Build a Band

In this project we learned about waves amplitude which is measured the height of the crests(tops) and troughs(bottoms) of a wave. we learned about frequency which is the amount of waves that pass through a space in a second, the wavelength which is the distance from one crest to another crest or one trough to another trough etc. Notes are dependent on the frequency and wavelength.

With this information we were tasked with building four instruments, one that was a strings instrument, one that was a chime instrument, and one that was a wind instrument, the fourth instrument was an instrument of choice. In our groups we had four members so each person was tasked with making one instrument, at first I was tasked with making the banjo but when I finished I also helped string and tune the bass.

For the Instrument that I mainly worked on the banjo It took me a while to figure out how I wanted it to look like and what I wanted to make it out of, a banjo is a guitar with a drum base so I used a water jug bottom as the drum. When you pluck at the banjo string it vibrates and makes a sound. There are 5 strings on a banjo but for our instrument we used 2 strings with four notes on each of them. Both of the strings make different sounds when you pluck at the string. The lengths of the strings are ½ of the wavelength of the note because the wave goes up and then back down the string. The drum part of the banjo is to amplify the sound the banjo makes. A banjo is classified as a string instrument.

The next instrument is a stand up bass A bass is basically a guitar with deeper notes. When you pluck the string on the bass the string vibrates. This vibration makes noise. The base of our bass amplifies and distributes the sound waves; this is what causes the resonance or quality of sound. A string instrument must have a ½ wavelength. This is how we hear the notes when you pluck the strings. We used a very thick string to emphasize a note and make it louder. We used 25lb. fishing line. We created our string tension by tying our string to screws and tightening the screws. Higher tension=Higher note. Our stand up bass is 60 inches tall and the strings on our bass are 54 inches long. I helped string the bass.

Another of the four instruments was the pan flute. A pan flute is a flute composed of many different sized pipes. We made 8 notes with the pan flute. To get different notes you need to change the frequency, and to do that you have to change the wavelength. There are frequencies for all notes and a wavelength assigned to each wavelength, so we could find how long each tube had to be. Wind instruments are usually ¼ of the wavelength of the note long such. The pipes of the pan flute are ⅛ of the wavelength of each note; this is because the air travels down the pipe and then back up. To make a note you have to blow into the top of the pipe which vibrates the air creating sound. Changing the length of the pipes changes the wavelength, then changing the note.

The last instrument we made was the xylophone A xylophone is a set of blocks in different sizes either made out of wood or metal. And when you hit one of the blocks of wood with a mallet they each make different notes when they vibrate. This is because they are each cut into different sizes and each different block when hit with the mallet makes a different sound. A xylophone is classified as a chime instrument. And the reason the smaller blocks make higher pitched sounds is because smaller objects have a higher frequency which makes a higher pitched note. And the bigger blocks make a lower frequency when struck so that makes a lower pitched note. Weirdly, the largest block is very loud and high pitched and the smallest block is dull and low pitched. Neither of them are hollow or have knots, so we don’t know why this is happening.

Reflection: In this assignment I think that I did really well, i was able to stay mostly on task and got to build a lot and do more work than I usually do in other projects. Some things that I could have done better was some planning before I got to work, I started planning it out in my head but I didn't make a blueprint, and I think that we could have also worked A bit more together because we didn't work together that much during the project because we were all working on our own projects, but at the end we had all come together and all the instruments worked.