Introduction: Tooth Phonograph!
Teeth aren't just for chomping anymore! Now you can hear Miles Davis with your molars and The Cure with your canines. With only a few basic supplies, you can tap into the physical grooves of records as they vibrate your jaw, playing music and resonating inside your head. Never before have record stores and dentistry been so tightly linked. Toothfully, you just have to try it. It's amazing.
- What: Tooth Phonograph!
- Who: Every band you've ever listened to
- Concepts: sound, vibration, physics, resonance
- Cost: ~ $0.50
- Time: ~ 15 minutes to set up
- Materials:
- Records! (grab at thrift store)
- Cardboard
- Pencil
- Needle (record needle if available, or sewing needle)
- Rubber bands
- Thin dowel
- Masking tape
- Ear Plugs (optional)
- X-acto blade
- Hot glue gun
- Pliers
The phonograph is one of many inventions that history chalks up to the illustrious Thomas Edison. His invention was the first that could record and playback sound, originally playing from cylinders. He came up with the zigzag pattern that you still see in record grooves today, which are simply fascinating to see up close. The tooth phonograph is a way for us to access the physical nature of the record in a very visceral way. If you want to check out another way to listen to music through your teeth, you should also check out the "Bite-Sized Boombox."
Let's get those LPs spinning!
Step 1: Cut a Cardboard Base
Trace on of your records including the central hole on a piece of cardboard. Use an X-acto blade to cut along the perimeter, and cut an "X" where the central hole is.
Most records that are meant to spun at 33 1/3 rpm are approximately 16", and this is what you'll mostly find out there. However, the evolution of the physical record in all its sizes, grooves, and playing speeds is absolutely fascinating, and is worth a read.
Step 2: Spear With Pencil
Number 2 pencils are your number one spindle. Slide one through the central "X" you cut in the cardboard and add some hot blue on the bottom (toward the pointy end) to keep it in place. You can also add some rubber band wrapped around to add a physical stop as well to keep your cardboard level.
Step 3: Throw a Record On
I found that the spindle hole in a record is just small enough that you first have to remove the metal eraser holder with a pair of pliers. After that, you should be able to slide records on and off the cardboard base with a little friction to hold it in place. Take it for a spin!
Step 4: Make Your Bite Stick
Take the skinny dowel or shish kabob stick, and tape your needle to the end of it. You can play with the angle of the two, but I found the best for me was to make them parallel. The tighter you tape it, the clearer the sound you'll get.
If you're doing this with a group of people, each can make their own bite stick, and you can actually have multiple people listening to a record at once, all different parts at the same time!
Step 5: Spin That Music!
You're ready to jam! Or at least explore some science. Take your record for a spin, put in some ear plugs, bite down on the dowel, and let the needle drag through the grooves. It may take a while to get everything just right to hear a whole song, but hand-spun melodies will be popping in to your head in no time!
Here are a couple tips in starting off, but of course, experiment on your own:
- For even better sound, plug your ears with both hands, and have a friend spin the record
- Don't put your hand on the bite stick, or it will take away a lot of the vibration
- Place the needle on the side of the record so that spinning drags it away from you.
- If you're not hearing music, try a skinnier needle that will fit in the grooves.
And here are some things to play with:
- Try spinning at different speeds. What happens to the music?
- Try spinning it backwards? What happens then?
- Try different parts of the record to find different tracks
- To go further, you can build a structure to hold the pencil upright
- Also, you can tape a needle to a cup to get the music to play out loud
I'd love to hear what you do with yours! Write in the comments below, and I'll respond! Have fun, rock out, and as always, keep exploring.
27 Comments
4 years ago
I did this project as part of a library STEM program. First we played with the classic cup and string telephone. Then we played with a couple of music box mechanisms. Seeing how loud they were when held in our hands and then putting them up against the back of a paper cup, a plastic cup, a large salad bowl, etc. Finally we did the tooth phonograph. It was a big hit. Thanks so much for the instructable.
7 years ago
this is super awesome ! but does this method work with CDs?
Reply 7 years ago
No. It does not.
8 years ago on Introduction
Hot " BLUE"??? ya mean GLUE!
8 years ago on Step 5
Holy molars, Batman! ROFL! That's awesome!
8 years ago on Introduction
This is pretty cool, but I wouldn't do this with any rare albums, or ones that I really cared a lot about.
The reason for caution is that you're surely going to be putting a lot more than 1.5 grams of tracking force on your grooves. That amount seems pretty small, but when you look at how small the contact area of a regular phono stylus is, 1.5 grams can be a force of several hundred pounds per square inch on the groove walls (which is why albums eventually wear out). A lot more weight could damage the record pretty quickly.
But like I said, cool nevertheless. :) I have an old worn out duplicate of a Wishbone Ash album that I tried this with. I have a turntable so I just made a mouth-stylus with a needle and a plastic straw. I then got into the same groove that my turntable was playing! Poor man's echo! :)
8 years ago on Introduction
It's a fun thing to screw around with BUT, modern records pick up sound from the sides of the groove (stereo). Old timey records like 78's pick up from the bottom. This is neat to play around with but a serious vinyl collector wouldn't even think of doing this. Fun to watch the loop with you holding the stylus in your teeth.
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
Hey grolmund!
Thank you, and excellent breakdown on the difference between types of records. Indeed, this is meant for exploring sound (especially with a classroom), and so people should go out to get records they're not attached to. There's a LOT of Barbara Streisand out there in thrift stores. :)
8 years ago on Step 5
I spun mine backwards and Freddie Mercury told me "It's fun to smoke marijuana"
8 years ago on Introduction
Thats so cool!
8 years ago on Introduction
There is one contradiction:
1) You must have a very empty head for resonance (at least for Dolby Surround)
2) You must not have an empty head for getting such ideas
:-P
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
LOL , good sense of humor~!
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
Or probably there is a solution, just tell your dentist:
"No filling, please...for the sake of science and resonance!"
It´s a tightrope walk...
;-)
8 years ago on Introduction
What a smart idea ! I bet Edison used to do the same to test when he invented phonograph.
8 years ago on Introduction
in theory a small circuit could be made that wirelessly charges, and is surgically implanted in the skull near the ear. using Bluetooth you can use it to listen to music, have private calls, ect. of course this is slightly extreme, and possibly not with today's....lets say technology.
any thoughts?
or is this a thing?
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
Hey golddigger!
This is a neat corner of technology. One of the neatest I think is hearing about the history of a radio station called WLW broadcast over Ohio. At one point, the owner made a 500 kilowatt transmitter which allowed him to broadcast his station to cover a big part of the world before the FCC re-considered. There were lots of reports of pick-ups in box springs, metal pans, and people's tooth fillings vibrating to the signal.
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
Actually this is sort of a thing. There is at least one human on the planet that had this surgically implanted in his ear. You may be able to find him on Google, I can't remember his name.
8 years ago on Introduction
Why not use a plastic turntable that is used for sitting things on inside your kitchen cabinet for easy access to...say your spices, etc. I think Rubbermaid makes them. I would use one of those and drill a hole in the center and glue the pencil into that hole and then place the cardboard on it and glue it to the turntable also. Then when you spin a record on it it will spin more stable and not wobble. This would keep your needle from scratching up the record.
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
Hey Lydia!
Great idea, and I'd love to see this in action. If you make one, send a picture this way, and I'll put it up!
8 years ago on Introduction
This blows my mind. It's just more proof that I have no real understanding of how record players really work.