A MARBLE POWERED MUSIC SUPERCOMPUTER - Rebuilding The Self Generative Marble Machine By Jem Finer

[@guitarBoyJunior]

LOOK MUM A SUPERCOMPUTER

[@ICanDoThatToo2]

Well shoot, he's gotta change the channel name now.

[@DavisonIncorp]

We've come full circle

[@BillAnt]

Reminds me of the Wintergatan - Marble Machine video kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6e4hmugpKeVZ7M

[@CoockieClassiCKeks]

@@BillAnt The first idea was: Ask Martin, but Martin should ask him (-:

[@josho4228]

Everyone is commenting about wintergatan, but I think Matt Parker with @standupmaths would absolutely love this. Thanks for doing what you do!

[@VectrexForever]

I was also thinking of Ivan Miranda (@ivanmirandawastaken) and his amazing marble clock project.

[@BiggestBigBoy]

wintergarten, and marble puns, youtube is so predictable.

[@tebla2074]

steve mold too

[@VectrexForever]

@@tebla2074 Steve Mould and his water computer. Absolutely, big fan of his videos. EDIT: That is odd, why did my comment about Ivan Miranda and his marble clock project get removed.

[@nadiaplaysgames2550]

fuck wintergarten atleat sam know how to finsh a project

[@Hainbach]

The pipes, the pipes keep calling you

[@moodswinggaming2972]

Pipe is life

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

I know right 😂 literally living the pipe dream atm

[@BillAnt]

​@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER - Might as well smoke one.... hehe Oh, how about adding some fog machines into the pipes, that'd be cool. ;)

[@hapskie]

@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER Or is it a pipe nightmare? ;)

[@blackholesun3569]

@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER ...oh no you didn't?! 😯🤣😆😂

[@jhonviel7381]

look mum no computer just acquired a 'computer', i knew it was bound to happen!

[@landypaule]

Totally underrated comment 😂

[@antonymification212]

You are possibly the only person in the planet who'd take this beautiful machine on. I'm glad you found one another.

[@nathangee7075]

One artist taking another artist’s discarded work and bringing it back to life. Cool :)

[@RiffZifnab]

Hoo boy, if I have learned anything from MMX it's don't mess with marbles. Best of luck Sam.

[@NeonCoding]

On the contrary, I'd argue the message is for don't mess with marbles *while touring.* Honestly I think items like the MMX are perfect for museum preservation and restoration.

[@ewanparsons9437]

Saw this at EMF and didn't realise what it was, but you are the ideal person to resurrect it. Hope to get to the museum soon.

[@RandomInternet]

Im so glad you got this and got so far. We spent many hours trying to figure it out with no notes at all at EMF, was great fun but it really needed a week in a wharehouse with no distractions and your brain! Was nice to see you used one of the computation units i repaired! Love it ❤

[@low_rise5030]

somehow I was saying "tight music" with a Swedish accent over and over in my head for the best part of the video... ;)

[@gimmickmusic8827]

As a neurodivergent computer scientist, I love watching you say “screw it, let’s watch how it works and see if we can figure it out.” It’s how I dive into code that other people wrote 7 years ago, so it’s great to watch others use that same methodology to approach other things.

[@cdgonepotatoes4219]

It's a proven method: stare at it long enough until you get it. The constraints that make this method slightly less than optimal is if you don't have enough time, or the components are abstract enough that you don't even know exactly what is interacting with what, because you're mostly looking up the "how"s this way. If too many objects are interacting at once and you can't keep all of them in mind, basically you're trying to juggle too many balls at once, you can always break apart the problem in smaller, more digestible pieces. Everything can be broken down into a flow chart, if not in your head then on paper.

[@ModalModule]

Me figuring out how to control the qsound audio system of a Capcom arcade machine with midi. It took weeks of shooting in the dark till I (mostly) cracked it. 😂

[@wernervannuffel2608]

The boundaries are always expanded : I like this!

[@Orangetronic]

this might be the most advanced case of Nerd Snipe i've ever witnessed. i love it.

[@cryptonitor9855]

What an effort! Interesting seeing such a way of visualizing mathematics in a mechanical way

[@thematthewlondon]

i think this is an appropriate place for a solid "sam! you don't know what you're doing!"

[@professornuke7562]

I'll pay that! Especially as he clearly has enough knowledge to do it, just like with Joan's Organ. Sorry to be the jerk to explain your joke, but I used to be a Dad, and I am also what Americans call "that guy".

[@simonpettersson6788]

Holy shit the work that went into this machine, totally amazing!

