Musical Instrument.
For our final project of the class, we had a choice of three projects, a musical instrument, a robotic arm or a bridge (with a either a seismograph, a technology game, or a glider). We chose the musical instrument project. This involved designing and building a musical instrument with unlimited materials that can play an eight note scale.
The technological concepts of the project were the lengths of the metal pipes we used, to make different pitches, the way they were hit, which also creates different pitches, and the type of beater that we used, that changed the sound of the instrument.
My learning goals from this project. as a non musical person, were to learn how to create a scale from basic materials, how to calculate the different lengths needed for different notes, and to decide which beater made the best sound with the instrument.
Our project is a kind of xylophone but upended and instead of using wood, we used 1 1/4 inch metal piping. We used wooden bases and supports, which were connected to a piece of wood that would hold the pipes. The pipes were hot glued in place so they stayed where they were and made a consistent sound.
What I like about our project was that it actually made an eight note scale. It also was built strongly and the supports and bases are very sturdy. I like the sounds it makes, because its a different sound to most instruments, helped by my specially made beater.
If I were to re-do this project, i wouldn't change much, apart from using a more solid piece of wood to hang the pipes from. I would also try and cut the pipes more straight and cleanly, to make the perfect sound, and I would try and glue the pipes in more evenly.
The technological resources of this project were mainly the pipes and how there lengths created different pitches. Other than the pipes, i think the other resources were the beater and how it made the pipes sound better and how the wooden supports held them up without wobbling while being hit.
Once again we had two biggest challenges. They were getting the pipes the right length, so they make the correct pitches, and getting the pipes into the wood and keeping them there and so they still sounded good.
To overcome the first of our problems, we went on the internet and found out the formula for our scale and applied it to our pipes, after cutting, we made a few adjustments to make them sound better. For our second problem, we measured out the wood according to how many pipes we had, and how wide they were, we marked our the spots and filed the holes out just so the pipes fitted tightly, we then glued them in place and they don't move now, allowing us to play the instrument, without having to worry about the pipes falling out.
The technological concepts of the project were the lengths of the metal pipes we used, to make different pitches, the way they were hit, which also creates different pitches, and the type of beater that we used, that changed the sound of the instrument.
My learning goals from this project. as a non musical person, were to learn how to create a scale from basic materials, how to calculate the different lengths needed for different notes, and to decide which beater made the best sound with the instrument.
What I like about our project was that it actually made an eight note scale. It also was built strongly and the supports and bases are very sturdy. I like the sounds it makes, because its a different sound to most instruments, helped by my specially made beater.
If I were to re-do this project, i wouldn't change much, apart from using a more solid piece of wood to hang the pipes from. I would also try and cut the pipes more straight and cleanly, to make the perfect sound, and I would try and glue the pipes in more evenly.
The technological resources of this project were mainly the pipes and how there lengths created different pitches. Other than the pipes, i think the other resources were the beater and how it made the pipes sound better and how the wooden supports held them up without wobbling while being hit.
Once again we had two biggest challenges. They were getting the pipes the right length, so they make the correct pitches, and getting the pipes into the wood and keeping them there and so they still sounded good.
To overcome the first of our problems, we went on the internet and found out the formula for our scale and applied it to our pipes, after cutting, we made a few adjustments to make them sound better. For our second problem, we measured out the wood according to how many pipes we had, and how wide they were, we marked our the spots and filed the holes out just so the pipes fitted tightly, we then glued them in place and they don't move now, allowing us to play the instrument, without having to worry about the pipes falling out.
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