Thread: F1 MULTIMEDIA
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Old 08-11-2004, 05:07 PM   #5
mindgam3
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Singing Renault F1 engine

From Top Gear:

"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."

When the Saints go Marching in F1 Stylee
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