Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Fewer ducks than estimates indicate.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


       

Please log in.
Before you can vote, you need to register. Please log in or create an account.

Equally tempered gearbox

Play music with your exhaust note
  (+3)
(+3)
  [vote for,
against]

An additional gearbox is interposed between the engine and the wheels, having twelve ratios each differing by the twelfth root of two.

While the vehicle is driven at a constant speed, changing to a particular gear and changing the engine revolutions to match will result in a corresponding note being generated at the exhaust.

An ensemble of similarly equipped vehicles will form a rolling band, and blast out harmonious compositions off the exhaust pipes.

neelandan, Aug 08 2010

[link]






       1. How many teeth, exactly, on each gear?   

       2. I think you mean disharmonious compositions, since that is the point of equal temperament: to make each interval equally slightly out of tune. All gearboxes in use at the moment are perfectly in tune, since the gear ratios form just intervals.   

       3. Two identical vehicles will not generate exactly the same tone, unless their pneumatic rubber tyres are replaced with rack-and-pinion road wheels.
pocmloc, Aug 08 2010
  

       There might be one shaft with these twelve wheels, having teeth in the sequence   

       (data provided by Don Lancaster at www.tinaja.com "Equally tempered Music")   

       116-123-130-138-146-155 -164-174-184-195-207-219-232   

       These are the nearest eight bit values - that is, the sequence that produces the best match to the chromatic scale while remaining below two raised to the eighth power, 256.
neelandan, Aug 09 2010
  

       Cool.
Vavoomzelas
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle