One of the Most Beautiful Things Humankind Has Ever Made-and I’m Not Talking About the Phone [video]
May 7, 2011 by Bobby Travis 
13 Comments
This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. In my life. Seriously. And oddly enough, it’s for a smartphone commercial — the Sharp SH-08C Touch Wood. Picture this, if you will: a quiet day in a beautiful forest, the occasional deer, and a small stream chattering as it flows by on its merry way. Doesn’t that just scream relaxation? Now imagine yourself breathing in that fresh air, drinking in that view — and listening to the sounds of Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147) as it tinkles through the air. You look around, wondering where the music is coming from, and see a long, angled construction between the trees. It’s made of wood, is kind of pretty in its own right, and it’s singing out the notes of the 10th movement as a little wooden ball rolls ever downward, toward the waiting ground.
You can’t tell me that you don’t think that’s cool!
The gravity marimba, as it’s called, is a masterful feat of engineering. So much so, in fact, that a part of me still thinks it might be computer graphics — but from all reports, it’s real. Each time the little wooden ball hits one of the wooden slats, a note sounds. Each wooden slat is just long enough, and angled in just the right way to provide the proper rhythm; slowing down or speeding up as needed. The sustained notes are an added treat — very cleverly done. The math that must have been required to create this thing boggles my regular, writing-loving mind!
My just-about-three-year-old daughter and I were enthralled by this video — we watched it four times in a row — and like I said, probably one of the neatest things I’ve ever come across, online or off. These things should be built everywhere. The phone that I mentioned doesn’t come up until the end of the commercial, and is in itself an interesting attempt to marry technology with nature. It appears to have a wooden back, for example.
Watch the video! Absorb it. It just might make your weekend! :D
Japanese Gravity Marimba Plays In An Ancient Forest [Make Magazine Blog]
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Wow.
Shared!
I know! Amazing, yes? :D
Thanks. You’re right the result is in the category of neatest things and mind boggling to image the efforts required in creating it.
I really think that there should be a concerted effort to put these things in nature parks and random trails the world over. Using different songs, of course, and some sort of (quiet, and hopefully naturally-powered) system to reclaim the ball(s) and put them back where they need to be.
I would love that hike!
What about this? It took 600 tries to shoot this commercial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ve4M4UsJQo
That’s pretty cool, man! Some of those things seem to defy physics. O.0
According to the spec sheet the phone is made from cypress wood culled from overgrown forests:
http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/support/utilization/product/sh08c/index.html
http://www.nttdocomo.com/mwc2011/business/
Interesting. I wonder what is classified as an “overgrown” forest…
Wow, that’s completely mesmerizing! It’s like wooden windchimes with an actual tune.
Isn’t it though? O.o And I love the name, by the way! (The Unblogger) :D
It is beatiful, and I don’t mean to sound negative, but I see this and my second thought is did they remove all that stuff after they were finished shooting? And as far as sticking things like this around in forests – just who will maintain them, because otherwise they’ll just turn into more “people” trash.
Marquita, those are all perfectly practical, if buzz-kill-y questions! :P I hope the crew would have cleaned up after themselves, but you never do know with people.
As for maintaining these things built into random forests and parks — I am going to go with the park staff. Or maybe some sort of magical musical living-tech hybrid (that’s about how likely I think the actual building of these things on a grand scale is). :D