Embedded Files
Musical instrument project?
The musical instrument project is where math and practicality meets. Turning calculations on a paper into tangible objects that are useable. The musical instruments project is an introduction to the world of engineering because for the first time doing an engineering project, we used math to solve the problems and create real world solutions.
Research:
6. Find a book of music for beginners that you can use to play songs on your instruments.
I will use my 6th grade band book. It is a very simple book that teaches the basic principles of music while still teaching how to read sheet music. But later in the book it teaches more advanced music, so that I can learn how to read and play the instrument and then learn harder rhythms.
7. Research how many of each instrument is included in a typical orchestra and where each is located in the orchestra. How do you think an instrument’s position affects the performance?
The reason instruments are structured like this in an orchestra is because position changes how loud any instruments are to the audience because their sound would have traveled farther so that the quieter instruments will be closer to the audience and the louder ones are further so the sound is balanced. Also lower instruments last longer, so they are positioned further away from the audience so all of the instruments sound like they are on time with each other.
Instrument Building:
Panpipes:
9. To make a panpipe, you will need 8 plastic straws, scissors, masking tape, a centimeter ruler, a calculator and an instrument to produce a middle C note, such as a piano.
A. Blow across the opening of one of the straws and compare the note with middle C. Cut off short segments of the straw to raise the pitch until the note of the straw sounds like middle C. Measure the length of the straw to the nearest 0.1 cm. Record this length as l1
I used PVC instead of straws as it is more structurally sound. Below is a video of me showing my in tune instrument.
FinalPanpipes.mov
C. Use your measurements from above to cut the straws for the remaining notes. Compare each note to the note produced by the musical instrument. Label each straw with the name of the note it plays.
To the left there is an image with the notes labeled for each PVC pipes correct note.
D. Place the straws on a flat surface in order from largest to smallest. Align the top edges. Put masking tape across the set. Pick up the set and wrap the rest of the tape around it.
I used duct tape rather than masking tape, the reason is again for better structural stability. Duct tape is significantly stronger than masking tape and will make the instrument last longer than just the timeline of the project.
Making the panpipes
Making the Panpipes was a simple but grueling task, I started by choosing a length that seemed about right, then I tuned it, if it was a little sharp I cut off a bit of PVC. I repeated this until I got the right tuning for the base note C. From there it was relatively simple, do the math using the logarithms to find the length of the next pipes. Once all of my pipes were correct length I set them down in the correct order then one by one, I would wrap a piece of duct tape around the first two, then I would add one, then another and so on and so fourth until They were all taped together. I then filled the rest of the white spots with tape to make it look uniform, and from there I put my name on it, the notes, and it was done!
Guitar:
9. To make a stringed instrument, you will need a piece of wood about 30 in. x 3 in. x 0.75 in, nylon fishing line cut into four equal lengths (about 85 cm each), 8 large screw eyes, a screwdriver, pliers and a marking pen.
I got the materials needed to build the Guitar from my garage and Ace hardware.
A. Position the screw eyes so that all four strings will be the same length. Tighten the first string. Pluck the string and tighten it until the pitch of the string matches the pitch of the middle C on your group’s panpipe.
Below is the result of the tuning of the guitar.
B. Repeat the tightening and tuning procedure for the remaining three strings for the notes E, G and upper C.
Tuning was easy until I got to the sharper notes, the string became so tight it made contact with the board, creating a undesirable sound. However I was able to counteract this by starting the string in a different spot, and holding the string up so it would not warp downwards.
Making the Guitar
Making the Panpipes was a simple but grueling task, I started by choosing a length that seemed about right, then I tuned it, if it was a little sharp I cut off a bit of PVC. I repeated this until I got the right tuning for the base note C. From there it was relatively simple, do the math using the logarithms to find the length of the next pipes. Once all of my pipes were correct length I set them down in the correct order then one by one, I would wrap a piece of duct tape around the first two, then I would add one, then another and so on and so fourth until They were all taped together. I then filled the rest of the white spots with tape to make it look uniform, and from there I put my name on it, the notes, and it was done!
Reflections
The panpipes seemed easier to understand because the visual of the log rhythm was much more vivid than the guitar was. On the panpipes there was a clear distinction of size between the pipes which vividly shows the math used, however the guitar was just shorter and shorter distances between lines which made it a lot harder to visualize the log rhythms. I have been in band for 5 years, and have been doing math basically my whole life. Throughout all of this time I never saw a correlation between the two, but thanks to this project I am was to make connections between the two and I can imagine in my future now that the two links are connected I will be seeing more math corollate to everyday life. My biggest takeaway from my correlation of math and music is the technicality's when it comes to creating something tangible, I found you cant just throw it together close to where its supposed to be, you need to make sure the instrument is carefully tuned, then carefully calibrated, which makes my view of the price of instruments change, I used to think they were super overpriced but now I understand the manual or at least delicate labor that is needed to create an instrument of any caliber.
Going into the project I knew what log rhythms were, I knew how to solve them, I knew how to find them, I knew how to make them, I knew how to read them, but there is something different from understanding a concept fully to actually applying it into real life. Something lit up in my brain during this project, but not like an eureka moment, just a connection made over time that taught me how the world relates to math, I feel like an expert physicist, but why? Why is it that a simple math project could teach one so much it makes them feel like a physicist, its because its my first connection from math to the real world, I have had been told what math is used for in the real world, but this project really taught me not just a concept I only know how to apply on paper, but a skill. Not the skill of turning PVC into a working instrument. But the skill of turning something from pen and paper to a real life application. From here I need to grow and expand this skill, and I need to learn more and understand how even more things correlate to everyday objects I know and love.
Page updated
Report abuse