Turbinophone

The Turbinophone is an interactive art installation that allows you to play music with a jet engine. It is built from the compressor section of a J79 turbojet engine. Prior to singing its musical tones, this engine used to scream across the sky in an F-4 Phantom, propelling the aircraft to speeds over 1400 miles/hour (Mach 2+) using 17,000 pounds of thrust.

The Turbinophone was first exhibited at Burning Man 2013: Cargo Cult. It was located deep in the desert, where curious participants discovered how to play this instrument.

The Turbinophone is played by participants dropping steel ball bearings on the blades. As the balls bounce down through the engine, they strike the blades, which ring like tuning forks. As the ball bearings fall down through the engine, the blades get shorter and shorter, and the pitch of each blade increases.