BuildaBandJustification

LaraGlendening,ToniSpina,RachelHoulihan,IsabellaMadison

Guitar(string):

Toformdifferentnotes,astringinstrumentneedstohavefretsathalfwavelengths.The
guitarworksbyhavingoneofitssixstringsplucked.Thiscreatesavibrationthatisamplifiedby
thebodyoftheguitarthroughthehole.Wecutallofthestringstothesamelength,butwe
placeddifferentfretsalongtheneckoftheguitar.Whenthestringsarepusheddownatthe
frets,theywillformdifferentnotes.Wehavesixstringsontheguitarandeightfrets,ranging
fromC4toC5.Thefretswereplacedwheretheywerebecausethelengthofeachfretfromthe
endofthebridgeishalfofthenoteswavelength.Wedidthisbecausethewavelengthstring
willgobothupanddown,formingafullwavelength.(Seepicturebelow)

Thisisatableshowingthefullwavelengthsandourfretlengths.

Note

Wavelength

Fretlength

C4

132cm

66cm

D4

117cm

58.5cm

E4

105cm

52.5cm

F4

99cm

49.5cm

G4

88cm

44cm

A4

78cm

39cm

B4

70cm

35cm

C5

66cm

33cm

Webuilttheguitarstop,bottom,neck,andbridgeoutofwood.Wealsousedsmall
woodblockstoconnectthetopandbottom,butthatwascoveredbythemetalsheetingwe
wrappedaroundtheside.Weusedmetalsheetingbecausewewantedacurvedguitar,andthe
metalwasbendableandrelativelyeasytowraparoundtheedge.Weusedfishingwireasthe
stringsbecauseitwasavailableandvibratedloudenoughtobeheard.

Flute(wind):

Description
:

Forourwindinstrument,webuiltaPVCflute.Theflutehassixholesandamouthpiece
toblowinto.Theseholescreatethesevennotescale.Oneendisstoppedwithacork,andthe
otherendisopentolettheairthrough.Differentnotesarecreatedbycoveringdifferentholesto
changethewindpatterns,whichchangesthepressure.Theplacementoftheholeswasbased
onquarterwavelengths.Thisisbecausetheendofthefluteisaquarterofthewavelength
producedbyblowingintotheflute.(seepicturebelow)

Wealsodiscoveredthatsomeholesneededtobedifferentsizes,andtwoofthemneededtobe
rotatedup.Unfortunately,Ilostthepieceofpaperwithourcalculationsonit,soIcannotinclude
atable.

Wehadaproblemwithcoveringsomeoftheholesbecauseoftheirsizeandtheway
theywereplaced.However,wesolvedtheproblembymakingcoveringsoutofacutupplastic
cupandplacingthemovertheholes.Theyblocktheairandmakenotesjustaswellasafinger
does.

Ideally,theholeswouldhavebeenatquarterwavelengths,butthatwasnttrueforour
flute.Hereisatablewithnotes,wavelengths,andthedistancesfromtheembouchuretothe
holethatmadethenote.

Note

Wavelength(cm)

Distancetohole(cm)

G5

44cm

14cm

F5

49.4cm

17.5cm

E5

52.3cm

20.5cm

D5

58.7cm

23cm

C5

65.9cm

26.5cm

B5

34.9cm

29.5cm

A5

39.2cm

14cm

CLEAR:

Themoreholesyoucover,thelowerthenote.Theamountofairthatyoublowintoitis
determinedbyhowmanyholesarecovered.Themoreholesyoucoverthelongertheair
spring,orlengthofairintheflute,thelowerthenoteandnaturalrythm.Youcanseehowit
looksinthepicturebelow.

Pipedrum(Percussion):

Ourpipeinstrumentisapercussioninstrument.Whenwestrikeourinstrumentwitha
pingpongpaddle,airiscompressedintothetubes,andgoesoutthebottomofthepipe.Some
maysaythatisnotbecausetheairisbeingblowndownthepipestomakethenoise,butreally
itsbeingstruckbyapingpongpaddletomakethenoise,whichgoesthroughthepipes.Thisis
apercussioninstrumentbecauseapercussioninstrumentscreatetheirsoundby
struck.

Thisiswhatwedotoourpipedrum.
WeusedtheC4toB4wavelengthsasthelengthsofthepipestomakethe
pipeshavethenotesofC3toB3.Thisworksbecausetheairisbeingcompressedhalf
ofawavelengthmakingthenotesbeawholeoctavelower.

Thelengthofthepipedeterminesthelengthofthewave,anddifferentwavelengths
makedifferentnotes.
Ourpipeinstrumentismadeoutof2inPVCpipesandhasa

woodenbasetoholditup.Thetopofthebasehasapproximately34inby8inch
woodenplankwith7holesdrilledintoit.Thisiswherethepipeswereplaced.Holding

upthetoparetwothickplanksattheends,withblocksonthebottomtostabilizeit.We
alsodidthistomaketheinstrumentsbasetallertobeabout90inches.WeusedtheC4
toB4scaleoflengthstomakethepipeshavethenotesofC3toA3Todothiswehad
tomakethePVCthesamelengthasthewavelengthwewantedittobe.Soifwe
wantedtomakeitaC4wemadethePVCpipeabout131.8cm.long.Thatwasnotthe
onlythingwehadtodo.Wecouldnotmaketheinstrumentover100cmbecausewe
didnothavelongenoughplanksforthebase,sowetwistedourPVCpipes.Wedidthis
byhavingadditionsofPVCpipesandelbows,andsubtractingthoseadditionslengths
tothewavelengthtogetthefirstPVCpipeforeachnote.Theadditionsarethree2.25
cmPVCelbows,a10.25cm.pipe,a20cm.pipe,anda5cm.Pipe.ThethefirstPVC
pipelengthoftheC4notewas90cm.,whilethefirstPVCpipelengthoftheD4note
was75.5cm.,andthefirstPVCpipeoftheE4notewas63.5cm.ThefirstPVCpipe
lengthoftheF4notewas57cm,whiletheG4was46cm,theA4was36.5cm.,andthe
B4was25cm.AllofthefirstPVCpipesandtheadditionlengthsarewhatmadethe
PVCpipedruminstrumentwork,andmadethedifferentnoteswhenstruckbythe
paddle.

Theplacementoftheholeswasbasedonquarterwavelengths.Thisisbecausetheendofthe
fluteisaquarterofthewavelengthproducedbyblowingintotheflute.(seepicturebelow)

NotePipeLengthWavelengthLengthofnote
C3

131.87cm

263.74cm

D3

117.48cm

234.96cm

E3

104.66cm

209.33cm

F3

98.79cm

197.58cm

G3

88.01cm

176.02cm

A3

78.41cm

156.82cm

B3

69.85cm

139.71cm