# Musical marbles, real or fake? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [February 18, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452 "2025-02-18T14:36:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/1 "2025-02-18T14:36:46Z")
There are a ton of videos out there where a marble or ball bearing falls vertically, going down small ramps and hitting little tone bars at just the right time to create elaborate music. Are any of these videos for real and not computer generated? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/2 "2025-02-18T14:41:29Z")
I don’t see why they wouldn’t be. It’s not like it’d be particularly hard to make. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/3 "2025-02-18T14:52:19Z")
I like Wintergatan’s best. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IvUU8joBb1Q/maxresdefault.jpg "Wintergatan - Marble Machine (music instrument using 2000 marbles)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q) If this is CGI, they went overboard with extra detail (like dozens of ball bearings falling out of the tracks and scattering across the floor). ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/4 "2025-02-18T14:53:37Z")
I don’t see why they wouldn’t be. Philadelphia International Airport has a permanent art installation in one of the baggage claims. It is enclosed in plexiglass to protect it. The machine is a beautiful noisy thing. A motor pushes balls up a ramp. They veer off to different destinations and do interesting things when they fall- including striking metal bars and wooden blocks to make certain notes. Give me a minute and I can upload a photograph to Imgur and link to it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/5 "2025-02-18T14:56:33Z")
Not what I am talking about at all. I am talking about one or two balls falling vertically down a series of small ramps, curved and straight, hitting little bars at just the right moment to create songs. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/6 "2025-02-18T15:00:04Z")
Perhaps you can find and post a video example, then. That way the rest of us can understand the distinction you want to make. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/7 "2025-02-18T15:00:12Z")
Trying to embed an example. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/8 "2025-02-18T15:01:33Z")
[https://imgur.com/gallery/amazing-ball-machine-cffszIg](https://imgur.com/gallery/amazing-ball-machine-cffszIg) I would have taken a video. But tragically the machine was broken at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/9 "2025-02-18T15:05:36Z")
If you’re thinking of something like Animusic, that’s Wintergatan’s inspiration for the machine he’s currently working on. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HmoUSSVSV7I/maxresdefault.jpg "Pipe Dream (Animusic) - Remastered 4K 60FPS") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmoUSSVSV7I) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/10 "2025-02-18T15:06:40Z")
No, not one of those machines. The ball falls, by itself, down a somewhat vertical series of small timed ramps and small tonal bars for a long period of time, hitting each small bar at just the right time. No machines, no hundreds of balls, no mechanical devices-just gravity. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/11 "2025-02-18T15:07:06Z")
I found a bunch like this, clearly all animated. Is this an example? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/u4mobmxeuA0/maxresdefault.jpg "Marble Plays Famous Songs on Different Instruments!!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4mobmxeuA0) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/12 "2025-02-18T15:09:31Z")
This is what I am referring to. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/13 "2025-02-18T15:10:14Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > . The ball falls, by itself, down a somewhat vertical series of small timed ramps and small tonal bars for a long period of time, hitting each small bar at just the right time. No machines, no hundreds of balls, no mechanical devices-just gravity. Trying searching for something like “rube goldberg music machine” that brings up some examples that might be closer to what you’re thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/14 "2025-02-18T15:12:05Z")
They’re CGI. > **[Marvin Blend](https://www.youtube.com/@marvinblend?app=desktop)** > > 3D content creator ⚪️ 🇧🇷 “3D content creator” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/15 "2025-02-18T15:12:22Z")
No need, since @Maserschmidt has given an example of what I am talking about. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/16 "2025-02-18T15:14:22Z")
This specific example is CGI. There’s no reason a real-world example couldn’t be built, although you’d run into height limitations if the musical output was very long. Hence the machine-driven examples that “fold” a long gravity drop into shorter segments. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/17 "2025-02-18T15:17:04Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > There’s no reason a real-world example couldn’t be built, Has one? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/18 "2025-02-18T15:20:11Z")
Not that I know of. But obviously, I know very little on the topic, other than the meager and apparently inapplicable examples we’ve described. Like I said, duration is equal to running length, and running length is height in a vertical design like you describe, so it would take a rather committed bit of engineering to safely build such a device IRL. I’ve never seen it, but the world is big and not all of it winds up on YouTube. And I don’t go rummaging around YouTube anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/19 "2025-02-18T15:22:42Z")
Not marbles, but a car. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MejbOFk7H6c/maxresdefault.jpg "OK Go - Needing/Getting - Official Video") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MejbOFk7H6c) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452/20 "2025-02-18T15:28:53Z")
There’s a musical marble ramp at the Magic House in St. Louis (a children’s museum). There are two song options, which I cannot remember - but they’re much more simple and less complicated than what OP is describing. I can’t find a video, but I played with it last spring when I took my family there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-marbles-real-or-fake/1014452.md?page=2)