Soundisproducedwhenourbrainsinterpretwavesproducedbyvibrations.

These
wavesaremadebycontinuousandregularvibrationsthattravelthroughdifferentmediums.
Soundwavescantravelthroughsolids,liquids,andgases.Whenthesevibrationsenterour
ears,ourbrainsinterpretthefrequenciesandwavelengthstoproduceanote.
Frequency
is
howmanytimesawavevibratespersecond.A
wavelength
isthedistancebetweenthe
crestsofawave.

WindInstrument
:

Tomakeanoteonawindinstrument,itneedstobeaquarterofthewavelength.Thisis
becausewhenyouarenotplaying,ititstaysatnormalairpressure.Butwhenyoublow
acrossthetopyoucreateanareaoflowerpressure(Bernoulli'sPrinciple:thefasterafluid
movesthelesspressureitexerts).Fromstandardneutralpressuretolowpressureonawave
itisoftheaveragelength.ForinstanceifiwanttoplayamiddleCwithawavelengthof
131.87cmiwillmaketheinstrument32.97cm.
Bymakingspecificlengthedinstrumentswecontrolledthefrequency,ourwholegoal.
Frequencyisturnedintoaspecificnervesignalinourears,whichthengoestothebrainand
thenisinterpretedasapitch.Wewereabletoknowthefrequencywouldbecontrolledbythe
lengthoftheinstrumentbecauseoftheequationV=t(Velocity(m/s)=wavelength(m)x
frequency(Hzor1/s))weknowthevelocityis340.29m/ssoifwecontrolthewavelengththen
thefrequencywillbeforcedtobewhatwewant.
Whenresearchingwhattobuildwedecidedonapanflutelikedevicebecausewe
knewitwouldberelativelyeasytomakeandwouldproduceanicecleansound.Ourpan
flutelooksverytraditional,withthelengthsofthepipesproceedingfromlongesttoshortest,
exceptforonepipe.However,thislongerpipestillproducesanotethatishigherthanthe
shorterpipethatcomesnext.Thisisbecausewhenweclosedofftheendsofourpipes,the
plasticwenttoofarupintothepipeandactuallymadeitshorterthanthepipenexttoitthaton
thesurfacelooksshorter.

Note(octave)

WaveLength

PipelengthWavelength

C(5)

65.93

16.48

D(5)

58.74

14.69

E(5)

52.33

13.08

F(5)

49.39

12.35

G(5)

44.01

11.00

A(5)

39.20

9.80

B(5)

34.93

8.73

StringInstrumen
t:

Stringedinstrumentsworkbyvibratingstringsofvarioustensionsandwidthstoproduce
differentnotes.Eachinstrumentcanhaveonestringpernote(A,B,C,D,E,F,andG)oruse
frets,whichmarkareasonthestringstopress(thisshortensthelengthandproducesa
differentnote).Bycontrollingthelengths,widths,tensionandplacementofthefrets,youcan
produceanynoteyouneedonastringedinstrument.
Themainstringsonaguitar,ourchoseninstrument,producethenotesE,B,D,G,B,A,E.
Generally,stringedinstrumentsinthewesternworlddonthaveonestringpernote.By
pressingontheareasmarkedbythefrets,youcanproduceanyothernotewithinaboutfour
octavesdependingonthetypeofinstrumentandnumberoffrets.
Stringinstrumentsusuallyvibrateatonehalfofawavelength.Thismeansthatifonestring
vibratesatE4whichhasawavelengthof104.66cmthestringshouldbe52.33cmlongto
playthecorrectnote.Thiscanvaryslightly,however,ifthestringsdifferinwidthormaterial.
Usuallyifstringsaremadeofametalmaterial(orarethicker),theyproducealowerpitchand
vibrateslowerbecausetheyareheavierandhardertomove.Thinnerstringsmadeofplastic
oralightmaterialvibratefasterandproducehigherpitchednotes.Therestofastringed
instrumentcanbemadeofanysuitablematerialthoughwood,plasticormetalisbestas
longasitwillholditsshapeand(ifyouwantittoproduceabettertone)asoundboardand
holeinthebodyoftheinstrument.Simplyputtingtensiononavibratingstringwillproduce
soundaswell,butitwillnotbeasloudorclearasoneattachedtothebodyofaninstrument.
Forourinstrument,wedecidedtomakeaguitar.Itwas(intheory)asimplestringed
instrumentthatsomeofusknewhowtoplay.

