Maker Faire Detroit is coming right up next weekend, July 28 and 29, at The Henry Ford, and Motor City’s finest creative minds, tinkerers, and innovators will be there to show off their creations and inspire. Lifelong maker Dana Dolfi is bringing something that’s guaranteed to get your attention, and we’re not just tootin his horn when we say that.

His Great American Horn Machine, touted as “the world’s loudest mobile musical instrument,” is a 3-ton collection of truck, train, and ships air horns, and steam whistles, all mounted on a tandem-axle car trailer. Most of the single horns have a manufacturer’s rated output of over 100dB at 100ft, and the largest horn, originally from a U.S. Navy ship, is audible for 7 miles at sea. Controlled by 12V DC solenoid valves, via a Highly Liquid MIDI decoder, the Horn Machine can be played via laptop computer, keyboard, or any MIDI output device, and is powered by a 65HP, 4-cylinder gasoline-driven compressor, supplying a 620-gallon air receiver tank at 100psi. What does all this mean? This bad boy is LOUD!

http://blog.makezine.com/2012/07/19/maker-faire-detroit-great-american-horn-machine-interview/