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Wintergatan - Marble Machine (music instrument using 2000 marbles)

Wintergatan · music · Watch on YouTube

Magic, puzzles & curiositiesMechanical & precision engineeringMusic performance & songs

What it is

Wintergatan's video of the Marble Machine, a hand-built music instrument that plays a song using about 2000 marbles on a mechanical clockwork-style mechanism.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN treats it as the canonical example of a Rube Goldberg style musical instrument and a work of love, and references it in threads on unconventional instruments and machines.

  • 2 people recommended it
  • 2 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2018, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “This thing is a work of love.”

    Original video that inspired the Minecraft recreation

    thatswrong0, 2019-09 · Recommendation · in “Wintergatan's Marble Machine in Minecraft [video]”

  2. “The video shows the details pretty well too, and the piece being played is of quite good quality.”

    Wooden machine that plays music, with details shown

    nosianu, 2021-09 · Recommendation · in “Art student’s 407-piece hand-carved wooden clock (2016)”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: marble machine, wintergatan, rube goldberg, diy instrument, mechanical engineering

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