8.5M views · Jul 15, 2006 · 1:37 · 2 HN recommenders · 6 mentions · discussed 2015–2024
A short clip of a Renault F1 engine playing God Save the Queen by precisely controlling its RPM, recorded at Goodwood. It demonstrates how finely the drivetrain can be controlled.
Why Hacker News points people here: Treated as a favorite hack and a go-to example in threads about machines playing music.
“if you haven't heard an F1 car play God Save The Queen [0] it's a great watch”HN comment, 2020
“My favorite version of this hack is Renault changing the RPM of their F1 engine to play God Save The Queen”
Renault F1 engine playing God Save The Queen via RPM control
My favorite version of this hack is Renault changing the RPM of their F1 engine to play God Save The Queen: this video
“if you haven't heard an F1 car play God Save The Queen [0] it's a great watch”
F1 car playing a tune, showing how controllable the engine is
I once walked the footbridge over the hillclimb at Goodwood during the Festival of Speed as a V10 F1 car went underneath. Was something else entirely. Seeing the musical demos the Renault team used to do was always interesting too - if you haven't heard an F1 car play God Save The Queen [0] it's a great watch (and a reminder about how controllable they are). [0] this video
“Here is an f1 car engine playing God Save the Queen [1], sounds atrocious, but still cool.”
F1 engine playing a tune, sounds atrocious but cool
The examples were a lot of fun to play with. Nice work. I was thinking earlier today of creating an F1 engine note simulator. I would want to play with the number of cylinders, v angle, crank offset (v8 normal crank/180 crank) and maybe some kind of exhaust system variables (tuned length, crossover pipe), and of course RPM. I don't know where to start, could you point me at the type of programming I would want to look at to figure out how to do this? Here is an f1 car engine playing God Save the Queen [1], sounds atrocious, but still cool. [1] this video
“Renault did it some years ago to demonstrate how much control they have on their F1 engine drivetrain”
Renault demonstrating drivetrain control by playing music
> Next trick...turn a Tesla into a musical instrument via the motor drives. Renault did it some years ago to demonstrate how much control they have on their F1 engine drivetrain: this video
Example of an engine playing a tune
this video Maybe this is what you're referring to. There are similar examples where people do this with old disk drives and printers too.
“The Renault F1 engine could famously play tunes this way.”
Renault F1 engine playing tunes through RPM
Yeah I am guessing it is from the motor RPM pitch but I would like to find out. The Renault F1 engine could famously play tunes this way. this video
