"The main element is a large cylinder, black with thin white stripes, that spins when rotated. A guitar body hangs upside down above it, and three strings are connected to a pedal below the cylinder. When the cylinder is rotated and the strings are plucked, the effect is to be able to see the waves on the strings that are producing the sound…." Robert Speer, The Boise Weekly.
The wavy patterns you see aren’t really there, but they reveal something about the strings vibration and the sounds you hear. Tighter strings produce more rapid vibrations when plucked, so you hear more and smaller waves – and hear higher pitches.
When the barrel spins your eyes capture images of the moving strings in front of the white stripes. Your visual system combines these images into a steady view of a wavy line.
Norman Tuck has created versions of the OscylinderScope for exhibition in museums around the world.
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, Ann Arbor, MI.
Arkansas Children’s Discovery Network, Little Rock, AR.
Arizona Science Center, Phoenix, AZ.
Beijing Oriental Plaza, Beijing, China.
Casa de Las Ciencias, La Coruna, Spain.
Childrens Discovery Center of San Jose, CA.
Copernicus Science Center, Warsaw, Poland.
Discovery World, Milwaukee, WI.
The Don Harrington Discovery Center, Amarillo, TX.
Experimentarium, Hellerup, Denmark.
The Exploratorium,San Francisco, CA. (2),
Great Lakes Science Center, Cleveland, OH.
GWIZ Gulfcoast Wonder and Imagination Zone, Sarasota.
Japan Science Foundation, Tokyo, Japan.
The McWane Center, Birmingham, AL.
Phaeno Museum, Wolfsburg, Germany.
Reubin H. Fleet Science Center, San Diego, CA.
The Science Center, Bandung, Indonesia.
The Science Museum of Western Virginia, Roanoke.
Science Museum of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City.
Science World of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Sci-Quest, The North Alabama Science Center, Huntsville, AL.
SEE Science Center, Manchester, NH.
Singapore Science Centre, Singapore.
South Florida Science Museum, West Palm Beach, FL.
Techniquest, Cardiff, UK.
Technopolis, Technologielaan, Mechelen, Belgium.
Technorama der Schweiz, Winterthur, Switzerland.
Verdant CJSC, Moscow, Russia.
Vilvete, Aksenta, Bergen, Norway.
The Whitaker Center, Harrisburg, PA.
Wonderlab, Bloomington, IL.