Musical Instruments:
For this project, we studied sound and sound waves. Our group was supposed to make at least three instruments, a string instrument, a percussion instrument, and a wind instrument. We ended up making a single-stringed banjo as the string instrument, a instrument similar to a clarinet as the wind instrument, pipe bongos as a percussion instrument, and chimes as a second percussion instrument. I made the string instrument. The instrument is a long board with a string running on top of it to create the noise when plucked. I also added a bamboo stick to use as a pressure holder to adjust the lengths of the strings. Our wind instrument is a long PVC pipe with holes drilled through it. The holes adjust the wave lengths to create different sounds as well. A funnel at the end of the PVC pipe helps to amplify the sound. One of the two percussion instruments is pipe bongos. These were made by large in diameter pipes drilled onto a board with duct tape covering the top opening. The pipes are different lengths to create an octave that makes a beautiful sound. A bike tire tube was added to sling over the user’s neck to make it easier to hold. The final instrument is another percussion, a set of chimes. The chimes are metal pipes cut at various length, struck by another metal pipe to create a high octave sound.
Concepts:
Many concepts were studied over the course of this unit. Each was taken into account while creating the instruments. Some that were covered are listed below:
- Frequency: How many waves pass a certain point in a certain unit of time. This is calculated either using the formulas v=λf or f=1/T.
- Period: The amount of time between waves/vibrations. The period is inverse to the frequency. This is calculated using the formula T=1/f.
- Wavelength: The length of a wave from one point on the wave to the corresponding point on the next wave. This is calculated using the formula v=λf.
- Wave Speed: The velocity of a wave. This is calculated using v=λf.
- Amplitude: Displacement from equilibrium to crest. This measures the height of the wave.
Reflection
This project was one of the less enjoyable ones for me, simply because I am not particularly musically gifted. However, I tried my best to make a functioning instrument. One peak of mine was the creativity I put into my instrument. I impressed myself with my single stringed banjo, and how well it functioned. Going into this, I was fairly lost as to what I was planning to do at the beginning of the project, however I am satisfied with the final project. Another peak was my leadership. I feel as though I took a good step up this project as far as leadership went. A pit or low point for me in this project was my empathy. I feel like I became slightly impatient with other people while I usually do not have a problem with this. This impatience came when I noticed people not working or not assisting others for the greater good. Another pit for me was trying to tune the notes to play a specific note. I struggled with using the app and also with tightening the strings to play that note. In the future, paying more attention to detail would have helped more.