Build-a-Band
On this project we had to do a few things. First, we had to brainstorm 3 instruments we can make from scratch. There had to be 1 wind instrument, 1 chime instrument, and 1 string instrument. In addition to our instruments we had to make a song that incorporated all our instruments. After a couple of weeks, we presented our instruments in class and we finished the project by performing our songs to a live audience. Our group decided after a lot of brainstorming, that we should make a guitar for our string instrument, some different pitched glass jars for the chimes, and a flute for our wind instrument.
Flute
This was probably the easiest instrument of the three to make and the easiest to understand how it works. We made it simply by cutting a PVC pipe and drilling holes into it. When you blow into the flute you have your lips vibrate slightly to create a wave traveling through the tube. Since each pitch has a different wavelength, we chose to make our flute 1/4 of the wavelength of a C note. Our flute wouldn't be that useful however, if it only played one note. So we had to drill holes certain fractions of the whole tube length in relation to the lengths of the notes wavelengths and our tube. With our 7 holes in the tube, when one of them is uncovered, that air will blow out of that hole along with the sound of the vibration from your lips. The different holes shorten the wave in the tube, making it higher pitched. Sadly, after we made the flute, some other people broke our flute. So, we had to try and fix it with some duct tape.
Guitar
Next up is our string instrument. We made this by first, making a piece of wood that was appropriately shaped for a guitar. Then we got an empty bottle onto the wood, to vibrate the waves more. Then we got 6 different strings of different thickness and nailed one end into the wood and the other we manually wrapped tightly around a screw. Then we drilled in the screw, and as the screw went further into the wood, it tightened the string. We tightened all of the strings and then that was our guitar! The guitar makes noise when you vibrate the strings by plucking them. It makes different noises in three ways, the length of the string, it's width and how tight it is. Regarding the width, the wider something is the longer it will take a wave to vibrate, and so it will vibrate slower and make a lower note. On the flip side, a smaller string will vibrate quicker and make a higher pitch. The other way to change the sound is by changing the length of the string. You can do this by pressing a piece of metal part way up the string and that will shorten it. In guitars, there are frets in order to achieve this. The "shortening" of it really shortens the wavelength, changing the pitch of the string. Our guitar did not have frets, and you had to shorten the strings manually. Finally, you can change the pitch by how tight the string is. The tighter you make the string the faster the wave moves back and forth through the string, therefore the higher pitch you make.
Glass Jars
The final instrument we made was a bunch of glass jars. We tested to see how each jar sounded by itself, and to make deeper notes, we added different amounts of water. The reason why the water makes them sound deeper when they are hit is because of the change of medium for the vibration. Since water is more dense than air, it will travel slower in the water and make the sounds deeper. The more water there was in the jar the deeper the sound would become. In addition to the water, the thickness of the glass could change how it sounds and the diameter of the open top of the jar also changes the pitch of the sounds. These weren't really factors in our jars, since we used mostly the same type of jar with varied amounts of water.
Flute
This was probably the easiest instrument of the three to make and the easiest to understand how it works. We made it simply by cutting a PVC pipe and drilling holes into it. When you blow into the flute you have your lips vibrate slightly to create a wave traveling through the tube. Since each pitch has a different wavelength, we chose to make our flute 1/4 of the wavelength of a C note. Our flute wouldn't be that useful however, if it only played one note. So we had to drill holes certain fractions of the whole tube length in relation to the lengths of the notes wavelengths and our tube. With our 7 holes in the tube, when one of them is uncovered, that air will blow out of that hole along with the sound of the vibration from your lips. The different holes shorten the wave in the tube, making it higher pitched. Sadly, after we made the flute, some other people broke our flute. So, we had to try and fix it with some duct tape.
