MIDI Music Box

[@SorchaSublime]

Imagine having a retro style console that just had a few of these installed instead of a sound chip

[@NotAlex360]

Glitch_FACE would use a lot of power lol

[@dgddgfg1203]

@Alex Farmer he said imagine

[@SorchaSublime]

@@dgddgfg1203 yeah. though to be fair, if you built this it wouldnt be intended to be functional for day to day use, it would just be like "oh hey that was cool, im gonna put this on a shelf and show it off at parties".

[@stigyanblue1442]

Ultimate hipster steampunk gadget. ANALOGE VIDEOGAME WITH MUSICBOX BGM

[@SorchaSublime]

@@stigyanblue1442 Get a custom made modification where the games code is stored on punch cards lol.

[@Wintergatan]

Congrats on 4:34 Love it, very cool, its seldom these things feels so musical as yours!! beautiful.

[@Wintergatan]

You could mount the motor on a separate baseboard if you want to isolate the sound from the tongues, i dont mind the motor hum, sounds right in a way but just an idea! Could use and an O-ring as drive, like a small timing belt, would look nice

[@gildaswise]

It's Astral Observatory from Majora's Mask!!

[@xylopiano3]

Thanks for linking us here!

[@davidrubio9352]

hey nice to see you here

[@swampflux]

How did i know Martin would be all over this.

[@Jim-mk2oc]

Someone needs to contact Wintergatan about this

[@Wintergatan]

someone did :) and im very happy about it!

[@Saamniferu]

The emotion of this seeing that wintergaten replied to this is amazing

[@tazsapp]

I AM LATE BUT I HAVE NEVER BEEN HAPPIER

[@sonixthatsme]

That was my first initial thought! Freaking awesome machine.

[@azertycraftgaming]

Just imagine bering able to play the marble machine with a keyboard or playing 30 min songs

[@sivadasrajan]

This guy's MIDI-chlorian levels are high. He is the chosen one

[@Trockenshampooleopard]

A machine that transforms keys being pressed into midi and then back into mechanical movements to hit metal plates - this is the most unnecessarily complicated celesta ever and I fucking LOVE IT! Great work!

[@spookycode]

Well, no. He has a midi keyboard. Ie he literally has a midi out jack out the back

[@89RASMUS]

Why the hell does this bring tears to my eyes? The craftsmanship? The ingenuity? Just so purely beautiful.

[@Krommandant]

I think the sound of music box brings back childhood memories. It's fascinating as I did not have a music box as a child.

Soy

[@simontay4851]

It makes me cry too. Its fecking awesome, amazing and beautiful. I can't describe the feeling. Im lost for words.

[@muaythai193]

It just looks so pure and simple.

[@carstenpfundt]

Robots make me cry too. Idk why

[@Doctormix]

dude you're nuts. I love you

[@bowlerrollercoaster]

Oh my gosh even Doctor Mix is here?!

[@Doctormix]

@@bowlerrollercoaster I guess so! 😂

[@Psychotrons]

Hello doctor mix, I just subscribed to you today when I watched you use a yahmaha reface cp

[@adamadness2283]

Nuts

[@SunroseStudios]

mitxela: but that takes EFFORT also mitxela: [puts together a whole thing with dozens of servos to pay midi directly on a music box] ah, the good ol' engineering "effort to save effort"

[@33blue]

Well it only takes 1 big effort compared to many small effort.

[@princetbug]

very true

[@chrisheli1]

@@33blue and yet no matter how many times we explain that to management, we still have to make the argument every time

[@additivent]

@@chrisheli1 Because people in management have recurring amnesia :D

[@33blue]

@@chrisheli1 The management are not concerned with the efficiency of the of the process. Optimizing or automating what you do requires effort from their part, effort they're not willing to put in. They're the 0 effort kind

[@Jimgress]

It's hard to be impressed on the internet. There's so much distraction and you're never two seconds away from a peak and valley of emotions. So to make something like this that takes pause, that actually gets you to look and feel something, well that takes immense skill. This is an incredible build, and it makes me wish to make one for my own home. Well done.

