Musical Instruments
With this project we built our own instruments. We built a string instrument, and chime instrument, and a wind instrument.
Content
The chime instrument works when you hit the chimes with a hard material like wood that cause each chime to vibrate at a certain wavelength, which in turn create sound waves that we hear. Every material has a natural frequency which is based on the elasticity and the shape of the object, causing some materials to resonate better than others. Thus we decided to use a emt metal pipe because it resonates very well, producing a clear and loud sound. We found a website that gave us the ratio of the length difference between notes. Using this information we cut our first pipe to 10.1 inches and then used the ratios from the website to cut our other pipes.
Although we kept all of our notes in the same octave, you can change the octave by multiplying the length by the square root of 2 to go lower an octave and multiply by the square root of 2 divided by 2 to get an octave higher. Using a tuner app on our phone, we found what note each pipe was. To set up the pipes on our base, we drilled in screws spaced 3 cm apart leaving room for the pipes to fit through. Then we weaved rubber bands around the screws and pipes because the pipes can’t be touching the screws or the base board. They cannot touch the screws or base board because the wood and screws would absorb the vibrations, and then the sound vibrations would be absorb into the other materials instead of traveling into our ears. Furthermore, the longer chimes will produce a deeper lower sound, because they make longer wave lengths and less waves per seconds creating a lower frequency. Whereas the shorter chimes will have a higher sound because their waves being produced are shorter and are producing more per second, so there is a higher frequency. In conclusion, our instrument works by vibrating chimes that produces vibrations at different wavelengths and frequencies that create a variety of sound waves that we hear.
The wind instrument is designed in the fashion of a saxophone. Saxophones, along with other reeded instruments, have a wooden reed that is latched onto a mouthpiece using what is known as a ligature. The ligature keeps the reed pressed tightly against the base of the mouthpiece. A slight incline in the opening of the mouthpiece creates a gap between the top of the mouthpiece and the reed. The musician then grasps the mouthpiece and reed using their top and bottom teeth. Their bottom teeth are covered with their lips which allows the reed to vibrate. When they blow air into the instrument, the air causes the reed to vibrate. This vibration causes compression and rarefaction sound waves in the air. These sound waves travel the length of the instrument, escaping at some points through open keys. The length of the tubing of the instrument, along with the width of the tubing, can also affect the pitch as it can allow larger wavelengths, and therefore large sound waves to pass through, creating a lower sound. Often, real saxophones have one or more octave keys which are on the neck of the instrument. These octave keys are the highest up on the instrument and allow the tubing to be shortened drastically. Because of this, the notes played with the octave key open are an entire octave above those played with it closed. Another thing that helps change the note is dropping your jaw, mouthing up or down on the mouthpiece itself, how tight the hold on the mouthpiece is with your mouth, and the speed of your air. The tighter your grip, the tighter the reed is, the tighter your jaw, and the faster the air, the higher the frequency is. This is because the air is faster and in a more central point, which causes the reed to vibrate faster.
The ukulele instrument uses strings to play its sound. Depending on how tight the string is, different notes will come from it. Once the strings are hit, they vibrate side to side and form transverse waves. The waves hit the top of the instrument and come off as sound waves.
Different note make different frequencies that can range from 261.63 Hz to 440 Hz. The higher the frequency the higher pitched noise it makes. The natural notes found on the Ukulele are G, C, E, A which creates a C chord. However, our instrument is designed on a G chord. Which is built on a G scale with one sharp. Using the first, third, fifth, and seventh of the scale, our string are tuned to G, B, D, and F#. The more notes can be made with different fingering on the strings. The length of the strings allow certain notes to be played. Our string is 33 cm. The wooden box with the hole amplifies the sound allowing more people to hear it. When the sound waves hit the box, more air is disturbed so more sound is produced. The box meets the same frequency as the strings vibrating.
Although we kept all of our notes in the same octave, you can change the octave by multiplying the length by the square root of 2 to go lower an octave and multiply by the square root of 2 divided by 2 to get an octave higher. Using a tuner app on our phone, we found what note each pipe was. To set up the pipes on our base, we drilled in screws spaced 3 cm apart leaving room for the pipes to fit through. Then we weaved rubber bands around the screws and pipes because the pipes can’t be touching the screws or the base board. They cannot touch the screws or base board because the wood and screws would absorb the vibrations, and then the sound vibrations would be absorb into the other materials instead of traveling into our ears. Furthermore, the longer chimes will produce a deeper lower sound, because they make longer wave lengths and less waves per seconds creating a lower frequency. Whereas the shorter chimes will have a higher sound because their waves being produced are shorter and are producing more per second, so there is a higher frequency. In conclusion, our instrument works by vibrating chimes that produces vibrations at different wavelengths and frequencies that create a variety of sound waves that we hear.
The wind instrument is designed in the fashion of a saxophone. Saxophones, along with other reeded instruments, have a wooden reed that is latched onto a mouthpiece using what is known as a ligature. The ligature keeps the reed pressed tightly against the base of the mouthpiece. A slight incline in the opening of the mouthpiece creates a gap between the top of the mouthpiece and the reed. The musician then grasps the mouthpiece and reed using their top and bottom teeth. Their bottom teeth are covered with their lips which allows the reed to vibrate. When they blow air into the instrument, the air causes the reed to vibrate. This vibration causes compression and rarefaction sound waves in the air. These sound waves travel the length of the instrument, escaping at some points through open keys. The length of the tubing of the instrument, along with the width of the tubing, can also affect the pitch as it can allow larger wavelengths, and therefore large sound waves to pass through, creating a lower sound. Often, real saxophones have one or more octave keys which are on the neck of the instrument. These octave keys are the highest up on the instrument and allow the tubing to be shortened drastically. Because of this, the notes played with the octave key open are an entire octave above those played with it closed. Another thing that helps change the note is dropping your jaw, mouthing up or down on the mouthpiece itself, how tight the hold on the mouthpiece is with your mouth, and the speed of your air. The tighter your grip, the tighter the reed is, the tighter your jaw, and the faster the air, the higher the frequency is. This is because the air is faster and in a more central point, which causes the reed to vibrate faster.
The ukulele instrument uses strings to play its sound. Depending on how tight the string is, different notes will come from it. Once the strings are hit, they vibrate side to side and form transverse waves. The waves hit the top of the instrument and come off as sound waves.
Different note make different frequencies that can range from 261.63 Hz to 440 Hz. The higher the frequency the higher pitched noise it makes. The natural notes found on the Ukulele are G, C, E, A which creates a C chord. However, our instrument is designed on a G chord. Which is built on a G scale with one sharp. Using the first, third, fifth, and seventh of the scale, our string are tuned to G, B, D, and F#. The more notes can be made with different fingering on the strings. The length of the strings allow certain notes to be played. Our string is 33 cm. The wooden box with the hole amplifies the sound allowing more people to hear it. When the sound waves hit the box, more air is disturbed so more sound is produced. The box meets the same frequency as the strings vibrating.
Reflection
I thought my group of Caitlin, Alexa and Karina went really well. We were good about organization and time management, but we probably could have worked more on our wind instrument and getting it put together. I learned the musical scale and actually how to build an instrument. I will improve on my building skills and how to play instruments correctly.