[@gorak9000]

And the insanity to just be like "I'm done with this, give it to this festival, it's their problem now - haha, I'm FREE, FREE AT LAST"

[@alexvdvelde]

Unbelievable that you have so many patients to figure it out and build it up again. You are so smart. Keep on going.

[@blend3rman796]

Look mum no doctor Cuz there are many patients

[@AlanW]

So, it's just like the internet, a series of tubes.

[@gorak9000]

Uh... I'm pretty sure the internet is actually a big truck

[@BillHustonPodcast]

​@@gorak9000"It's NOT a big truck!" -- Senator Ted Stevens

[@MegaFrankels]

The internet is a small black box. It used to have a wire but bow it has wifi. They keep it in the IT department in the basement somewhere in England.

[@gorak9000]

@@MegaFrankels In the basement?? I don't think so - the reception down there is terrible. They keep it on top of Big Ben - much better reception up there! Except when they take it down for presentations, and it falls off the podium and breaks, and everyone freaks out...

[@gorak9000]

@@BillHustonPodcast But Ted Stevens was full of it, so whatever he said was probably wrong. Hence if he said it's NOT a big truck, and it's actually a series of tubes, ipso facto, it is most likely thus in reality actually a big truck!

[@PhilWaud]

Amazing machine. I know its a lot of work, but adding an LED to each "gate" to show if its open or closed is a fairly simple (if repetitive) task that would make it much more visual.

[@PeterJewell2]

Agreed. From a distance it's hard to know what is happening (and I only just about understand what it's supposed to do). Simply amazing. The patience required to rebuild...!

[@worldgeektube]

Highly admirable. Sam's intelligence and commitment to this can only be envied. Kudos to Jem and his team for the invention.

[@SuperGilesfamily]

How on earth do you have enough patience for the fantastic projects you take on? Hats off to you! Brilliantly interesting as usual.

[@lpbkdotnet]

Ohhhhh! So that’s what it was! I saw it at emf, but didn’t have the time to investigate further! Nice one for rescuing it and figuring it out

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Yeah! It was a massive mystery as a pile in that tent wasn't it!!!

[@OJHussick]

This was right outside my flat in Cambridge. Nice to see it again.

[@decree72]

Always impressed, when musical skills meet engineering and invention genius, that is him, we need more Sams.

[@graemedavidson499]

I’d like one the same as the national lottery ball computer - it predicts the lottery numbers right every time!

[@Dubmayer]

Sam - this is absolutely insane! And you are the guy to do it! BRILLIANT!

[@jonduke4472]

Before the interview with Jim, it looked like an ALU and the giant marble is the clock. Neat as heck

[@chuck80y]

I saw more progress here in a single 25 minute video than 25 months of another marble machine.

[@benjaminlannstrom8312]

Oooohhhhh thats a low blow XD

[@BramBiesiekierski]

You stuck around for 25 months???

[@00CooG00]

I don’t get why there are all of sudden an army Toxic wintergatan fans all over KZbin spewing their boring garbage.

[@stephanbaumegger1505]

There is no one better to get this to life again. Great and stunning!

[@macronencer]

For many years (literally since the early 1990s) I've had in mind a design for a marble-based clock, using a principle I've not seen anyone use before, and which I'm not even sure can be made to work. The more videos I watch about marble machine construction, the less inclined I am to risk my sanity trying to actually build it - especially as I'm more of a theoretical guy, not hands on. I salute you, Sam!

[@cambridgemart2075]

Have you watched Irvin Miranda's videos on the marble clock?

[@macronencer]

@@cambridgemart2075 No I haven't. I will go and seek them out, thanks!

[@macronencer]

@@cambridgemart2075 My mistake - I HAVE seen them :) That was an amazing achievement, but extremely different from what I had in mind, which was far more analogue and relied on rotational balance and centre of mass.

[@simmdad]

Hi Jem I liked this! I helped my sister through her fine arts degree with a bit of 'Arduino' magic a few years back. I met Alex May a couple of times back then Keep it up I've subscribed

[@JS-vk7ek]

Word on the street is that you are taking this on Tour, Cannot wait to see. x

[@Koffeinsuechtigi]

It's awesome what can be achieved if one inherits a marble machine, is able to make some compromises, and gets to have fun :D Congrats for the acquisition and the assembly!

[@LogicalNiko]

What really needs to probably be added to be a good museum piece is to add led indicators to the compute unit gates to focus attention on activity and gate settings as it progresses.

[@2760ade]

Amazing! You could leave me in a room with that pile of oddments for a trillion years and I would still never figure out its purpose, let alone how to assemble it. Very impressed!!😀 Look forward to the next stage!

