Project overview:
For this project, we were tasked with creating three musical instruments that could create the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. I was in a group with fellow earthlings Patrick Heslip, Michael "Mikey" Harris, and Benjamin "Ben" Franks. We set out to go above and beyond the expected requirements. Our instruments played a full scale (8 notes) and we played major scales. This meant that we had several sharps in each scale. One instrument had to use wind, one had to be some sort of chime, and one had to be a stringed instrument. We created a clarinet in an A major scale, a guitar in an A major scale, and chimes in a B major scale. More information about the specific notes played will be in the document below.
Our instruments:
The write-up below goes into detail about how each instrument works, notes played, and specifics (physics-wise) of each note's frequency, wavelength, etc.
concepts:
Vibration: A vibration is a wiggle in space and time
Wave: A wave is a cyclic back and forth motion, this can be up and down (transverse wave), or within itself in compression and rarefaction zones (compression wave)
Wavelength: The distance from crest to crest within a wave: [wavelength = wave-speed divided by frequency] measured in meters (can be smaller depending on the size)
Wave-speed: How far a wave goes per unit of time (not to be redundant but it is simply the speed of the wave): [wave-speed = distance divided by time] or [wave-speed = wavelength times frequency] measured in meters per second
Frequency: The number of wave motions per second: [frequency = wave-speed divided by wavelength] or [frequency = 1 divided by period] measured in Hertz (Hz).
Period: How long a wave (or back and forth motion, like on a pendulum) takes to be completed: [period = 1 divided by frequency] measured in seconds
Amplitude: The height of a wave, directly proportional to volume
Relationships:
Wave: A wave is a cyclic back and forth motion, this can be up and down (transverse wave), or within itself in compression and rarefaction zones (compression wave)
Wavelength: The distance from crest to crest within a wave: [wavelength = wave-speed divided by frequency] measured in meters (can be smaller depending on the size)
Wave-speed: How far a wave goes per unit of time (not to be redundant but it is simply the speed of the wave): [wave-speed = distance divided by time] or [wave-speed = wavelength times frequency] measured in meters per second
Frequency: The number of wave motions per second: [frequency = wave-speed divided by wavelength] or [frequency = 1 divided by period] measured in Hertz (Hz).
Period: How long a wave (or back and forth motion, like on a pendulum) takes to be completed: [period = 1 divided by frequency] measured in seconds
Amplitude: The height of a wave, directly proportional to volume
Relationships:
- The higher the amplitude, the higher the volume, and vice versa
- The higher the wavelength, the lower the frequency, and vice versa
- The higher the frequency, the smaller the wavelength, and vice versa
- Frequency and Period are inverses of each other
reflection:
I flat out loved this project. I had a great group, had a great time, and did great work. I was very motivated this project, as were my teammates, and I believe that this showed in our final project. We created three beautifully working instruments and had no arguments as far as I can remember. Therefore there were countless peaks. One was teamwork. We all took leadership roles when was necessary, and we all took responsibility greatly. Another peak was time management. We never rushed, and were easily able to finish, with time to spare. I think this was the best project in this respect, and one of the best projects in general. We didn't really have many pits that I think of. The only one that I can think of was leadership. I was lucky enough to have four leaders in my group, and it was hard for all of us to get used to this. However, we all adjusted and took leadership when we needed to. It was a great group dynamic. I know that we are supposed to write about two peaks and two pits. However, I genuinely cannot think of a second pit. It was a spectacular effort by all of us, and I hope to have another group like this in the near future.