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Paper cone record player

A sewing needle, a paper cone and an old record. No electricity, and music comes out of a scratch.

about 15 minutes an adult handles the needle makes a working machine

What you need

An old record nobody minds about
A sewing needle or a pin
Stiff paper
Sticky tape
A pencil to spin the record on
An adult

How to build it

Roll the coneCut out the template, roll it, and tape the straight edges so the point is sharp and closed.
Push the needle through the pointFrom the inside out, so a few millimetres stick out. An adult does this bit.
Get the record turningA pencil through the hole, and turn it steadily by hand. About one turn every two seconds.
Lower the needle into a grooveVery gently, at a slight angle, and hold the cone still. Do not press.
Listen to the cone, not the needleThe sound comes out of the wide end. It is quiet, scratchy, and unmistakably music.
This scratches the record, so use one nobody wants. The needle is sharp: an adult fits it, and nobody leans over the point.

The template

Print this at 100 per cent, not fit to page, or the sizes will be wrong. The ruler line below tells you whether it printed correctly.

10 cmcut out, roll into a cone,tape the straight edges togetherpush the needle through the point
The bar above should measure exactly 10 centimetres. If it does not, your printer has shrunk the page.

Now send something

Try turning the record faster and then slower. The tune changes pitch, because the wiggle is arriving at the wrong speed.

Where it comes from

1877 onwards
Sound you can see

Edison's first machine scratched a groove into tinfoil and played it back with a needle. No electricity, no amplifier, nothing but a shape in a surface and something to trace it. What you are about to build is that machine, and it works for exactly the same reason his did.

Why it works

The groove is the same shape the air was when the sound happened. The needle rides that shape and shakes the cone, and the air moves again. Nobody agreed what a wiggle means, which is why it needs no key and no chart.

When it goes wrong

It usually does, the first time. Almost always one of these.

You hear nothingThe needle is not in the groove, or the cone is not held still. Lower it gently at a slight angle and let it sit.
It sounds slow or fastYou are turning the record at the wrong speed. Aim for one turn every two seconds and adjust by ear.
It sounds terribleIt will. It is a needle and a piece of paper. That it works at all is the point.

Where to go next

Why this worksBack to Make