[@primtones]

I really like the tonal quality of this instrument. It has a sort of warm retro sound, regardless of what's played. It's like I'm listening to an old tape recording. Truly mesmerizing!

[@SorchaSublime]

I have one in my living room. It doesnt take punch cards though, it has the song built into it on a metal cylinder, so it just plays a loop of the godfather theme

[@jonathang3888]

Yeah the fuzzyness of the sound combined with the fact that it’s not perfectly in tune gives it a really nice aesthetic

[@medes5597]

Grand illusions sells this exact model and blank cards for it.

[@primtones]

@@medes5597 Thanks, but Grand Ilusions doesn't sell mitxela's modded version with metal rods though.

[@turbo-sturbo]

Glitch_FACE I have a music box collection and the one song I really want is the grandfather clock song. For one reason only. *FNAF INTENSIFIES*

[@normantidmore8271]

Love the sound of this and how the servos sound like a vinyl crackle

[@homebody0089]

I would like to hear E1M1-At Doom's Gate on this.

[@HKT-4300]

oh my god yes

[@relativeease4733]

The age old question. Can it run Doom?

[@ashurakusanaga5917]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3S7h4CPrdeMpLM

[@Psychlist1972]

I really like this, but I do wish your narration was somewhere in the same volume range as the instrument. I would crank it up to hear you, and then get blown out of my seat when the music started.

[@31order36]

As it was meant to be.

[@kinspower]

The music was made to blow you away, literally.

[@Psychlist1972]

@@abdulhfhd Not a boomer, but thanks for playing. I have a sound system here for creating and mastering music. I'm not listening to the usual super-compressed phone/buds audio.

[@GhoulieTunes]

His voice isn't compressed, nor is it gain-staged properly which means compared to the music box he is very quiet. Any reliable sound system would reflect this. It's not a big deal by any means but it's good practice if you want the best audio possible.

[@chrisakaschulbus4903]

@@GhoulieTunes Anyone who has a sound system worth talking about isn't going to measure quality with youtube videos. "His voice isn't compressed", also, what do you mean by that? The whole audio is compressed, that includes his voice... or do you mean something else?

[@calebsherman886]

I love how one of the servos are louder than the other, it's kinda cute

[@chasewatkins3096]

First off, congratulations. This is an amazing and genius build. Secondly, how dare you so deeply stir my imagination when I have 10 projects already in the works.

[@N3tech]

I love the juxtaposition of “that takes effort” followed by “so I wrote a script, mangled MIDI, and cut it out on my laser cutter”... great video!

[@hernancoronel]

i’d bet the company or person that manufactured the original music box would’ve never imagined that it would end up in such a contraption! Great video mitxela, keep up the great work!

[@evgenius123_]

You can now add other midi-instruments for full midi-support) like miniature versions of drums and pianos, which recreate sound of original instruments.

[@spartan456]

There is seriously something overwhelmingly magical about seeing all of those brass rods effortlessly move back and forth. It feels like something straight out of some weird future cyberpunk dystopia. Reminds me of something from Ghost in the Shell, or NieR Automata.

[@A_VeryRealPerson]

my dude just invented a whole new type of piano

[@barnabydixon]

Phenomenal!!!

[@elizabethm78]

yo im subed to your channle

[@ShoweryTomcat]

@@elizabethm78 wough you died a badda greemmer

[@N.Nocturne]

Yooo

[@LelandHasGames]

I was just thinking to myself “This would be awesome for first gen Pokémon music” and then it started to play the Pallet Town theme! Awesome. I wish I had one of these just for Pokémon and Zelda tunes.

[@annabodhi38]

Wintergatan sent me, and I am happy he did. Very well done!!

[@smanaclerfe9836]

But how

[@HuatengChen]

Absolutely amazing creation. I especially love how it looks from this [14:44] perspective, it resembles the strings of Grand Piano and make it feel so much more like a new instrument. Realtime play ability is absolutely outstanding! Well done!

