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kanazo
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Musical Siren in Japan (includes sound file)

Thu Aug 28, 2008 6:05 am

Some time ago, there was a thread regarding musical sirens and one board member pointed out that there was a department store in Japan with musical sirens. Well, I found this by accident while wiki-ing, it was located on top of Marutsuki(now Sakurano) department store in Sendai city, Miyagi Prefecture. The siren was put out of service since it broke down in 1987.


Japanese Wikipedia article
Another website about the sirens
The same in Google translation
SOUND FILE (in wma format)



Translation of Wikipedia's article:
"Kojo no Tsuki" siren

During the reign of Marutsuki department store, 4 times per day at 10 am, noon, 15:00, 17:00 the melody "Kojo no Tsuki" can be heard from the siren on the roof (aka: Musical Siren). This was installed to commemorate the addition of a floor in October 1953. The siren sounded its first cry on December 11th. It was the first one to be installed in the Tohoku region due to the price (one million yen per unit) and the limit of having one per city. Due to its great volume, the siren can be heard not only in the central city of Sendai but also in the suburbs. Polyphonic music can be played form the sirens.

Also, sometimes in 9 pm, the store employees play the melodies "Kono Michi(This way)", and "Ieji(Road to home)" using the keyboard. It was requested by the police in the Miyagi Prefecture(where Sendai city is located)

However due to aging, pitch and other equipment were increasingly deteriorating. On July 15th, 1987 the siren broke down. Despite attempts to repair, the parts for this old machine proved too difficult to find and were not manufactured anymore, since then the sirens have been silent.
The beloved and well-known sound of Sendai would be lost forever.
Searching thru Google images, I found some similar sirens:
Image
Image
Image
Image
Greater Vancouver, 0 active sirens...

Robert Gift
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Thu Aug 28, 2008 12:34 pm

Fascinating!
Sounds like pipe organ diapason pipes!

How do they abruptly start and stop the sounds from the sirens?
Does the bottom picture reveal cylindrical dampers which rotate to align with stator port openings?
How many pitches? 13 wires to rollerdrum contacts means 13 pitches?
Thank you.

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orestis
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Thu Aug 28, 2008 1:21 pm

As soon as they don't use wind up and wind down to produce musical tones (the sirens obviously have dampers), it would be much more easier and cheaper to use simple horns, to achieve the same result! :shock: Anyway, this is an amazing project.

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acoustics101
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Thu Aug 28, 2008 2:43 pm

I've been waiting to see pictures of this siren for the past 20 years! I first learned about it from Fred Berry when I was publisher of Horn & Whistle magazine between 1988-1994. The siren is controlled by a set of solenoid controlled dampers to their inlets played by a small keyboard.

Robert Gift wrote:Fascinating!
Sounds like pipe organ diapason pipes!

How do they abruptly start and stop the sounds from the sirens?
Does the bottom picture reveal cylindrical dampers which rotate to align with stator port openings?
The most overlooked opportunities are in the learning of and improvement in old technologies.

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ver tum
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Re: Musical Siren in Japan (includes sound file)

Thu Aug 28, 2008 2:56 pm

It has the same tone quality as an xT22! You can hear it winding up at the beginning and winding down at the end. I've heard an example of a musical siren before, but the one I heard used a single rotor, and it was monophonic. This one has a very unique sound. I'd love to know how many motors and how many rotors that thing had!
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acoustics101
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Thu Aug 28, 2008 2:56 pm

Actually it sounds more like a rank of Gamba pipes (the kind with the harmonic bridges in front of their mouths). It sounds a little bright for diapasons.
Robert Gift wrote:Fascinating!
Sounds like pipe organ diapason pipes!
The most overlooked opportunities are in the learning of and improvement in old technologies.

Richard Weisenberger

Robert Gift
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Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:15 pm

acoustics101 wrote:
Robert Gift wrote:Fascinating!
Sounds like pipe organ diapason pipes!
Actually it sounds more like a rank of Gamba pipes (the kind with the harmonic bridges in front of their mouths). It sounds a little bright for diapasons.
Yes! You're right!
If there were less background noise, and a little reverberation, it would sound just like a rank in a church.

I expected a slight drop in pitch when each notes sounds, because the air now allowed to escape would allow incoming air to impose a greater load on the rotor fins.

Is one damper not closing completely, sounding like a drone?
Or are we hearing internal chopping of blocked stagnant air?

Would love to have this device.
If I lived in Japan, I'd try to get it going again.

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John in MA
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Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:54 pm

I'm surprised you guys make that comparison. I'd expect a smoother sound from either diapasons or gambas, both being flue ranks. The siren has a sort of nasal quality. To me, the musical siren sounds like a reed of some sort. Mostly likely an 8' pitched oboe or trumpet. If I wanted to be cute I'd say it sounds like it's either hooded or mounted en chamade, but that's too hard to guess at.

Looking at the photos it appears to be largely electro-mechanical or pneumatically controlled through analog means. Rotating dampers on the choppers. The drums with rows of switch contacts look like something you'd find in a music box or player piano.

Anyone else think it would really be cool to outfit a siren like that with a digital controller? They already have MIDI-based controls for pipe organs, so it wouldn't be a stretch. Then you'd have infinite automated program material.

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Re: Musical Siren in Japan (includes sound file)

Thu Aug 28, 2008 5:43 pm

From what I was originally told about 20 years ago, all of the rotors are driven from a single motor. The analogy used was that of the tone wheels on the old Hammond B2 electronic organs. I've waited a long time to finally see and hear it!

Wouldn't it be a treasure to own?!!

ver tum wrote:This one has a very unique sound. I'd love to know how many motors and how many rotors that thing had!
The most overlooked opportunities are in the learning of and improvement in old technologies.

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acoustics101
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Thu Aug 28, 2008 5:56 pm

You'll hear the raw sounds of several flue pipes I designed at
http://rjweisen.50megs.com/fluepipe1_001.htm on pages 2 and 6. The Gamba pipe on page 6 with its harmonic bridge sounds fairly close. Look at it in Windows Media Player under the visualization, "Ocean Mist". This visualization is a poor man's FFT analyzer. You can see harmonics as high as 17 or 18.

John in MA wrote:I'm surprised you guys make that comparison. I'd expect a smoother sound from either diapasons or gambas, both being flue ranks. The siren has a sort of nasal quality. To me, the musical siren sounds like a reed of some sort. Mostly likely an 8' pitched oboe or trumpet. If I wanted to be cute I'd say it sounds like it's either hooded or mounted en chamade, but that's too hard to guess at.
The most overlooked opportunities are in the learning of and improvement in old technologies.

Richard Weisenberger

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