Percy’s Laundry Organ was inspired by Percy Grainger and Burnett Cross’s Free Music machines from the mid 1940s onward (http://www.rainerlinz.net/NMA/articles/FreeMusic.html http://120years.net/machines/free_music_machine/ ) It is made from an old Wilkins Sevice washing machine and a hoover vacuum cleaner. Air is blown from the vacuum cleaner up through patterned holes in a looped rubber sheet. The rubber sheet is fed through the roller-wringer of the washing machine and then to different organ pipes made of PVC stormwater pipe. Water in the washing machine closes off the bottoms of the pipes and, when moved by the agitator, create a chaotic tremolo.
It was pretty rowdy and cachophonic. Unfortunately most of it is lost, although I still have the original rubber sheet (the software!) and some other parts so I am hoping to rebuild it when I find another old washing machine. If you see one, please let me know – they are now so rare and can cost so much, I’m afraid I may never be able to do it.
Rodney Berry 