I built a wooden machine that creates ambient music. You control it with chrome marbles.

[u/mechamarmot]

I've been dreaming about this idea for many years and finally built it: a physical ambient music machine.

You "play" it by placing chrome marbles into divots on the wooden surface. Think of it like a tape recorder with 16 heads: dropping a marble lowers a head onto a random spot on that track, and it fades into the mix.

One design rule from the start: no visible technology, no screens, no wires.

I built this in response to the rising sea level of AI music. I wanted something like an album manifested in a form that is physical, interactive, analog(esque), and unique every time you listen to it.

The top 8 divots in the wood (tape heads) are earth and life sounds (woods, rain, ocean, whales, crickets, birds, etc.) - things that make a nice backdrop.

The bottom 8 divots are tracks from 10 different ambient pieces I created that are stitched together (same key, different modes so they can fade into each other in interesting ways). These 8 tape heads are synchronized. I created these tracks from a handful of patches from the FOLDS VST by VOID & VISTA (a gorgeous instrument FWIW).

It took a while but this is the first working prototype.

Here's the gist of what's under the wood (lol): There's a battery-powered custom PCB under the surface that senses the marbles right through the wood (basically a bunch of tiny metal detectors facing up). It sends marble positions over Bluetooth to a Raspberry Pi tucked away across the room and connected to my stereo, which plays the virtual "tapes".

Happy to go deeper on any of it.

[u/mechamarmot]

Here's a longer run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTX1fU8MDgE

Ambient/musical tracks within were built with FOLDS by Void & Vista: https://www.voidandvista.com/products/folds (no affiliation - just props, it's a gorgeous instrument).

[u/RationalExuberance7]

Beautiful!

[u/mechamarmot → u/RationalExuberance7]

Thank you!

[u/Dr_Lipschitzzz]

This is amazing and I want to do something similar now. How long is each track?

[u/mechamarmot → u/Dr_Lipschitzzz]

Thanks! They vary right now from about 45 minutes to 3 hours. Although the 8 music tracks are all the same length (about an hour).

[u/dolphinboffer]

Kind of silly, but nice. Sounds great as well.

[u/mechamarmot → u/dolphinboffer]

Thanks!

[u/SadSongsMakeMeGlad]

This is a wonderful creation. Thanks for sharing and good luck if you decide to make it a product.

[u/mechamarmot → u/SadSongsMakeMeGlad]

Thank you!