to get the rest of the notes.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Very true, the next iteration will have a full keyboard and should be able to manage many more notes 😉

[@bami2]

Instead of trying everything by ear, I would suggest getting a guitar tuner app on your phone and figure out what notes are actually being played from each flute, since I feel like these are just whole notes and for most songs you will need sharp or flat ones as well. Once you know what notes you have available, you should be able to find some songs that don't use any others and will sound heaps better.

[@MORGAN0N]

This is how becoming a musician starts. My mom bought me a guitar 16 years ago because i was proficient with guitar hero 😂 now all you need is a keyboard (piano) and a mic so you can sample A thru G and the sharps and flats.

[@BandannaWonder]

For anyone wondering, this instrument is tuned to G Mixolydian.

[@sleeplessengineer1450]

If you open the lego valves and lube them, it'll give you a much better organ keyboard. Also, I think you arranged it backwards from the way an organ would normally be laid out, the low notes should be on the left and the high notes should be on the right. Still an awesome project though, I'd love see a version that uses all 16 pipes.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Thanks a lot! Yeah the reversed keyboard messed with my instincts on it too, but wasn't sure if it was best to just align it to the standard pipes orientation or the keyboard layout. I chose poorly 😅 I've been considering modifying my pneumatic pieces, so woop definitely give that a try soon!

[@MrBuilderDog]

You should try building an air pressure powered lego train or something, btw i love the build.

[@MarcBossYT]

You should make a computer compatible midi keyboard! That’ll be so cool

[@JamieElli]

Sounds a lot like a recorder. Brings back memories of elementary music class.

[@thegoof2763]

you are so creative! as a lego technic liker this is MINDBLOWING non lego with lego? you can do it wacky stuff with lego? YOU CAN DO IT.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Really appreciate it, thanks 😊🙏

[@La_plus_grand_des_organiste]

This is what se call an ORGAN

[@tunawithmayo]

could you make some kind of belt or drum with pins on it so when they rotate by, they press they keys, and make a mechanical music box?

[@JMPDev]

Would love to see a more compact version that can use all the notes of the flute :)

[@trymbruset3868]

Haha the clipped together notes reminds me of an ancient piece of KZbin history, Lasse Gjertsen's "Drum and piano" and "hyperactive"

[@TheSpookiestSkeleton]

Man built a reed organ. Although I think there's usually a reason that organs work on a continuous pumped air supply instead of a reservoir

[@JamiesBrickJams]

You're definitely right - the high pressure is really not good for the notes. I'm working on a continuous source 😉 Thanks for the advice!

[@dunkleblaubeere4453]

What you coud do, is to add a second type of Pipe. Like a ather stopp at a pipe Organ.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Now that's a great idea! I've been wondering how to get a set of pipes with more notes, but I think you're right about just needing another set to go alongside this to cover the other notes. Cheers 😄

[@ProduccionesVAFY]

Ok, now, play Rush E XD😂😂

[@legoguysoff]

What a great song !

[@mechamax7919]

if you added more keys, it could add more notes. you might be onto something here, like a lego pipe organ

[@carolinalogan9140]

Not sure if this applies to your flute cause things get mirrored by cameras but I got a zampoña (a type of pan flute) that you hold with the longer pipes to the right so the notes get lower as you go up (opposite of a piano) they are also on a diatonic scale (although you can get chromatic ones but they are not common) Just thought you might want to know that your pipes might not be backwards at all :)

[@kaptainjay6238]

My only suggestion is “OMG MAKE A BIG ONE!!!!!” This is so cool

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Thanks a mil! And the next one will absolutely be bigger...

[@cartondecawamas]

Ok my English is terrible, but I'll just tell you that I would love to see how this can be improved in the future. And by the way, could this technically count as a rare melodica? This could literally make a Suzuki Andes lego version xD

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Your English is extremely impressive if it's not your first language! I had to look up the Suzuki Andes - that looks like a really cool instrument, thanks for recommending 😄

[@УзеирМамедов-п6л]

So you built a pipe organ from lego. Mind-blowing!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Thanks a lot 😄 It has a lot of issues, but at least it's an interesting starting point!

