Got a fiver? Let's play some tunes
The Bank of England unveiled the new fiver in June this year and the new polymer five-pound note has been in circulation for exactly one month today. Touted as safer, cleaner and stronger,...
October 13, 2016
The Bank of England unveiled the new fiver in June this year and the new polymer five-pound note has been in circulation for exactly one month today. Touted as safer, cleaner and stronger, Britons however are mesmerized by its ability to play music.
Yes, the new fiver can be used as a rudimentary record player needle. The internet has already seen its fair share of videos being uploaded with people showing how it works – some achieving better results than others.
— The Retro Hour (@retrohouruk) October 11, 2016
The New Fiver
The polymer notes unveiled on the 2nd of June 2016, began circulating on the 13th of September 2016 are said to be stronger than paper notes and as such are estimated to last two and a half times longer than paper money. They will be cleaner as they wont be easily soiled and safer as well due to added security features.
The hidden talents of the new fiver were discovered by Michael Ridge a multimedia artist from Norfolk who posted a video on youtube; while Ridge used a contact microphone to amplify the sound many other people have posted similar copycat videos sans any contact mic – and the music is still audible.
WARNING: Using the new fiver to play music will damage the record, so don’t go around showing off with your favourite record, use a less loved one instead.
Polymer Currency Notes
While Britons are really excited by the new fiver’s hidden music ability, England is not the first country to introduce polymer currency notes.
Australia was the first to introduce and switch to plastic money, other countries to have beat England include Papua New Guinea, Romania, New Zealand, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, The Gambia, Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago and the Maldives as well have been using plastic money for some time.
Making Music
Now that the English bubble of having the only musical notes has burst, lets look at how the fiver actually managed to produce the music pressed on a vinyl record.
Pre-1970’s when the vinyl record was the only way to listen to prerecorded music, it had remained pretty much unchanged since the phonograph was invented in 1877.
Yes the modern day record player relies on electromagnets and amplifiers and lots of other tech hiding under the casing, but the mechanics behind it are quiet simple. The vinyl record has grooves pressed into it. If you hold a record under a powerful magnifying glass will reveal the grooves to be quiet coarse.
The needle on a modern day record players is an actual needle and the record has really fine grooves pressed into it. As the grooves rotate under the needle, the vibrations traveling through the needle scratching the grooves is what makes music – which when amplified comes out through the speakers.
But the concept is very simple, the needle or any sharp object – like the new fiver – can scratch the record and make music, maybe not loud enough to dance to, but surely a good party trick.
Ovais Jafar is a Multimedia Journalist, he tweets as @ovaisjafar
