I hate the sound of scooters. The noise-to-power ratio on most models should be illegal.

I propose a set of ramps at different angles, so that different scooters put different strains on their tiny engines, and create different resonances.

Getting the ramps at the right angles could create beautiful symphonies, a bit like milk bottles filled with varying amounts of water.
-- Fishrat, Sep 25 2003

750hp Formula 1 engine playing music (MP3) http://astro.temple.edu/~kmr/Chauffe2.mp3
Wait for it, song starts after the engine warms up. [krelnik, Oct 04 2004]

Reminds me of a similar thought that I once had about the control system for an engine dynamometer that I was working on. After a few full throttle runs with the dyno's water brake controlling the engine RPM, I decided that my idea of making music this way was a bad one.

I don't think this scooter cacaphony would be to my liking. It's creative though and I might get a kick out of it for a few seconds.
-- half, Sep 25 2003


I agree, [half]. My basic plan was to turn a negative into a positive. I hate scooters, but I thought this might be a way of learning to live with them.

If you can't beat them, bake them.
-- Fishrat, Sep 25 2003


Kind of off topic and I can't seem to find a link for this, but I read about an anti speeding idea that would use the noise of your tires driving over spaced strips to make harmonious sounds as long as your car stayed close to the speed limit.
I wonder if some city tried it out.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Sep 25 2003


Maybe a scooter, driven at the right speed (in the right city) could create a gregorian chant effect?
-- Fishrat, Sep 25 2003


I read about a Formula 1 racing team that programmed the computer controller for their 750hp 10-cylinder engine to play songs by changing the engine RPM while the car was warming up. See link for MP3.
-- krelnik, Sep 25 2003


Schumacher's unfinished symphony?
-- Fishrat, Sep 25 2003


Reminds me of the dynamo on my Raleigh Chopper when I was a kid. I used to put a lollypop stick in the spokes to make an "authentic" motorbike sound, which would also work in the scootopera.
-- Fishrat, Oct 31 2003


What if you attach at trumpet or other wind instrument to the exhaust of a scooter motor. By varying the throttle and moving valves, you could play music.
-- discontinuuity, Jun 03 2005


(a bit off topic) Modern 4-stroke scooters make less noise then many cars (I have and recommend a Bajaj). With luck and a bit of legislation, [Fish]'s noise annoyances may disappear some day.
-- Worldgineer, Jun 03 2005


There are these scooters one the news a few months back, and they ran on hydrogen, and they were too quiet, so people didn't know that they were coming until it was too late, so they were thinking about adding a little thing that made a motor-cycle noise or something similar. I'm just currently looking for a link...
-- froglet, Jun 04 2005



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