Guitar
Next up is our string instrument. We made this by first, making a piece of wood that was appropriately shaped for a guitar. Then we got an empty bottle onto the wood, to vibrate the waves more. Then we got 6 different strings of different thickness and nailed one end into the wood and the other we manually wrapped tightly around a screw. Then we drilled in the screw, and as the screw went further into the wood, it tightened the string. We tightened all of the strings and then that was our guitar! The guitar makes noise when you vibrate the strings by plucking them. It makes different noises in three ways, the length of the string, it's width and how tight it is. Regarding the width, the wider something is the longer it will take a wave to vibrate, and so it will vibrate slower and make a lower note. On the flip side, a smaller string will vibrate quicker and make a higher pitch. The other way to change the sound is by changing the length of the string. You can do this by pressing a piece of metal part way up the string and that will shorten it. In guitars, there are frets in order to achieve this. The "shortening" of it really shortens the wavelength, changing the pitch of the string. Our guitar did not have frets, and you had to shorten the strings manually. Finally, you can change the pitch by how tight the string is. The tighter you make the string the faster the wave moves back and forth through the string, therefore the higher pitch you make.
Glass Jars
The final instrument we made was a bunch of glass jars. We tested to see how each jar sounded by itself, and to make deeper notes, we added different amounts of water. The reason why the water makes them sound deeper when they are hit is because of the change of medium for the vibration. Since water is more dense than air, it will travel slower in the water and make the sounds deeper. The more water there was in the jar the deeper the sound would become. In addition to the water, the thickness of the glass could change how it sounds and the diameter of the open top of the jar also changes the pitch of the sounds. These weren't really factors in our jars, since we used mostly the same type of jar with varied amounts of water.
Our three instruments
Physics Concepts
Wavelength: The distance from crest to crest on a wave; measured in meters
Frequency/ f: How often a wave occurs; measured in Hertz (Hz). Frequency = 1/T
Period/ T: The amount of time between waves. Period = 1/f
Crest: The peak of a wave
Trough: The very bottom of a wave
Amplitude: The distance between either the crest or the trough to the middle of a wave
Wavespeed/ Velocity: V = wavelength * frequency (in meters per second)
Transverse Wave: A wave that moves up and down as it moves
Longitudinal Wave: A wave that compresses as it moves
Constructive Waves: When two waves add together
Deconstructive Waves: When two waves subtract each other
In the project we had to use formulas with wavelength, frequency, and period to find numbers for our instruments and find out what was really happening, rather than it just sounded lower to us. We also used musical terms and knowledge to aid us in making the instruments correctly and presenting them formally to the class.
Reflection
This was a really fun project to do. It wasn't a very challenging project to do, but I don't have a lot of experience in music. The flute and the chimes were the easiest to make, and the guitar proved a little more challenging. We had to do more planning on how we were going to put the strings onto the guitar. We ended up having to manually wrap each string around a screw, and screw the screw into the board we made for the guitar. Then we had to tighten the strings, and one of them was tightened too much and snapped. The whole thing was a pain in the ass. I learned to be patient with the instruments when we were trying to get the right pitches for all of the instruments. I also planned out the instruments really well for our group so we didn't have to struggle with that. I could have been nicer when someone did something I didn't appreciate. I could have done more to help out with the project at certain times as well.
Wavelength: The distance from crest to crest on a wave; measured in meters
Frequency/ f: How often a wave occurs; measured in Hertz (Hz). Frequency = 1/T
Period/ T: The amount of time between waves. Period = 1/f
Crest: The peak of a wave
Trough: The very bottom of a wave
Amplitude: The distance between either the crest or the trough to the middle of a wave
Wavespeed/ Velocity: V = wavelength * frequency (in meters per second)
Transverse Wave: A wave that moves up and down as it moves
Longitudinal Wave: A wave that compresses as it moves
Constructive Waves: When two waves add together
Deconstructive Waves: When two waves subtract each other
In the project we had to use formulas with wavelength, frequency, and period to find numbers for our instruments and find out what was really happening, rather than it just sounded lower to us. We also used musical terms and knowledge to aid us in making the instruments correctly and presenting them formally to the class.
Reflection
This was a really fun project to do. It wasn't a very challenging project to do, but I don't have a lot of experience in music. The flute and the chimes were the easiest to make, and the guitar proved a little more challenging. We had to do more planning on how we were going to put the strings onto the guitar. We ended up having to manually wrap each string around a screw, and screw the screw into the board we made for the guitar. Then we had to tighten the strings, and one of them was tightened too much and snapped. The whole thing was a pain in the ass. I learned to be patient with the instruments when we were trying to get the right pitches for all of the instruments. I also planned out the instruments really well for our group so we didn't have to struggle with that. I could have been nicer when someone did something I didn't appreciate. I could have done more to help out with the project at certain times as well.