[@_XRMissie]

This has definitely piqued my interest. I've been doing electronic music for 8 years and I'm fascinated by pneumatic instruments. Huge church organs are just powerful things, and having a little pipe organ on your desk to sketch out something seems like a cool concept. If you used a proper like melodica keyboard or something to create like a 2 octave lego version of an organ, I could probably make something if you provide audio samples ^-^

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Oh wow that's awesome, I didn't even realise pneumatic instruments were such a big thing. Delighted to hear that. For sure the next iteration will have a couple octaves, maybe more. When that happens, I'd be happy to share the samples with folks who can actually make real music!

[@cyberyogicowindler2448]

I would like to see someone reimplement automatic accompaniment (with arpeggiator, percussion, different chords) for a keyboard, solely using orchestrion technology (air with piano roll sequencers etc., possibly accordion parts instead of pipes).

[@filu_desu]

For a guy who started out with "monkey level" music skills, in one video you have created an instrument, learnt to play it, sampled it, then sequenced it.. Oh, and published it.. That's pretty impressive mate! You went from beginner to pro level music producer in about 7 mins screen time..

[@crazy9cube3d]

Einfach toll zu sehen was man mit Lego alles machen kann

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Thanks a mil 😊

[@tomprice5496]

Air-powered instrument that uses keys to operate. You made a Lego organ!

[@JxzzyFlxmes]

The Only real critic I can make as a musician is quite possibly to have more air, more keys and maybe have a little bit more tighter rubber bands. And what you did as most people say is sampling, sometimes its a last resort to some lol

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Aw thanks a lot, that means a lot coming from a musician. And agree absolutely. A version 2 will have all of the above... and someone who can actually play it 😉

[@joaquinhurtado-tapia4369]

Actually, I tried to do something similar, but I couldn't.

[@siwd]

legitamately my favororite lego youtuber

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Aw really appreciate you, cheers! 😁

[@firewren]

This is really cool! I think you may be having trouble with some half notes sounding like regular notes to you, but otherwise it sounded great

[@Chaser-hq8ik]

I recommend tuning first as the 7th note sounds flat

[@JohnJaggerJack]

That triggered my PTSD from grade school where our teachers would make us play the recorder and we were all just monkeying around making noise at every opportunity.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Apologies for surfacing that early trauma 😜

[@bickle8911]

ahh this is such a great project! sadly with only 7 notes whenever you tried to play green sleeves some of the notes were out of key would love to see a more functional version of this someday!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Thanks a lot! You're totally right, there are a great many issues with this attempt. An update will certainly have a larger keyboard with correct note orientations!

[@ChetNotJet]

it would make it easier to play if you added the 5 sharp and flat notes as then you would have a full set

[@boticland4342]

If you do ever come back to this idea. I would like to see you, make the pipes themselves, (Probably some instructions on that somewhere, whether it being Lego or not.) also you should probably take inspiration from a real (and only closest instruments) organ. There are different pipe types, computers cannot only help make the notes but also play the organ itself, and there are multiple designs you can take inspiration from. (Yes they were common in church’s, but there are also street organs.) can you tell I like organs.

[@blob0000]

The problem is that you said that you have the notes A-G (you usually say G-F btw), but you need C# as well for example

[@infadeldog13]

Genuinely impressive.

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Thanks a lot! 😊

[@richardbriansmith8562]

Awesome Lego Pipe organ

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Thanks a lot! 😁

[@MarcelSchr]

Title in 5 years: I'm Building an Entire City, Including a Nuclear Power Plant, Out of Lego - Man, I Love Your Videos!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

Haha a man can dream 😜

[@andrewmorsman3755]

Why do I keep thinking of Clangers...?😄 Brilliant.

[@ricksande2210]

You've just made an organ! Nice!

[@JamiesBrickJams]

I guess it is, and thanks! 😄