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Tech

This Pipe Organ Is Made Entirely Out of Paper

The guy who brought you a paper V8 engine shows a romantic side.

Belarus-based Aliaksei Zholner makes impossibly intricate paper machines. His latest creation, a balloon-powered organ, sounds like a delicate ocarina from a tiny origami world.

Zholner mainly worked on making engines until his wife suggested a music box, he wrote on a papercraft forum. That inspired him to take a more musical approach to this project. Unlike his past builds, he wrote that he's not planning to make templates available; it's too difficult to recreate, since each pipe and paper thickness have to be tuned perfectly.

The organ operates using a balloon attached to a series of pipes and valves, made entirely of paper except for a plastic window to see the folded paper springs moving inside the pipes. He plays a short waltz, from "Under the Sky of Paris." Could we see a full paper-operetta, next?