Josh Franks

String Instrument

I chose to do a string instrument for my project. There are many examples of string

instruments like guitars, violins, and basses. String instruments make noise by vibrating the

strings. As you pluck my instrument, it creates sound waves that make specific noises. The

tightness and length of the string causes it to vibrate at various speeds creating various sounds.

Tighter and thinner strings make higher pitched noises, while thicker and looser strings make

lower notes. This is because thinner and tighter strings have a higher vibration frequency, which

equals higher pitch.

The amplitude or volume of the sound is directly related to the range of motion in the

strings. The larger the distance the string is vibrating, the larger the wavelength, the louder the
sound. Frequency is the amount of string vibrations, while amplitude is the height of those

waves.

My specific instrument is a single stringed guitar. This was made to play an octave by

adjusting the length of the portion of the string being struck. My guitar is 85cm long, 8.75cm

wide, and 2cm thick. The string being struck is approximately 74cm. The instrument plays a A3

to A4 scale.

Note: Wavelength:

A3 148cm

B3 140cm

C4 132cm

D4 117.5cm

E4 104.5cm

F4 99cm

G4 88cm

A4 78.5cm
JQ

Percussion Instrument

For our project, I chose to to make a percussion instrument. There are many different types of

percussion instruments such as drums, xylophones, bells, tambourines, and chimes. These

instruments are percussion because they produce sound through being struck or hit which causes

them to vibrate. Most of them are used for rhythm, such as drums and tambourines. However,

percussion instruments can also be used to play melodies, like xylophones and chimes. For mine,
 I chose to make drums. Drums have hollow bodies that resonate and amplify the noise of a

stretched membrane being hit. The stretched membrane being the drum skins or the part that you

hit. When hit, it vibrates up and down moving the air creating sound waves. The sound that

comes out of a drum is affected by its shape, or in this case, the length of it. If the drums longer,

the sound will have a lower pitch because the material on the top of the drum will take longer to

move upward when its hit. When the frequency is lower, it makes a lower pitched sound because

the wavelength is longer and there are less waves. On the other end of the spectrum , a drum with

a shorter body will create a higher pitched sound.

My Instrument

My instrument specifically, consists of 8 PVC pipes. They are all different lengths however. This

is so they can all play different notes to collectively create a whole octave when played together.

They are all designed to be as long as the wavelength of the note they are supposed to play. My

instrument plays an A4 to A5 scale. The lengths of my drums can all be seen below

Note: Length:

A4 77.3 centimeters or 30 inches

B5 68.9 centimeters or 27 inches

C5 65 centimeters or 25 inches

D5 57.9 centimeters or 23 inches

E5 51.6 centimeters or 20 inches

F5 48.7 centimeters or 19 inches

G5 43.4 centimeters or 17 inches

A5 38.7 centimeters or 15 inches

 John Kosta

Wind Instrument

I chose a wind instrument as my portion of the project. Some wind instruments include

the trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, trombone, etc. I chose to make my instrument as a mix between

..

a trumpet and a clarinet. I started designing my instrument with a piece of pvc pipe that was

65.93 centimeters long. This length gives me a C5 when the instrument is played. To make noise

i blow into the pipe as one would blow into a trumpet which gives me sound without a

mouthpiece. I then added a funnel at the end of the instrument to make it louder. From that end

of the instrument to the end where the air goes in, i added holes so that the instrument would

make different notes. These holes had to be placed at specific spots so that they would make the

right note. This works because each note has a certain wavelength and if the hole is placed at the

wavelength of the note, the that is the note that is produced. The scale for my instrument is C5 to

C6.

Note Frequencies (hertz) Wavelength (Centimeters)

C5 523.25 65.93 cm

D5 587.33 58.74 cm

E5 659.25 52.33 cm

F5 698.46 49.39 cm

G5 783.99 44.01 cm

A5 880.00 39.20 cm

B5 987.77 34.93 cm

C6 1046.50 32.97 cm
 In order to play the correct notes and fit all of my fingers on the holes of the instrument, i

did not drill a hole for D5.

Ryan Loeber

Percussion Instrument

For this unit our task was to create an instrument from scratch. For my instrument I chose

to make a percussion instrument. In specific I chose to make a chime instrument. There are not

many variations on the chime instrument except for what material it is made with. My chime is

struck in order to make noise. The chime consists 8 different length metal poles that sit on rubber

bands which are supported by nails. When they are struck they create a vibration which creates

the noise. The different lengths of the poles causes different amounts of vibration causing

different notes. The smaller the pole the higher the pitch and opposite with a longer pole. This is

because the smaller poles have a higher vibration frequency equaling a higher pitch. Chimes are

based on the natural frequency of a material. The larger the pole, the greater the wavelength, the

lower and louder the note is. Frequency is the amount of vibrations of the poles. Amplitude is the

height of that wave.

Note: Length:

C5 26.1 cm

D5 24.53 cm

E5 22.22 cm

F5 20.44 cm
G5 18.14 cm

A6 16.09 cm

B6 14.05 cm

C6 12.27 cm