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Round and round it goes, spinning faster and faster over time – sonic drama ensues and the pressure builds.
For a long time now, I have been on a quest. It is a strange quest for objects in motion that can transmit sounds to a contact microphone and fit in my gig bag. I have tried science gadgets, toys, and small motors. The object must put out enough sound to not only trigger other devices (through voltage control) such as synthesizers but it must also have its own unique sound.
The Euler’s disc does exactly this with great sonic interest and intensity. Joseph Bendik created it and he named it based on a famous physicist’s work…
“…Namely, because the shape of the whole universe is most perfect…” L. Euler
I wrote Joseph Bendik and he replied very cordially that the disc has been used for sound design in many films, especially as helicopters in war films. I use it to dazzle friends, students and the occasional performance audience.
This is an excerpt from Bendik’s site on creating it:
“Originally this device was one of several interesting inventions lying about my office.
Engineers would often take time on breaks to peer inside my office to see what was going
on (superconducting spinning toys, liquid metal races, luciferace glow-in-the-dark
bubbles, and a few other strange ones). Euler’s Disk has been finished for some time now
and I am very happy with that. I wrote (and still update) the brief history of Euler’s Disk
with both enthusiasm and a good sense of pride. Personally, I have always thought that
Euler’s Disk displays a beautiful and elegant motion. Over the years it might become a
“classic.” In the end, after a bit of hard work, the toy has brought happiness and some
intrigue to perhaps tens of thousands of people all over the world – it has been quite
rewarding. So in the end, if you’re happy spinning coins on tabletops and never plan to
buy a toy like Euler’s Disk – then you are a lot like me…many years ago.
Joseph Bendik is a graduate from the University of California at Berkeley. He is available
for interesting lectures concerning the physics and history of Euler’s Disk – including a bit
of epistemology. P.S., he also loves to demonstrate the motion of Euler’s Disk using a
custom strobe light named “The Phenakistostrobe” (designed by, Richard Wyles ).”
margaret.. It would be cool if you could click on the picture to get a closer look at the euler’s disk. Or better yet, have a You Tube link on this page showing it in action.
Great site by the way!!
J.
The Euler’s Disc
The small, cold shiny puck spins like there is nothing else in the world. Nothing else to stop for or look at. It goes around in off balance circles making the clicking sound like a helicopter about to take off the ground, it will fly to new places and reach new heights. You can feel the faint wind emerging from the spinning object, it brushes your face with such a gentle touch. The clicking gets faster then slower then faster. It gets to where the puck is spinning so quickly the wind has gotten more powerful the clicks have all blended into one single sound. The sound is plain and simple yet so complicated. The sound enters my ears and rattles it with the waves. It can be compared to so many things, helicopter blades, a rushing wind, or a runinng horse. The puck stills spins, sounding like it could go forever and as it reaches its fastest spinning motion it stops. The silence is still, it is haunting. The sound that once got faster has now faded into silence. There is nothing more to hear, or to listen to. The soft spin of a shiny puck is now nothing but a mirror and a hard piece of metal that once made a sound.