[@padders1068]

Great work Sam. You certainly love a challenge! 🙂😎🤓❤

[@McTroyd]

This is amazing, Sam! Props for figuring that one out -- had to be quite the cranium conundrum. Recognizing this is still very much work-in-progress, in the fullness of time, an LED mod like you did for Joan's Organ would be amazing. 👍

[@projectartichoke]

I don't think many people would have ever figured that machine out much less take the time to rebuild and then expand on it. I think it's very nice perhaps even noble that you're saving an art piece.

[@georgemiller2129]

I am watching this in jealous awe of the fun you have in front of you. I have a degree in computer science, and a strong urge to pause and take notes so I can build my own model.

[@praeamble]

Sam should have no problem figuring this out, after all aren't the electrons in an analogue synthesizer really just tiny marbles going through tubes?

[@FrancisFireworker]

I love that this channel and museum are here to restore and renew compositional contraptions like this. Amazing.

[@reggiep75]

This is the work of a twisted genius to be reassembled by a twisted genius. I'm not going to mention anything about Wintergatan as I know that this is a completely different project/concept..... *as it'll be completed.* (Shots fired!)

[@TheNormalUniverse]

Good luck on your marble journey!

[@revolvingwonder3777]

glad your picking it up and doing something with it! would be great to see it working again. looked interesting at emf.

[@vvveenn]

Sam assembles a marble machine in one episode, meanwhile on wintergatan… 😂

[@thierrydelage1681]

Yeah wintergatan project is a travesty. So many years spent in collecting patreon money and talking blah blah blah blah blah and it lead......nowhere... I was amazed with his first marble machine even though it had numerous flaws but since then the whole project has turned into an obsession to obtain digital perfection with an analog machine which is virtually....impossible 🤣🤣🤣

[@SmgSevenEight]

@@thierrydelage1681 Except its also an incredible documentary on learning and overcoming design requirements. So many of the things Martin learns in his videos and design approaches has defiantly helped me out. MMY(or whatever variant) WORLD TOUR

[@DogansPCRiot]

In fairness, Sam is just trying to get the puzzle pieces back together. Wintergarden is trying to recreate the wheel.

[@imlxh7126]

@@DogansPCRiot oh man that's LITERALLY what happened to Wayne Lytle with animusic. he put out animusic 1 and 2 just fine, announced animusic 3 some years later, published development screenshots, THEN for some reason decided to recreate everything from the ground up in Unreal Engine, and then he just...disappeared. really sucks, man.

[@warrmr]

Yeah Man!!! Glad you managed to snag this. Good to meet you!! I failed my side quest in delivering your note, you beat me to it and got your offer in verbally.!! :) Keep up the good work.

[@michaelparks1632]

i cannot explain how much i love what you do

[@davefb]

Jem Finer, oh he's got the same name as........ OH HE IS the bloke from the Pogues?!

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Yes!

[@paulvanderlaak700]

Amazing ‼️ well done.

[@joehopfield]

My 1980 UCLA-math computer-science mind is blown. Spectacular.

[@VioletRaccoon]

I remember seeing the shipping container placed right outside the entrance of the CB1 student accomodation building I was living in for a couple years in Cambridge back in 2017, really cool to actually see this thing (somewhat) in action! It was always lit up at night and I had no idea what it was all about.

[@smartti1970]

you are not afraid to work very hard ! I always wondered if you weren't part of triplets actualy ... 3 brothers are needed to do all that surely

[@jimgoodinmusic]

That's frigging awesome and so are you! It's madness yet the appif of steampunk art! Hats off to you and look forward to see the coming electro-mechanical with the midi assist and capabilities!

[@weirdconstructor2165]

Amazing machine, thanks for your work on assembling and showing it!

[@DanBowkley]

This thing is absolutely spectacular

[@shpongled587]

You are such a gem, Sam!

[@bradseeker]

i haven't found many artists (in the context of public works like this) that i really like or mesh with... but jem is cool as hell

[@gingertimelord5]

A marble based 8 bit computer?!?!! That is epic ....

[@Lee.gRC27]

Look mum no computer acquired a super marble computer , Awesome job in getting it figured out and built

[@krazykris3279]

Yeah buddy I am a follower since the beginning and a superbooth visitor since day one. My man you will get the million follower on youtube fo' sho'!❤❤

[@BetaJJ009x]

For such a primitive piece of technology that is categorized as a computer of sorts, you've done an amazing job to resurrect it.

[@Jango1989]

Really cool! Also, obligatory something something Wintergatan.

