Cement trucks, the kind with the rotating drum, used to have drums made from welded plate metal.
Lately I've seen a trend towards some kind of fiberglass composite - the weave is evident under the paint and the advertisement for the company.
If there was a series of slots set into the drum, and a toothed metal bar mounted over the drum, similar to a comb but with teeth of varying sizes, the driver would be able to play tunes while he goes about his day.
Simply insert striking pegs into the slots set into the drum, and lock them in place with a set screw.
You would need to choose the locations according to the note and timing of that note that you wanted each striking peg to play.
The toothed metal bar (there must be a name for this thingy) would have precision sized teeth, so that each tooth was a different tuned note.
As the drum rotated in order to keep the cement from setting, you would have the effect of a giant music box on wheels.
Compose your own tunes, or work from the instructions in the manual consisting of current popular tunes. Manual drum speed controls would be helpful to adjust the pace of the performance.
And, as played out in the annos and links, why carry cement when you could pump ice cream? (Thanks, [ModernDivo].-- normzone, Aug 05 2008 Cement truck, with metal drum http://legalectric..../cement%20truck.jpg [normzone, Aug 05 2008] Similar mechanism, with evident thingys http://www.intertiq.../KalliopeCombs1.jpg [normzone, Aug 05 2008] Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_box [normzone, Aug 05 2008] We could do the 1812 overture! http://www.usedcementtruck.com/" dynamite is still occasionally used to break up hardened concrete in the barrel under certain circumstances " [normzone, Aug 05 2008] (?) Music box dancer http://www.maskworl...dancer-fat-suit.jpgcouldn't hep m'sef [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Aug 05 2008] (?) A history of ice cream songs http://homepages.ny.../NeelySoftServe.pdfOoh, and you could pump ice cream out of a cement truck! [normzone, Aug 05 2008] Show me the way to go home http://www.gunthera...v/data/showmeth.htmlyrics and chords [normzone, Feb 14 2011] The ice cream truck in New Orleans just hits different ... https://www.tiktok....73449227566?lang=enLegend says guy in the orange hat still on his way to get that ice cream [normzone, Aug 11 2023, last modified Nov 17 2024] From Wikipedia:
" The bedpan (or bedplate) is the relatively heavy metal foundation on which all the other pieces are fastened, usually by screws. "
Yeah, if I'm using a cement truck, relatively heavy is a good description.
The thingy is called the comb, and the cylinder is referred to as the programming object.
Per Wiki, "The ratchet lever [1] rotates the cylinder [2], the brail plucks the comb [3] which produces the music. The whole thing rests on the bedplate [4]".
Or, "the wheels on the truck go round and round".-- normzone, Aug 05 2008 If they did that, people might start mistaking them for ice cream vans, at least at a distance-- ModernDivo, Aug 05 2008 I confess, I've had the ice cream truck song stuck in my head since I began writing this idea.-- normzone, Aug 05 2008 Are you proposing to serve small children an ice cream cone full not of ice cream but of cement or concrete ? If so, [+].-- 8th of 7, Aug 06 2008 Or use the Nokia ring tone, to leave a trail of people grabbing for their mobiles.-- Ling, Aug 06 2008 + wonderful notion you have here [normzone]!!-- xandram, Aug 06 2008 Thanks, it was spawned by seeing a cement truck by my home. The progression to music box I can't explain, but the ice cream evolutionary step you can witness happening across the annos.-- normzone, Aug 06 2008 Excellent addition to the builder's world. [+]-- xenzag, Feb 14 2011 DaIquiris, and have it play "Show Me the Way to go Home."-- nomocrow, Feb 14 2011 Concrete expires if kept in its drum too long. I think that music could easily be set a mood to give operators a sense of urgency. "Any Day Now ...♫♪"-- reensure, Jun 03 2022 "Play me couple bars of "Sleeping With the Fishes."-- minoradjustments, Aug 18 2023 We approve. (Me & the spirit of 8th)-- doctorremulac3, Nov 14 2024 Thanks [doctor] - I just updated the last link, it's worth checking out.-- normzone, Nov 17 2024 LOL! That video made my day!-- doctorremulac3, Nov 17 2024 random, halfbakery