ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
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Hey Eric,
I am in San Antonio now...wow what a ride the last six months have been!
Just, in fact, getting over the flu, my welcoming present, I suppose,  
but also a fully justified signal--if you can call slamming the  
brakes a "signal"-- from my body to take a break!

Been meaning to drop you a line, but I'm waiting for some photos of  
the gallery I finished last month at the Hands-On that I'd like to  
share with you.  The fellow who's taken my position is also a great  
photographer, and a very dependable guy, and he keeps promising me  
these photos--but they've yet to materialize...kinda' frustrating,  
and I shutter at the thought that my second-rate, taken-at-the-last- 
minute pics will have to do...more to come, as they say.

Hope all is well in the Big Apple.
Sunny and cool in San Antonio,
Jason


On Jan 17, 2006, at 2:11 PM, Eric Siegel wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> ********************************************************************** 
> *******
>
> Thanks for pointing out the work of Paul De Marinis, that is  
> beautiful!
>
> Eric Siegel
> Executive VP
>    Programs and Planning
> NY Hall of Science
> 47-01 111th Street
> Queens, NY 11368
> [log in to unmask]
> 718 699 0005 x 317
> www.nyscience.org
>
>
> On Jan 17, 2006, at 3:03 PM, jason jay stevens wrote:
>
>> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
>> Centers
>> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
>> institutions.
>> ********************************************************************* 
>> ********
>>
>> I took part in an exhibition in Germany back in 1999 that included  
>> a fantastic giant pyrophone built by Bastiaan Maris, consisting of  
>> 12 pipes, twelve to twenty feet tall, each.  The controller was a  
>> simple stack o' cams, each switched to one of the pipes.   
>> Soniclally, the experience reminded me of sitting at the edge of a  
>> pond back home in Michigan, at sundown, listening to the frogs.
>>
>> While on the subject--or, rather, while gradually getting  
>> tangential to the subject--check out the work of Paul De Marinis,  
>> a sound artist at Stanford.  I've not seen "Firebirds,"  
>> personally, but it sounds out-of-this-world:  controlled  
>> electrical fields modulate gas flames housed in birdcages,  
>> producing the sound of famous twentieth century political  
>> speeches!  Too much!
>> http://www.well.com/~demarini/exhibitions.htm
>>
>> jason jay stevens
>> [log in to unmask]
>> www.potterbelmar.org
>>
>>
>>
>> On Jan 17, 2006, at 12:28 PM, Ian Russell wrote:
>>
>>> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
>>> Centers
>>> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
>>> institutions.
>>> ******************************************************************** 
>>> *********
>>>
>>> No harm in attempting a simpler solution, before getting into the  
>>> complexity of Schlieren optics. Set up a burning candle just  
>>> below the top of the organ pipe, illuminate it using one of those  
>>> low-voltage desk lamps with a tiny halogen bulb, and cast the  
>>> shadow of the hot air above the flame onto a large white card.  
>>> The further from the flame you put the lamp, the sharper (and  
>>> dimmer!) the shadow.
>>>
>>> If that prototype works, it could save a lot of hassle. If the  
>>> sounding organ pipe shows no effect on the swirling hot-air- 
>>> shadow, then the much clearer Schlieren pattern probably wouldn't  
>>> show the effect you need either!
>>>
>>> Pieces of dangling tissue paper must be the easiest possible  
>>> solution. But wondering if low notes would cause the candle flame  
>>> itself to move gives me another idea. Why not experiment with gas  
>>> flames mounted close ABOVE the open ends of SEVERAL organ pipes?  
>>> It's just possible that the flames might be made to dance with  
>>> the music, which would be utterly awesome...
>>>
>>> You could easily prototype this with an ordinary gas blowtorch  
>>> set to a gentle, luminous flame, held above a sounding organ pipe.
>>>
>>> Hey! I just typed 'flame organ' into Google and discovered that a  
>>> flame organ or Pyrophone was invented by Frederic Kastner in the  
>>> 1800's. There's a whole shedload of stuff about these things. The  
>>> clever ones actually controlled internal flames to generate the  
>>> sound, while less subtle versions apparently shot coloured flames  
>>> out of the top. How cool is that? (Rats! Anyway, it's quicker to  
>>> post a message to ASTC-L than it is to file a Patent...)
>>>
>>>
>>> [log in to unmask] * http://www.interactives.co.uk
>>> *
>>> Give people facts and you feed their minds for an hour.
>>> Awaken curiosity and they feed their own minds for a lifetime.
>>> *
>>> Ian Russell
>>> ******************************************************************** 
>>> ***
>>> More information about the Informal Science Education Network and  
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> More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
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