[@EpreTroll]

I bought one of these music boxes. Made a little box for it. Then I found out the cyilnder that turns and is supposed to pull the paper, does not pull properly as it loses contact all the time, making it slip. It also plays random keys because the teeth sometimes actually press the paper upward physically instead of hooking onto the holes. It's really sad cus I made some really nice arrangements for it and had a lot of plans. If I can get around this problem I'd want to try it again.

[@justinnaramor6050]

Sorry for a late reply, but I just saw this comment. From my understanding of your comment, the issue you're having is with the roller shaft that pushes the paper through, like it's loose or something. This is why the toothed wheels that strum the metal comb are pushing the paper up. The paper should sit in between the roller shaft and the toothed wheels and make propper contact in order for the teeth on the wheels to make their way into the holes. Not sure how to fix that, you may have to talk to a mechanic or the manufacturer or whoever you got it from. I've got a music box like this and I've not had that issue.

[@elmomertens]

The servo noises are actually quite nice. It has this almost Mellotron-like vibe to it.

[@chrn5207]

12:20 I could listen to this all day

[@roxisdiecast]

It sounds familiar

[@thechuckinator]

@@roxisdiecast I belive it's from super Mario bros. 2 or 3

[@roxisdiecast]

@@thechuckinator just got done listening to Goodbye Stranger when I made that comment, so I guess I almost heard a similarity

[@smanaclerfe9836]

It’s from super Mario land

[@eduardoanonimo3031]

@@smanaclerfe9836 Overworld theme

[@badacktor]

congratulations on making Actually The Best Thing Ever™

[@thedayb4tomorrow]

Hahaha, I came across this video and was like - hold on... I went to university with you :-)

[@ChrisLeeW00]

Wow, I was considering a similar idea but I had no idea how I would trigger each note. Wonderfully engineered.

[@ovilor]

Me too, but once I started reading about the code in git I got super lost and a bit dicouraged, I feel like I need to get a degree in engineering before attempting this. Excellent work!

[@ORACLEBALL]

This is amazing, and absolutely love the song selections

[@luigipizzolito5597]

18:08 this is amazing, super mario 64 is bringing back nostalgic memories...

[@PiotrBagniewski]

This is great, now what it needs a SD card reader with midis and a button to jump to next song.

[@FuturehouseCa]

Fantastic ! More proof that 3D fab tech is the only tool we need to survive an apocalypse. Well done !!

[@mike0rr]

I don't know why but hearing Mario and Banjo-Kazooie almost brought a tear to my eye. This machine is one of the coolest things I have seen on KZbin, and I watch a lot of Maker channels. I will make my own version of this. I love it so much! Thank you so much for this

[@tobywenman4769]

I love how the rods almost look like a piano or something. It's so simple

[@alexthompson3229]

only thing I don't like is it sounds like the mic on the music box is clipping really badly? other than that this is really cool!

[@LolLol-hq9pk]

Yeah it’s clipping

[@milesthompson6145]

When the star wheels return to rest on a comb tooth that's still vibrating, this will cause a metallic buzzing sound. Do you think it's that or actual microphone clipping?

[@casiolamb]

Proper chills. Finally some appreciation for Minish Cap, too. Earned a sub for that one.

[@Kikker861]

Fantastic! There is distortion in the upper register and a wider band of frequencies would be a dream, but this is amazing. Good work.

[@justinnaramor6050]

Yes I know I'm a bit late here, but I'm wondering if the distortion is coming from the microphone he's recording with. It sort of sounds like it to me. I could be wrong though.

[@marcelotedeschi9605]

This is brilliant ! Congratulations on the project, must have been really fun to make it. And the video is also really good.

[@arnierc4]

This was an unexpected but welcomed nostalgia trip. Awesome work.

[@protat0]

Oh my god I remember this song from banjo and kazooi. So much nostalgia. 8:30

[@skyebedard2148]

A perfectly engineered system for generating the feels. And since you chose to play Astral Observatory, I can only imagine what else you could do with it!

