Project Overview
During this project me and my group designed and built instruments to create a band. The requirements for the for the band was that it had to contain at least one wind, string, and chime instrument. Also, each instrument had to be capable of producing a full octave. In order to make successful instruments, we needed to better understand how sound is created, more specifically, how to create and control the sounds we wanted.
Sound Content
Wavelength- distance from crest to crest of wave
Amplitude- height or size of wave, determines volume
Frequency- rate at which waves pass per second
Velocity- rate at which a wave moves
Period- time per wave
Amplitude- height or size of wave, determines volume
Frequency- rate at which waves pass per second
Velocity- rate at which a wave moves
Period- time per wave
Our Work
Our group made a small harp, a flute, and chimes. To make them, we used our understanding of sound waves, as well as individual ratios and length for each interment in order to get the right sound for each note of each octave on every different instrument. Next we constructed our instruments using the materials we found in our stem class. Our previous work with the tools made our jobs quicker and we used the rest our time to tune the instruments and make sure they were working properly and had the right tune.
Document
Reflection
During this project, I got to try something very new to me. I am not well versed in playing instruments, and appreciate music more than i create it. Yet, i found it very interesting to have much better understanding of how musical instruments are created and how truly complicated and specific they are. It was challenging to get all of the measurements perfect so the sounds were more on key, and we had to remind ourselves not be dishearten when our instruments did not sound like those you would normally hear. After all, it is an art to make and play them. Overall, I am proud of our band, and am pleasantly surprised with my new amount of knowledge and appreciation of music that I gained from this project.