How do instruments make sound? This was one of the many questions we were investigating in this project. We were tasked here with building three instruments: a chime-type instrument, a wind instrument, and a string instrument. We were free to build more and different types of instruments, but those three were required. So Patrick Heslip, Spencer Shifs, Ben Franks and I set out to become the next musical sensation.
We began by looking at Mr. Williams' website. There he had a very convenient link to several tables relating to frequency, amplitude, and different ratios to cut chimes, strings, and pipes to to form the correct note. Then, we started working on our Clarinet.
The Clarinet was a difficult instrument to create, because in the beginning, none of the notes were coming out right. We then started using a larger drill bit to cut the holes in the PVC pipe, and the correct notes began to come out. We added a funnel to the front to increase the volume of sound coming out of the Clarinet. As we began finishing up the Clarinet, Ben and I started work on the Guitar, while Patrick and Spencer started up on the Chimes.
The stringed instrument, which for us ended up being somewhat reminiscent of a guitar, was fairly simple to build, with the most difficult parts being building a frame for the Guitar, since none of the wood pieces were quite long enough on their own to contain the length of strings we needed. The second hardest part was the stringing process, since it took such a long time due to having to tighten the string to just the right tension without snapping them, which with fishing line, was very easy to do.. For the frame problem, we simply screwed two pieces of wood together. The stringing just took three periods.
While we were working on the Guitar, the other half of the team was working on the Chimes. These worked out well and relatively difficulty-free. They drilled screws into two pieces of wood that had the chimes spanning the gap across them, with another piece of wood connecting them together. However, we did face some annoyance with the string, as we had to completely replace them with fishing line after the twine broke; almost all at the same time. Other than that, everything with the chimes went very well. Except for that our fifth note is slightly sharp. So that's a problem, and just a screw-up on our part.
The Clarinet was a difficult instrument to create, because in the beginning, none of the notes were coming out right. We then started using a larger drill bit to cut the holes in the PVC pipe, and the correct notes began to come out. We added a funnel to the front to increase the volume of sound coming out of the Clarinet. As we began finishing up the Clarinet, Ben and I started work on the Guitar, while Patrick and Spencer started up on the Chimes.
The stringed instrument, which for us ended up being somewhat reminiscent of a guitar, was fairly simple to build, with the most difficult parts being building a frame for the Guitar, since none of the wood pieces were quite long enough on their own to contain the length of strings we needed. The second hardest part was the stringing process, since it took such a long time due to having to tighten the string to just the right tension without snapping them, which with fishing line, was very easy to do.. For the frame problem, we simply screwed two pieces of wood together. The stringing just took three periods.
While we were working on the Guitar, the other half of the team was working on the Chimes. These worked out well and relatively difficulty-free. They drilled screws into two pieces of wood that had the chimes spanning the gap across them, with another piece of wood connecting them together. However, we did face some annoyance with the string, as we had to completely replace them with fishing line after the twine broke; almost all at the same time. Other than that, everything with the chimes went very well. Except for that our fifth note is slightly sharp. So that's a problem, and just a screw-up on our part.
Reflection
All in all, this project went very well. Nothing went horribly wrong, and I got along with all of my teammates very well. One of our many Peaks was communication. This was a problem in previous teams, and I believe gap in communications really showed in our final product. However, we were able to communicate very well in this project, and it really helped us focus on the task at hand. Another Peak was teamwork. We worked very well together. We had very few disagreements, and the few small ones we did have were quickly and easily resolved. I think we kinda cheated with this piece because we were all good friends and chose our group that way. But hey, it made our final product all the better, right?
We didn't have a whole lot of low points in our project. One of the few Pits was time management. We ran out of time, like every project, near the end, and had to work on the group document at home. Another one of our Pits was duct tape. We used duct tape in our Clarinet and our Guitar and it didn't look very good.
All in all, this project went very well. Nothing went horribly wrong, and I got along with all of my teammates very well. One of our many Peaks was communication. This was a problem in previous teams, and I believe gap in communications really showed in our final product. However, we were able to communicate very well in this project, and it really helped us focus on the task at hand. Another Peak was teamwork. We worked very well together. We had very few disagreements, and the few small ones we did have were quickly and easily resolved. I think we kinda cheated with this piece because we were all good friends and chose our group that way. But hey, it made our final product all the better, right?
We didn't have a whole lot of low points in our project. One of the few Pits was time management. We ran out of time, like every project, near the end, and had to work on the group document at home. Another one of our Pits was duct tape. We used duct tape in our Clarinet and our Guitar and it didn't look very good.