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Watch 2,000 marbles come together to make beautiful music

Watch 2,000 marbles come together to make beautiful music

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The Wintergartan Marble Machine, built by Swedish musician Martin Molin, is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Comprising 3,000 wooden pieces, and using 2,000 marbles, the elaborate music-box looks like a loom met a cotton gin and the two started making beautiful music together. As Molin turns the crank, thousands of marbles churn through the machine, powering a vibraphone, kick drum, bass guitar, and other instruments embedded within. It's a marvel to watch.

"When it is finished, music will follow"

The crank turns a series of gears that send a stream of marbles up a conveyor belt and through a series of chutes to the various instruments. "It is strange how that happens, when the finish line is in sight, everything slows down automatically except the avalanche of new unforeseen problems," Molin told Wired UK. "We need to start making music now and spend less time picking up marbles from the floor soon soon soon. But it is happening. When it is finished, music will follow."

Molin said it took him over 14 months to build the machine, and you can follow the construction process on the musician's YouTube page. His band,Wintergartan, will be taking the marble machine on tour starting summer 2016.

Molin's isn't the only marble machine out there. YouTube is chock full of similar looking contraptions, from the simple to the elaborate. Molin said he was inspired by this subculture to build his machine. In doing so, he set a new standard for both marble enthusiasts and musical inventiveness. OK Go, take note.