The internet has often been at the forefront of musical invention in the modern age. But one Swedish musician has seemingly taken that to the next level, after he has created a huge, hand- crafted music box, that runs entirely on marble power.
Wintergatan (English: “The Milky Way”) is a Swedish folktronica band from Göteborg.
The Wintergatan Marble Machine, created by Martin Molin, plays a kick drum, snare, bass, vibraphone and a whole other range of instruments all through using marbles. Powered by a hand crank, the machine manipulates 2,000 steel marbles throughout the box with a complex system of funnels and pulleys. The steel balls then fall onto or hit intricately placed keys and drums to play the different instruments.
The box took more than a year to put together, with all 3,000 individual pieces needing to be hand crafted. Molin said he originally planned to finish the project in just two months, before he realised what a task he had on his hands.
The first video of the Wintergatan Marble Machine, has gone viral. The video, which was shot by Hannes Knutsson, has been viewed more than three million times on YouTube since it was first uploaded on 1 March.
Sources: ibtimes.co.uk
Author: James Lillywhite
Video source: Wintergatan
Photo credit: Samuel Westergren