Vehicle horn of vehicle horns are used by percussionists as sound effects, or even melodically, in musical works. For example, George Gershwin's 1928 orchestral work "An American in Paris" calls for the use of 4 taxi horns. György Ligeti's opera "Le Grand Macabre" features two "Car Horn Preludes" scored for 12 bulb horns, each one tuned to a specific pitch. Klaxon is a trademark for a brand of electromechanical horn or alerting device. Mainly used on cars, trains and ships, Klaxon horns produce an easily identifiable sound, often transcribed onomatopoeiacally in English as "ahoooga." Like most mechanical horns, the klaxon has largely
Alarm clock turns the circuit on and off repeatedly. Digital alarm clocks can make other noises. Simple battery-powered alarm clocks make a loud buzzing or beeping sound to wake a sleeper, while novelty alarm clocks can speak, laugh, sing, or play sounds from nature. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato (428–348 BC) was said to possess a large water clock with an unspecified alarm signal similar to the sound of a water organ; he used it at night, possibly for signaling the beginning of his lectures at dawn (Athenaeus 4.174c). The Hellenistic engineer and inventor Ctesibius (fl. 285–222 BC) fitted his clepsydras with