[@Seathrou]

Thank you Sam for the amazing work, thought of your ideas as otherworldly but didn't know you're actually from another planet and u guys have talis 3:39

[@jurjenbos228]

Sam shows how far you can get if you are not delayed by perfectionism.

[@dcallan812]

Great machine, it must have taken some mental work to get it working when it was new, to try and revive it with the jigsaw puzzle is a task too. 👍👍

[@graemedavidson499]

When it works, the answer is 42…. Shakespeare nearly got there first with “2A or not 2A” but it sounded short of a least significant marble.

[@gorak9000]

Hahaha, oh my, a joke that my CS brain finds way too funny

[@Colin_Ames]

Mind boggling!

[@BrunoWiebelt]

you rock SAM ... much more interesting tenth wintergatan marble machine

[@blackvx]

Amazing, marblelous!

[@ianpritchard6375]

Jem Finer is a legend

[@Tournifreak10]

Superb content, as always! 😊

[@BarryRowlingsonBaz]

I totally misread your Adidas t-shirt logo at 14:12

[@KeritechElectronics]

A discombobulated pile of stuff and catgirl engineers helping you figure it out... Damn interesting! Reminds me of Wintergatan's creations. Don't lose all your marbles!

[@johnbruhling8018]

Jem is a madman!

[@sammy_1971]

...again unbelievable what you do !!!

[@mikelastname]

I hope this becomes a prototype for something you work out how to sing along to in concert. Instead of asking for a song, you can ask for a binary string and then _make it rock_ !!

[@def_not_dan]

Ok, that's pretty cool. Cellular automata is always so cool to watch.

[@DeadKoby]

Mechanical computers are cool as both moving art, and as a teaching tool. Since we can't easily visualize the on-off states of transistors, a mechanical representation of computing can be a good learning tool.

[@VinePest]

Blimey, why did there have to be different sizes of marbles.. I'm kidding, I love every second you put into figuring out this intriguing contraption!

[@lurkinguy]

Matt Parker or Steve Mould would have a field day with that lovely device!

[@illustriouschin]

Bold move to go in on wintergarten's territory like that.

[@ZeroSuitSamo]

I think how I'd use this is to have the marble side run automatically to give ever changing 5 bit outputs, and use that 5 bit output to build a musical loop, where each bit turns on or off a certain part of the loop to create an ever changing piece of music.

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

That's how it will work

[@ZeroSuitSamo]

@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER Yay! I had a feeling that might have been the case, but all the technical mumbo-jumbo threw me off. I haven't had enough caffeine to fully wake my brain up yet this morning haha

[@christiantorma2440]

Wirklich Klasse ich bin komplett begeistert ❤❤❤

[@TheBigChill1]

Another amazing contraption...!

[@chent]

Super interesting and very cool. Like a mad retrofuturistic calculator. Maybe Vintergatan is interested in giving you a hand on this project?

[@ezone913]

With more grade, it might work. It was nice that he admitted that he never got it 100% working. It had to have a babysitter to clear jams. Good Luck with that.

[@professornuke7562]

That Jem should have a sculpture on his wall that looks like part of the Mandelbrot set seems about right to me.

[@UK_Lemons]

This device is mentioned on Jim Finers Wikipedia page. Might be worth adding a link from there to this vid in the external links section of Jim's page.

[@Scoots1994]

The Siskiyou Maintains in Oregon US are stunningly beautiful, and you drive through them to get from California to Portland OR or Seattle WA.

[@bonno666]

You are a genius.

[@redheadsg1]

"Wintergatan joins the chat."

[@Alexander.0671]

Wintergaten must be in a time loop! Sneak peek at the Marble Machine 4

[@bryandraughn9830]

I could make one hell of a bong with that.

[@TheSpinningBandGR]

I wish I knew people like you I'd actually have a use for my abilitys I'm the only one who gets any good out of the stuff I make and music circuits I make

[@MrMaxeemum]

It's definitely gone to the right home.

[@磁鬼頻率]

you've outdone yourself! well done

[@NahNoThankYou]

You are an inspiration ❤

[@theelmonk]

I think I've seen this before, though not in operation. Was it at Lighting Buoy Wharf, the lighthouse HQ across the river from the O2 ? Very pleased to hear you've taken it on. Maybe I'll finally see it working :)

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

Indeed it was at one point in its life!

[@theelmonk]

@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER It would look great installed in the museum window !

[@danpatterson8009]

An "electromagnetic field festival"? I'm jealous.

[@XiXora]

I love these mega machine videos. I do think you need to get into the real estate game though. 😅