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tonyPick writes:

Paweł Zadrożniak has built an impressive music machine from old computer hardware. Featuring 64 floppy drives, 8 hard disks and 2 scanners he's calling it The Floppotron.

How does it work? The principle is simple. Every device with an electric motor is able to generate a sound. Scanners and floppy drives use stepper motors to move the head with sensors which scans the image or performs read/write operations on a magnetic disk. The sound generated by a motor depends on driving speed. The higher the frequency, the greater the pitch. Hard disks use a magnet and a coil to tilt the head. When voltage is supplied for long enough, the head speeds up and hits the bound making the „drum hit" sound

Paweł's Youtube channel has an overview of the device in action and this impressive Hawaii Five-O cover.

Originally spotted on Lobste.rs.

Original Submission