From: gkm@petting-zoo.net (glen mccready)
  To: 0xdeadbeef@petting-zoo.net
  Cc: bostic@bostic.com, rx7-racing@petting-zoo.net
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 14:58:51 -0800

Forwarded-by: "Rex B"

Check this out, Formula 1 team programs engine to play music. I quote
from a previous email:

    Load the link and press play.

    http://astro.temple.edu/~kmr/Chauffe2.mp3

    First you'll hear a 10-cylinder, 750 horsepower Asiatech F1
    engine being warmed up. Then it performs a rousing version
    of "When The Saints Come Marching In", to the delight of
    assembled pit staff and journalists.

    Here's how the magic was achieved (technical/musical details
    via F1 Racing magazine):

    As we all know, a V10 engine produces five combustions per
    revolution at a frequency per second of 60/(5 x revs per
    minute), which equals 12/rpm. Therefore, to work out the
    revs you need to hit a particular musical note, you multiply
    the note's frequency by 12. To play a 440Hz 'A', for example,
    you need 5,280rpm.  For 'C', use 3,139rpm, for 'F' 4,191rpm,
    and so on.


    Asiatech's French technicians (the engine, despite its name,
    is derived from a Peugeot design) simply programmed their
    engine to run through the various rev/note ranges in the
    correct sequence. The result is delightful. And think of the
    possibilities - BMW's F1 engine, which howls all the way to
    19,050rpm, could rip through the entire Hendrix songbook.

    Even better: imagine a massed NASCAR choir performing "The
    Star Spangled Banner"! Being eight-cylinder engines, the
    frequency per second would be 60/(4 x revs), which means
    you'd multiply the note frequencies by 15 instead of 12: 'A'
    would arrive at 6,600rpm, 'C' at 3,923rpm, 'F' at 5,238rpm,
    etc.

    Mark my words, someone will be getting rich at Daytona next
    year selling a CD of NASCAR patriotic anthems.