Drop the Beat halp

Based on the Wintergatan music machine, this device drops marbles onto pipes to play music. It plays notes by feeding marbles into a laser-cut song sheet with marble-sized holes representing notes. The sheet is then slid over an opening, causing the marbles to fall out and hit their corresponding pipes below, playing a beautiful melody.

Overall Project Goal

Create a machine that plays music using marbles, inspired by the Wintergatan marble machine, and with the following attributes:
  • Capable of playing any song
  • Aesthetically pleasing and mechanically complex
  • Stores songs using mechanical memory

A diagram of our functional system.
Feel free to explore our design below! Click through the different points of interest to learn more about the individual mechanisms.

The Final Product


A photo of our final assembly.