Wind machine

For the wind generator used for skydiving practice, see vertical wind tunnel.

The wind machine (also called aeoliphone) is a specialist musical instrument used to produce the sound of wind. One type uses an electric fan with wooden slats added to produce the required sound. More frequently, a drum covered in fabric is rubbed against wooden or cardboard rods when a handle is turned, making a swooshing sound.

Classical works that use the instrument:

• Gioachino Rossini: The Barber of Seville
• Richard Strauss: Don Quixote, Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), Die ägyptische Helena, Die Frau ohne Schatten
• Richard Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer
• Ralph Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia antartica
• Ferde Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite
• Oliver Messiaen: Des canyons aux étoiles…, Saint François d'Assise and Éclairs sur l'au-delà…
• Maurice Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé
• Giacomo Puccini: La Fanciulla del West
• Benjamin Britten: Noye's Fludde
• Michael Tippett: Symphony no. 4
• Goldie: Sine Tempus
• Jerry Goldsmith: The Blue Max
• Philip Sparke: Music Of The Spheres

Sources

• The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments, ISBN 1-85868-185-5, p. 109