Date:         Fri, 17 Jan 2003 10:46:34 -0800
Reply-To:     DaBomb <dabomb@TANJABARNES.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         DaBomb <dabomb@TANJABARNES.COM>
Subject:      Friday Humor: Formula 1 Music
In-Reply-To:  <796C6FBE-2962-11D7-A76C-0003931DFDC0@magicsmoke.net>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Check this out: Formula 1 team programs engine to play music.
Load the following link and press play:

    http://astro.temple.edu/~kmr/Chauffe2.mp3

First you'll hear a 10-cylinder, 750 horsepower Asiatech F1
engine being warmed up. Then it performs a rousing version
of "When The Saints Come Marching In", to the delight of
assembled pit staff and journalists.

Here's how the magic was achieved (technical/musical details
via F1 Racing magazine):


>     As we all know, a V10 engine produces five combustions per
>     revolution at a frequency per second of 60/(5 x revs per
>     minute), which equals 12/rpm. Therefore, to work out the
>     revs you need to hit a particular musical note, you multiply
>     the note's frequency by 12. To play a 440Hz 'A', for example,
>     you need 5,280rpm.  For 'C', use 3,139rpm, for 'F' 4,191rpm,
>     and so on.
>
>
>     Asiatech's French technicians (the engine, despite its name,
>     is derived from a Peugeot design) simply programmed their
>     engine to run through the various rev/note ranges in the
>     correct sequence. The result is delightful. And think of the
>     possibilities - BMW's F1 engine, which howls all the way to
>     19,050rpm, could rip through the entire Hendrix songbook.
>
>     Even better: imagine a massed NASCAR choir performing "The
>     Star Spangled Banner"! Being eight-cylinder engines, the
>     frequency per second would be 60/(4 x revs), which means
>     you'd multiply the note frequencies by 15 instead of 12: 'A'
>     would arrive at 6,600rpm, 'C' at 3,923rpm, 'F' at 5,238rpm,
>     etc.
>
>     Mark my words, someone will be getting rich at Daytona next
>     year selling a CD of NASCAR patriotic anthems.
>


Love and Rockets,
DaBomb