What Is a Rotary Speaker? 🤔

The most revered rotary speaker designs feature a spinning high-frequency horn (treble rotor) and a woofer that feeds into a rotating drum (bass rotor). The resulting sound is a unique mix of pitch and amplitude (volume) modulation as the sound is tossed around the room. While first paired with organs, guitarists and other musicians quickly caught on to the unique, watery sound of a rotary speaker.

The unmistakable sound of a rotary speaker can be found on songs like Badge by Cream, While My Guitar Gently Weeps by The Beatles, Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden, and countless more, iconic tracks.

📸 @DannyUnderwood