The first person to theorize on the science behind acoustics was the Greek philosopher Pythagoras. Pythagoras primarily experimented with the science behind vibrating strings, and his experiments were so fundamental that even now, 2600 years later the pythagorean tuning system is still widely used. 200 years later, Aristotle theorized (correctly) that sound waves spread through the air via the motion of the air. However, he proposed this theory predominantly based on philosophy not actual physics and it wasn't until 300 years later that the Roman architect Vitruvius was able to conduct experiments proving Aristotle right and also proving that high frequencies travel slower than low frequencies.

After the work of the ancient philosophers and physicists, the next breakthrough in the physics of music came from Galileo Galilei in the 16th century. Galileo was inspired by his father who was a fairly well known composer, musician and mathematician. Through several experiments, Galileo solidified the study of vibrations as a science as well as establishing the connection between pitch and frequency. Stemming from Galileo's work, a French mathematician Marin Mersenne studied the vibrations of stretched strings and created Mersenne's three laws which govern the construction and operation of string instruments.

After Mersenne's work in the arena of string instruments an English physicist named Robert Hooke entered the scene. He became the first producer of a sound wave of a known frequency. He was able to accomplish this using a rotating cog wheel to measure the sound wave. In the 19th century the French physicist Félix Savart continued Hooke's work and became known for this device (now known Savart's disk) which is commonly used in physics demonstrations. Another French Physicist named Joseph Sauveur took Mersenne's work even further documenting his detailed studies into the relationship between frequency, pitch, and waves in stretched strings.

Today I conducted research on the internet to determine what topic I want to conduct my DYO on. After much thought, I have decided to build a Rube Goldberg Machine that utilizes the concepts that we studied in our various lab practicums throughout the year, as well as the recent study we undertook on musical instruments and the physics behind music. I spent the second half of class sketching out several ideas (documented to the left) for this project.

Today I did the calculations to figure out the length of each piece of PVC for the pan pipe. I then measured the lengths out, marked the PVC pipes with sharpie and then cut the pipes to the proper length. I also briefly tested that they were able to make noise by covering the bottom of each pipe with my hand and blowing across it as I would if the instrument were fully constructed.

Today I took the pipes that I had cut yesterday and assembled them into the full set of pan pipes. I did this by first using cardboard to cover the ends of each pipe. I then glued my eight pipes in ascending note order to another piece of cardboard. Once the glue had dried, I cut out the excess cardboard so that the pan pipes had the same shape when looked at from both directions. Finally, I painted the pipes to make them look less DIY and more polished.

Today I worked on creating the recorder out of PVC pipe. First, I followed the tutorial posted by Rick Osgood on YouTube. However, when I put the pieces together, I couldn't get it to make noise, and I quickly realized that this is because I am using the same size PVC pipe for both the body and mouthpiece of the recorder. I either need to use 1/2" CPVC and PVC pipe or two different sizes of PVC pipe. Once I realized this, I attempted to instead follow the tutorial posted by MNda TV on YouTube. However, the precision of angles required for this build was extremely difficult to achieve. Tomorrow I will attempt to find either 1/2" CPVC and PVC pipe, or two slightly different sizes of PVC pipe to reattempt the original tutorial. If this fails, I will either return to the second tutorial or attempt to find a new one.

Today I continued to work on making the recorder. I got a piece of 2/8" PVC Pipe to act as the mouthpiece. With this new piece, I was able to put cut a new head and body piece for the recorder. I need to cut a new piece for the mouth insert, but once that is completed, the recorder should play a single note. I also completed the calculations to determine the locations for each finger hole on the body.

Today I finished building my recorder. I had some trouble with getting it to make noise but after some assistance from Mr. Copeland and Ars Lee I was able to get it working. Once I finished the recorder, I recorded the songs that I am playing.

Today I recorded my abstract and conclusion videos. Then I created a poster. It contains a bit of background, the calculations I did, the process I followed, and the sheet music I used. I will have my recorder and pan pipes at my booth so that people can play them when they come by. I also finalized my website and made sure that everything is all set for the Symposium tomorrow.