Musical road
[7] Long before musical roads were being constructed, an earlier concept known as a rumble strip, were used since the 1950s to warn inattentive drivers of potential danger.
They consisted of three-foot strips of corrugated concrete that would produce a distinct humming sound when driven over, and also serve as reflectors for increased visibility.
In the 1990s, several U.S. state transportation agencies and toll road authorities installed the milled-in shoulder rumble design pioneered in Pennsylvania, mostly on rural freeways and expressways.
[9] The first known musical road, the Asfaltofon (English: Asphaltophone), was created in October 1995 in Gylling, Denmark, by Steen Krarup Jensen and Jakob Freud-Magnus [da], two Danish artists.
Presently, Japan boasts at least thirty musical roads, featuring tunes like the theme from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion and "Always with Me" from the film Spirited Away.
Nevertheless, several countries, including Indonesia, South Korea, and China, have implemented musical roads with a focus on safety.
The Indonesian road, intriguingly designed to reduce traffic accidents, plays the familiar Happy Birthday song.
Lin Zhong, the Chinese general manager of the architecture company responsible for many of these roads in China, noted that this characteristic encourages people to maintain a constant speed limit to enjoy the musical effect.
In October 2014, a musical road in Tijeras, New Mexico, was created, featuring "America the Beautiful" on a two-lane stretch of U.S. Route 66.
The final musical road in the United States, located at Auburn University in Alabama, plays the first seven notes of their college's fight song, "War Eagle."
The most recent addition to the world of musical roads was established in the United Arab Emirates in January 2023, with ongoing testing and development to play the country's national anthem.
These 'rumble strips' cause the car tires to play music and then make a singing road," said Lin Zhong, general manager of Beijing Luxin Dacheng landscape architecture company.
In June 2021, a 587-meter portion of G108 in Xiayunling Township, Fangshan, Beijing, was made into a musical road which plays the tune of "Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China".
[15][16] The first known musical road, the Asfaltofon (English: Asphaltophone), was created in October 1995 in Gylling, Denmark, by Steen Krarup Jensen and Jakob Freud-Magnus, two Danish artists.
In 2000, a musical road with a 28-note melody composed by Gaellic Guillerm was built in the suburb of Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.
[17] In 2019, Hungary installed a musical road in memoriam of László Bódi (better known by his stage name Cipő), lead singer from the band Republic.
This musical road is 513 meters long and plays a well-known Hungarian children's folk song called "The Grapes are Ripening.
[22] The first ones built included one in Hokkaido in Shibetsu, Nemuro which plays the "Shiretoko Love Song" on the site of where Shinoda's first bulldozer scrapings were, another in the town of Kimino in Wakayama Prefecture where a car can produce the Japanese ballad "Miagete goran yoru no hoshi wo" by Kyu Sakamoto, one in Shizuoka Prefecture on the ascending and descending (in both sides) drive to Mount Fuji, and a fourth in the village of Katashina in Gunma, which consists of 2,559 grooves cut into a 175-meter (574 ft) stretch of existing roadway and produces the tune of "Memories of Summer".
[23] A 320-meter (1050 ft) stretch of the Ashinoko Skyline in Hakone plays "A Cruel Angel's Thesis", the theme song from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, when driven over at 40 km/h.
[24] Yet another can be found on the road between Nakanojo town and Shima Onsen, which plays "Always With Me" (Japanese title: いつも何度でも, Itsumo nando demo) from the feature animation Spirited Away.
Some of these roads, such as one in Okinawa that produces the Japanese folk song "Futami Jowa", as well as one in Hiroshima Prefecture, are polyphonic, with different sequences of rumble strips for the left and right tires so that a melody and harmony can be heard.
It was implemented with the help of the immersion technology laboratory on specially developed software, which made it possible to translate strokes into notes and bring musical markup to life.
[29][30] The fifth is located on the Donghae Expressway inside of a tunnel and plays a well-known Korean children's folk song called "Cheer Up, Dad."
On 13 January 2023, a musical road was built in the city of Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, playing the national anthem of the country, "Ishy Bilady," when driven over.
The rhythm is recognizable, but the intervals are so far off that the melody bears only a slight resemblance to the William Tell Overture, regardless of the car speed.
The project was approved by the Office of the University Architect within Facilities Management and completed to coordinate with the final three home games of the Auburn Tigers football season.
