Whirly Tubes

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Do you know what a whirly tube is?  

It is a piece of ripped plastic designed to produce sounds as air passes though it.  As such, it used to teach a number of fundamental concepts in the fields of: the science of sound waves, musical history, and musical theory.  

Do you know what it does?  

These tubes: 

• are 74cm in length 

• produce musical overtones in 5ths 

• create a frequency ratio of 3/2.

Do you know how it works?

• Hold one end in your hand.

• Twirl the other end in a circle.

• Listen to the sound made by the tube.

• Vary the speed of the tube.

•  Notice that the pitch of the whirly jumps from one note to another and increases as the speed of the twirling is increased.

That is, high speed twirling creates high pitch notes 

For more scientific explaination follow this link 

http://isaac.exploratorium.edu/~pauld/activities/AAAS/aaas2001.html

Do you want to try one for yourself? 

You can buy one right now on ebay by following this link:  Ebay Link , or just search for ‘whirly tube’ and you will have the choice to buy one colour or all four.  

How do you like your Whirly Tube?  

Please tell us all about your favourite activities with a Whirly Tube by adding a comment or photos at the bottom of this page and then follow this link:  Whirly Tubes on Survey Monkey to fill in our short survey about Whirly Tubes in Action.   

We look forward to hearing from you!

1 Response to Whirly Tubes

  1. Bruce Tetlow says:
    November 16, 2015 at 1:40 pm

    This can be more than a musical toy. In the right hands and with enough imaginative perception, it can also be:
    • AN ELEPHANT’S NOSE,
    • A DRAGON’S TAIL,
    • A MICROPHONE,
    • A SNAKE,
    • AND MAYBE EVEN A SCUBA TANK FOR DEEP SEA MAKE BELIEVE!
    ITS ONLY LIMIT IS YOUR OWN IMAGINATION!
    I HAVE USED THESE TOYS AS AN INVALUABLE TOOL FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN AND ADULTS IN CREATIVE MOVEMENT AND DANCE SESSIONS. I HAVE HUNDREDS OF PROPS AND THIS SIMPLE PIECE OF MAGIC NEVER FAILS TO ENTERTAIN. THERE IS NO OTHER TOY THAT IS SO EFFECTIVE AT SOUND MAKING EITHER BY SPINNING OR BY SPEAKING/SINGING INTO IT. (THIS IS ESPECIALLY GOOD WITH THE USE OF A MICROPHONE AND SPACEY EFFECTS).

    It even does all this and more while playing in the bath or pool!

    EVERY KID SHOULD OWN ONE OF THESE PIECES OF MUSICAL HISTORY AND SCIENCE OF SOUND!

    Reply

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