Build a Musical Band:
Project Outline: The objective of this project was to build three instruments, each from a different musical family. Our group ended up deciding on making a wind instrument, chime instrument, and string instrument. The instruments have to be in usable condition and be able to play an octave of notes. (In addition, for some extra fun, we were asked to choose a song from any genre and change the lyrics to ones about physics. At the ribbon-cutting opening ceremony for our Energy Efficient House, our previous project, we would perform these songs for the STEM class.)
String instruments:
People can alter the pitches on string instruments by playing with tension and string length. Higher string tension will create a greater frequency, which will therefore give a higher pitch; likewise, lower string tension will give the opposite -- a lower frequency, and a lower pitch. String length is also a key way to alter the pitches, and is often seen on instruments such as the guitar. The shorter strings, which are often made to be thinner as well, provide higher frequencies and pitches. On the violin, this shorter string would be the high E. The longer strings, which are thicker, give lower frequencies and pitches. Following the violin example, this long string would be the low G. Utilizing both of these pitch variance techniques is how instruments are able to play a wide range of notes.
For the string piece, we decided to create a ukulele. We cut cardboard and shaped the body, and added a wooden neck. We used toothpicks as frets, cut pencils as the bridges, hook screws as tuning pegs, and nylon ukulele strings.
We are able to create the different notes by having the four strings at different tensions; because we applied frets to our instrument, we were also able to further change the length of the string by pressing down our fingers, thus creating more notes.
The ukulele, like other string instruments, uses the strings to start a wave. However, the string is not what emits the sound. The wave travels through the string to the bridge and then to the body. Inside the body, the waves transfer to the air and bounce around until they eventually leave through the sound-hole or holes.
People can alter the pitches on string instruments by playing with tension and string length. Higher string tension will create a greater frequency, which will therefore give a higher pitch; likewise, lower string tension will give the opposite -- a lower frequency, and a lower pitch. String length is also a key way to alter the pitches, and is often seen on instruments such as the guitar. The shorter strings, which are often made to be thinner as well, provide higher frequencies and pitches. On the violin, this shorter string would be the high E. The longer strings, which are thicker, give lower frequencies and pitches. Following the violin example, this long string would be the low G. Utilizing both of these pitch variance techniques is how instruments are able to play a wide range of notes.
For the string piece, we decided to create a ukulele. We cut cardboard and shaped the body, and added a wooden neck. We used toothpicks as frets, cut pencils as the bridges, hook screws as tuning pegs, and nylon ukulele strings.
We are able to create the different notes by having the four strings at different tensions; because we applied frets to our instrument, we were also able to further change the length of the string by pressing down our fingers, thus creating more notes.
The ukulele, like other string instruments, uses the strings to start a wave. However, the string is not what emits the sound. The wave travels through the string to the bridge and then to the body. Inside the body, the waves transfer to the air and bounce around until they eventually leave through the sound-hole or holes.
Chime Instruments:
Chimes are arguably the most basic of instruments, and have been used and played by a myriad of different cultures. Examples include: the xylophone, drums, and other percussion instruments. By definition, chimes are classified as instruments that require the hitting of a solid object, which then must be able to vibrate in order to create sound and pitch.
Without the vibrations, sound is not possible. If you’ve ever held a pipe in place and hit it, all you hear is a dull thud. But if you release your hand and hang it on a string, or place it on top of rubber bands, the pipe is able to vibrate and create a pitch. An easy, common example is the door chime. We can alter the pitches that chime instruments make by playing with the natural frequency and the amount of vibrations the chime can produce. This can be done by adjusting the length, diameter, and material of the chimes. This way, the natural frequency of the chime will change and a different note will be produced.
For our chime instrument, our group decided to construct the xylophone. We used electrical metallic tubing (E.M.T.) with a 1/2’’ diameter for the pipes, and cut them down to the appropriate lengths. Our xylophone plays the complete G scale.
Chimes are arguably the most basic of instruments, and have been used and played by a myriad of different cultures. Examples include: the xylophone, drums, and other percussion instruments. By definition, chimes are classified as instruments that require the hitting of a solid object, which then must be able to vibrate in order to create sound and pitch.
