Acoustic Leslie Instruments

February 28th, 2018
bagpipes, ideas, music
With a Leslie speaker the pitch of an instrument is moved up and down by the doppler effect. I was thinking about ways to do this with an acoustic instrument, but most instruments wouldn't be suitable. You need the sound to come out in more or less one place, and you need to be able to spin that. So what about a Leslie Trumpet:

It's like a herald trumpet, with the long section having an airtight rotating right angle joint so the horn can spin around.

Or, what about a Leslie Bagpipe?

Here only the drones spin, and they're all on the same side of the instrument so they vary together. You'd really need to hemp the drones well to keep them from flying off, or you might need to add a clasp.

You might need to put counterweights, to make them take less effort to spin. Probably partial counterweights, since with a perfect counterweight you can't keep it spinning with small motions.

Comment via: google plus, facebook, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Shoshannah Tekofsky on how AI agents suck at personality tests, don't express surprise, and lie to themselves

Can you introduce yourself for people who don’t know who you are?

via Thing of Things February 11, 2026

2025-26 New Year review

This is an annual post reviewing the last year and setting intentions for next year. I look over different life areas (work, health, parenting, effectiveness, etc) and analyze my life tracking data. Highlights include a minimal group house, the usefulness…

via Victoria Krakovna January 19, 2026

Why I Don't Think My Braces Were Worth It

A couple weeks ago, I got my braces off. I kind of wish I had never had them, though. When I was younger, two of my teeth were sticking out, and they looked kind of funny. I thought that my teeth were just fine, and I didn't want to get braces. But s…

via Anna Wise's Blog Posts January 3, 2026

more     (via openring)