Fret

DistancetoBridge

Lengthoffret

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

Chimes
:

Chimesaredifferentfromtheothertypesofinstrumentsbecausetheydonthavea
wavelengththatispredictablenomatterwhatmaterialtheyarebuiltwith.Unlikestring
instrumentswhichproducesoundbyvibratingastringatahalfwavelengthandwind
instrumentsthatproducesoundatafourthwavelength,chimesproducethesamenotesat
unpredictablewavelengths.Thisisbecausechimesproducesoundwhenthematerialthey
arearemadeofvibrates.Differentdimensionshavedifferentwavelengthsaswellasdifferent
materials.Differentmaterialsalsohavedifferentdensitiesaswellamasses.Droppinga
metalpipeonthegroundanddroppingapencilhaveverydifferentsounds,eveniftheywere
theexactsamedimensionsandweredroppedfromthesameheight.
Thisdifferenceofsoundoccursbecauseofsomethingcallednaturalfrequency.
Naturalfrequencyisthefrequencyatwhichsomethingvibratesnaturally,hencethename.
(Frequencyishowoften,orhowmany,wavelengthsoccurpersecond.)Theshorterthe
wavelength,thehigherthenoteis.Theshorterthewavelengthis,thehigherthefrequencyis
becausemorevibrationscanoccurinasecond.Theoppositeistrueforlongerlengths.
Chimesaretypicallymadeoutofwoodormetal.Whenchimesaremadeoutofwood,
hardwoodproducesthebestsound.Ourchimeinstrumentisbuiltoutofwood.Sinceitwas
notpossibleforustocutthepiecesofwoodtoaspecificpredescribednotebecausewedid
notknowthenaturalfrequency,insteadwecalculatednotesfromalengthof32centimeters.
Oncewehadalengththatproducedanote(amajorAasfaraswecouldfigure),itwas
possibletocalculatethelengthsofourotherchimesbecausethefrequencyofthewood
(onceanotewasproduced)isproportionalto1/(length).Thelengthisproportionaltothe
inverseofthesquarerootofthefrequencyaswell:1/(frequency)/.Asanexample,ifwehad
alengthof30cmandwewantedtocutanotherpiecethatwouldproduceanoteamorethird
abovethiswewouldfind30dividedbythefrequencyofamajorthird(whichis1.25or5/4)

andputitintotheequation:30/(1.25)/.Wecouldalsomultiply30cmby0.8944tofinda
shorterlengthordivideitbythesamenumbertofindalongerlength.
Ourchimesendedupincludingwoodcuttothelengthsof:39.19cm,36.95cm,35.05
cm,33.93cm,31.99cm,30.36cm,28.62cm,and27.71cm.Theshorterthelengththe
higherthenoteandthelongerthelengththelowerthenote.Thisisbecausetheshorter
piecesofwoodhaveshorterwavelengthssothewavesvibratemoreandhavehigher
frequencies.Whenthechimesarehitthewavelengthstravelfromthewoodthroughtheairto
ourears.
Thetablebelowhastheratiosneededtocalculatethelengthsofchimes.
Interval

Multiply
Longest
ChimeLength
by

Unison

1.0000

MinorSecond

0.9798

MajorSecond

0.9428

MinorThird

0.9129

MajorThird

0.8944

Fourth

0.8660

Diminished
Fifth

0.8433

Fifth

0.8165

MinorSixth

0.7906

MajorSixth

0.7746

MinorSeventh

0.7454

MajorSeventh

0.7303

Octave

0.7071

Drums:

Formanydrums,thetensionofthecontactsurfacechangesthefrequencyofthe
vibrationsandthereforechangesthepitchatwhichyouhearit.Thetensiononthetopsurface
thatyourhandscontactchangesthenotethatcomesasaresult.Thisprojectwas100%

guessandcheck.Wewouldchangethetensionofthedrumheadtocreatethedifferent
frequencies.Whentheheadsaretightthetensionofthedrumheadleadstoafaster
frequencyofvibration,andbecausethedrumswereallidenticalinsizeandmaterialtheonly
factorthatchangedwasthetension.Thisformedthenoteswehear.Thewavelengthsofthe
notethenfollowedsuit.
OurprojectmadeoutofPVCPipeandtarpisfarfromprofessionalbutdoesthejob.
Weplaythenotesbyhittingtherimwhichformedtheclearestnote.Wetensionedthedrums
bywindinganailaroundthestringsthatholdonthedrumonthebottom.Thehigherthe
tensionthehigherthenote.
Achallengeweexperiencedwithourmaterialswasthatthetarpwouldlosetension
andchangenotes.