In this YouTube video, Daniel Pink and his project team detail the creation of a "musical road" on a 490‑yard stretch of historic Route 66. Local road contractors fabricate steel templates that cut precise grooves into hot asphalt; the spacing between grooves (as little as 5 mm) determines pitch, allowing the road to play a melody when a car travels at exactly 45 mph. The team tests the installation, hearing the tune "America the Beautiful" followed by a sponsor jingle, and then invites members of the Old Car Club of Albuquerque—veteran classic‑car enthusiasts—to experience and comment on the road. Their reactions are enthusiastic, highlighting the novelty and nostalgic feel of hearing music while driving. The video showcases the blend of precision engineering, acoustic design, and community engagement that makes a functional musical highway possible.
Chapters
A local road contractor is building us a series of steel templates to make grooves in the road, which will cause the car's tires to vibrate and make a sound. The closer the grooves, the higher the pitch or note. For this to work, the guys must carry out precision engineering.
To make the road, we're, we're doing from A through G. Spacing's, uh, very critical. Difference between a couple of the notes are actually just 5 millimeters, and obviously if we get the spacing wrong, we'll get a different tone.
We've marked out a 490-yard stretch of Route 66, and once the asphalt's hot, we'll use our templates in a predetermined order to create a piece of music. So what's cool about this is how small these grooves are. It's a little bit like a rumble strip. If we've got this right, drivers should hear our song perfectly, but only if they drive at the proper speed. All right, let's see if this thing actually works. Once I've reached the correct speed of 45 miles per hour, it's time to hit the musical road. This is amazing. God shed his grace on this. I'm glad you like it. You hear that? It's America the Beautiful. This is unbelievable! From sea to shining sea, we're making music on the highway. This is awesome! And as a thanks to our Musical Roads sponsor, we've added a familiar jingle at the end.
Well, I loved it, but I want to see what the experts think.
And our experts come in the shape of the Old Car Club of Albuquerque. Ever since their heyday in the 1950s and '60s, these classic cars have been speeding along this highway, and today their owners still feel the buzz of the open road.
Well, I like to rev my pipes up a bit and open it up, especially with the roadster. It really sounds super as you're popping through there.
I like to speed on this road just because it's an open road, and you can kind of just speed, you know, with an old car and just kind of open it up.
So can our musical mechanism mellow these madcap motorists?
Wow, listen to that! How beautiful! Wow, that is cool.