Without the vibrations, sound is not possible. If you’ve ever held a pipe in place and hit it, all you hear is a dull thud. But if you release your hand and hang it on a string, or place it on top of rubber bands, the pipe is able to vibrate and create a pitch. An easy, common example is the door chime. We can alter the pitches that chime instruments make by playing with the natural frequency and the amount of vibrations the chime can produce. This can be done by adjusting the length, diameter, and material of the chimes. This way, the natural frequency of the chime will change and a different note will be produced.
For our chime instrument, our group decided to construct the xylophone. We used electrical metallic tubing (E.M.T.) with a 1/2’’ diameter for the pipes, and cut them down to the appropriate lengths. Our xylophone plays the complete G scale.
G 10 1/8 ''
A 9 9/16 '' B 9 1/16 '' C 8 3/4 '' |
D 8 7/32 ''
E 7 13/16 '' F# 7 1/4 '' G 7 1/16 '' |
Wind Instruments -
Wind instruments require an initial vibration, caused by the mouth. There are many different wind instruments covering the various note ranges. There’s the flute, pan handle, clarinet, trombone, trumpet, French horn, and many more.
People can play different notes on a wind instrument by designating certain holes to be either left open or closed. This creates different wavelengths. Pitches can also be manipulated by drilling differently-sized holes across the instrument.
For our wind instrument, we created a flute. We had initially tried to create a recorder, but making an appropriate mouthpiece was too difficult. We used PVC and, using calculations that we found, drilled in the appropriate holes. To vary and help pitch, we played with the size of the holes.
Flutes work because the mouth vibrates, sending a wave in the air down the instrument. The number of wavelengths change with the different pitches that can be created within the flute.
Wind instruments require an initial vibration, caused by the mouth. There are many different wind instruments covering the various note ranges. There’s the flute, pan handle, clarinet, trombone, trumpet, French horn, and many more.
People can play different notes on a wind instrument by designating certain holes to be either left open or closed. This creates different wavelengths. Pitches can also be manipulated by drilling differently-sized holes across the instrument.
For our wind instrument, we created a flute. We had initially tried to create a recorder, but making an appropriate mouthpiece was too difficult. We used PVC and, using calculations that we found, drilled in the appropriate holes. To vary and help pitch, we played with the size of the holes.
Flutes work because the mouth vibrates, sending a wave in the air down the instrument. The number of wavelengths change with the different pitches that can be created within the flute.
Note:
C D E F G A B C |
Wavelength (cm):
65.93 58.74 52.33 49.39 44.01 39.20 34.93 32.97 |
1/2 Wavelength (cm):
32.965 29.37 26.165 24.695 22.005 19.60 17.465 16.485 |
Frequency (Hertz):
523.25 587.33 659.25 698.46 783.99 880 987.77 1046.5 |
Physics Concepts:
Sound waves - created by the vibrations of material objects; compression and rarefaction
Compression - pushes together
Rarefaction - pulling apart
[ Solids are the best mediums for sound to travel through. Liquids are the second best, and gases are considered the least conductive medium. ]
Medium - sound waves require a medium to travel through (ex: gas, liquid, solid)
Amplitude - distance from the midpoint to the crest (top of the wave) or trough (bottom of the wave)
Wavelength - distance from crest to crest, in meters
Frequency - how often a vibration occurs in Hertz, or cycles per second
Period - amount of time between waves [period = 1 / frequency]
Wave - disturbance or vibration through a medium
Wave Speed = Wave length x Frequency
Transverse waves - move up and down
Longitudinal waves - moves compression horizontally
Interference - adding two waves together
Positive (Constructive) interference - adds to create a bigger wave
Non Constructive interference - adds to make a smaller wave
Node - area between a wave
Anti node - the maximums and minimums of a wave
Pitch - due to varying frequency, creates different notes that we hear
Doppler Effect - the concept of a change in frequency due to the motion of a source
[ A higher frequency will create a higher pitch. A police car coming towards you, according to the Doppler Effect, has a higher frequency than when it's going away from you. The sound of the siren will sound higher-pitched coming one way as opposed to the other. ]
Blue shift - increase in frequency
Red shift - decrease in frequency
Resonance - the process of creating a standing wave when unnatural vibrations are equal to the natural wavelength/frequency
[ The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is an example of resonance in the natural world. The wind that was gusting on that day vibrated at a consistent rate that matched with the bridge's natural wavelengths, causing the bridge to sway and behave like an actual wave. The instability of that action caused the bridge to collapse. ]
