Music Machine Hoax

"QUANTUM SHOT" #52

IMAGINARY & REAL MUSIC MACHINES:
1. The Most Amazing Music Machine you will ever see!
(but not at the Smithsonian)

Some of you have probably received this video by email, with accompanying text:

University of Iowa Farm Machine Music

This incredible machine was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa. Amazingly, 97% of the machines components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft Iowa, yes farm equipment!

It took the team a combined 13,029 hours of set-up, alignment, calibration, and tuning before filming this video but as you can see it was WELL worth the effort.
It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the University and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian.

Well, do not hurry to book your trip to the Smithsonian to see this modern wonder (or a steam-punk composer's ultimate fetish). The status of this tale is FALSE

"The device depicted in this video does not exist, at the University of Iowa or anywhere else. It's an example of a computer-animated music video, this one entitled "Pipe Dream" and taken from one of several similar segments on a DVD produced by Animusic"
Moreover there is no Robert M Trammel Music Conservatory, and the University of Iowa does not have a Sharon Wick School of Engineering nor a Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall.
(sometimes these fictitious explanations are so elaborate, it only adds to the fun!)

The original computer animation is posted at AtomFilms, of which emailed "wonder clip" is only a part. (badly compressed so that you could not tell if it's computer generated or not)

Now enjoy the ORIGINAL and complete video of this phantasmagorical music device, which plays funky jazz by continuously shooting balls at various percussion instruments:

Even as computer-generated, this music machine DOES capture the imagination, and I would rate it as one of the coolest fictional devices.

2. Real Music Machines are works of art

This site offers a glimpse at some antique music machines (never mind the quality of music, the craftsmanship is exceptional):
click to enlarge