CP Physics

The musical instrument project

We define the musical instrument project. Then we do a resonance lab.

Musical instrument project:
Design a musical instrument with strings or tubes. Construct it from scratch and do not use parts from toy or real instruments such as mouthpieces, reeds, or horns; piano or guitar strings are allowed.

Make at least one octave of notes and learn to play (either by using notes or codes) a simple children's song such as Mary had a Little Lamb, Row Row Row Your Boat, or other song.

Your evaluation consists of the following:
You play the instrument and we can recognize the tune - 30%
Your instrument has 8 notes (minimum) - 30%
You provide calculations justifying the design of your instrument - 40%


Today, in class, we go over the musical scales and have you calculate the tube or string lengths you will need. If your actual instrument is too small or too large, just make the answers proportional to what is calculated.


You'll need this table for the Diatonic C Major Scale:

Note freq
C 264
D 297
E 330
F 352
G 396
A 440
B 495
C' 528

every note beyond doubles in frequency.

Plus, how to read simple notes for a melody on sheet music.

Here is a source for simple children's music.

http://www.pitt.edu/~deben/freebies.html

You should pick something from "First Pieces" or "Primer Level."

Projects, plus a performance, dues on February 14.