Invention of the hydraulophone, a water-based musical instrument

[Ratboy8888]

I believe I met the inventor of this in Canada at the Toy Fair a few years ago and he was a physics professor...?

[izcuje]

1:54 is just beautiful.

[MegaSailorDude]

coors1971 - my guess is the cost of a piece of metal shaped as a horn (in order to produce the changing pitch with length) and a hose pipe!! say £250 at a guess. Would need someone to know the dimensions of the horn tube and locations of the holes to ensure the correct frequency corresponding with the pitches of the musical scale. A local musical college would love to help out i'm sure!!!!

[MegaSailorDude]

I think this is great as an outdoor attraction for people to 'have a go'! As a musician would love to spend 20 mins mucking around with stuff that I know. Not to be recommended for indoor use!! :-)

[LIGHTRONIX]

thats dumb, it's just MIDI and plays the cheesiest sound possible.

[laughingcrows]

Great, just what we need, more ways to waste water.

Apart from that, it's very clever.

[vitas1teamo]

wow

[coors1971]

that would be cool to have in our little town but im sure its too expensive! also serves at a foot warsher as the one guy demonstrated!

[andriusvirbickas]

does anyone know how much would cost to build such public one? would be great to have in my town

[palenoise]

The first hydraulophone was found in archaeological diggings in the ancient Greek city of Dion and was reconstructed.

[sandrabose]

absolutely WONDERFUL!!!!!!!

[987wolf987]

i would love to play one in the winter at minus 5 Degres Celcius

[hydraulist]

If the water's not heated, it's a little cold to play in winter: see Ls1eu7Ry8sE

We also sometimes heat the water, e.g. we played in minus 20 degres C weather in February 2007, and the mayor was there and also played: see wearcam

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[sue119]

wow!! haven't even heard of this sort of instrument before, cool! didn';t know water can produce sound like that, how does it work?

[hydraulist]

From a player's perspective, how it works is very simple: you just put your fingers into the mouths of the instrument.  The water comes out the mouths easier than going to the sounder. Blocking the jet in the middle produces the clearest brightest sound, and blocking the hole on the edge makes a more dull sound.

As for hydraulophone sound-production mechanisms, there's lots of articles; maybe start with Wikipedia and then branch out into some of the more detailed peer-reviewed publications.

[vidaro]

This is perfect for people who can't be bothered to clean their instruments. :-)

[TuMira85]

dumb to ask how many keys. I know. Learned now :P

[TuMira85]

any in northern cali? this is pretty cool. how many octaves can you get with this? how many keys?

[hydraulist]

The hydraulophone shown here has a slightly more than 3+1/2 octave range easily accessed by any player. It has 45 finger holes. A skilled hydraulist can sometimes extend out to a 4+1/2 or 5+1/2 octave range.

[kboy20]

Bravo! Sure would love one here in New York.

[hydraulist]

If you happen to know the right people to talk to about getting one (parks staff decision makers, etc.), let us know, and we'll send them some background information, etc.. A good place to put one would be Washington Square Park in New York, where people frolic in the fountain. Got kicked out of Bryant Park by security for playing in that fountain, but Washington Square fountain is really for fun and frolic.

[boreddude73]

are they avalable for commercial use or is it just in muesems and stuff like that

[hydraulist]

The standard 12-jet hydraulophones are available from FUNtain (dot) ca

The larger installations are usually custom-made on a consultation basis.

[matt9741399]

So what's the science then? Sounds similar to a reed organ, so is there a venturi effect going on somewhere?

[hydraulist]

It depends on the size of the opening, curvature, and various other effects; it can be neutral when not played, or it can draw vacuum when not played, or it can always be sounding even when not played. Typical design preference is to have sound always produced, although slightly, even when jet not obstructed.

[tomp45]

i bet the mario underwater theme would sound cool on those :P

[kimlimbo]

one of if not the coolest things ive ever seen

[leuchtquell]

wow!!!!

[jimiller5]

Where is this instrument located? Can anyone go play it?

[hydraulist]

Various locations; the biggest one is at 770 Don Mills Road, out in front of the Ontario Science Centre (it's the main architectural landmark out in front), and it runs 24 hours a day, and yes, anyone can go and play on it (I think it's also the only aquatic play facility in the Toronto area that's open 24 hours a day).

[emilygclarinet]

the coolest instruments ever

[freemoney453]

is this a mechanical connection or is it a sensor that is sensing the changes in the pressure in the tube?

[hydraulist]

Some are completely mechanical, and others are electrically amplified using underwater microphone (hydrophone), depending on what the customer requests at time of manufacture.

[777EZekiel]

This is just sooo cooool!!

[videopirate]

Play it 'till your fingers wrinkle!!!!!

[ecfu]

Ultra CRAZILY COOL!!! I love it!!!

[captainpiccard]

How much of the sound quality is defined by the water? Would it be possible to use water as a control method, and a different hardware to produce a different sound quality?

[hydraulist]

Many hydraulophones are hyperacoustic hyperinstruments, so they are acoustic instruments that can be hydraulically, pneumatically, or electrically coupled to other hyperinstruments to make any sound that is desired. This combines the expressivity of an acoustic instrument with the flexibility of a hyperinstrument.

[Tambergler01]

CHEVERE

[sepultura1982]

COOL!!!!

[w4w3w2w1]

ULTRACOOL!!!