[@a_Fax_Machine]

I'd love to hear the entire Pokemon Red/Blue soundtrack on this. Fantastic!

[@wChris_]

Yoshi's Island Story Music Box would have been just perfect for this

[@polyacov_yury]

Is it just me that I want to see Sommarfågel and Starmachine2000 played on this?

[@sprusedgoose162]

Not just you

[@alienbeef0421]

Not just you (2)

[@robinHobin]

1:12 Link's Awakening - Sword Search 2:16 Super Mario Bros. - Underwater Theme 3:00 Majora's Mask - Music Box House 4:36 Majora's Mask - Astral Observatory 7:51 (mario theme, realtime keyboard demo) 9:14 Banjo-Kazooie - Click Clock Woods (winter) 11:54 Link's Awakening - Mabe Village 12:18 Super Mario Land - World 1-1 14:05 Minish Cap - Cloud Tops 14:41 Majora's Mask - Clock Town Day 2 16:01 Pokemon Red/Blue - Pallet Town 17:06 Super Mario Bros 3. - Underwater 18:08 Mario 64 - Inside the Castle Walls 19:10 Yoshi's Island - Hop! Hop! Donut Lifts 20:08 Wind Waker - Outset Island 21:50 Ai no Uta (Pikmin theme) ima god

[@robinHobin]

copy and paste from description most time if you see comments like this

[@kttkttkt]

Nice! My box of solenoids is still sitting besides xylophone, because it takes effort.

[@theodorescontras5569]

this is such a treat you played some of my favorite songs ever

[@AlfredJonathanKwak]

Ah yes, I was recommended to you by KZbin, how nice

[@JensGulin]

Would be interesting to know what made them promote it now, but admittingly a wise move and a good choice.

[@wutmagna7222]

Well, I'm getting this reccomended a year after you, so we may well never know.

[@InnocentDoodles]

Mabe Village was absolutely MADE for this! And I'm always glad to hear Ai no Uta

[@confushiarch3421]

this is like a anti-midi-synthesizer... since its not synthetic lol

[@God-yb2cg]

Wouldn't it be a midi anti-synthesizer since it's not anti-midi

[@confushiarch3421]

@@God-yb2cg the anti part I was pointing out would be the synthesizer bit... since its a midi interface connected to a physical instrument.

[@bait28]

it wouldn't be anti since it's not against either, would be a non-midisynth, or some shit like that

[@confushiarch3421]

@@bait28 woulden't it be a midi-non-synth rather?

[@bait28]

@@confushiarch3421 if we assume midi-synth is a singular word because the hyphen it makes no sense to add non in the middle. Screw english

[@TheMasterE5]

Just when you think it can't possibly get cooler, he goes and kicks it up a notch.

[@lunchpin403]

Seems like a practical solution if j ever find a broken music box

[@danielkaitel9720]

Wow this is really incredible, I loved the clock town theme on it!

[@nicomelgares]

love the mechanical background sounds

[@justinnaramor6050]

This is exactly what made me sort of fall in love with music boxes. That beautiful bell-like sound combined with the "wirring" noise from the motor was somehow incredibly mesmorizing to me as a child. I remembered this music box I used to have when I was dreaming in bed one morning, and that motor noise seamed so clearly audible it was hard to know if I was dreaming or if I was in reality. That dream really seamed to rekindle my love for music boxes and hopefully I'll never forget that dream.

[@MrTomkimber]

What a truly beautiful machine!

[@dinosoarskill17]

i really love that pallet town one, and the music house box, even though i never played zelda, it sounds familiar.

[@tfae]

Love your presentation style! That excitement is infectious

[@JeroenTel]

Brilliant! Excellent! Love the sound itself, too... Amazing effort!

[@motomoto3864]

Thank you for not putting ads in this video!!

