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Buildabandstem

The group created four musical instruments: a string instrument made from wood, screws, fishing line and a tin can to produce notes; a percussion instrument made from a dented tin can to produce different notes; glass bottles filled with varying water levels to produce notes; and a wind instrument made by attaching a clarinet mouthpiece to a PVC pipe with drilled holes to produce notes. For each instrument, the group measured string lengths, dent depths, water levels or hole placements to match note frequencies and wavelengths in order to play a scale.

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78 views

Buildabandstem

The group created four musical instruments: a string instrument made from wood, screws, fishing line and a tin can to produce notes; a percussion instrument made from a dented tin can to produce different notes; glass bottles filled with varying water levels to produce notes; and a wind instrument made by attaching a clarinet mouthpiece to a PVC pipe with drilled holes to produce notes. For each instrument, the group measured string lengths, dent depths, water levels or hole placements to match note frequencies and wavelengths in order to play a scale.

Uploaded by

api-276679577
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BuildaBand

StringInstrument
Forourstringinstrument,wedecidedonmakingabasestyleof
instrument.Beforeconstructing,wehadtoknowthewavelengthsofthenoteswe
wantedtocreate.Wedidsomeresearchanddiscoveredawebsitethathadallthe
namesofnotesandtheirfrequenciesandwavelengths.Tofindthelengthofthe
stringswehadtouse,wetookeachnoteswavelengthanddivideditinhalf.This
meantwewouldgetthesamenotewhileusingareasonablescale.Thesoundis
createdbypluckingthestring,whichthenvibratesandcreatesthesoundyou
hear.Differentpitchescanbemadebychangingthetensionofthestrings.For
example,looserstringscreatelowernotesandtighterstringscreatehighernotes.
Wemadeourstringinstrumentusingapieceofwood,screws,fishingline,
andalargetincan.Westartedtoscrewingthecanontothepieceofwoodclose
totheendofit.Wethenscrewedsevenscrewsintothewoodattheveryend,
behindthecan.Next,wescrewedsevenmorescrewsontheothersideofthecan
inlinewiththeoriginallineofscrews.Wemadesuretomeasureandputthem
exactlyinthecorrectplaceaccordingtoourcalculationsofthewavelengths.We
measuredthestringsstartingfromthemiddleofthecan,sowehadconsistent
measurements.Afterhavingallofourscrewsintherightplace,wetiedfishing
linetoeachofthescrewsthatlinedup.Totightenthemandgetthemtotheright
pitch,weusedadrilltotightenthestringaroundthescrews.Weusedtuningapps
onourphonestogettherightnotes.Belowisatableourdata:

Note

Frequency
(Hz)

Wavelength
(cm)

Wavelength
(cm)

A
4

440.00

78.41

39.205

B
4

493.88

69.85

34.925

C
5

523.25

64.93

32.315

E
4

329.63

104.66

52.33

F
4

349.23

98.79

49.395

D
4

293.66

117.48

58.74

G
4

392.00

88.01

44.005

PercussionInstrument
Wecreatedavariationofasteeldrumusingalargetomatotincananda
sledgehammer.Withthesledgehammer,wedentedthetopofthecanand
createddifferentnotes.Oncewefoundaspotonthecanthatconsistentlyhitthe
samenote,wecouldcreatetheothernotes.
Whenthedrumisstruckwiththemallet,vibrationsaresentthroughthe
metalinthedrum.Thesoundresonatesinsideofthecan.Fromthere,thesoundis
carriedthroughairandourearspickupthesounds.Adifferentsoundiscreated
whenyouhitspecificpartsofthedrumssurface.Whenhit,theseplacesonthe
drumcreatefrequencies.Thesefrequenciescanbeheardasnotesonthemusical
scale.
ThenotesweareusingareA,B,C,D,E,F,andG.Alowernoteis
producedwithdeepergroovesinthedrum.Ahighernoteisproducedwitha
shallowergrooveinthedrum.Thesoundisloweronadeeperindentation
becausethebasethatthesoundtravelsthroughiswiderwhichcreatesalonger
wavelength.Thiswavesoundslowerbecauseofthelongerwavelengths.
Theshallowindentationscreateahigherpitchedsoundbecausethebaseis
smallersothewavelengthsaresmaller.Belowisatableofourdata:

Notes

Distancefromrim(cm)

2.25

2.2

9.25

1.6

4.8

2.4

Chimes
Forourchimeinstrument,wedecidedtouseglassbottlesfilledwith
differentlevelsofwatertocreatedifferentnotes.Tocreatetherightpitchnotes,
weexperimentedwithdifferentamountsofwaterandtunedthemusingtuning
appsonourphones.AssoonaswefoundtheA,whichisthefirstnote,itwas
easytofindtheothernotes.Youjusthadtodecreasetheamountsofwaterby
aroundhalf.Togetlowernotes,youhavetofillupthebottlemore.Thiscauses
thevibrationstobesloweddownbythewater.Asthenotesgethigher,the
amountofwaterdecreases.Thiscausesthevibrationstospeedup,sincethereis
lesswater.Forthelastnote,whichistheG,thebottlewasslightlytoolargetobe
abletocreateanotehighenough,evenwiththebottlecompletelyempty.Wealso
triedtomakeaGusingtheloweroctave,butthebottlewasalittletoosmall.So,
althoughthelastnoteisnotquiteaG,itisascloseaswecouldgetbasedonthe
naturalfrequencyofthebottle.Wechosetouseglassbottlesbecausetheyhave
tomostresonance,whichcausesthesoundtocarrymore.Wewere
experimentingwithdifferenttoolstohitthebottleswith,andwediscoveredthat
denserobjects,likemetalandpipes,makeloudersoundsthanlessdense
materials,suchasapencilorruler.Wedecidedtouseametalpipe,which
resonatedtheloudestnotes.Youcanseeatableofourdatabelow:

Note

Wavelength
(cm)

Frequency
(Hz)

Amountof
Water

Sizeof
Bottle

A
4

78.41

440.00

15cm

19cm

B
4

69.85

493.88

11cm

19cm

C
4

131.87

261.63

9cm

19cm

D
4

117.48

293.66

6.5cm

19cm

E
4

104.66

329.63

5.5cm

19cm

F
4

98.79

349.23

4.5cm

19cm

G
4

88.01

392.00

empty

19cm

WindInstrument
Ourgroupmadeanadaptionoftheclarinet.Weusedthemouthpieceofan
actualclarinetandPVCpipe.Whenblownintothemouthpiece,avibrationis
createdfromthereedmovingupanddown.Thevibrationthentravelsthrough
thetubecreatinganote.Inourcase,differentnotesarecreatedwiththevarious
placementoftheholesandbycoveringanduncoveringthem.
ThenoteswecreatedareA,B,C,D,E,F,andG.Normallyanoteis
producedbyatubethatisonequarterofthelengthofthewavelengthneeded.
Thetubehastobeonequarteroftheactualwavelengthbecauseairpressureis
greatestatthemouthsideofthetubeandreducestoneutralatmosphericpressure
attheopensideofthetube.Thisisaquarterofthefull
Oncewefoundthemeasurementsofthehole,wedrilledthemintothe
PVCpipeandbegantotunethem.Westartedofwithasmallholetogiveusthe
chanceoftuningthenotesifitwasnecessary.Wetonedthenotesbymakingthe
holesbigger.Theshorterthewavelength,whichhasahighfrequency,thehigher
thenote.Whereasthelongerthewavelength,whichhasalowerfrequency,the
lowerthenoteis.
Note

Frequency
(Hz)

Wavelength
(cm)

Wavelength
(cm)

Distance
From
Mouthpiece
toHole
(cm)

A
5

880.00

39.20

9.8

28.8

B
5

987.77

34.93

8.7325

25.5

C
5

523.25

65.93

16.4825

48(open)

D
5

587.33

58.74

14.685

43

E
5

659.25

52.33

13.0825

38.7

F
5

698.46

49.39

12.3475

35.4

G
5

783.99

44.01

11.0025

32.5

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