Wintergatan

Marble Machine

Between December 2014 and March 2016, the band uploaded several YouTube videos featuring Martin Molin documenting the construction of a music box that uses marbles to play instruments. The machine is powered by hand, and works by raising steel marbles through the machine into multiple feeder tubes, where they are then released from height via programmable release gates, falling and striking an instrument below. All the instruments are played by striking them and include a vibraphone, bass guitar, cymbal, and emulated kick drum, high hat and snare drum sounds using contact microphones. The music score is stored on two programmable wheels that utilise Lego Technic beams and stud connectors to trigger armatures to release the marbles. A final music video showing the machine in use was released in 2016. The video counts more than 40 million views on YouTube as of 15 March 2017.

Seven months after the debut of the original marble machine, the band announced their plans to make a new marble machine for the purpose of touring. The new marble machine would solve the multitude of problems they experienced with the original marble machine and be called Marble Machine X. Martin, the builder of the original marble machine, is collaborating with Karin and Olof Eneroth as well as fans during the design of the Marble Machine X and plans to transport the original marble machine to a museum in the Netherlands.

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Singles