[@JeffReeves]

14:41 - Can't believe no one is talking about this Majora's Mask title screen music

[@mrcrazyadd2]

Never mind the Link's Awakening intro before the remake happened!

[@wesleyvanderveen5890]

God do I love elaborate hobby project youtube, it's my favorite type of youtube. You can feel the passion emanating off this thing.

[@valarya]

This guy's mannerisms and speech patterns remind me of Neil Gaiman.

[@Laurabeck329]

Hell he even kind of looks like him

[@niniliumify]

Excellent execution of an elegant experiment!

[@Ma_X64]

These spinning cogwheels are definitely superfluous there.

[@Agnes.Nutter]

Макс Ф. They’re what actually actuate the notes - if the servos directly plucked the metal, it wouldn’t sound like a music box.

[@musicbydavidyoungs]

Awesome, simply awesome. Came here via Wintergatan / Music Box Composer and so glad I found this. Great work and really nice engineering :-)

[@Vladimir_Kv]

It somehow sounds similar to the mistuned distorted piano featured in Bioshock Infinite soundtrack.

[@helmutzollner5496]

Great idea! Love it! Although as you only have two states, active and not active, I guess I would have chosen solonoids as actuators. That might bring the power requirement down a fair bit an make the assembly smaller. But you went for a very pragmatic approach. I salute that! After all you wanted to make music with the device. I particularly liked the live Midi play on it. That is simply ingenious. Well done!

[@KDMQMusic]

this literally my childhood dream!

[@HokeyBugle]

I've been coming across little gems like this a lot recently and I'm only now realizing it's all the same person! What an amazing channel

[@dustysparks]

Wow that's a lot of servo motors... Hmmmmm... I wonder if this would work for a Kalimba...?

[@Archer-bc6cv]

I wish I could like this video more than once. Your video doesn’t have the nearly the amount of likes it deserves for your effort and because of how amazing it turned out.

[@VideonMedia]

A year later, sees this video again, immediately purchase the music box.

[@jackevans2386]

You know, the knowledge required to do this requires an intimate knowledge of the MIDI protocol and it's associated hardware. It also requires knowledge of microcontroller programming in either C or Assembly language. It also requires a knowledge of electronics hardware and construction. It also requires a knowledge of music. ie. You need to have been born with this gift preferably. It also requires an obsession with stuff ! It also requires plenty of uninterrupted time. You my friend are nuts! I love your work !

[@user78405]

can it run doom ...i wonder what sounds like E1m1

[@wutmagna7222]

Personally, I doubt it could hit the speed of the double low notes, meaning that it would have to be slowed down quite a bit to be so much as possible.

[@edgeeffect]

I love your style and delivery... and your gadgets are top notch... keep up The Great Work!

[@Tsaukpaetra]

I bet if you made the reset motor turn a bit faster you could increase the tempo and hit tighter-placed notes.

[@kinspower]

But at what point would you get note fall off, I imagine it took a lot to get the proper rotation with those plastic cogs to get something with good timbre and intonation as it has right now

[@jacobwortley]

It’s so beautiful. I’m in love with it!!

[@LucasGarrow]

Can you get a better Mic and release a song once a week?

[@Draxial_]

You did what I've always dreamed for since I was little(30 years ago) but never had the time/resources for it, and it looks awesome too, good job man! Wish I had your motivation, effort, patience, and perseverance!

[@IOxOI_art]

Awesome device! A nice add-on would be to make it play the music of video games while you play the game. I guess you could find a way to get a midi output from an emulator or something. Anyway your device is great. :)

[@nilswegner2881]

Dosbox actually has an option to configure midi output and a lot of dos games have midi support directly out of the box like doom

[@kastenspast5504]

@@nilswegner2881 Ah, yes, I'd love to hear E1M1 on a music box.

[@nilswegner2881]

@@kastenspast5504 yeah me too

[@PilkScientist]

If you got an NES or gameboy hacker on board you could maybe manage it, you'd need to do some stuff with converting the specific frequencies it puts out to more precise notes but you could probably manage it.

