Professor Cox is one of 12 finalists in Channel 4's 'Famelab' - a Pop Idol style competition looking for a presenter to front their science programmes, and he thinks his foot-long toot root will win the crown. It was the limitations of the challenge that made him decide on a radish clarinet. "In Famelab, I have four minutes to demonstrate some science and I wanted something very visual and very funny, and if I came in with a clarinet, it would be boring."
 | | Professor Cox plays his Radish Clarinet |
His inspiration for the instrument came from much further afield though. "There’s actually a vegetable orchestra in Vienna, but they mostly make percussion, and I had to come up with an idea to demonstrate science. The thing about science communication is that you want to make it fun. I started off with carrots, actually, but the problem with carrots is that new season carrots are very small, so I’m onto radishes now." But where’s the science? It’s all in the way the instrument is made and its use of kitchen paraphernalia to make it play. While the funnel at the bottom of it is simply for amplification, the mouth piece, made from a piece of washing-up liquid bottle lashed on with rubber bands, uses the Bernoulli Effect to make the sound. For those of us that aren’t science professors, that’s the principle which not only makes the reed oscillate to break up the sound flow and make the notes in the clarinet, but also explains how wings on planes give lift and even how the World War 2 V1 bomber engines worked! | "You do all the work with your lips. Normally, you’d finger the notes, but to be honest, it’s not the greatest bit of tuning in the world." | | Professor Cox on the difficulty of playing his radish clarinet |
For all his hard work, though, Professor Cox says that the radish is difficult to keep in tune. "You do all the work with your lips. Normally, you’d finger the notes, but to be honest, it’s not the greatest bit of tuning in the world. But I’m entering a science talent competition, not a make your own clarinet competition, so I’m alright." Whether he moves onto more salad symphonies remains to be seen. He might become a fantastically tuneful tuber player with enough practice but maybe, after the competition, he should stick to more t-radish-onal instruments! |
