Wind machine
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This article is about the musical instrument. For the wind generator used for skydiving practice, see vertical wind tunnel.
Historical wind machine (c. 1900) at the Konzerthaus in Ravensburg, Germany
A modern Wind Machine during the performance of Vaughan Williams's Sinfonia antartica by Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2013.
The wind machine (also called aeoliphone) is a specialist musical instrument used to produce the sound of wind. One type uses an electric fan with wooden slats added to produce the required sound. More frequently, a wooden drum equipped with wooden rods and a handle is rubbed against a weighted canvas when the handle is turned, making a swooshing sound.
Classic works that use the instrument:
- Ringo Starr, on the Beatles' song I Want You (She's So Heavy)
- Gioachino Rossini: The Barber of Seville
- Richard Strauss: Don Quixote, Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), Die ägyptische Helena, Die Frau ohne Schatten
- Richard Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia antartica
- Ferde Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite
- Oliver Messiaen: Des canyons aux étoiles…, Saint François d'Assise and Éclairs sur l'au-delà…
- Maurice Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, L'enfant et les sortilèges
- Giacomo Puccini: La Fanciulla del West
- Benjamin Britten: Noye's Fludde
- Jerry Goldsmith: The Blue Max
- Philip Sparke: Music Of The Spheres
- Roger Cichy: First Flights
- Jean-Philippe Rameau: Les Boréades
- Fazıl Say: Symphony No 3 Universe
Sources
- The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments, ISBN 1-85868-185-5, p. 109
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