[@cupajoe99]

Came here with interest from the title - got chills when you started playing Link's Awakening. No idea that was gonna happen - great surprise

[@mcp12300]

Wow, I'm impressed with just how fast the notes can repeate. Could that be shortened by having a faster motor resetting the pins?

[@AngryHybridApe]

I think what you're referring to are the servos. Heres more info on them. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGnEpZejetaNqcU

[@h82fail]

Connect the rods further out on the servos (need longer servo horns) so they don't have to turn as far for the same movement. Plus you should be able to power them with more voltage 6-7v instead of 5v safely and you could easily double the speed of the rods without having to upgrade the servos. But you still have to wait for the little teeth on the music box to rotate to reset position so it would probably reduce the lag but not the speed of repeated notes. But maybe you could also change the gearing on the servo spinning the music box to reset them faster.

[@tissuepaper9962]

@@AngryHybridApe No the music box has to reset each note using the handcrank input, which takes an amount of time which is likely determined by how fast the crank is turning.

[@AngryHybridApe]

@@tissuepaper9962 I dont mean to contradict you, but actually, its determined by how fast the servo can push the dial and get back. There's no hand crank, its all electric with electronics running off a digital interface in the computer. The only physical part is playing the keyboard. But most of the music is stored on a hard drive. He only has to record himself once and the MIDI does the rest afterwards.

[@tissuepaper9962]

@@AngryHybridApe Literally watch the video. There's a motor attached to the handcrank for the express purpose of resetting each note after it gets played.

[@johnscott2126]

I keep rewatching this thing. It's so mesmerizing.

[@KiR_3d]

I've had a nice sleep after this supper! :) Seems you're going for the full automaton soon :D

[@eliassfortes]

Oh.. that Cerulean City Pokemon theme brings back sweet childhood memories. Awesome project mate..

[@buckstarchaser2376]

Well, that effectively cured me of any possible interest in music box sound.

[@lev7509]

Because you fully understood how music boxes work inside?

[@iantheorem]

Your videos are so thorough, precisely technical , interesting and overall joyfully entertaining. I very much appreciate the time you take to create each video so from one geek to another, thank you

[@oscarojeda159]

I's amazing what you did... I have a question, what kind of dirt-cheap laser cutter (as you called on your website) do you have? I want a laser cutter, but i dont want to waste so much money... And again, Thank You very much!!!

[@JensGulin]

Oscar: I'm not sure he's using the same here, but check out his story on K40. mitxela.com/projects/laser_cutter

[@bonghornleghorn761]

Ai no Uta is my phone ringtone. It blew my mind when you played it on the music box lol. Thanks for making my night.

[@alexsuniverse384]

I don’t know if there are comments here saying "NINTENDO HIRE THIS MAN"

[@thomasipad7719]

What a work of love and dedication. Thanks!

[@makuu-hita]

when hiccup retired as a dragon tamer

[@Bolt_BDA]

That bk cover melted my heart, you sir got a new sub

[@CAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAWCAW]

Absolutely amazing! Is it strange that the entire time i was watching this I couldn't stop thinking that you'd make a great DM. Just feels like you're so great at theatrics. Subscribed!

[@levalproductions]

Amazing. Does someone know all the songs? Some of them bring back memories but I can’t put my finger on it.

[@JensGulin]

FYI, Now listed in description.

[@ReavoEnd]

Bro you had me at Click Clock Woods. My nostalgia is going crazy.

[@clydesight]

Cool and wonderful. Fun to watch and hear! Extremely clever use of the hobby solenoids! Thanks for sharing your creativity and invention! You should contact the "8-Bit Keys" (also called "8-Bit Guy") here on KZbin. He's really into vintage keyboards, games and midi music from that time period. BTW Wintergatan Wednesdays sent me to you. Glad he did! You guys need to team up - imagine the possibilities!

[@i.george2321]

the audiophile version coming soon. vinyl punch cards, damascus steel blade chords, mahogany handle, hand crafted casing