Intensity ~ (amplitude)*2
Intensity ~ density of medium
Intensity ~ (force)*2
Intensity ~ velocity
[ ~ = proportional ]
Sound waves - created by the vibrations of material objects; compression and rarefaction
Compression - pushes together
Rarefaction - pulling apart
[ Solids are the best mediums for sound to travel through. Liquids are the second best, and gases are considered the least conductive medium. ]
Medium - sound waves require a medium to travel through (ex: gas, liquid, solid)
Amplitude - distance from the midpoint to the crest (top of the wave) or trough (bottom of the wave)
Wavelength - distance from crest to crest, in meters
Frequency - how often a vibration occurs in Hertz, or cycles per second
Period - amount of time between waves [period = 1 / frequency]
Wave - disturbance or vibration through a medium
Wave Speed = Wave length x Frequency
Transverse waves - move up and down
Longitudinal waves - moves compression horizontally
Interference - adding two waves together
Positive (Constructive) interference - adds to create a bigger wave
Non Constructive interference - adds to make a smaller wave
Node - area between a wave
Anti node - the maximums and minimums of a wave
Pitch - due to varying frequency, creates different notes that we hear
Doppler Effect - the concept of a change in frequency due to the motion of a source
[ A higher frequency will create a higher pitch. A police car coming towards you, according to the Doppler Effect, has a higher frequency than when it's going away from you. The sound of the siren will sound higher-pitched coming one way as opposed to the other. ]
Blue shift - increase in frequency
Red shift - decrease in frequency
Resonance - the process of creating a standing wave when unnatural vibrations are equal to the natural wavelength/frequency
[ The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is an example of resonance in the natural world. The wind that was gusting on that day vibrated at a consistent rate that matched with the bridge's natural wavelengths, causing the bridge to sway and behave like an actual wave. The instability of that action caused the bridge to collapse. ]
Intensity ~ (amplitude)*2
Intensity ~ density of medium
Intensity ~ (force)*2
Intensity ~ velocity
[ ~ = proportional ]
Reflection:
I learned a lot through doing this project, and the experience was invaluable. It was extremely fun, and I was really happy with how well our group focused and worked. Personally, I loved this project because as a musician, it was great to be able to work with notes and pitches and discover the physics behind music.
Making instruments was an eye-opening experience because it showed me how difficult it really was to make just one fine instrument. Although we were able to create the three instruments, there were a couple pitfalls: creating pleasing acoustics, keeping string tension from changing, and tuning in general proved to be much harder than I initially thought. For our group, the ukulele pegs were too loosely glued in, and while they could turn to change pitch, they kept rewinding once we left it alone. We would tune it correctly for a couple minutes, and then after strumming the strings, the pegs would make a complete one-eighty degree turn and we'd be back to square one. It was a really frustrating process, but as stated before, it made me realize how complicated the music manufacturing industry really is. The flute was equally difficult because our math equations didn't work as ideally as we wanted to, and sometimes, the holes we made didn't produce the right notes.
All in all, this project was a great learning experience and I thoroughly enjoyed myself during the course of making and fine-tuning our three instruments.
I learned a lot through doing this project, and the experience was invaluable. It was extremely fun, and I was really happy with how well our group focused and worked. Personally, I loved this project because as a musician, it was great to be able to work with notes and pitches and discover the physics behind music.
Making instruments was an eye-opening experience because it showed me how difficult it really was to make just one fine instrument. Although we were able to create the three instruments, there were a couple pitfalls: creating pleasing acoustics, keeping string tension from changing, and tuning in general proved to be much harder than I initially thought. For our group, the ukulele pegs were too loosely glued in, and while they could turn to change pitch, they kept rewinding once we left it alone. We would tune it correctly for a couple minutes, and then after strumming the strings, the pegs would make a complete one-eighty degree turn and we'd be back to square one. It was a really frustrating process, but as stated before, it made me realize how complicated the music manufacturing industry really is. The flute was equally difficult because our math equations didn't work as ideally as we wanted to, and sometimes, the holes we made didn't produce the right notes.
All in all, this project was a great learning experience and I thoroughly enjoyed myself during the course of making and fine-tuning our three instruments.