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ThisWeek May 30,1990. Page M11

_FUTURE WATCH

From didgeridoo to Zube Tube,
high-tech toy fun for everyone

f you have ever been to Australia or seen a
Crocodile Dundee movie, you may have heard
strange sounds from the bush. The sound of the
didgeridoo, the long tubular hollowed-out

® branch of a tree that is played like a large flute or an

3s largest toy fair in Nuremburg, Ger-

oboe with highly resonant sound by the aboriginal
people of the outback. Now modern technology comes
close with the Zube Tube, an inexpen-

Tube are limited only by your imagination. Requiring
no batteries or electricity and costing around $10, the
tube’s ability to generate sophisticated sounds, previ-
ously impossible without expensive electronic syn-
thesizer equipment, makes the unit attractive to
children and adults alike.

Sounds varying from Star Wars battles and MTV-
style echoes to whale songs or the

sive “toy” that can produce sounds

ocean’s roar can be produced by shak-"

that place your voice at the bottom of

ing, twanging or speaking into the

a well, put the cries of humpback
whales under your houseboat or Star
Trek sounds overhead.

Pictured here alongside one anoth-
er are my very own Australian did-
geridoo and the Zube Tube, America’s
latest contribution to the music
world.

Billed as the ultimate cosmic sound
machine, the device apparently was
the big seller at the U.S. Spring Toy
Fair and in Europe at the world’s

titi

DEIOMOrow

By FRANK OGDEN

39-inch (metre-long) brightly colored
cardboard tube.

Developed by physicist Robert
Dressler, the toy is deceptively sim-
ple. Inside the 2.75-inch diameter
cylinder, an acoustic spring is at-
tached at either end to plastic cups. A
reinforced hole on the side of the tube
allows the player to reach inside to
pluck the coil or talk into the tube
from either end. I’ve been playing it
for a while before writing this column
and the sounds are unbelievable. I

many. Sales this year have already
topped half a million according to the manufacturer,
Ritam International.

Some toy show buyers even wanted units to use at
the World Cup Soccer competition. More units with
new external designs will soon provide high night-
time visibility and even greater portability. The Zube
Tube will be a big item next Halloween. Making
ghost sounds are a snap for a five-year old (adults
need some practice).

Although simple to use, the sounds from the Zube

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just know my editor will want to
borrow it and ride his own sound wave, tripping to

some distant galaxy.

The Zube Tube is: constructed to be safe and
durable. It weighs less than a pound and Good
Morning America says it's going to be the toy of the
1990s. It is retailing in the U.S. at $9.95.

More information: Judy A. Walls, Vice President,
Ritam International, Ltd., 3007 W. Grimes, P.O. Box
1180, Fairfield, lowa 52556. Phone: 515/ 472-8262.
Fax: 515/ 472-5524.

ane SES = eas a8

Dr. Tomorrow tries out the incredible Zube Tube.

Photo by: BRIAN GIEBELHAUS, courtesy of Sunday Magazine

psy
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